Ron Rash is the author of six novels, five collections of short stories, and four collections of poetry. He is also a two-time finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Prize and winner of the O Henry Prize, the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, the Sherwood Anderson Prize, the James Still Award of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, and other honors. He teaches at Western Carolina University, USA.

Cecile L. K. Martin teaches at the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design, USA. She is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, a member with excellence and three-time winner of Best in Show in the South Carolina Watercolor Society. Martin's work is included in the South Carolina State Collection and in numerous corporate, public, and private collections.

Mary Alice Monroe is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of thirteen novels and two children's books: Turtle Summer: A Journal for My Daughter and A Butterfly Called Hope .