Welcome to the Read For Pixels “Meet The Authors” section where you can learn more about the 15 award-winning bestselling authors who will be taking part in the 12th annual Fall Edition of the Read For Pixels campaign. They are listed in alphabetical order below according to the events that they will be participating in:
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The Read For Pixels Fall Edition 2026 Author Reading+Q&A Sessions
Angela Sylvaine
ANGELA SYLVAINE is a Bram Stoker Award nominated author and self-proclaimed cheerful goth. Details about her novels, Frost Bite and Cold Snap, her novella, Chopping Spree, and her short story collection, The Dead Spot, as well as her dozens of short fiction and poetry publications can be found at https://angelasylvaine.com/.
Angela will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 6.00pm PT, on September 5th, 2026 (Saturday).
You can follow Angela on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/authorangelasylvaine/ and on Instagram at @angela_sylvaine
Clay McLeod Chapman
CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN writes books, comic books, YA and middle grade books, podcasts, as well as for film and television. Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is his most recent novel. You can find him at https://www.claymcleodchapman.com/.
Clay will be doing a live reading and Q&A for his Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 8.30pm ET, on September 6th, 2026 (Sunday).
You can follow Clay on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/claymcleodchapman/ and on Instagram at @claymcleod.
Eliza Chan
ELIZA CHAN is a Scottish-born speculative fiction author who writes about East Asian mythology, British folklore and reclaiming the dragon lady. Her debut fantasy novel Fathomfolk, published in 2024, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Set in a semi-submerged city, revolution is brewing between the humans and the sea folk who live in its waters. Tideborn completed the duology in 2025. Her next novel, Harbour of Hungry Ghosts, a historical fantasy set in mid-Opium War era Hong Kong, is forthcoming in July 2026.
Eliza will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 3.30pm UK Time / 10.30am ET, on September 13th, 2026 (Sunday).
You can follow Eliza on Instagram at @elizachanwrites and learn more about her at https://www.elizachan.co.uk/
Keith Rosson
KEITH ROSSON is the author of the novels Coffin Moon, Fever House, The Devil by Name, Smoke City, Road Seven, and The Mercy of the Tide, as well as the Shirley Jackson Award–winning story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. Crone is his newest novel, out Sept 29th from Penguin Random House. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Keith will be doing a live reading and Q&A for his Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 6.00pm -T, on September 18th, 2026 (Friday).
You can follow Keith on Instagram at @rossonkeith and learn more about him at https://www.keithrosson.com/
Rachel Howzell Hall
RACHEL HOWZELL HALL is the New York Times and USA Today-bestselling author of sixteen novels, including the bestselling The Cruel Dawn, Fog and Fury, and The Last One, a Good Morning America Book Club selection. She is also the author of bestselling novels, including What Never Happened, We Lie Here, And Now She’s Gone and These Toxic Things. Rachel is a two-time finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
Rachel will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 6.00pm PT, on September 27th, 2026 (Sunday).
You can follow Rachel on Instagram at @rhowzellhall and learn more about her at https://www.rachelhowzell.com/
Susan Elia MacNeal
SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL is the New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope mysteries, Mother Daughter Traitor Spy, and the upcoming stand-alone novel, Last Mission to Paris, to be published in Winter 2027. MacNeal won the Barry Award and an AudioFile Earphones award, and has been nominated for the Edgar, Macavity, Agatha, Left Coast Crime, Dilys, Thriller, and Nero awards. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and son.
Susan will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 8.30pm ET, on September 12th, 2026 (Saturday).
You can follow learn more about Susan at https://susaneliamacneal.com/
Sarah Read
SARAH READ is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, Out of Water, Root Rot & Other Grim Tales, and The Atropine Tree. She lives with her family and cats in the frozen north of Wisconsin, where she works as a reference librarian.
Sarah will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 8.30pm ET, on September 20th, 2026 (Sunday).
You can follow Sarah on Instagram at @inkwellmonster and learn more about her at https://www.authorsarahread.com/
Tamika Thompson
TAMIKA THOMPSON is author of The Curse at Hester Gardens. A former journalist and producer, she is also author of Next Generation Indie Book Awards Horror Winner Unshod, Cackling, and Naked. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she hosts her own blog and newsletter, Tamika Talks Terror.
Tamika will be doing a live reading and Q&A for her Read for Pixels YouTube Session at 6.00pm PT, on September 12th, 2026 (Friday).
You can follow Tamika on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tamikathompsonauthor/ and on Instagram at @tamikadthompson.
The Read For Pixels Fall Edition Panel Sessions 2026
The Pixel Project is also proud to announce that we will be holding 3 special author panel sessions live on YouTube in September 2026 as part of the 12th annual Fall Edition of the Read For Pixels campaign. Please see below for further details and mark your calendars!
Mean Girls Get Things Done: The Power of the Unlikeable Female Character to Defy Sexism, Misogyny, and Violence Against Women in YA Fiction
In our 27th Read For Pixels livestream session, “ Mean Girls Get Things Done: The Power of the Unlikeable Female Character to Defy Sexism, Misogyny, and Violence Against Women in YA Fiction”, acclaimed Young Adult authors Kendare Blake, Padma Venkatraman and Romina Garner will be discussing how unlikeable female characters can help address sexism, misogyny, and violence against women in both YA fiction and real-life situations that teen girls experience. They will also be answering questions live from the audience about this topic and their books.
The session will be held live on YouTube at 8.30pm ET, September 4th, 2026 (Friday).
Kendare Blake
KENDARE BLAKE is the New York Times bestselling author of the YA fantasy Three Dark Crowns. She has written several other novels and short stories, including Anna Dressed in Blood, the Goddess War series and more. She currently lives in Washington with her husband and their many pets.
You can follow Kendare on Instagram at @kendareblake and learn more about her at https://www.kendareblake.com/
Padma Venkatraman
PADMA VENKATRAMAN is the internationally acclaimed author of The Bridge Home (Global Read Aloud; Walter Award winner); Faraway Family (August, 2026), Born Behind Bars, Safe Harbor, A Time To Dance, Climbing the Stairs and other award-winning titles. Connect with her https://theauthorvillage.com/presenters/padma-venkatraman/.
You can follow Padma on Instagram at @venkatraman.padma and learn more about her at https://padmavenkatraman.com/
Romina Garber
ROMINA GARBER is a New York Times and international bestselling author whose books include The Last Vampire, Castle of the Cursed, Lobizona, Cazadora, & the ZODIAC quartet. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and raised in Miami, Florida, Romina landed her first writing gig as a teen—College She Wrote, a weekly Sunday column for the Miami Herald that was later picked up for national syndication—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a Virgo to the core.
You can follow Romina on Instagram at @rominagarber and learn more about her at https://rominagarber.com/
Holding Out For a Hero: The Role of Positive Heroes and Healthy Masculinities for Combatting Sexism, Misogyny, and Violence Against Women in Speculative Fiction
In our 28h Read For Pixels YouTube Livestream session Panel Session, ““Holding Out For A Hero: The Role of Positive Heroes and Healthy Masculinities for Combatting Sexism, Misogyny, and Violence Against Women in Speculative Fiction”, acclaimed Speculative Fiction authors Milton J. Davis, Sylvain Neuvel, and Zig Zag Claybourne will be discussing how positive male heroes and healthy masculinities in speculative fiction can catalyse conversations about sexism, misogyny, and violence against women in culture and society. They will also be answering questions live from the audience about this topic and their books.
The session will be held live on YouTube at 8.30pm ET, September 19th, 2026 (Saturday).
Milton J. Davis
MILTON J. DAVIS is an acclaimed Black speculative fiction author and the founder of MVmedia, LLC, a publishing company dedicated to producing science fiction, fantasy, and sword-and-soul narratives that highlight African and African Diaspora cultures. In 2022, Davis was honored with the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing his significant contributions to Black speculative fiction. In 2024, he received the ConCarolinas Polaris Award, and the DeepSouth Con Phoenix Award for his contributions to Southern fandom.
You can follow Milton on Instagram at @obadoro and learn more about him at https://www.miltonjdavis.com/
Sylvain Neuvel
SYLVAIN NEUVEL dropped out of high school at age 15. Along the way, he has been a journalist, worked in soil decontamination, sold ice cream in California, and furniture across Canada. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago. He writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course). His debut, Sleeping Giants, was described by NPR as “one of the most promising series kickoffs in recent memory.”
You can follow Sylvain on Instagram at @sylvanneuvel and learn more about him at https://neuvel.net/
Zig Zag Claybourne
ZIG ZAG CLAYBOURNE is the author of the acclaimed Jetstreams Universe series. Most recently he has completed two books (Breath Warmth & Dream and Amnandi Sails) in a planned fantasy trilogy. In addition to being a Kresge Foundation Literary Fellow, Zig is a frequent speaker at libraries, conventions, and other learning institutions.
You can follow Zig Zag on Instagram at @zzclaybourne and learn more about him at https://zzclaybourne.com/
Unveiling Violence with Verse: Writing Poetry to Break the Silence Around Violence Against Women
In our 29th Read For Pixels livestream session, , “Unveiling Violence with Verse: Writing Poetry to Break the Silence Around Violence Against Women”, acclaimed Horror authors and poets Grace R. Reynolds, Lauren Elise Daniels, and Mercedes M. Yardley.will be discussing how poets can portray violence against women in poetry in ways that can catalyse conversations about and commentary on the importance of stopping sexism, misogyny, and violence against women. They will also be answering questions live from the audience about this topic and their books and poetry.
The session will be held live on YouTube at 8.30pm ET, September 26th, 2026 (Saturday).
Grace R. Reynolds
GRACE R. REYNOLDS is an American speculative fiction writer. She was raised in New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University. Having lived in seven states, she currently calls Marylnd “home”, where she writes dark fiction and poetry. In addition to her short fiction, she is the author of Lady of the House and two other collections of poetry. These include The Lies We Weave, which was nominated for the SFPA Elgin Awards, and Midnight Blue.
You can follow Grace on Instagram at @gravereynolds and learn more about her at www.gravereynolds.com
Lauren Elise Daniels
LAUREN ELISE DANIELS is an American author and editor living in Australia. She is a 2x Bram Stoker Award® and 3x Australasian Shadows nominee, a 4x Johnno Award nominee for her service in the writing community, and a Shirley Jackson, Aurealis, Ditmar Awards finalist. She’s edited 150+ published titles and directs Brisbane Writers Workshop.
You can follow Lauren on Instagram at @lauren_elise_daniels
Mercedes M. Yardley
MERCEDES M. YARDLEY is a whimsical dark fantasist. She is the author of numerous works including Darling, the Stabby Award-winning Apocalyptic Montessa and Nuclear Lulu: A Tale of Atomic Love, Pretty Little Dead Girls, Detritus in Love, and Nameless. She is a three-time Bram Stoker Award winner for Little Dead Red, Love is a Crematorium, and Fracture. Mercedes lives and works in Las Vegas. You can find her at mercedesmyardley.com.
You can follow Mercedes on Instagram at @mercedesmy and learn more about her at www.mercedesmyardley.com