Dr. Michele Tracy Berger is a professor, an award-winning writer, a creativity coach and a pug-lover. Her main love is writing speculative fiction, though she also is known to write poetry and creative nonfiction, too. At the age of six, Michele’s mother turned a walk-in closet into creative space just for her daughter. That closet became a portal and gateway to self-expression. Michele pretended that Will Robinson, a character on the television show Lost in Space was her brother and that she fought alongside Lindsay Wagner who played The Bionic Woman. And, she went on many other adventures. From that age on, Michele never doubted the power of the imagination. In 2004, Michele launched The Creative Tickle®, a coaching practice that utilizes her fun and accessible approach to creativity, specializing in helping writers. In 2020, her science fiction novella, "Reenu-You" about a mysterious virus transmitted through a hair care product billed as a natural hair relaxer, was published by Falstaff Books. Much of her work explores psychological horror, especially through issues of race and gender. She runs an award-winning blog called ‘The Practice of Creativity’ and was a recent columnist for The Chatham County Line. Her collection of speculative stories is forthcoming from Aunt Lute Books in summer 2024.