Founder/Publisher/Managing Editor

I started writing urban fantasy after reading Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files and realizing that I would never see an LGBTQIA character treated with respect unless I started writing it. For years I’ve written urban fantasy with gay male leads where they could save the day, save the world, be the hero, and it would get published, but because I wrote gay male leads, they would never be shelved as urban fantasy, but gay romance, or M/M romance.

I started Blackwarren Books because I wanted a publisher where LGBTQIA characters could take center stage without the prerequisite of looking for love first, where I won’t tell an author I’ll take their book if they “tone down the protagonist” or change their gender or sexuality or racial, ethnic and religious identity to make the character more “marketable”. At Blackwarren Books I want LGBTQIA protagonists, not best friends, or sassy sidekicks, or damsels or dudes in distress. I want to publish books that exemplify our maxim:

Be the Hero, Not a Token.

Co-Founder/Allora Public Radio (APR)

Hi! I'm Chris, and I'm married to Tim, and help him in running Blackwarren Books.

I hosted an interview podcast of over 100 episodes where I had the honor of speaking with LGBTQ+ artists and creators from around the world about their backgrounds, lives, and methods, and I'm happy I get to do it again with Allora Public Radio.

I have a background in telecommunications, and I'm a fan of NPR, particularly interviewers like Terry Gross, and developed my interview based on both NPR and Leonard Maltin's Inside the Actors Studio.

Whether I'm cleaning up the audio for Blackwarren Reads or recording for Allora Public Radio, I'm happy I get to furnish a space where LGBTQ+ authors, artists, and creators will be interviewed with respect and professionalism.

Art Director

Hello there, I'm a short, round, queer Puerto Rican chick that draws a lot. I've been an Illustrator since 2004 and Graphic Designer since 2015. Comics, Illustrations and anthropomorphic creatures are my passions. 20+ years of experience in illustration, design, and other visual arts. Worked on projects independently for companies, small business, and the general public. Illustrated over 50 professionally published student workbooks and 2 educational software lines. Currently working freelance projects and other fun stuff! I'm down for any art jam! ;)

My Portfolio

Senior Editor

Hi! I'm Dave. I'm a published fiction author as well as a professional writer and editor. I graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz with both a BA and MA in English. My academic concentration in undergrad was creative writing, while in grad school I focused on Anglo-Saxon and Middle English texts.

I've always been thrilled by character-driven fiction set against a fantastical background, and especially those that focus on crafting authentic-sounding dialogue between those characters . Favorite genres include science-fiction (the harder the better) and horror (especially cosmic horror), both of which are welcome to contain mystery elements.

Editor

I've been going by the name Renard online since high school, and in that time, I've had the pleasure of writing stories for folks as a freelance writer, mainly amongst the furry fandom. Offline however, I have worked in museums as a researcher and spent the past few years as a middle school teacher, grading and editing many, many essays. I have also had my own stories and poems published in a handful of magazines and a self-published novel. If you have seen my work before, you know I specialize in works of adventure, fantasy, and historical fiction, and any manuscript related to those genres is one I would love to edit. I am also glad to edit mystery stories, general fiction, and furry friendly content.

Editor

Hi there! You can call me Kez, transfemme author/editor extraordinaire. I have a BA in English & Literature and a Minor in Creative Writing from Case Western Reserve University, along with being an avid reader my entire life! I’ve stuck my nose in a little bit of everything, though fantasy in all of its forms has to be my favorite. I have a background in play-writing and poetry as well, so strong dialogue and a sense of style in prose are the main things that I look for in stories.

Editor

Hi everyone! I'm Skye, she/her pronouns; I grew up in North Carolina but moved to CNY in 2020 and have been loving the snow!! I dabble in writing fiction, poetry, stageplays, and even games systems sometimes, but my passion is really in editing. I ran a collaborative fiction-writing website for several years, and working alongside writers to make their work the best version of itself is really my favorite part of the process, although I genuinely enjoy all of it, from the grammatical nitty-gritty of copyediting to overall visual layout design. Fantasy is my bread and butter, but I try to read just about everything under the sun!