
2025
FEATUREDSPEAKERS
Julie
CANTRELL

Julie Cantrell is a multiple award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, editor, and creative writing instructor. She has served editor-in-chief of the Southern Literary Review and has received several prestigious fellowships, including the Mississippi Arts Commission Literary Arts Fellowship. Her novels have garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and have been featured in Top Reads lists by various notable publications. Cantrell is a two Christy Award winner has also received the Library Association Fiction Award.

Paul
SINOR
Paul Sinor, a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, served two combat tours in Vietnam and held diverse roles, including staff positions with the Secretary of Defense. His final military assignment was as Army Liaison to the Television and Film Industry in Los Angeles, where he advised on films such as Transformers 1-3, I Am Legend, and GI Joe.
An accomplished novelist, Paul has twenty traditionally published books, including two mystery series. The Johnny Morocco series follows a 1950s Atlanta PI, while the Max Maxwell series features a retired Army intelligence officer tackling covert cases. His WWII-era-themed titles include Dancing in the Dark and We’ll Meet Again. His Vietnam series begins with War Stories and Fairy Tales.
Nine of his screenplays have been produced as feature films, including Minutes to Midnight, which earned him a People’s Choice TELLY Award. He holds a BA in Criminology, an MFA in Creative Writing, and has taught screenwriting at the University of West Florida and the University of Washington. A member of MWA and ITW, he is active on social media and regularly speaks at writers’ conferences. His stand-alone novels include Operation Brighteyes and Where There’s Smoke.
