About the Author

Kelly Link is the author of four short story collections:Get in Trouble,a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction,Pretty Monsters, Magic for Beginners, and Stranger Things Happen.She lives with her husband and daughter in Northampton,Massachusetts.

Cat Rambo lives, writes, and teaches atop a hill in the Pacific Northwest. Her 200+ fiction publications include stories in Asimov's, Clarkesworld Magazine, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. She is an Endeavour, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award nominee. Her second novel, Hearts of Tabat, appears in early 2017 from Wordfire Press. She is the current President of the Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers of America. For more about her, as well as links to her fiction, see www.kittywumpus.net

Carrie Vaughn is best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty, who hosts a talk radio show for the supernaturally disadvantaged, the fourteenth installment of which is Kitty Saves the World. She's written several other contemporary fantasy and young adult novels, as well as upwards of 80 short stories. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop. An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado.Visit her at ww.carrievaughn.com.

Seanan McGuire watches too much television, which does not explain how she also writes three books a year (as two different people, no less - she's also Mira Grant), dozens of short stories, and endless blog posts. It has been posited that she may be a Time Lady herself, or possibly an alien pod plant. Both seem equally likely. Seanan has been nominated for a variety of genre awards, and won the 2011 Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

Lavie Tidhar is the author of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize winning and Premio Roma nominee A Man Lies Dreaming (2014), the World Fantasy Award winning Osama (2011) and of the critically-acclaimed The Violent Century (2013). His latest novel is Central Station (2016). He is the author of many other novels, novellas and short stories.

Sarah Pinsker is the author of the 2015 Nebula Award winning novelette "Our Lady of the Open Road." Her novelette "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" was the 2014 Sturgeon Award winner and a 2013 Nebula finalist. Her fiction has been published in magazines including Asimov's, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Uncanny, among others, and numerous anthologies. Her stories have been translated into Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian, and Galician. She is also a singer/songwriter with three albums on various independent labels and a fourth forthcoming. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her wife and dog. She can be found online at sarahpinsker.com and twitter.com/sarahpinsker.

Tricia Reeks lives in the bear-infested mountains of Asheville, North Carolina with her mountaineer husband and her two ferocious French Bulldogs. She is the founder of Meerkat Press and the editor of Love Hurts: A Speculative Fiction Anthology.

Kyle Richardson lives in the suburban wilds of Canada with his encouraging wife Michelle, their rambunctious son Kai, and a staircase that Kyle seems to be constantly tumbling down. He writes about shape-shifters, superheroes, and the occasional clockwork beast, moonlights as an editor at Meerkat Press, and has been working on his first novel for so long now, his wife has resorted to ultimatums. He made his short-fiction debut in Love Hurts: A Speculative Fiction Anthology and has since sold stories to Daily Science Fiction and his enthusiastic mother, at exorbitant rates.

Reviews

Reeks (Love Hurts, 2015, etc.) and debut editor Richardson assemble a series of tales centered on superheroesâ constant struggles with saving the world and maintaining secret identities. . . .A momentous, readable collection, its sole downside being that there areonly20 superhero stories. -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Presenting a full range of strong, articulate, varied voices, distinctive troubled characters, and thought-provoking narratives,Behind the Maskstands out as a mighty collection of supremely imaginative and innovative tales. -- Colorado Review - Nicholas Litchfield

The variety of approaches to the collections theme is impressive. The characters may have amazing abilities, but their problems and challenges frequently remain in the realm of the human. -- Register Guard | Brian Juenemann

Reeks and Richardson have pulled together a treasure trove of 20 stories . . . exploring the lives of superheroes when they're not saving the world. . . . There is nary a miss in this diverse and thoughtful collection, which will have readers considering what it means to be human. -- Publisher's Weekly

Verdict: Fans of superhero fiction will find that these imaginative stories, with their original perspectives, make for a thoroughly worthwhile compilation. -- Library Journal | Jennifer Funk

4.5/5 Stars - "Masterfully-written, this compilation lets us peek inside these people's ordinary lives, and shows us that they may not be as different as we think. . . .Absolutely recommend it!" - - Inky Reviews

"In this world where cynicism and noir are popular, I feel that superheroes are the antidote. I found that hopeful vision in those particular stories of Behind The Mask which makes me glad that I read them." - - Shomeret: The Masked Reviewer