Introducing... the judges of Query Kombat 2018! They are tasked with the difficult job of deciding which entries move forward each round. It's a heartrending decision, but someone's gotta do it, and I'm glad it isn't me! We're so grateful to all the writers who are donating their time and energy to Query Kombat. Remember, the best way to thank them for their work is to buy their books! Michelle has made a
Goodreads list of all the judges' books to make it easy for you to check them out.
The rest of the judges can be found on
Mike's and
Michelle's blogs.
On Monday, May 14th, we'll be hosting a Twitter party where writers can reach out to the judges and ask questions about their entries, writing, querying, etc. Join us at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST. The hashtag will be #QKChat.
We'll have another round of chats to calm raw nerves on Saturday, May 19th at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm EST.
Without further ado... here are your Query Kombat 2018 Judges!
Dan Koboldt is a fantasy/science fiction writer and the author of the
Gateways to Alissia series with Harper Voyager and Putting the Science in Fiction (forthcoming from Writer's Digest). As a genetics researcher, he has co-authored more than 70 publications in Nature, Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and other scientific journals. His
Science in Sci-fi, Fact in Fantasy blog series tackles scientific, technical, and historical elements of SF/F with input from experts in the field.
Dan is also an avid deer hunter and outdoorsman. He lives with his wife and children in Ohio, where the deer take their revenge by eating the flowers in his backyard. You can find him on
Twitter and
Facebook.
Buy:
Amazon or
B&N
E. G. Moore has been telling stories since childhood, one of which her mom caught on cassette. She's an award-winning poet and children book author, freelance writer, and ghostwriter. She leads her local chapter of the Idaho Writers League. Her essay WEARING TERESA’S BOOTS is featured in Hope Paige’s Anthology on loss BREAKING SAD. When she’s not telling “Mommy Made stories” to her two daughters or nagging her husband to edit her latest middle grade or young adult manuscript, she can be found off-roading on her ATV, baking something scrumptious, or in a long, plot-refreshing bubble bath. She’s represented by Jessica Schmeidler of
Golden Wheat Literary. E.G. Moore
tweets and follows hashtags on Twitter, hangs out in writer groups on
Facebook and
Goodreads, and
blogs on her website.
Ian Barnes is a writer of bad jokes and various flavors of fantasy. A former computer engineer-turned-technical writer-turned-purveyor of puns, he lives outside Boston with his wife amid an ever-expanding fort of books. He’s a lover of video games and whiskey, and will happily talk your ear off about either. When he was four, a ghost said hi to him. He is represented by Matt Bialer of Sanford J Greenburger Associates.
Twitter Website
Jessica Kapp always thought her penmanship would improve with age. She even wished for it on her eleventh birthday. To improve her legibility and speed, she hijacked her grandma’s typewriter—a really cool one with white correction tape—and started creating fictional worlds. That same grandma took Jessica to her first writers’ group meeting where she shared a story about fairies. The writing sucked, but with time, her craft began to improve. Sadly, her penmanship has not.
Today she writes Contemporary and Speculative Fiction for Young Adults. Story ideas often strike at inopportune times, and she’s been known to text herself reminders from under the covers.
Her debut book,
BODY PARTS, is a 2017 RT Reviewers' Choice Award Nominee:
https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/body-parts-1
Amazon B&N Website Facebook Twitter
KD Proctor loved college so much that when it came time to graduate, she didn’t want to leave. Trading in her textbooks for student handbooks and policy manuals, she began a career in College Student Personnel and she fulfilled her wish to stay on a college campus forever. Her mother, however, if glad she's finally using that English degree.
KD lives in West Central, Minnesota with her husband and fur-kids. She likes to write fun twists on the usual tropes that we all love. Her characters are smart, funny, and always swoony. And yes. They always get their happily ever after. Before being accepted for publication, KD's debut novel, MEET ME UNDER THE STARS (formerly titled IF YOU'RE EVER IN TOWN), was the 2016 YARWA winner for the New Adult category.
Goodreads Website Twitter Instagram
Kimberly Ito is an author of adult and YA fiction in a variety of genres. When not creating characters and worlds of her own, she works as a full-time editor and translator. She lives in a suburb of Tokyo with her human family and a very purry cat.
kimberlyito.com
Natasha Raulerson graduated from Florida Atlantic University with her Bachelor’s Degree in English. She works as a professional content writer and web editor during the day. At night, she is a multi-genre novelist, represented by Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency. Her short story, I, Alphabet received second place in the 2017 Writer’s Digest 86th Annual Writing Competition. She also had an amazing experience as a literary intern under Uwe Stender of Triada US Literary Agency and works as a freelance fiction editor.
Growing up as a tomboy with the guys, her days were often filled with getting skinned knees, and swimming in the South Florida sun. Though she’s more inclined to wear dresses now, she still prefers a good pair of chucks and comfy pair of jeans. Tattoos, Jack Daniels, and hanging at the pool are three of her favorite things. She is a wife, a mother, and mostly, she’s just trying to make it through this wild ride of life, one day at a time.
Website Twitter Facebook
Sarah Jamila Stevenson is a writer, artist, editor and graphic designer in Northern California. She is the author of three YA novels: THE LATTE REBELLION (Flux, 2011), UNDERNEATH (Flux, 2013) and THE TRUTH AGAINST THE WORLD (Flux, 2014). Her first novel for young adults, THE LATTE REBELLION, was a Scholastic Book Club pick as well as an IPPY Bronze Medalist in Multicultural Children's Fiction. Her work has been featured on Capital Public Radio's Insight and NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin. She is also an active blogger: since 2005 she has been posting children's literature reviews and information at Finding Wonderland (
writingya.blogspot.com), a blog she shares with fellow young adult author Tanita S. Davis, and she is a regular participant in the Cybils Awards. This past year, she worked on a graphic novel script for an educational publisher, forthcoming in late 2018. She is represented by Caryn Wiseman at Andrea Brown Literary Agency.
Website Blog Twitter
Tracy Townsend holds a master's degree in writing and rhetoric from DePaul University and a bachelor's degree in creative writing from DePauw University, a source of regular consternation when proofreading her credentials. She is a past chair of the English Department at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, an elite public boarding school, where she teaches creative writing and science fiction and fantasy literature. She has been a martial arts instructor, a stage combat and accent coach, and a short-order cook for houses full of tired gamers. Now she lives in Bolingbrook, Illinois with two bumptious hounds, two remarkable children, and one very patient husband.
Twitter Web
Jason Hine is a #PitchWars class of 2017 alum and the winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association's award for best Science-Fiction/Fantasy/Paranormal of 2016 with Nightmare Ink. His work has appeared in Fantasy Scroll Magazine.
He lives in Seattle, WA and Las Vegas, NV with his wife--flying back and forth over the weekends. A former mental health counselor and professor of cognitive psychology, he now writes words. Sometimes other people even read them.
Represented by Lauren Spieller at Triada US.
Maxym M. Martineau is a staff writer and editor by day, and a fantasy romance author by night. When she’s not getting heated over broken hearts, she enjoys playing video games, sipping a well-made margarita, binge-watching television shows, competing in just about any sport, and of course, reading.
Following her passion, Maxym earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Arizona State University. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America, co-founder of All The Kissing, a Pitch Wars alum, and the 2017 Query Kombat adult champion. She is represented by Cate Hart of Corvisiero Literary Agency.
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