Let’s celebrate our debut authors of 2024! Here’s a look at all the writers who became published authors for the first time this year. What an accomplishment!
Catherine Con Morse, author of The Notes
Catherine Con Morse was one of the inaugural Writers in Residence at Porter Square Books. A Kundiman fellow, she received her MFA from Boston University, where she taught undergraduate creative writing for several years. Her work appears in Joyland, Letters, HOOT, Bostonia, the Racist Sandwich podcast, and elsewhere. The Notes was shortlisted for the CRAFT first chapters contest and is her first novel.
In high school, Catherine attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, a public arts boarding school, where she was as intrigued with her teacher as Claire is with Dr. Li. Catherine continues to play and teach piano today. Most recently, she taught English at Choate Rosemary Hall, and lives in the Connecticut River Valley with her husband and daughter.
Megan Davidhizar, author of Silent Sister
Megan Davidhizar grew up moving around the Midwest and graduated summa cum laude from Purdue University. She now spends her mornings wishing she liked coffee, her days learning from the students in her English classroom, and her evenings reading stories to her three children while her husband tries to convince them the movies are better. Miraculously, they are still happily married. Silent Sister is her debut novel.
Katrina Emmel, author of Near Misses & Cowboy Kisses
Katrina Emmel is the author of Near Misses & Cowboy Kisses and Trail Rides & Starry Eyes. She grew up in New Hampshire, moved to the Midwest for graduate school, and continued traveling westward until she reached the Pacific. Now a SoCal resident, Katrina lives in an active household with her husband, two children, father-in-law, and their twin beagles, Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to writing fiction, she loves science, crafts, making up silly songs for her kids, and supporting monarch conservation by planting lots of milkweed.
Sabrina Fedel, author of All Roads Lead to Rome
Sabrina Fedel is an environmental attorney and freelance writer. She earned her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University and has taught in the English department at Robert Morris University as an adjunct professor. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in various journals, and her award-winning work has garnered critical acclaim. Sabrina believes that chocolate is a love language, the beach is the most-likely place to find magic, and her dog loves her more than steak. She is the author of All Roads Lead to Rome and All Paths Lead to Paris.
Lydia Gregovic, author of The Monstrous Kind
Lydia Gregovic is a Brooklyn-based author and editor, whose identity is rooted in the Texas gulf and along the coastline of Montenegro. She currently lives in New York with her complete collection of the works of Jane Austen and several half-dead plants. The Weaver Bride is her second novel.
Matthew Hubbard, author of The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge
Matthew Hubbard writes the kind of stories he wished he’d had as a teen in rural Alabama. He grew up on a mountaintop farm and knows more than he is willing to admit about small towns. He studied English, marketing, and psychology in college. When he isn’t writing, Matthew can be found on a hike in search of breathtaking views, reading as many books as he can get his hands on, and cheering for his favorite hockey team. He lives in Chattanooga with his husband, their dogs Layla and Phillip, and Jay Gatsby the cat. He is the author of The Last Boyfriends Rules for Revenge and The Rebel’s Guide to Pride.
Kara A. Kennedy, author of I Will Never Leave You
Kara Kennedy has been telling ghost stories—and sometimes living them—since childhood. She holds a BA in Professional Writing from Penn State University, where she worked as a writing tutor for years. Kara is an Author Mentor Match alumna and a Pitch Wars ’21 mentee. She lives in Pennsylvania with her partner and their two kittens, Roanoke and Renegade. I Will Never Leave You is her debut novel.
Logan-Ashley Kisner, author of Old Wounds
Logan-Ashley Kisner was born, raised, and continues to blindly wander around Las Vegas, Nevada. He graduated from UNLV with a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing and a minor in Film Studies. As a transgender man and horror aficionado, he’s also spent the last few years as a historian, critic, and analyst of transgender characters and imagery often used in the horror genre. He’s been published on several horror websites (including Dread Central and Slay Away With Us) and his reading of The Evil Dead as a trans narrative was published in Hear Us Scream: The Voices of Horror Volume II. The Transition is his second novel.
Soyoung Park, author of Snowglobe
Soyoung Parkmajored in information and communication at university and has worked as a reporter. She is a winner of the Original Story Award and the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award. She’s the author of the Snowglobe duology.
Alex Ritany, author of Dead Girls Don’t Say Sorry
Alex Ritany is a lifelong reader and writer. When they’re not at the keyboard, you can find them hosting tabletop game night, working on illustrations, or at their other keyboard composing music. Alex’s love of art, music, and the western Canadian landscape regularly spills into their writing, which tends to feature complex friendships, twisty romances, and explorations of queerness. They live in Calgary with their roommate, cat, and dice collection. Dead Girls Don’t Say Sorry is their debut novel.
Josh Silver, author of HappyHead
Josh Silver grew up on a farm in the Lake District, before moving to Manchester with his family, where he spent his teenage years loving the city. He trained as an actor at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and went onto perform in the West End and on Broadway. After deciding to change careers, Josh now works with teenagers as a mental health nurse. Josh lives in Manchester with his husband and their dog, Dodger.
Ravynn K. Stringfield, author of Love Requires Chocolate
Ravynn K. Stringfield is a writer and professor originally from Suffolk, Virginia. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Shondaland, ZORA, and Catapult Magazine. Love Requires Chocolate is her debut novel. She can often be found haunting coffee shops in search of the perfect hazelnut latte, knee deep in art supplies, or curled up with her dog, Genghis, telling him about her Lois Lane obsession.
Jill Tew, author of The Dividing Sky
Jill Tew was destined for speculative fiction nerddom from childhood. She grew up watching Farscape, The Tribe, and Hercules, and always had the latest copy of Animorphs tucked in her backpack. A recovering business school graduate, Jill enjoys belting show tunes and baking in her spare time. She lives in Atlanta with her family. The Dividing Sky is her debut novel.
LaDarrion Williams, author of Blood at the Root
LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles based-playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter whose goal is to cultivate a new era of Black fantasy, providing space and agency for Black characters and stories in a new, fresh and fantastical way. He is currently a resident playwright/co-creator of The Black Creators Collective, where his play UMOJA made its West Coast premiere in January 2022 and produced North Hollywood’s first Black playwrights festival at the Waco Theater Center. Blood at the Root is his first novel. His viral and award-winning short film based on the same concept, is currently on YouTube and Amazon Prime.
