Fort Collins Book Fest - Neurodivergence in Writing

In this panel, authors Riley Odell (Divergent Realms: Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories About Neurodivergence) and Kendra Merritt (Unmasked) share their unique experiences of writing from a neurodivergent perspective. While discussing their novels, they will explore how they incorporate their own neurodivergent experiences into their work, as well as how these identities shape their storytelling, character development, and narrative style. This session includes a brief audience Q&A. 

This event is brought to you in collaboration with Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. Get a free ticket via the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery website. Getting a ticket in advance is highly encouraged. 

Book sales and signing to follow courtesy of The Crowded Bookshelf.

Fort Collins Book Fest combines the community’s passion for the literary arts and our unique cultural heritage in a celebration of literature, literacy, and social conversation for all ages. For more Fort Collins Book Fest events, visit focobookfest.org.

About the Panelists

Riley Odell is an autistic writer and neurodiversity advocate. He writes horror, bizarro, weird fiction, and stories about autism. His work has been featured on The NoSleep Podcast and Tales to Terrify, and his debut novella, My Weird Nightmare Baby, was published by Planet Bizarro Press in 2023. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with his wife Jamie and their two pet children, a dog and a rabbit.

Books have been Kendra Merritt's escape for as long as she can remember. She used to hide fantasy novels behind her government textbook in high school, and she wrote most of her first novel during a semester of college algebra. Older and wiser now (but just as nerdy) she writes fantasy and science fiction with characters who have disabilities. If she's not writing, she's reading, and if she's not reading, she's playing video games. She lives in Denver with her very tall spouse, their book loving progeny, and a lazy black monster masquerading as a service dog.