An Academy Award¿winning filmmaker, drummer, DJ, producer, director, culinary entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and co-founder of the Roots, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is the unmistakable heartbeat of Philadelphia's most influential hip-hop group. He is the musical director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where the Roots serves as the house band. Questlove made his directorial debut with the Academy Award¿winning feature documentary Summer of Soul. He has written multiple books, including the New York Times bestsellers Mo' Meta Blues, Creative Quest, Music Is History, and his first children's book, The Rhythm of Time. He is the publisher of AUWA Books, an imprint of MCD / Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

S.A. Cosby is a New York Times national best-selling and award-winning author from Southeastern Virginia. His books include MY DARKEST PRAYER, Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner BLACKTOP WASTELAND, and New York Times best sellers and Edgar Award nominees RAZORBLADE TEARS and ALL THE SINNERS BLEED. His short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines.