Programming
Confirmed Program Participants
Bios
Lou Antonelli has been a newspaper reporter and editor since he was 16. When he was 45, for some unfathomable reason, he started writing speculative fiction, and found out he wasn’t half bad at that, either. Since then (2002) he was been published 38 times the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada in magazines such as Asimov’s Science Fiction, Jim Baen’s Universe, Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine and many others. He is currently the managing editor of the Mount Pleasant (Tx.) Daily Tribune and writes sf each night (ignoring his poor wife Patricia) until the popcorn runs out.
Neal Barrett, Jr. has written somewhere over 50 novels, numerous short stories, articles, and columns. 2008 is his 50th year of publication. He has a lot to say, but promised that he wouldn’t.
Paul Benjamin is a Writer, Editor, Supermodel and video game producer whose Tokyopop manga series include Pantheon High and Star Trek: The Manga. Paul has written Marvel Adventures Hulk and Spider-Man Family for Marvel and has developed comics-to-film projects for Hollywood. He’s edited graphic novels for Humanoids/DC Comics and is writing and producing video games, including The Incredible Hulk DS for Sega. And, of course, everyone in the world is familiar with Paul’s long list of credits as a supermodel. For more info, go to www.thepaulbenjamin.com.
Matthew Bey is a writer living in Austin. He co-edits the fiction page of RevolutionSF.com and the print zine Space Squid.
Jayme Lynn Blaschke's fiction has appeared in Interzone and Writers of the Future, among other places. He’s got new stuff coming out in Electric Velocipede and Ann & Jeff VanderMeer’s Fast Ships, Black Sails pirate anthology, so mark your calendars. He's the former fiction editor of RevolutionSF.com, and is currently the director of communications for Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. A collected volume of his SF-themed interviews, Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak, is available from the University of Nebraska Press. Blaschke lives in New Braunfels and works at Texas State University.
Scott Bobo is best known as one of the two Party Fans who, with Kurt Baty, spent 10 years reviewing parties at the WorldCon. He is a charter member of FACT.
Elizabeth Burton spent her first half-century in Pennsylvania, plans to spend the next one in Texas,and the third one is up for grabs. And yes, she knows that makes three halves. Deal with it. Wrote four books, has all of them out. Wrote four short stories; they were fun. Wrote three erotic romance novellas; they were even more fun. Has reached the age when people chalk up one's errors to one's age and plans to take full advantage of it.
The author of 38 novels, mostly in fantasy and SF, but also regency romance and young adult, Deborah Chester has been published in the US, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Holland, Italy, and the Czech Republic. She wrote The Alien Chronicles for LucasFilm Publishing and also an Earth 2 tie-in novel under the pen name Sean Dalton. Her most recent book is The Pearls from Ace Books. Its sequel, The Crown, will be published in November 2008. She is also a tenured presidential professor at the University of Oklahoma, teaching novel and short story writing. For more information, go to deborahchester.com.
Scott A. Cupp writes weird short fiction. He lives in San Antonio and collects books, music, and movies. His website is www.scottacupp.com. You should read his stuff.
Bradley Denton’s novel Laughin’ Boy has just been published in paperback by Wheatland Press, and his Campbell-Award-winning novel Buddy Holly Is Alive And Well On Ganymede will soon be available free online at www.bradleydenton.net. (The Sturgeon-Award-winning novella “Sergeant Chip” is there, too.) Brad is also the author of the novels Lunatics and Blackburn (now in a new Picador paperback edition) and of the World-Fantasy-Award-winning story collections A Conflagration Artist and The Calvin Coolidge Home For Dead Comedians. He lives in Manchaca, Texas, where he manages the career of Bland Lemon Denton, the World’s Oldest (and Worst) Bluesman.
Jennifer DiCamillo has won over 130 writing awards, and written more than thirty books. Her short sf/ fantasy works can be found in the Amazon Shorts Program, Unbelievable Stories, Taj Mahal Review, and mystery collections: Deadknots and Despicado (not released). She’s most noted for her Carys Weldon paranormals, the Wanton Werewolf and Dark Lord Vampire series, now being re-released by Mojocastle Press. Her first full length SF novel was released April 2008 under her pseudonym. Check out ANGEL B.E.T., a post WWIII story of biochemical control where homosexuality is the norm, PDA’s are acceptable, and a halo can kill you.
Vincent Docherty is an active fan, twice chairing the Worldcon. Born 1961 and growing up in Glasgow, Scotland, he blames the moon-race, Gerry Anderson's Thunderbirds and the works of Olaf Stapledon and Arthur C. Clarke for his early interest in the genre. At 16 he attended his first SF Con and is celebrating his 30th anniversary in fandom this year. A Guest and regular panelist at cons in several countries, he currently resides in The Hague, The Netherlands, and remains an active con-runner including three current Worldcon bids, although he has 'hung up his kilt' in chairing Worldcons!
Dave Duggins has published stories in Cemetery Dance, FEAR in the UK and online at places like Lone Star Stories and Reflection's Edge. He's the editor and publisher of Spacesuits and Sixguns, an online contemporary pulp fiction magazine. Dave recently retired from the Air Force after twenty years, and now works full time as a creativity coach, writer and music teacher. Which is basically like being paid to do stuff he would do even if he wasn't paid. And that's very cool.
Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's worked in offices, banking, radio, and education to support her writing. She's married with a cat and step dog. She likes to spend time with friends and family, movies, and reading. Her two passions are writing and music. Rhonda had over a dozen fiction and non-fiction stories published in various anthologies, magazines, and websites. Check out her website - www.RhondaEudaly.com - for more information.
Mark Finn is an Austin Expatriate, currently living in Vernon, Texas atop an old movie theater. He is the author of Blood & Thunder: the Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, as well as a large number of excellent short stories, essays, articles, and reviews. In addition to his regular gig at the Vernon Plaza Theater, he can be found intermittently on The Cimmerian blog and RevolutionSF.com, holding court or damning with faint praise.
Brad W Foster is an artist/publisher, who happens to have won the Fan Artist Hugo a few times, picked up a Chesley award, and turned a bit of self-publishing started over 25 years ago into the Jabberwocky Graphix publishing empire. Aside from the thousands of bits of fannish artwork he has created, he's had work published in a wide variety of magazines, ranging through Cat Fancy, Gent, Amazing SF Stories, Cricket and more. He had his own comicbook series Mechthings, was the Big Background Artist for Shadowhawk and, of more recent note, he has completed covers for Yard Dog Press and Zumaya Press. Find out more at www.jabberwockygraphix.com
In her childhood days, Kimberly Frost was unaware of copyright laws and regularly pilfered famous characters for her stories. Taking fan fiction to new extremes, she once turned Han Solo into an NFL quarterback who married a supermodel. After many years of writing for fun, she decided to write for fun and profit. In 2007, her literary agent sold a humorous urban fantasy called Would-be Witch (February 2009) and its sequel to the Berkley Publishing Group. Unfortunately, neither Han Solo nor any supermodels appear in the books, but she hopes the characters she created from scratch will entertain readers anyway.
Janice Gelb has wasted many hours on the fannish Internet, participated in numerous APAs, and worked on many conventions, notably running Program Operations at five worldcons, plus serving as Assistant Division Head of Events at ConFrancisco (the 1993 worldcon), and running the Hugo ceremonyat LAcon III (the 1996 worldcon). She was the 1999 DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) North American representative at the Aussiecon 3 worldcon. She liked the country and its inhabitants so much that in 2005, she moved to Melbourne. In the Real World, she is a senior developmental editor at Sun Microsystems.
Mitchell Graham practiced law for 25 years before retiring and obtaining a degree in neuropsychology. His first book, The Fifth Ring became a best seller and was optioned by DreamWorks. He recently switched to legal thriller and his first effort, Majestic Descending was named as one of the year's top ten books. It was also optioned for a major motion picture by Locke-Cherokee Productions.
Bev Hale has written novels, short stories, kid’s lit, comic scripts, gaming modules, and an IndoPak cookbook. Her first novel is a YA quest fantasy. She’s mushed dogs, swum with dolphins, milked a goat, taught English and ESL, learned a little of 7 or 8 languages, been an IRS auditor, hatched and raised baby ducks, trained dogs, been a meeting planner for government agencies, walked volcanos, been Plan B for Authors, studied German, skied(badly), did wallclimbing, snorkeled here and there, learned to cook Indian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean food. She can shoot a gun or a bow, catch a fish, clean it, make a fire, grow food, cook it or can it, paint a picture, crochet, make jewelry ,soap, candles, clean fish tanks, etc. Bev is a generalist, not a specialist.
“For 28 years of the last millennium, I taught English,” Joan Upton Hall says. “ Now a full-time freelance writer and editor, I conduct writing classes and speak to anyone who will listen.” Her manual and articles have helped hundreds of writers, and many newsletters carry her columns. She has published short stories from Roswell, NM to Maine and articles in magazines as diverse as Texas Highways and American Jails. If you think that indicates a split personality, her book credits run from historical nonfiction to the paranormal and urban fantasy. See the covers and read free samples at www.joanuptonhall.com.
A deeply religious man, Rory Harper regularly worships at the altar of the sainted Leo Fender. He possesses half a dozen of St. Fender's sacred relics. Along with Bradley Denton, Steve Gould, Martha Wells, and almost every other Texas writer, he played in the semi-legendary Los Blues Guys blues-rock band, which consistently damaged the hearing of fans at numberless science-fiction conventions during the Nineties. He currently plays lead guitar in the not-yet-semi-legendary Two-Headed Baby blues-rock band. He's had stories published in half of the sf magazines in existence. Along with other writers more famous than he is, he currently contributes cranky essays, music (which can be freely downloaded), and flash fiction to the semi-legendary group blog at www.eatourbrains.com. As is readily deduced from the blog's name, he is a zombie freak. This fall, he will film the music video for his recent song 'Fast Zombie Blues', available at http://eatourbrains.com/EoB/downloads/. Rory is the author of Petrogypsies, which will be re-published by DarkStar Books next year. He's halfway through Insterstellar Petrogypsies, also to be published by DarkStar. Unless it's awful. He owns two cats, but isn't gushy about it. He has two tattoos, which he will show you on request. The first one was done by his only known daughter, Rachael, and it's really cool.
Samantha Henderson’s short fiction and poetry have been published in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Chizine, Helix, Fantasy, and Lone Star Stories. Her novel Heaven’s Bones will be released in September by Wizards of the Coast. She is the treasurer of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
M.K. Hobson’s short fiction has appeared in SCI FICTION, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Black Static (formerly The Third Alternative), ChiZine, Polyphony (5 & 6), Abyss and Apex, Full Unit Hookup, Flytrap, and several other fine publications. She has a blog (mkhobson.livejournal.com) and a Website (www.demimonde.com). Her first novel, The Native Star, is coming soon from Bantam Spectra.
Kenneth Huey trained at Don Ivan Punchatz’s SketchPad Studio, and while laboring in the vinyards of ad agency storyboard work, he’s racked up some interesting credits, including The Book of the SubGenius, Commies From Mars (Last Gasp), Weird Business and Creature Features (Mojo). His art appears in the new movie, God Thinks You’re a Loser. He is currently helping to produce an RTS game, and developing an ambitious Webcomic/graphic novel. He lives in Austin with “Jane, his wife,” and their cats, Didi and Gogo.
Gorg Huff wanted to be a dilettante but couldn’t stick to it. Which left hime as something of a jack of all trades well maybe eight at least a five. The problem with being a jack of all trades and master of none is that for most jobs he's competing with masters of that trade. He knows a little bit about quite a lot of things. But there is generally someone that knows more about any of them. He does think he writes a pretty good story.
Al Jackson started out as a SF fan in Dallas in 1954 with the first SF club in Texas, the Dallas Futurians, which had an adventurous life for 6 years. The DFS held the first SF convention in Texas, in Dallas, August 1958. He also was a member of the Houston Science Fiction Society from some time around 1966….. till forever, ……..after all the HSFS never officially disbanded! He re-founded the University of Texas SF club.. 1970-197?..... During the time when he was getting his PhD in Physics. Been in and around SF fandom (by the by NOT SCI-FI fandom for around 50 years now, an official SF geezer!) He has spent most of his years (from 1966) at the Johnson Space Center, doing all kinds of things from training astronauts during Apollo to computing where space debris will be and go, to assorted engineering. Kind of fulfilling a childhood space cadet's dream! You can see his technical publications here! www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/jackson/
Rocky Kelley is an award winning artist whose paintings have appeared in magazines, galleries, cons, and even the David Letterman Show. Rocky’s awards include the Director’s Award at 2006 World Fantasy Art Show, and Best of Show at Armadillocon 26. Kelley’s works include: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Surrealism...and more. His dark fantasy works are created under the pseudonym of “Ashen Gray.” He is a member of the ASFA and the Central Texas Watercolor Society. Rocky has written his first book, and is currently creating illustrations for that project. His work may be viewed at www.rockykelley.com
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations," Julie Kenner's books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine. Her popular demon-hunting soccer mom fantasy series got off to a bang with Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, and is in development as a feature film with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. The fourth book in the series, Deja Demon, hit shelves in July 2008. Julie lives in Georgetown, Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and several cats.
Once upon a time Katharine Eliska Kimbriel was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New SF/Fantasy Writer. She has since watched four imprints die under her feet and straddled that magic no-man's-land called "too literary to be commercial, too commercial to be literary." In other words, she's ready to try success. Her most recent work is a chapbook called Wings of Morning from Yard Dog Press. It contains a new Alfreda story (the heroine of novels Night Calls and Kindred Rites) and another tale that will be new to many. Katharine's website can be found at http://www.ke-kimbriel.com, and her LiveJournal handle is Alfreda89.
When not playing with books, Rick Klaw produces reviews, articles and short fiction for a variety of venues including The Austin Chronicle, Moving Pictures, RevolutionSF, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Electric Velocipede, Cross Plains Universe,and Steampunk. Klaw's writings were collected in Geek Confidential: Echoes From the 21st Century (MonkeyBrain). Along with Mark London Williams, he writes the graphic novel column “Nexus Graphica” for SF Site. Klaw currently lives in Austin, TX with his wife, an enormous cat, an even bigger dog, and a modest collection of books. He dreams of finding a copy of Zeppelin Stories, June 1929 featuring the mythical Gil Brewer story “Gorilla of the Gasbags”
Alexis Glynn Latner's science fiction novel Hurricane Moon was published by Pyr in 2007. Her stories have appeared in the magazines Analog, Amazing and Sorcerous Signals and in anthologies including Bending the Landscape: Horror and Horrors Beyond 2 - Stories of Strange Creations, and mystery anthologies. From 2004 until 2007 she was the South/Central Regional Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). She lives in Houston, works in the Rice University library, and teaches creative writing through Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies.
Stina Leicht (Stinabat) is a fantasy writer and an Assistant Editor for a small press. She lives in central Texas. When she was small she wanted to grow up to be like Vincent Price. Unfortunately, there are no basements in Texas -- thus, making it difficult to wall up anyone alive under the house. In addition, her cat, Sebastian, being a calico, has refused to dye his fur black. Alas, she'll have to resign herself to going quietly mad while wearing a smoking jacket. Too bad Texas is hot, she doesn't smoke and therefore, doesn't own a smoking jacket.
Tess Mallory is the published author of eight novels, the ninth to be released in 2009 from Penguin-Putnam. Tess lives in the Texas Hill Country, where she writes full-time, teaches writing workshops, and takes care of assorted pets and children. She blogs for Fierce Romance at www.fierceromance.blogspot.com, and writes a sporadic humorous soap opera column for www.myspace.com/superposter . Besides her time travel novels, Tess has written several plays, two musicals, and also many stories for children, published by Highlights for Children magazine. She is a singer/songwriter and wants to be a starship captain when she grows up. Visit her websites at www.sff.net/people/tessmallory and www.TessMalloryBooks.com or at www.myspace.com/tessmallory where you can become her MySpace friend.
Eric Marin is an attorney, publisher/editor, and poet/writer who lives in Austin, Texas. His small press, LSS Press (www.lsspress.com), publishes the webzine, Lone Star Stories (www.lonestarstories.com), and the forthcoming print anthology The Lone Star Stories Reader. Eric’s fiction and poetry has appeared in Abyss & Apex, All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Goblin Fruit, Not One of Us, and other anthologies and ‘zines.
J M McDermott's first novel, Last Dragon, is the first trade paperback of Wizards of the Coast's new Discoveries imprint. He has numerous short fiction and poetry pieces in various magazines, with work forthcoming from Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales Magazine, GUD Magazine and Coyote Wild Magazine.
Joe McKinney is a homicide detective with the San Antonio Police Department and a professional writer working in the horror, science fiction, and mystery genres. He has extensive forensic and disaster mitigation training, and both of these topics figure prominently in his fiction. His first novel was Dead City, Pinnacle Books, 2006. Next up is the sci fi disaster novel Quarantined, coming out in February from Lachesis Books. After that, a collection of three novellas called Peacekeepers, and another horror novel called Inheritance. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and two children. He has a Master’s Degree in Medieval Literature from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
John Moore was raised in Pennsylvania, moved to Texas to study at the University of Houston, and has lived here since. He started writing short stories while he was in college and a mere eight years later had his first professional sale. Since then he's sold a dozen short stories and five novels. His day job as a chemical engineer has taught him one important thing, which is that no one wants to hear about a chemical engineer's day job. He was the Master of Ceremonies for this year's Nebula Awards Banquet and if you weren't there, you missed a good show. He has a terrible memory for names and faces, so if you aren't wearing your badge, he has no idea who you are.
Nancy Jane Moore recently moved back to Austin from Washington, D.C. Her collection, PS Showcase #2: Conscientious Inconsistencies, was recently published by PS Publishing, and her novella, Changeling, is available from Aqueduct Press. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines, most recently on Farrago’s Wainscot and in the anthology Front Lines. She is a member of SFWA and Broad Universe, and blogs on SF/F matters on Ambling Along the Aqueduct.
Chris Nakashima-Brown writes fiction and criticism from his home in Austin, with work forthcoming this year in Fast Forward 2, Spicy Slipstream Stories, and weekly brain bombs on the group blog No Fear of the Future (nofearofthefuture.blogspot.com) (with Jayme Blaschke, Jess Nevins, Alexis Glynn Latner, and Stephen Dedman).
Gloria Oliver lives in Texas with her husband, daughter, and four cats. She is the author of the novels In the Service of Samurai, Vassal of El, Willing Sacrifice, and Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles, all in the Fantasy and YA/Fantasy genres. She also has stories in The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse, Houston: We’ve Got Bubbas, Small Bites, and Fundamentally Challenged anthologies. She is a proud member of both EPIC and Broad Universe. When not busy working with numbers at work, she enjoys reading, writing, watching movies, and Japanese Anime. To find out more, please visit www.gloriaoliver.com
Lawrence Person is a science fiction writer living in Austin, Texas. His most recent story is "Gabe's Globster" in the June Asimov's. His short fiction has also appeared in Analog, Postscripts, Jim Baen's Universe, Fear, and several anthologies, including Cross Plains Universe, The Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction, and The Mammoth Book of Extreme Fantasy, while his non-fiction has appeared in National Review, Reason, Whole Earth Review, Locus Online, The Freeman, The World & I, Science Fiction Eye, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and Slashdot.org. He is also the once-and-future editor of the Hugo-nominated SF critical magazine Nova Express.
John Picacio has illustrated covers for books by Harlan Ellison, Michael Moorcock, Robert Silverberg, Frederik Pohl, Jeffrey Ford, Charles Stross, Robert Heinlein, Joe R. Lansdale, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., and many, many more. He’s a 2008 finalist for the Hugo Award (Best Professional Artist) and the Locus Award (Best Artist). He won the Locus Award last year and has previously won two International Horror Guild Awards, the Chesley Award, and the much-coveted World Fantasy Award - all in the Artist category. He lives in San Antonio, Texas with his wife Traci. For more info and pictures, please visit his website, www.johnpicacio.com.
Publishing software executive by day, freelance writer amd editor by night, Alan J. Porter blames it all on Tom Swift, Stanley Kubrick and Adam West. In the space of a few short months in the late 60’s he borrowed Tom Swift And The Cosmic Astronauts from the local library, not longer after he watched 2001 at the movies, and thanks to Adam West and the Batman TV show discovered comic books! Since then he's managed to publish a few books; and had magazine articles on comics, music and the movies published in Europe, Australia , Canada and the US . 2008 saw work for Titan Books, BenBella Books, Greenwood World Publishing and TwoMorrows; as well as the online manga GOD SHOP from Tokyopop, and the upcoming JAMES BOND: A history of the illustrated 007 from Hermes Press.
Doug Potter works as a commercial artist and illustrator. Projects in the comic book field include his own comics for Kitchen Sink Press, Denizens of Deep City, Chips and Vanilla, and Messozoic. He illustrated The Land Before Time 3-D Adventure comic book, based on the continuing animated video series and written by Steven Utley. His work has appeared in Slow Death comics and the Marvel Comics Wild Cards series, and a number of titles for Mojo Press. Check out VROOM...The Off-Road Adventure of Wiley and Paul by Sue True and Doug Potter on Amazon.
His book illustration also includes the award winning two-volume collection of Bradley Denton’s short stories, The Calvin Coolidge Home For Dead Comedians and A Conflagration Artist, and books written by Joe Lansdale, Something Lumber This Way Comes and Duck Footed. Currently he's working on illustrating a children's book by the Lansdales, Joe Keith and Karen for Subterranean Press.
Doug Potter continues to do editorial cartooning for The Austin Chronicle where his work has appeared for nearly twenty years. Pick up a copy while you're in town. It's free!
His work can be found on the internet at the Austin Chronicle site, at RevolutionSF, at the Lambiek Comiclopedia and at his own web site at http://www.geocities.com/dougiec3.
Lon Prater is an active duty Naval officer by day, writer of odd little tales by night. His short fiction has appeared in the Stoker winning anthology Borderlands 5, Writers of the Future XXI, Origins Award nominee Frontier Cthulhu and is upcoming in Talebones. He is an avid Texas Hold ‘Em player, stunt kite flyer, and rejectomancer. Find out more at www.lonprater.com
In a writing career that has lasted more than thirty years (so far), James Reasoner has written numerous novels and short stories in a variety of genres. Best known for his hardboiled crime novels Texas Wind and Dust Devils, Reasoner has also co-authored a fantasy novel, Lyron’s Lament, and several fantasy short stories published in anthologies and small press magazines. He has also written a short story featuring Kolchak, the Night Stalker, that appeared in the anthology The Kolchak Casebook, published by Moonstone Books.
Jessica Reisman grew up on the east coast of the U.S., was a teenager on the west coast, and now lives in Austin, Texas. She dropped out of high school and now has a master's degree. She's been a writer, animal lover, devoted reader, and movie aficionado since she was a wee child. Her first novel came out in 2004; she has stories in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies. Find out more at www.storyrain.com
Chris Roberson’s novels include Here, There & Everywhere, The Voyage of Night Shining White, Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, X-Men: The Return, Set the Seas on Fire, The Dragon’s Nine Sons, and the forthcoming End of the Century, Iron Jaw and Hummingbird, and Three Unbroken. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as Asimov’s, Interzone, Postscripts, and Subterranean, and in anthologies such as Live Without a Net, FutureShocks, and Forbidden Planets. Along with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies, and he is the editor of anthology Adventure Vol. 1. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award three times—once each for writing, publishing, and editing—twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and three times for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Short Form (winning in 2004 with his story “O One”). Chris and Allison live in Austin, Texas with their daughter Georgia. Visit him online at www.chrisroberson.net.
Selina Rosen is insane; there is no other explanation for the things she does or what she writes. Her hobbies include gardening, carpentry, fencing, sculpting, and drinking large amounts of beer. Her short fiction has appeared in many publications including Sword & Sorceress, Thieves World, Turn the Other Chick and HelixOnLine. Her novels include the Queen of Denial series, the Chains series, Strange Robby, Bad Lands, and Sword Masters. She created the Bubbas of the Apocalypse universe for Yard Dog Press.
Josh Rountree's short fiction has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including
Realms of Fantasy, Polyphony 6 and Lone Star Stories. His first short fiction collection Can't Buy Me
Faded Love is now available from Wheatland Press. Visit www.joshrountree.com for the full scoop.
Tony Salvaggio has been an almost life-long fan of sci-fi,anime, manga. He has worked as an artist, animator, and designer in the video games industry. He is currently co-writing "Psy-Comm" (an original graphic novel series for Tokyopop) and the alternate history story "Clockwerx" (for Humanoids Publishing). As a freelance journalist, Tony has penned the column "Calling Manga Island" for www.comicbookresources.com, and many articles about the comics and video game industry. When he isn't playing with his band Deserts of Mars, he hosts movies and events related to martial arts, sci-fi, humor and horror from the East in Austin.
Patrice Sarath's debut contemporary fantasy novel, Gordath Wood, makes its con premier at Armadillocon 30. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Weird Tales, Realms of Fantasy, Black Gate, and several other magazines and anthologies. Her short story "A Prayer for Captain La Hire," was included in Year's Best Fantasy 3. Patrice Sarath has been writing and editing professionally for more than 20 years. Find out more, including short stories and excerpts, at her website www.patricesarath.com
Cynthia Leitich Smith is the acclaimed YA author of Tantalize (2007), and its companions, Eternal (2009) and Blessed (forthcoming), all Gothic fantasies from Candlewick Press. She also has written several YA short stories as well as books for younger readers. Tantalize was a Borders Original Voices title, honored at the 2007 National Book Festival, and The Horn Book called it "an intoxicating romantic thriller." A graphic novel adaptation of Tantalize is in the works. Cynthia may be found on the Web at www.cynthialeitichsmith.com. She makes her home in Austin, Texas; with her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.
Debbie Lynn Smith has spent most of her career writing and producing such television shows as Touched By An Angel, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Murder, She Wrote. In addition to her television credits, Debbie has published short stories in the Dark Delicacies, Dark Passions: Hot Blood 13 and Summer Chills anthologies. Her latest story can be found in Shimmer. She also has a story forthcoming in the Dark Distortions anthology. She is currently working on a short animated film that she adapted from her short story in Shimmer, as well as a paranormal mystery novel, The Dead Of Winters. Visit her website at dlynnsmith.com. Debbie is a graduate of Clarion West and has an MFA in creative writing from the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast.
William Browning Spencer is a novelist and short story writer. His last 3 books received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly. He won the International Horror Critics Award for Best Novel (Résumé With Monsters) and he has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award. His short story, “The Tenth Muse,” has been selected for The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror and is presently a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award. His most recent novel, tentatively entitled My Sister Natalie: Snake Goddess of the Amazon, will be published by Subterranean Press in 2009.
S. Andrew Swann is the pen name of Steven Swiniarski. He’s married and lives in the Greater Cleveland area where he has lived all of his adult life. He has a background in mechanical engineering and— besides writing— works as a Database Manager for one of the largest private child services agencies in the Cleveland area. He has published 17 novels with DAW books over the past 15 years, which include science fiction, fantasy, and horror. He has recently completed Prophets, the first volume in the sequel to his epic space opera Hostile Takeover, due out from DAW in March 2009. He has also begun writing the Wolfbreed series for Bantam, historical fantasy which will begin seeing print in Summer 2009 with the first volume, Lilly’s Song.
Patrick Swenson edits the magazine Talebones and runs Fairwood Press. Book titles include first novels by James Van Pelt and Jay Lake, a reprint of Alexei Panshin's Nebula-award winning novel Rite of Passage, and collections by William F. Nolan, Louise Marley, Paul Melko and Ken Rand. Available this summer is James Glass's novel The Viper of Portello and the anthology Exquisite Corpuscle, edited by Frank Wu and Jay Lake. Patrick, a high school English teacher, is a graduate of Clarion West. He runs a writer retreat at Lake Quinault, Washington. Information: http://www.rainforestwritersvillage.com.
Mikal Trimm writes stuff. Short stuff ('cause he can't be bothered to keep the demons away long enough to write a book, say.) Lots of it sells, much to his amazement. Recent and forthcoming stories may be found in such venues as Polyphony 7, Realms Of Fantasy, Postscripts, Interfictions, Black Gate, Weird Tales, The Greatest Short Fiction Ever!... (Okay, that last one was a lie.he's very ashamed...) You can find an occasional useless post from him at http://mtrimm1.livejournal.com/
Thomas M. Wagner (Martin to his friends) has been a lot of things — illustrator, film industry professional, cartoonist — but in SF/fantasy circles, he is best known as the uncompromising book reviewer whose website, SF Reviews.net, gets over 12,000 page views and around 3,500 visitors a day. His reviews are known for their detail, passion, wit, and willingness to defy popular opinion and tradition (for the website’s 500th review, Wagner demolished Robert A. Heinlein’s classic Stranger in a Strange Land), and they have been quoted on book covers from all major publishers. One Kentucky school district has asked to include his review of Ender’s Game in their English curriculum. In his film efforts, Wagner has spent the summer of 2008 continuing his feature documentary, Bloody Work, and directing a music video.
Austin writer Howard Waldrop has won the Nebula and World Fantasy awards. His forthcoming books include Other Worlds, Better Lives: Selected Longer Fiction vol. II (Old Earth Books), The Moone World (Wheatland Press), and The Search for Tom Purdue (Subterranean Press).
Lynn Ward's work has been published in published in anthologies and small press. She recently sold her first novel. She's a speech pathologist in her day job, an avid reader and student of martial arts. Her favorite hobbies are causing headaches with her puns and killing publishing houses. Approach at your own risk
Don Webb has been in Year’s Best Horror, Year’s Best Fantasy, Year’s Best Science Fiction, teaches SF and Horror writing on-line for UCLA, buys way too many books, thinks he is very funny and teaches Romeo and Juilet to gang members every year. He makes a good Italian chicken soup and loves those flattened souvenir pennies. His wife Guiniviere once managed the Microsoft Art collection. His two favorite drugs are both legal – Kratom and his hot tub. He is amazingly shy.
Steven E. Wedel is a life-long Oklahoman best known for The Werewolf Saga books: Murdered by Human Wolves, Shara, Ulrik and Call to the Hunt. His other books include Darkscapes and Seven Days in Benevolence. His upcoming releases include Little Graveyard on the Prairie, coming in 2009 from Bad Moon Books. Steve has published short fiction, how-to articles for writers, literary criticism, and has taught courses in horror writing. He’s held many jobs, but didn’t like any of them as much as his current one as a high school English teacher.
Martha Wells is the author of seven fantasy novels, including The Element of Fire and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer. Her most recent novels are a fantasy trilogy: The Wizard Hunters, The Ships of Air, and The Gate of Gods, published by HarperCollins Eos. She has had short stories in Realms of Fantasy, Black Gate, Lone Star Stories, and the anthologies Elemental and The Year's Best Fantasy #7, and essays in the nonfiction anthologies Farscape Forever and Mapping the World of Harry Potter. She also has two Stargate Atlantis novels Reliquary and Entanglement. Her books have been published in eight languages.
Mark London Williams is an American author, playwright, and journalist. He is the creator of the young adult time travel series Danger Boy. Currently, Williams is a columnist for the Hollywood trade paper Below the Line covering film industry politics and entertainment. Williams has also written short fiction and comic books. He worked as a video game script doctor, and has had several plays produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and London. He lives in Los Angeles.
Steve Wilson is co-fiction editor of RevolutionSF.com and co-editor-in-general of the print zine Space Squid. As an adherent of leisure journalism, he's written on geeky subjects for The New York Times, GQ, Salon and others, such as the Reading the Slayer anthology of essays about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. His fiction has appeared in Opium Magazine, aRude and Parageography.