Featured Guests
Meet the authors joining us for Utah Horror x Romance Day 2026 — three special guests, plus a growing roster of Utah-based horror and romance authors.
Special Guests
Erika T. Wurth
An Indigenous American author specializing in horror and dark fiction, Erika teaches creative writing at Western Illinois University and has been a guest writer at the Institute of American Indian Arts. Her work examines identity, place, grief, memory, and contemporary life through speculative fiction. Her novel White Horse was a New York Times Editors’ Pick, a Good Morning America Buzz Pick, an Indie Next selection, a Target Book of the Month, and a Book of the Month Club pick. She’s also the author of The Haunting of Room 904, and her work has appeared in The Kenyon Review, BuzzFeed, and The Writer’s Chronicle. She was the narrative artist for the Meow Wolf Denver installation.
Kiersten White
Kiersten White is a #1 New York Times bestselling and Bram Stoker Award-winning author who has written dozens of books across multiple age groups, including the And I Darken trilogy, the Sinister Summer series, Hide, Mister Magic, Lucy Undying, The Fox and the Devil, The House of Quiet, and Star Wars: Padawan. She lives in San Diego with her family and pet tortoise.
Sarah Hawley
Sarah Hawley is a USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and romance novels, including A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon, A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch, A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire, and the Blood trilogy (Servant of Earth, Princess of Blood, Warrior of the Shards). She holds an MA in archaeology and has worked on excavations at an Inca site in Chile, a Bronze Age palace in Turkey, and a medieval abbey in England. Outside of writing, she enjoys reading, dancing, and spending time with her two cats.
Local Authors
Utah Horror x Romance Day is proud to spotlight the local horror and romance authors joining us — several with national followings of their own.
Kaela Rivera
Author of The Hungry Forest, published by Bloomsbury.
Instagram: instagram.com/kaelacub · Bluesky: kaelarivera.bsky.social
Bryan Young
Author of BattleTech: Ghosts of Timkovichi and BattleTech: The Dominion Civil War Saga, with a story in Blood in the Sandstone. Published by Catalyst Game Labs and Collective Tales Publishing. Member of the Horror Writers Association, SFWA, Media Tie-In Writers, and League of Utah Writers.
Bluesky/Instagram: @swankmotron · Facebook: BryanYoungFiction
Ali Archer
Author of Dragon Protocol, a YA space opera set on a far-away world with an epic love story — androids, aliens, dragons, an enemy only the dragons can see, and another no one sees coming. Romance, horror, and the intrepid endurance of the human race. Published by Morgan James Publishing. Member of ALLi, The Authors Guild, League of Utah Writers, and Storymakers Guild.
Instagram/Bluesky: @thealicross
Anna del C. Dye
Born in Valparaíso, Chile, Anna is an award-winning author of fantasy, historical tales, YA high fantasy, middle-grade horror, and bilingual children’s tales, with roughly forty books to her name. Currently promoting Court Conspiracy (Royal Romance Series #12) and The Other Santa Series. Member of the League of Utah Writers, ANWA, and the LDS writers’ community.
Facebook: facebook.com/AnnaDelC
Debra Birdwell Winkler
Author of A Murder of Crows & Other Spooky Stories (Aug. 2026, self-published), with a story in the anthology Blood in the Sandstone (Oct. 2026, Collective Tales Publishing). Member of the Authors’ Guild, RWA, League of Utah Writers, and the LUW Romance Chapter.
Social: @DBWinklerWrites
Mary Martinez
An indie/self-published author. The third book of her Wintergreen Village series releases Oct. 14, 2026.
marymartinez.com
Andrew J. Pixton
pen names Willof Stone, Master Mahan
Author of Ghoul: A Horror Novella. The story “The Divine Horror” appears in the anthology Blood in the Sandstone, with additional stories published in anthologies from Collective Tales Publishing and Whisper House Press.
Instagram/Threads: @andrewpixton · Bluesky: @andrew-j-pixton.bsky.social · Facebook: Willof Stone & Master Mahan
HFJ Ballard
While neither horror nor romance is a primary genre, HFJ Ballard has two horror short stories anthologized with Whisper House Press and one forthcoming horror picture book, and is passionate about expanding the genre conversation for young readers. Currently promoting A Body Fell Out of the Sky, a forthcoming self-published picture book, and a story in Doom Scroll (Whisper House Press).
Nathaniel Darkish
Contributor to the Blood in the Sandstone anthology, published by Collective Tales. Member of the Horror Writers Association.
Bluesky/Instagram: @NJDarkish
R. Lynn Hanks
“I write flirty space fantasies (and sometimes other stuff).” Just launched Gamma Raids II, the sequel following best friends Kat and Lee as they grapple with their feelings for each other amid galactic secrets threatening their lives at the academy. Self-published.
Social: @rlynnhanks (everywhere)
Anders Roseberg
pen name
An award-winning children’s book author. Currently promoting Monster Book: The Best Book Ever (self-published).
Facebook & Instagram: @andersroseberg
Keyra K. Allred
Member of the League of Utah Writers Romance Chapter.
Social: @keyrakallred
Elizabeth Suggs
Elizabeth Suggs is the co-owner of the indie publisher Collective Tales Publishing, president of the Utah chapter of the Horror Writers Association, president of the board of Cedar City’s Southern Utah Book Festival, owner of Editing Mee, and is the author of a growing number of award-winning published stories, one of which titled “Into the Dark” part of the Collective Darkness anthology was Amazon Bestseller, and another was selected for second place in the League of Utah Writers’ Quills Short Story Contest—“Technicolor Tears.” She is also a book reviewer (EditingMee.com), popular bookstagrammer, and cosplayer. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s traveling the world or practicing yoga.
Instagram: @ElizabethSuggsAuthor · EditingMee.com
Steve Capone, Jr.
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Whisper House Press
Steve Capone Jr. is a rust-belt-raised neurodivergent writer and editor. He runs the indie publishing house Whisper House Press out of his basement — they’ve worked with over 100 authors in their first two years of operation. You can find Steve’s own short horror fiction in numerous anthologies. Additionally, Capone’s short horror scripts have garnered top awards and nominations at film festivals around the world. Steve is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association, an ACES editor, and Whisper House Press is a proud member of the Independent Book Publishers Association.
linktr.ee/stevecaponejr