Kwame Mbalia is the New York Times best-selling author of Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, for which he received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award. The book was also named to best-of-the-year lists compiled by Publishers Weekly, the Chicago Public Library, and the New York Times. The second book in the trilogy is Tristan Strong Destroys the World, and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third. Kwame also co-wrote Last Gate of the Emperor with Prince Joel Makonnen and edited the instant New York Times best-seller Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood. Kwame lives with his wife and children near Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working several projects, including a new middle grade series. Follow him on Twitter @KSekouM.
Robert Venditti is a New York Times best-selling author whose characters and concepts have been adapted to film, television, and video games. He has written the monthly comic book series "Green Lantern,” “Superman '78," and "Justice League" for DC Comics, "X-O Manowar" and "Wrath of the Eternal Warrior" for Valiant Entertainment, and the children's novel series Miles Taylor and the Golden Cape. He has also adapted Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus graphic novels. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia and can be found on Twitter @robertvenditti.
Olivia Stephens is a graphic novelist, illustrator, and writer from the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of Artie and the Wolf Moon, a supernatural graphic novel. Olivia has also created work for a number of sites and publications, including TheNew York Times, The Guardian, and FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction. When not drawing, she enjoys eating spicy foods and losing her voice at rock concerts. Visit her website at www.olivia-stephens.com.
