Shadow Lab: A Blackstone Publishing Anthology

Brendan Deneen, a former Scott Rudin Productions, Miramax/Dimension, and Macmillan Publishing exec, joined Blackstone in 2021 as an editor and launched the company’s in-house film/TV division. Deneen has set up Blackstone IP with Amazon Studios, Netflix, Paramount, NBC/Universal, Lionsgate, AMC, Legendary, Amblin, Imagine, and Skydance, among many others. As an author, Deneen has had fifteen books published, including The Island of Misfit Toys, Green Arrow: Stranded, Morbius: Blood Ties, Guardians of the Galaxy: Annihilation, Flash Gordon: The Mercy Wars, Alien: Uncivil War, and Night Night, Groot.

Nicholas Sansbury Smith is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than forty novels with two million copies sold. Before his writing career, he served at Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, a background that inspired many of his story concepts. A two-time Ironman triathlete, he enjoys running, biking, and hiking. Nicholas also loves traveling, especially to his cabin in Northern Minnesota where he weaves his tales. He lives in Iowa with his wonderful wife and their son and daughter.

Ed Cho is the writer and co-creator of Little Guardians, a fantasy adventure graphic novel series published by Scout Comics. In 2002, he graduated from the University of Illinois with a BA in creative writing and a minor in film studies. From 2007 to 2011, Ed worked on a comic strip about his cats called Al and Scout. He is an active member of IWG (Indy Webcomics Group), and his story “Skeletons in the Elevator” was featured in their 2010 anthology entitled Welcome to Indiana. In addition to writing stories, Ed plays guitar in the Shake Ups, the Resounding Maybes, and the Threepios. He is the author of the fiction podcast audio drama Ignore City, which was nominated for six New Jersey Web Fest awards in 2022. He currently resides in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife and two daughters.

Rebecca Webb is currently writing an original comedy feature with Iliza Shlesinger entitled Barely Regal; a comic book adaptation of Devilina for Atlas Comics / Paramount; Lake Como, a rom-com for Working Title; and Multiple Choice, a YA romance for WattPad Studios. Other projects in active development include a musical biopic with Star Thrower; Cinnamon & Gunpowder, based on the novel by Eli Brown, which Karen Gillan (Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy) will star in and produce alongside Riva Marker; and Divorce Party, which Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films is producing. On the TV side, she wrote Paradise Lost, currently in development with Blake Lively’s B for Effort, and is cowriting Sacred Lamb for New Regency along with Nick Cuse. The duo is also developing a horror feature. A Bostonian at heart, Rebecca is now based in Brooklyn.

Tom Radford grew up in the New Forest in Southern England and went on to study geography at the University of Glasgow. Moving to London, he developed a comedic YouTube channel called Haddock News featuring satirical puppet sketches, which was short-listed at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal. Moving to Singapore, Tom became a creative director at a production agency for which he still freelances. He also runs his own social media channel called @EatTheCountry, which has almost 350,000 followers.

Nick Herbert was born in Guam and spent his childhood traveling between there and the continental United States and Australia. While visiting family in Australia, his grandfather got him into creating his own stories, and he hasn’t stopped since. He studied geography and business at the University of Florida and has a master’s in screenwriting from Florida State. He worked as an office drone before becoming a national park ranger. He has since moved to LA to pursue writing full-time and is back to working as an office drone to pay the bills.

Marie Hoy-Kenny attended the University of Toronto, where she earned her honors bachelor of arts in English and professional writing and communication. Her work has been published in several literary magazines, including trampset, Cosmonauts Avenue, and FlashBack Fiction. The Girls from Hush Cabin is her debut novel.

Brian Francis Slattery is the author of four novels: Spaceman Blues: A Love Song, Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six after the Collapse of the United States of America, Lost Everything—which won the Philip K. Dick Award in 2012—and The Family Hightower. He was also on the writing team for Bookburners, a serial fiction project headed by Max Gladstone. He has published short fiction in Glimmer Train, Interfictions, The Revelator, the anthology Welcome to Dystopia, and The Sunday Morning Transport, among others.

Gary Tiedemann is a Florida and New York-based narrator, but learned how to act in Chicago's improv, sketch-comedy, and theater scene. He came to audiobook narration after voicing countless commercials and videos over a twenty-year voice-over career. Gary has also appeared in hundreds of improv and sketch performances at Chicago's Annoyance Theatre, iO, The Second City, and in dozens of theater roles as a cofounder of The New Colony Theatre. When Gary is not in a booth, he is probably outside wondering if there is time to go camping.

Tim Lounibos is a longtime film/TV actor whose credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation, JAG, The West Wing, Bosch, and NCIS. Tim's voice has been described as rich, soothing, expressive, gritty, and honest. He loves bringing conflicted heroes, misunderstood characters, wise elders, and sinister antagonists to life. His favorite genres include fantasy/sci-fi, crime, mystery/thriller, YA, horror, self-help, and biography. When not acting, Tim enjoys playing board games, solving escape rooms, and laughing and hanging with family and friends.

Soneela Nankani is a classically trained Brooklyn-based actress who holds an MFA from Columbia University. She has performed at many prestigious theaters and is an ensemble member of the award-winning Sojourn Theatre. She has also worked in film and television and has narrated over sixty audiobooks.

Smart, smooth, and multifaceted, Zura Johnson is a narrator, artist, and Lego enthusiast. Zura began her journey toward the world of storytelling at the age of five, when she memorized the entirety of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. She proceeded to recite them in their entirety to her family on a road trip... at which time her exasperated parents enrolled her in theater classes. Zura received her BS in theater performance, with a minor in Russian language and culture from the University of Evansville. She continued on to receive her MFA from The Old Globe Advanced Training Program/University of San Diego. After graduation she signed with her first voice-over agency in NYC, Arcieri & Associates. Shortly after that, she moved to the Philadelphia area, where she continued to perform on stage, and she began to book local and regional voice-over work. Zura's voice-over career took off after her family was transferred to Singapore for her husband's work. She worked with numerous studios in Singapore, recording projects for local and international clients from China to Australia. Some of the highlights for Zura were her extensive work with SAP, recording her first NatGeo documentary for NatGeo Asia. Zura has always been a storyteller. And throughout her training, she has focused a great deal of energy on her vocal work. As she began her journey with books on tape, narrating audiobooks feels like coming home. When Zura is not recording audiobooks, her greatest loves are traveling, making her kids laugh, and pen and ink drawing.

January LaVoy has narrated the Sweet Valley Confidential series for Macmillan Audio, as well as The Snow Angel by Glenn Beck and Dreams of the Dead by Perri O’Shaughnessy.

Natalie Naudus is one of the most beloved audiobook narrators working today and now author of her debut novel, Gay the Pray Away.

Kevin Kenerly, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, earned a BA at Olivet College. A longtime member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he has acted in more than twenty seasons, playing dozens of roles.