Mindy Hung (“Hitting the Small Time”) is a freelance writer and editor from Canada. Her articles and essays have appeared in Salon and the New York Times, and her short fiction has been published in Normal Words and Grain. She lives in New York City with her husband. Despite efforts at mastering the piano, she has never been a prodigy

Holly Welker (“Forever Your Girl”) went to school for a very long time, accruing a BA in creative writing and an MFA in poetry from the University of Arizona, as well as an MFA in nonfiction writing and a PhD in English literature from the University of Iowa. Her poetry, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in the New York Times, Seventeen, Best American Essays, and Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. She’s currently looking for a publisher for her memoir about her relationships with gay Mormon men—think Angels in America meets Will and Grace. Her interests include textiles, feminism, pop music, melted cheese, and not completely destroying the planet. She lives in Utah.

Courtney Carliss Young (“Color Commentary”) is originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, but is now a certified New Yorker. She is currently completing two books, the first of which is titled Color Me Color Struck: How Colorism Marginalizes Women of Color in Popular Culture, for which she serves as editor. The second book, a collection of essays titled From Madea to Michelle: Images of Black Women in the Media, will be published by the Feminist Press in June 2010. She is a commentator and writer of both fiction and popular culture criticism; her work has appeared in The Nation, the Daily Beast, the Grio, the Root, The Huffington Post, and Popmatters.com. She is a graduate of both Spelman College and New York University, and also a graduate of the Progressive Women’s Voices Program at the Women’s Media Center in New York. She blogs at thethirtymilewoman.wordpress.com.

Rita Flórez (“Status Foe”) is a Missouri-based freelance writer and copyeditor. Her writing has appeared in Rangefinder and GOOD, and on VenusZine.com. When Rita isn’t playing with her dogs, Puppy and Mama, while secretly sneaking them scraps off the table, she’s cooking, talking on the phone, and obsessing over scenes from Dollhouse and all things postapocalyptic.

Kim Herbst (Illustrator, “Status Foe”)is a freelance illustrator who has lived in New Jersey, Baltimore, and Brooklyn. She currently resides in San Francisco. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, and has had work featured in magazines, children’s books, websites, and video games. She’s also half Chinese and grew up with a pair of stone lion-fu-dogs in her living room. You can find more of her work at www.kimherbst.com.