Suzanne Vincent is the editor-in-chief of Flash Fiction Online. That’s what people think anyway. Actually, she’s really a pretty ordinary middle-aged woman packing a few extra pounds and a few more gray hairs than she’s comfortable with. As a writer, she leans toward the fantasy spectrum, though much of what she writes is difficult to classify. Slipstream? Isn’t that where we stick stories when we just can’t figure out where else they go? Suzanne’s first professional publication was right here at FFO, published before she joined the staff: “I Speak the Master’s Will,” — a story she’s still very proud of. While she doesn’t actually have time to blog anymore, she once did. You can still read her ancient posts on writing at The Slushpile Avalanche. Suzanne keeps a house full of kids (3), a husband (1), and pets (too many to number) in Utah, USA. Yes, she’s a Mormon. No, there isn’t another wife. Mormons haven’t actually practiced polygamy since the 1890s. Too bad. She’d love to have another woman around to wash dishes and do laundry.

Jason S. Ridler is a writer, historian, and actor. He is the author of The Brimstone Files, and his latest historical work Mavericks of War was called a “visceral read that is also an important piece of scholarship” by Pulitzer-Prize winner Richard Rhodes. He is a Teaching Fellow at Johns Hopkins University and teaches creative writing at Google, Youtube, and for private clients.

Mitch Berman is the author of the novel Time Capsule, hailed by writers such as Kurt Vonnegut and nominated by Putnam for the Pulitzer Prize. His short stories, appearing in many anthologies and in literary magazines such as Conjunctions, Antioch Review, Witness, Agni, Southwest Review, Boulevard and Gettsyburg Review, have been nominated for seven Pushcart Prizes and received special mention in Best American Short Stories and (twice) in the Pushcart Prize anthologies. His MFA in writing is from Columbia University and he has taught creative writing at the University of Texas at Austin. Mitch’s website is here and his and his son Kofi’s photo blog is here.

Melissa Goodrich is the author of the story collection Daughters of Monsters, the poetry chapbook IF YOU WHAT, and the collaborative collection The Classroom forthcoming from Goldwake Press.  She earned her MFA in Fiction from the University of Arizona, and her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, The Kenyon Review Online, Passages North, PANK, and others.  Her honors include the 2018 Passage’s North Waasnode Fiction Prize, the 2016 Tucson Festival of Books Fiction Award, the 2013 Margaret Sterling Memorial Award, and the 2012 Academy of American Poets Prize.  Find her at melissa-goodrich.com and tweeting @good_rib.

Redfern Jon Barrett is a writer and activist. Originally from the North of England, Redfern was raised in market towns, seaside resorts, and post-industrial cities, before gaining a Literature Ph.D. from the University of Wales. After moving to Berlin, they wrote the novels Forget Yourself and The Giddy Death of the Gays & the Strange Demise of Straights (nominated for a Lambda Literary Award; finalist in the Bisexual Book Awards). Redfern’s stories are featured in literary magazines The Sun and Passages North (upcoming 2019) and exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark. Their nonfiction writing has featured in Guernica, PinkNews, and Strange Horizons.

As a polyamory rights activist, Redfern’s campaigns and personal life have been referenced throughout the British and international press, including The Independent, Metro, The Mirror, Buzzfeed, and (alas) The Telegraph and The Daily Mail. With far too many ties to queer, polyamorous, and pagan communities, Redfern is drawn to the eccentric and the exceptional. Find out more at redjon.com.

Read their previous story “Beneath Our Feet” here:
https://www.thesunmagazine.org/issues/512/beneath-our-feet

Joe Parker was born in Thailand and spent his childhood on the road, traveling with his family’s voluntary group to refugee camps and schools across Europe and southern Africa. He has lived in the UK, South Africa, Italy, and Australia, and is now based in Wellington, New Zealand, with his partner and a cat with far too much personality. His guilty pleasures include bad horror movies, writing down stories, and drinking far too much coffee.