The Authors Quill artist Ms_ Josie Moore writer Joe Sidari

Josie Moore grew up in the valley town of Westfield, Massachusetts with a voice that wouldn’t work and a brain filled to bursting. Paranoid by the world and abandoned by those around her, she turned to art in her time of hiding. When she was scared, she wrote about it. When she cried, she drew comforting pictures. With the inability to pinpoint and process her own emotions, she used art and storytelling as her communication, turning her fear into something beautiful. Nowadays, she can finally leave her bedroom, but never without a sketchbook by her side. She attends the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in hopes of getting her BFA in Illustration. She spends her days doodling elves, bears, and silly little faeries and nights writing, planning, and…hopefully writing some more. Finally having an outlet to put all her obsessive, creative energy, she dreams of one day showing even the deepest crevices of her mind with her odd love stories and twisted mysteries. The Writers and Illustrators of the Future Contests are the most prestigious writing and illustrating competitions in the world with the Writers of the Future being in its 43rd year, the Illustrators of the Future in its 38th year and they are judged by the premier names in speculative fiction. The Illustrators of the Future Contest judges include, Bob Eggleton (11 Chesley Awards and 9 Hugo Awards), Larry Elmore (Dungeons & Dragons book covers), Echo Chernik (graphic designs for major corporations including Celestial Seasonings tea packaging), Rob Prior (art for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book). Joseph Sidari lives in the Boston suburbs with his wife and a delightfully spoiled labradoodle named Chloe, who takes him for walks twice a day. As a practicing physician, he works hard caring for his patients while trying to kill off his protagonists. He is a current member of the Grub Street Writers Group of Boston and a former member of the Spacecraft Writers’ Group. He's been a lifelong fan of reading speculative fiction, but only started writing it after flipping his bicycle during triathlon training. Typing at his computer felt like a less risky hobby, so that summer, with his wrist on the mend, he wrote a novel. Then another. On his third attempt, he found an agent who suggested that writing short stories could help build his reputation while the book was being shopped around. The manuscript never sold, but he realized short stories were fun, too. Since then, he has earned multiple honorable mentions in the Writers of the Future contest and two Silvers, while publishing several short stories—though not enough to “pro out." This story was one of those honorable mentions. You know the email Joni Labaqui [contest director] sends? The one that suggests to “revise and resubmit an old story if you don’t have anything new.” It resonated. “I liked the idea of the epistolary tale I’d entered to the Contest about a woman trying to free the last dragon in America. But I needed to double down on the premise. Write more than just blog posts. So, I rewrote it from top to bottom.” And here is the new and improved story. United Public Radio & UFO Paranormal Radio www.uprntalkradio.com The Writers of the Future Contest judges include, Tim Powers (author of On Stranger Tides), Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (Dune prequel series), Robert J. Sawyer (The Oppenheimer Alternative), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), Hugh Howey (Wool), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series) to name a few.