The Gods Awoke

Marie Vibbert has sold over 80 short stories to places like Nature, Analog, and F&SF. Her work has been translated into Vietnamese and Chinese, and has been called “...the embodiment of what science fiction should be…” by The Oxford Culture Review. Her debut novel, Galactic Hellcats, was longlisted by the British Science Fiction Association for 2021. By day she is a computer programmer in Cleveland, Ohio. Marie is also a member of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, SFPA. She was nominated for their Rhysling Award in 2015, 2021, and 2022, won second place in the Hessler Street Fair poetry contest, and once sold a rhyming poem to a magazine that had “no rhyming poetry” in their guidelines.

Lorelei Esther is a young woman taking on the world. The youngest Hugo Finalist in the history of the award, she is an accomplished artist, having started her comic career at age nine with the famous Blue Bird (inspiration for the DC character of the same name). She has illustrated all of the books in The Kitra Saga and is the staff artist for Journey Press. She is an accomplished singer/songwriter, regularly performing live independently and with Galactic Journey. Her articles frequently appear on the Journey, and she has done introductions for the lauded Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women series. A fangirl and activist at heart, Lorelei hopes to leave an impression on the world by educating, inspiring, and providing for the community.