Jonathan "Jon" Black, Austin :: published his debut novel Bel Nemeton (18th Wall Productions), which follows two narratives — the wizard Merlin’s adventures around the world after Camelot’s fall and a 21^st century linguist/treasure hunter’s attempts to locate Merlin’s treasure by following in his footsteps. “I’m proud to say that a lot of what I learned at UNT (in history, political science, anthropology and even languages) makes its way into the story,” he says. Jon has published several short stories, including Gabriel’s Trumpet, which was voted best short story of 2018 in the Preditors & Editors readers’ poll. His favorite UNT memory is “spreading out a blanket and picnic lunch on the lawn behind the music practice buildings on a warm spring day ... ostensibly to study but really just losing myself in the music floating out from the open windows.”