Jeremy L. C. Jones is a freelance writer, editor, and lecturer. He contributes regularly to the third-party role-playing game magazine Kobold Quarterly. He also writes for a variety of newspapers, magazines, and websites.

Jones is a board member for The Hub City Writers Project and The South Carolina Academy of Authors. Along with collaborators at the Alzheimer's Association, The Hub City Writers Project, and the Department of Psychology at Wofford College, Jones helped create Living Words, a creative writing program for people diagnosed with dementia and their caregivers.

Jones is a shameless fan of shared world fiction in general and Forgotten Realms in particular, which lead to his creating a pilot of the shared worlds program at a high school in Lexington, KY. His favorite fantasy novelists are R. A. Salvatore, Greg Keyes, and David Gemmell. He prefers Robert E. Howard to J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings, and is still not convinced that one day he won't find the magic doorway to Narnia. He's pretty fond of Greek drama, southern literature, Vietnam War novels, and American nature writing, too.
Website:www.jeremylcjones.com

Jeff VanderMeer is the author of Hummingbird Salamander; the Borne novels (Borne, The Strange Bird, and Dead Astronauts); and the Southern Reach series (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), the first volume of which won the Nebula Award and Shirley Jackson Award and was adapted into a movie by Paramount. He has spoken at MIT, Columbia, Yale, and Vanderbilt, and gave the 2024 John Hersey Memorial Address at the Key West Literary Seminar. Environmental nonfiction by VanderMeer has appeared in Time, The Nation, Current Affairs, and Esquire, among others. VanderMeer founded the Sunshine State Biodiversity Group nonprofit in 2023. Forthcoming work includes Absolution, a fourth Southern Reach novel.
Website: www.jeffvandermeer.com

Tim is Professor of History and Associate Provost for Administration at Wofford. He spent twelve summers working for the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) summer academic program as a history instructor and as a site director. In 2008, CTY selected him to direct the inaugural year of the CTY International site in Spain, which was held at the European University of Madrid.

In addition to his administrative duties, Tim teaches European history at Wofford. His research interest is the intersection of state power and religious reform in sixteenth-century Spain. He has worked directly with Shared Worlds since 2008.

Joseph Alfred Spivey is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Wofford College. He earned a PhD in mathematics from Duke University. He specialized in algebraic topology, which is basically the study of "stretchy spaces." His thesis concerned the shape of a special 6-dimensional space. He often uses inquiry based learning in his classes.

Dr. Spivey loves to read fantasy novels. Among his favorite fantasy series are Song of Fire and Ice, Duane's Young Wizards series, the Sabriel trilogy, and Wheel of Time. He also enjoys baking and playing video games. When not teaching, reading, or playing video games, you'll probably find Dr. Spivey working in the yard or spending time with his wife and kids.