Gregory G. Allen is an author, composer, actor & director. He recently won a publishing contest for his children’s book on autism awareness and his novel WELL WITH MY SOUL was a finalist in literary fiction with USA Best Books 2011 & has been short-listed for the Indie Lit Awards. He is passionate in writing about adversity and diversity. www.nakedinnewyorkcity.com

Laura Antoniou is the author of the well known Marketplace series of erotic novels, but has also written dozens of short stories, essays and other works in various genres for over 25 years. Winner of the NLA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, she has presented, taught and ranted at over 150 conferences and events since the early 80s, delivering enlightenment, entertainment and indictments. She has also appeared at colleges and universities, including NYU, Rutgers, Columbia and the University of Washington.
Over the years, her work has been translated into Spanish, German, Japanese and Hebrew; in 2010, she hit the world of e-books as the Marketplace moved to Circlet Press, and Laura came out as Christopher Morgan, best-selling writer of gay male erotica, including the novel Musclebound. Together with her wife, Karen Taylor, she has written a ritually correct leather Passover seder, titled Avadim Chayanu, available for free upon asking. All of her other available works can be found listed at her website, lantoniou.com
Laura is personally featured in Writing Below the Belt; Conversations with Erotic Authors, by Michael Rowe, and The Burning Pen; Sex Writers on Sex Writing, by M. Christian. The first Chris Parker story written outside of a Marketplace book was chosen to be in Take Me There, Tristan Taormino’s 2011 collection of transgender erotica. She was also a columnist for Girlfriends magazine from 1995-1997, editor of Badboy and Bi-Curious, and a regular contributor to the SandMUtopia Guardian from 1993-2000

Clifford Browder‘s novel The Pleasuring of Men was published last year by Gival Press, a small independent in Virginia.  He is also the author of two biographies and a critical study of the French Surrealist poet André Breton. Browder lives ten minutes from here.

Tessa Cárdenas grew up Texas and studied creative writing at Florida State University. Since completing her degree, she has lived in San Francisco and Washington DC and traveled to Europe, Asia, and all over the United States and Canada. Tessa Cárdenas is reading from The Strongest Shape.

Ellis Carrington is a wild child who hates to color in the lines, but who lives and loves passionately. She can be found around the Washington D.C. area, swilling Starbucks and saying inappropriate things out loud in public. Her greatest loves are good friends, good music, and of course reading gay romance. Ellis is also one of the head writers for the free gaytime serial drama Boxer Falls. Find out more at EllisCarrington.com or BoxerFalls.com. Ellis Carrington is reading from Feeling Neighborly..

Jane Chambers, feminist author of the seventies and eighties, best known for her play Last Summer At Bluefish Cove, also wrote several novels and poetry, as well as other plays. She won multiple writing awards during her short life, and has been honored by various playwriting awards given in her honor. Last Summer continues to be taught in any universities and is still performed world wide.

Michael Derison, a native New Yorker, entitled his novel, “Native Moments” after a poem by Walt Whitman, who inspired this story about the lust and loves of a group of men in present day.  Michael says: “The way people relate to one another intimately always intrigued me and is central to the themes in my writing.”  www.NativeMoments.com

Rena Dunsworth was born a little over 5 years ago on her way to New York. She has been cross-dressing since 1999, but since coming to New York it became a permannent change. So why does she write about a lesbian couple name Henrietta and Amy? She doesn’t know, she just does. She loves New York, and doesn’t ever want to leave. She’s been writing since the age of 24, but it is only since she became transgender that she achieved some success at writing with the publishing of her first book The Girl, the Moon, and the Melon. She has another book that’s about to be published, a sequel to her first book entitled The Story of Josephine.

S.A. Garcia Back in 1979, reading Gordon Merrick had sounded a wake-up call about gay fiction, but creating visual art and marketing word art occupied S.A. Garcia’s professional life until fictional art triumphed in 2010.I waited over thirty years to enter the publishing world, but at least I’ve made the plunge via books released by Dreamspinner and Silver. S.A Garcia is reading from Divine Devine’s Love Song.

Michael Graves‘ collection of stories, Dirty One was released this past year. Reviewer, Richard LaBonte recently said, ‘As debuts go, they don’t get better than this…These stories brand Graves as a next-generation master of prose.’  Michael will be with his publisher, Chelsea Station Editions all day, so please stop by and say, ‘hello.’

Andrew Grey Bestselling author Andrew Grey grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. So he came by it honestly. Andrew.writes mainly contemporary gay romance and is excited to have been a part of all four Rainbow Book Fairs. Andrew Grey is reading from A Helping of Love.

David G. Hallman worked for more than thirty years on the national staff of The United Church of Canada carrying a wide range of social justice responsibilities. Environmental ethics was the major component of his portfolio during his career. In addition to his work in Canada, he also served from 1988 to 2006 as the Co-ordinator of the World Council of Churches Climate Change Programme based in Geneva which involved him in UN global negotiations on climate change. David is the author and editor of many articles and books on ecological themes including A Place in Creation — Ecological Models in Science, Religion and Economics (UCPH 1992), Ecotheology – Voices from South and North (WCC/Orbis Books 1994 and reissued in 2008),  Spiritual Values for Earth Community (WCC Books 2000 and reissued in 2011. David has lived in Toronto for most of his life. His partner of thirty-three years, William Conklin, died in August 2009 two weeks after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. David has written a memoir entitled August Farewell — the last sixteen days of a thirty-three-year romance in which he chronicles the final days of Bill’s life interspersed with vignettes from their life together. His first novel, Searching for Gilead, was released in the fall of 2011. He is now at work on a collection of inter-related short stories. DavidGHallman.com

Justin Hernandez is the writer of Naked In New York City.  Through this blog, he chronicles his search for love, while examining what fuels his dating choices. Justin is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his upcoming memoir, a book he describes as the prequel to his blog. It is a backstory filled with deception, abuse, sex, and stripping.  At times, all the elements intersect. Other times, they collide.

Scott Alexander Hess—Buy my novel Diary of a Sex Addict or view the short film at www.scottalexanderhess.com

Amber Hollibaugh is the Interim Executive Director of Queers for Economic Justice (QEJ). Formerly she was Chief Officer of Elder & LBTI Women’s Services at Howard Brown Health Center in Chicago. Previous to that she was Senior Strategist for the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce and before that she was the Director of National Initiatives at SAGE—Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders. Earlier in her tenure there she was their Director of Education, Advocacy and Community Building. Before joining the staff of SAGE, she spent seven years at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) as Director of the Lesbian AIDS Project and subsequently as the National Director of Women’s Services. Prior to that, she had been the Director of Education for the New York City Commission on Human Rights, AIDS Division.
A well known activist, artist, public intellectual and community organizer, she was a founding member of Queers for Economic Justice and is currently on the boards of CLAGS (the Center for Lesbian & Gay Studies), LAIN (LGBT Aging Issues Network) of ASA and on the editorial board of GLQ, The Journal of Lesbian & Gay Studies. She was a recipient of the Dr. Susan B. Love award for outstanding achievement in women’s health and is the author of MY DANGEROUS DESIRES—A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home (Duke University Press, 2002), and the director and co-producer of THE HEART OF THE MATTER, a documentary film focusing on women’s sexuality, denial and risk for HIV and AIDS. The film won the 1994 Sundance Film Festival Freedom of Expression award and premiered on PBS’s prestigious POV film series. Email Amber at amber@q4ej.org.

Amy Lane‘s alter ego is as a pudgy housewife in the cultural suburban desert of Northern California who has four children, a baffled but beloved Mate, and an unwavering belief that yes, love really is enough. She writes because if she didn’t, the voices in her head would never shut up. Amy Lane is reading from Chase in Shadow.

James Alexander Langteaux has written Christian books, hosted Christian shows and even worked on the studio floor with Pat Robertson for five years. After a lifetime of being tormented by his attraction to God and men—James is finally coming out with an outrageous book about God’s outrageous love for all of his kids, gay, straight, or somewhere in between
…………………………………….I am not afraid. I was born to do this.
…………………………………………………………………….—Joan of Arc

Sassafras Lowrey is an internationally award-winning storyteller, author, artist, and educator. Most recently ze received an Honorable Mention from the 2011 Astrea Lesbian Writers Fund.  Sassafras is the editor of the two time American Library Association honored, and Lambda Literary Finalist Kicked Out anthology (www.KickedOutAnthology.com), which brought together the voices of current and former homeless LGBTQ youth. Hir prose has been included in numerous anthologies and magazines. Sassafras regularly lectures and facilitates  LGBTQ storytelling workshops at colleges and conferences across the country. Hir debute novel Roving Pack is scheduled for release autumn 2012.  Sassafras lives in Brooklyn with hir family, to learn more about Sassafras and hir work, visit www.PoMoFreakshow.com.

Rick McGranahan is still haunted by his alter-ego Stripper named Puppyboy to this day. His twenties was a rollercoaster era filled of drugs, sexual debauchery, and a worldwide quest for love & sobriety amongst the DJ’s spotlight. Those years that shaped him are revisited through memories & a stack of journals which became the memoir Visiting the Ghost of Puppyboy.

Stephen S. Mills holds an MFA from Florida State University. His poems have appeared in PANK Literary Magazine, The New York Quarterly, The Antioch Review, The Los Angeles Review, Knockout and others. His first book, He Do the Gay Man in Different Voices, is available from Sibling Rivalry Press.

Nora Olsen grew up in New York City just blocks from the Center. Her debut novel The End: Five Queer Kids Save The World is a Young Adult novel about a group of LGBT teens who travel through time to stop a nuclear war. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her girlfriend.
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Dr. Loren Olson is a board certified psychiatrist and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association who came out at age forty.  He is often asked, “How could you not know  you were gay until you were forty, and weren’t  you just hiding behind your marriage?

Zahra Owens is a bestselling author of five novels and twenty short stories at Dreamspinner Press. She’s a writer, knitter, computer nerd, and micro-financier of independent movies that grab her attention. She writes contemporary romance about men in their forties, interspersed with the occasional sci-fi story. Zahra Owens is reading from Floods and Drought.

Matthew Scrivens Author, Sole Survivor, a gay erotic thriller. Having spent over ten years providing therapy to convicted murderers, rapists, and molesters, Matthew Scrivens decided there was only one thing to do: write about what he’d seen in the dark abyss of the human psyche. Thus, the birth of his erotic thriller Sole Survivor.

Jonathan S. Spikes South Florida native son, Jonathan Spikes is a multi-talented writer that will speak to the core of readers with his new novel, “I Know What I Am and I Am Not What You Call Me!”  Reared in Miami, Florida for most of his life, Jonathan has had the opportunity to experience many things both positive and challenging which has helped him to define his own way and chart his own course.  This budding novelist, entrepreneur and former corporate trainer is expanding his wings and flying to new heights with his first literary work of art.

David Stein is a longtime gay activist and organizer who writes about consensual BDSM and Master/slave relationships between gay men. His books include Carried Away: An S/M Romance, a long novel set in NYC in the early ’90s; Boots, Bondage, and Beatings, a collection of shorter leathersex fiction; and Ask the Man Who Owns Him, nonfiction profiles of gay Masters and slaves. He publishes under his own Perfectbound Press imprint and would be happy to sign copies here at the fair.

Christopher Stoddard is the debut author of the novel, White, Christian, selected by the American Library Association for their 2012 bibliography of LGBT literature that “exhibits commendable literary quality.”  He has written for eastvillageboys.com and antichrispress.com, and is nearing the completion of a second book.  To learn more, visit whitechristianbook.com or email antichrispress@gmail.com.

Kergan Edwards-Stout is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, Bilerico Project, and LGBTQ Nation. His debut novel, Songs for the New Depression, has been short-listed for the 2011 Independent Literary Awards, in the LGBTQ category. Published by Circumspect Press.

Francine L. Trevens, a writer herself, was the publicist who moved Last Summer At Bluefish Cove by Jane Chambers to off-Broadway, later directed an Off Broadway production of Jane’s A Late Snow, and ultimately took over JH Press, (now TnT Classic Books) helped found the Greater New York Independent Publishers Association and is offering Jane’s (and other major gay writers from the 80’s) books at the GNYIPA booth.

Vanda is an award-winning playwright whose play, VILE AFFECTIONS, published by Original Works,  was a 2009 Lambda Literary Award finalist.

Jerry Wheeler Editor of the Lambda Literary Award finalist Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from Under the Big Top (Lethe Press 2010), and the forthcoming Riding the Rails and The Dirty Diner for Bold Strokes Books, Jerry L. Wheeler’s first collection of short fiction, Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits is out from Lethe Press March 2012. Be sure to catch his book reviews on the web at Out in Print (www.outinprint.net).

Arthur Wooten For two years novelist, playwright and children’s book author, Arthur Wooten, was the humorist for the London magazine reFRESH. In each issue of this gay publication he wrote a letter to his exasperating and fictional lover, Henry, explaining the never-ending reasons why they must end their relationship. But as we all know, sometimes breaking up is really hard to do. The Dear Henry Letters from Arthur Wooten’s Shorts.

Emanuel Xavier is author of the novel, Christ Like, and the poetry collection If Jesus Were Gay & other poems. He has also edited the anthologies Bullets & Butterflies: queer spoken word poetry, Mariposas: A Modern Anthology of Queer Latino Poetry, and Me No Habla With Acento: Contemporary Latino Poetry. He appeared twice on HBO’s Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry and performs regularly throughout the country and around the world as a spoken word artist. As a former homeless gay teen, he has staged benefits for queer youth of color. His spoken word/music collaboration album, Legendary, is available for download on iTunes. He was born, raised and lives in New York. His background heritage is Ecuadorian and Puerto Rican. Forthcoming works include essays in the books For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough and Born This Way, based on the popular blog of the same name. Also, his earlier poetry collections Pier Queenand Americano, as well as a new poetry collection, will be available for the first time in 2012.