Guest of Honor: Gregory Benford

(GregoryBenford.com) (Wikipedia) Dr. Gregory Benford is our Guest of Honor for 2008. Along with his distinguished careers in science and science fiction, Dr. Benford was one of the organizers of the July 1958 "Southwestercon 6", the first science fiction convention in Texas.

Music Guest of Honor: Three Weird Sisters

(ThreeWeirdSisters.com) (Wikipedia) (Pegasus Awards) Three Weird Sisters are our Music Guest of Honor for 2008. Brenda Sutton, Teresa Powell and Dr. Mary Crowell make up the current performing incarnation of the band. (Sponsored in part by Panda*Monium.)

Artist Guest of Honor: Real Musgrave

(Wikipedia) Real Musgrave is our Artist Guest of Honor for 2008. He is best known for creating "Pocket Dragons". A complete bio is coming soon.

Fen Guest of Honor: Gerald Burton

Gerald Burton is our Fen Guest of Honor for 2008. His nickname is "Cap'n Coconut." He is a former chair of the original SoonerCon. Photo by Charles Richardson.

Toastmaster: Howard Waldrop

(Wikipedia) Howard Waldrop is our Toastmaster for 2008. He is best known for his novels Them Bones and The Texas-Israel War: 1999. A complete bio is coming soon.

Special Guest: Jay Lake

(JLake.com) (Wikipedia) Jay Lake is our Special Guest for 2008 and he will be conducting our 2008 Writers Workshop. Jay lives in Portland, Oregon, where he works on numerous writing and editing projects. His 2008 novels are Escapement from Tor Books and Madness of Flowers from Night Shade Books, while his short fiction appears regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay is a winner of the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. He was recently profiled by John Scalzi.

ORAC Special Guest: Doris Egan

(Doris Egan at sff.net) (LiveJournal) (Wikipedia) Doris Egan is a Special Guest for 2008 sponsored by the Organized Rebel Adventurers Club, a long-running Dallas/Fort Worth science fiction fan club. Doris is a novelist, short story author, essayist, and writer of television and feature scripts. She claims she can do all this because she "has no personal life to speak of." Among her many current projects is serving as co-executive producer on the hit television series House.

Aelle Ables:

(Aelle Ables, Writer) Aelle is a full-time speculative fiction writer who lives in North Texas. She has published articles, short fiction and is now working on a YA fantasy novel.

David Lee Anderson:

(DavidLeeAnderson.com - Robot City) David Lee is a science fiction and fantasy illustrator. He's shown paintings at more than 440 convention art shows since 1980 and been the Artist Guest of Honor for twenty-two conventions. He's worked for TOR Books, BAEN Books, Tomorrow SF Magazine, Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine, Mayfair Games, Bethesda Softworks, Yard Dog Books, and independent publishers and record labels. Five of his paintings will be used in the opening credits for Gentlemen Broncos from Fox Searchlight Pictures in Spring 2009. He was President of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists 1990-92.

C. Dean Andersson:

(CDeanAndersson.com) Dean is the author of short stories such as the 2007 HWA Stoker Award Finalist "The Death Wagon Rolls on By" and eleven published novels including I Am Dracula, Raw Pain Max, and Warrior Witch. His latest story, "Mama Strangelove's Remedies for Afterlife Disorders, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mother Death," appears in the latest issue of The Brutarian, along with an illustration he rendered for the story and an interview. Dean has degrees in astrophysics, art, and business, is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and has worked diverse jobs including highway maintenance, Hollywood television graphics, freelance artist, musician, computer programmer, and technical writer. Saturday only.

Kimm Antell:

(KimAntell.com) (AstroKimm.com) Kimm is a writer and cartoonist from Austin. Her cartoons were published in The Daily Texan and What's the Point?, a small, indie magazine in the 1990s. She is also featured on the ceiling of Funny Papers in Dobie Mall. She has had 5 plays produced in Austin, but she also writes screenplays and short fiction. She could write long fiction if she would ever learn how to stop playing computer games, but then hell would freeze over and the devil isn't known to be a good ice skater. She also writes a blog about the Houston Astros. You can visit her online or you can go into the art show and give her a pity bid on one of her pieces to help her pay for gas to get back home.

Margene Bahm:

(ConQuesT 40) Margene Bahm started in fandom in the 1970s working on a number of Kansas City-area conventions. Her first Worldcon was Denvention 2 in 1981. She joined the Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS) in 1992. She has held several positions for ConQuesT, the regional convention sponsored by KaCSFFS each year, including Co-Chairman for 1995, 2000 and 2009. Margene organized the Kansas City bids to host the Worldcon in 2006 (lost to L.A. by 76 votes) and 2009 (lost to Montreal) but is currently retired from the Worldcon bidding game. In her free time, Margene teaches Irish Ceilidh Dance and is Co-Director of the Clanna Eireanne Irish Dancers, an award winning Kansas City area dance troupe.

Paul Black:

(PaulBlackBooks.com) (Wikipedia) Paul is an award-winning author whose first novel, The Tels, won Writer's Digest's 2005 Book of the Year for Genre Fiction, along with being finalist in the Independent Publisher's Book Awards. His second book, Soulware, was also a finalist in the Independent Publisher's Book Awards, along with taking second place in ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award for science fiction. His third book, Nexus Point, came out in October of 2007 and won the gold medal in ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award for science fiction and won second place for science fiction at the 2007 New York City Book Festival.

Brobdingnagian Bards:

(TheBards.net) The Brobdingnagian Bards (pronounced brAHb'ding-näg-EE-en) hail from Austin, Texas. They take traditional Irish and Scottish folk songs and mix it up with Lord of the Rings music to create a unique brand of Celtic Filk. Andrew McKee and Marc Gunn met on campus at the University of Texas where they learned that real men wear kilts. Issuing their first CD in 1999, Marked By Great Size, the Bards have released eight albums including their number one (at CDBaby) hit Brobdingnagian Fairy Tales in 2005. Ask them about the "taste test."

Rachel Caine:

(RachelCaine.com) (Wikipedia) Rachel is the author of the popular "Weather Warden" series, the young adult "Morganville Vampires" series, and several other best-selling novels. Saturday and Sunday only.

Lillian Stewart Carl:

(LillianStewartCarl.com) (Wikipedia) Lillian Stewart Carl has had fifteen novels and twenty-five short stories published (so far). The most recent novel is Blackness Tower, a romantic fantasy from Juno Books. The three books in her Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron mystery series will be followed by a fourth, The Charm Stone, in November 2009. All but one of her older books are still in print (and she will be glad to sell you a copy of Lucifer's Crown). Lillian is also the co-editor (with John Helfers) of The Vorkosigan Companion, a non-fiction book about the science fiction work of Lois McMaster Bujold. It's due out in December of 2008 from Baen/Simon & Schuster. Saturday only.

J. Kathleen Cheney:

(JKathleenCheney.com) J. Kathleen Cheney is a former teacher and has taught mathematics ranging from 7th grade to Calculus. Her works have been published or forthcoming in Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future XXIV, and Fantasy Magazine, among others.

Rosemary Clement-Moore:

(RosemaryClementMoore.com) Rosemary loves dogs and dinosaurs, military history, Battlestar Galactica, and Guitar Hero.  She can tap dance, sail a boat, make balloon animals,  and she once sang the "Star Spangled Banner" at a Texas Rangers game. Now she mostly writes smart and funny supernatural mysteries for young adults of all ages. The "Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil" series includes Prom Dates from Hell, Hell Week, and Highway to Hell (which comes out next year).

Cat Conrad:

(ArtistsInResidence.com) Cat is an award-winning artist, a past member of both the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists and the International Association of Astronomical Artists, and a resident of Texas. Cat's work has been published on the covers of several books and both the program and schedule guides for FenCon in 2004. Saturday and Sunday only.

R. L. Copple:

(R. L. Copple Online) R. L. Copple has done many things in life, from cooking at Wendy's to pastoring a church. Currently he lives as a bookkeeper by day, but at night, he writes. He's been published in several on-line/print magazines and his Infinite Realities is available at Amazon.com. He's a father of three and husband of one.

Scott A. Cupp:

(ScottACupp.com) Scott is a short story writer from San Antonio. He writes weird stuff that frequently features the West, Texas, horny toads, talking animals (particularly cows), magic, and other weird stuff. His most recent book is Cross Plains Universe: Texans Celebrate Robert E. Howard which was a finalist for Best Anthology at the most recent World Fantasy Convention. His most recent short piece is "Johnny Cannabis and Tony the Purple {Paisley (Sometimes) Colored White Lab Rat" which is available online at Revolution SF. He will be the toastmaster at ArmadilloCon XXXI next August.

Brad Denton:

(BradleyDenton.net) (Wikipedia) Bradley’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 his website. (The Sturgeon Award-winning novella "Sergeant Chip" is there, too.)  Brad is also the author of the novels Lunatics and Blackburn and of the World Fantasy Award-winning story collections A Conflagration Artist and The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians.  Brad lives in Manchaca, Texas, with his spouse Barbara and their dogs Lucy, Linus, and Tillie. His hobbies include eating barbecue, drinking Shiner, and playing the blues.

Chris Donahue:

Chris is an author whose recent sales include "The Cure" coming out in Robots Beyond from Permuted Press and "Children of Ba-Seku" now out in "Speculative Realms" from Lulu Press.

Linda Donahue:

(LindaLDonahue.com) Linda, a self-described Air Force brat, grew up traveling. Her background includes a degree in computer science, with an electrical engineering minor, and a degree in Russian studies along with a Masters in earth science education. She has a commercial instrument pilot's certification as well as a SCUBA certification. When she's not writing, she teaches tai chi and belly dance. You can find Linda's stories in numerous anthologies from Yard Dog Press.

Carole Nelson Douglas:

(Official Site) (Wikipedia) Carole Nelson Douglas, author of 54 novels in multiple genres, left a reporter/editor job for the St. Paul Pioneer Press to move to Texas to write fiction full-time. Dancing with Werewolves returned Carole to fantasy after 15 years of exclusively writing mystery fiction, although fantasy elements appear in her Midnight Louie, PI, cat detective series, and her Irene Adler Sherlockian suspense novels. Cat in a Red Hot Rage and Cat in Sapphire Slipper are the newest Midnight Louie titles. Brimstone Kiss, the second in the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator series arrives this October with Vampire Sunrise due next March. Last Spring she received a "Pioneer of the Publishing Industry" award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine for her genre-blending and bending work. She has been short-listed for or won more than 50 writing awards. Carole and husband Sam Douglas are kept as pets in Fort Worth by several formerly homeless quadrupeds. Saturday only.

David Duggins:

(Silvern Studios) Dave has published stories in Cemetery Dance, FEAR, 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 freelance writer. Which is basically like being paid to do stuff he would do even if he wasn't paid. And that's very cool.

Pat Elrod:

(VampWriter.com) (Wikipedia) P.N., or "Pat" to her friends, is one of the top writers of vampire fiction on Earth. Her Jack Fleming and Jonathan Barrett novels have been published around the world in several languages. Pat edited the best-selling anthologies My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon The twelfth Jack Fleming novel is due out next year.

Rhonda Eudaly:

(RhondaEudaly.com) Rhonda lives in Texas where she's worked in various industries to support her writing habit and her cat, Dixon. She is married with a step dog. Her passions are writing and music (mutually exclusive), and she enjoys reading, movies, friends, and family. She loves all things writing related including unusual writing instruments and notebooks. Her smiley face collection has recently been slowly forced out by some persistent and precocious Rubber Ducks.

Randy Farran:

Randy Farran was born in Kansas, but was abandoned in the wild as a small child and raised by the local fauna. He might have gone down in history like Mowgli or Tarzan, but the aforementioned wilderness was Turkey Mountain, Tulsa. In his late teens, he discovered SF fandom and has been deeply involved (read; mired) in it ever since. He currently resides in Tulsa with his wife Barbara and three cartoon dogs and has resigned himself to the fact that he will likely go down in history as "that guy who wrote The Dragon Song and drew a lot of penguins."

Melanie Fletcher:

(Hoosier Red's Joint) Melanie is an expatriate Chicagoan who currently lives in North Dallas with her husband the Bodacious Brit and their two fabulous furbags JJ and Jordan. JJ is a cat who thinks he's a dog, and Jordan is a cat who thinks he's Anna Nicole Smith. At night, Melanie turns into SF Writer Girl, and has the SFWA membership card to prove it. Her short story "The Padre, the Rabbi and the Devil His Own Self" is on the 2007 Nebula Preliminary Ballot, and her novella "Sabre Dance" forms half of Double Dog #4 from Yard Dog Press. She is currently finishing her YA fantasy novel Undercover Godmother and editing her SF novel White Knight, Queen Alice. In related activities, she fences with the SFWA Musketeers and performs with the Feral Chihuahuas in Yard Dog Road Shows at SF conventions around the country.

Chris Fulbright:

(FulbrightAndHawkes.com) Chris is a journalist turned technical writer, with short stories published in magazines and anthologies of the science fiction, fantasy, and horror varieties. He is the recipient of the Horror Writers Association's 2007 Richard Laymon President's Award, and is married to writer Angeline Hawkes, with whom he collaborates on occasion. Their recent books include Then Comes the Child and Blood Coven, and his story collection When It Rains was released last year by Doorways Publications. His horror novel Of Wolf and Man will be released in Canada in 2009.

Mary Gearhart-Gray:

Mary Gearhart-Gray is a freelance editor and a writer. This West Virginia native also produces the "Buzz Blaster, Space Entrepreneur" radio-style plays. She lives in Garland with her husband David.

Generic Radio Workshop:

(Generic Radio Workshop) The Generic Radio Workshop has been around longer than the Golden Age of Radio lasted -- a little over twenty years. They started with the Texas Broadcast Museum (later the National Museum of Communications) and have performed at festivals, conventions, and yes, on the radio. They use as much vintage equipment as they can lay their hands on for that "old time radio" look and feel. Plus, many of their sound effects devices are hand-built, following period designs. While they have made a few concessions to modern technology, at the core they follow the practices of radio's Golden Age.

Ghost of a Rose:

Ghost of a Rose is a duo whose debut performance was at FenCon IV. Since then they have performed at SCA events, the Oasis coffeehouse, open mic at the Mucky Duck Irish Pub, at a Beltane celebration, and in concert at ApolloCon 2008. Dene Foye has been playing guitar and singing folk music since 1967, only discovering Filk at Fencon II, when asked to help out Teresa Patterson in her concert there, joining with her again the following year. Sundara is from the Chicago Area originally, where she participated in filk circles at conventions and SCA events.

David L. Gray:

(DavidLGray.com) David writes science fiction radio plays and short stories. His "Buzz Blaster, Space Entrepreneur" radio plays have been read at Dallas science fiction conventions and at MidSouthCon in Memphis. He specializes in near-future military science fiction. "Collateral Damage", his first published short story, appeared in the May 15, 2007 issue of "Sentinel Science Fiction". When he is not writing science fiction, he is a technical writer in the aerospace industry.

Bev Hale:

(BevHale.com) Bev is a collector--of people, stories, recipes, dictionaries, books. She has written novels, short stories, a children's book, comic scripts, gaming modules, and even an IndoPak cookbook. Her recent sales include "Keeping It In the Family" in Volume 5 of Big Ole Face Full Of Monster and "Pest Control" in Yard Dog Press' Houston: We've Got Bubbas!. Bev has mushed dogs in Alaska, swum with dolphins in the Bahamas, milked a goat in Arkansas, taught English and ESL in Oklahoma, learned at least a little of 7 or 8 languages, been an insurance rater and an IRS auditor, hatched and raised baby ducks, skied (badly), snorkeled, learned to cook and cater. Bev says she writes because she has to, because she wants to, because she needs to.

Teddy Harvia:

(Teddy Harvia's official site) (Wikipedia) Teddy is a four-time winner of the Hugo for Best Fan Artist. A native of Oklahoma, he grew up in the Dallas area and he lives here today. While Teddy fills his days as a technical writer his art has filled the pages of hundreds of publications.

Candace "Candy" Havens:

(CandaceHavens.com) Candy is a journalist, entertainment writer, and best-selling author. Her books include Charmed & Dangerous, Charmed & Ready, Charmed & Deadly, Like A Charm, and The Demon King and I. She is a winner of the Barbara Wilson award. Candy is also an entertainment critic for 96.3 KSCS in D/FW and the managing editor of FYI Television Features. Friday and Sunday only.

Angeline Hawkes:

(AngelineHawkes.com) Angeline received a B.A. from Texas A&M-Commerce and was named 2007 Alumni Ambassador for the Literature Department. She has publication credits dating from 1981. Angeline's collection The Commandments received a 2006 Bram Stoker Award nomination. Her newest fantasy series is "Tales of the Barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar." She co-wrote Blood Coven with her husband and FenCon guest, Christopher Fulbright. Her story, “In Waters Black the Lost Ones Sleep”, appears in Chaosium’s anthology, Frontier Cthulhu. Angeline has seen the publication of her novels, novellas, fiction in 30+ anthologies, several collections, and short fiction in various publications. She is a member of HWA and REHupa.

Dr. Albert Jackson:

(LPI) (History) Dr. Jackson was one of the organizers of the July 1958 "Southwestercon 6", the first science fiction convention in Texas. He has spent a fair portion of the intervening years working for NASA in Houston.

Rocky Kelley:

(RockyKelley.com) Rocky Kelley is an award winning artist and muralist whose paintings have appeared in magazines, galleries, art shows, Neiman Marcos Christmas Catalogs, and even the David Letterman Show. Rocky's numerous awards include the Director's Award at the 2006 World Fantasy Art Show. Kelley works in many genres, including: Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Surrealism...and more. Many of his dark fantasy works are created under the pseudonym of “Ashen Gray”. Rocky has written his first book, and is currently creating illustrations for that project.

William Ledbetter:

(WilliamLedbetter.com) William lives near Dallas with his wife, two of his three kids and way too many animals. His science fiction and fantasy short stories have been published by Jim Baen's Universe, Fantasist Enterprises for their "Sails & Sorcery" anthology, and several Yard Dog Press anthologies including Houston, We've Got Bubbas. He also leads a Dallas writers group called Future Classics and is an active member of the local National Space Society chapter.

Julia Mandala:

Julia Mandala is a reformed lawyer who does penance by writing fantasy and science fiction. Her works appear in The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse, Dracula's Lawyer, International House of Bubbas, Houston, We've Got Bubbas, and Flush Fiction from Yard Dog Press, and Best of the Bubbas from BenBella Books. Future releases include The Four Redheads: Apocalypse Now! and House of Doors from Yard Dog Press. She is a scuba diver, underwater photographer and belly dancer.

A. Lee Martinez:

(ALeeMartinez.com) (Wikipedia) Lee is the author of five fantasy/sf novels. He has recieved two featured reviews in Publisher's Weekly, an Alex Award, a Best Book for Young Adults award, and a spot on the Amelia Bloomer List for Feminist Fiction for Young Adults. Three of his novels have been optioned for films. Currently, he spends his time writing, playing games of all types, and listing all the honors he's been lucky enough to achieve up to this point. His two biggest goals at this stage are to write the script for Darkwing Duck: The Motion Picture and to beat that (censored) "Dragonforce" song on Guitar Hero 3. (Photo by Scott Edelman.)

J.M. McDermott:

(J.M. McDermott's blog) J.M. is a darned fine writer.

Clifford McMurray:

Clifford 'Kip' McMurray is a former Executive Vice President of the National Space Society. He presently serves on the NSS Policy Committee, and has chaired two NSS pro-space citizens' lobbying events in Washington D.C. A freelance press correspondent at the first space shuttle launch, he has published numerous articles and op-ed pieces on national space policy, and will discuss same at the drop of any hat or glove. He is a Fulbright scholar, and was a Search and Rescue pilot for Civil Air Patrol before time and money shortages left him (temporarily, he trusts) grounded. He still expects to purchase a ticket to space, and plans to book a Zero-G training flight with his wife Claire within the next year.

Margaret Middleton:

(M-Cubed Ventures) Margaret is a quintessential Baby Boomer, a Valparaiso alumna, and a 20-year veteran of the Arkansas Highway Department. She and her husband Morris have one daughter, Sharon Amanda. Oh, and she's been a filker for more than thirty years and a convention-going SF fan for a wee bit longer than that. In fact, Margaret is a 1997 inductee into the Filk Hall of Fame.

Muff Musgrave:

Muff says, "I met Real when we were both 18 and married when we were 19—40 years ago! We always wanted to work together and have done so for almost 30 years—and are still both alive to tell the tale. We have had an amazing journey through life—going from living on $200.00 a month to being guests in European castles where dinner costs considerably more than that. We are currently retired and enjoying life in our 4 story home...working on our own projects and fostering kittens for the Humane Society."

Gloria Oliver:

(GloriaOliver.com) Gloria lives in Texas with her husband, daughter, and three cats. She is the author of fantasy novels In the Service of Samurai, Vassal of El, and Willing Sacrifice. Two of the novels were finalists in the EPPIES. Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles is due for release in 2008 and Price of Mercy around 2010. 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.

Kim Paffenroth:

(Gospel of the Living Dead) (Wikipedia) Dr. Paffenroth is a professor of religious studies at Iona College, and the author of several books on the Bible and theology. He grew up in New York, Virginia, and New Mexico, then attended St. John's College, Annapolis, MD (BA, 1988), Harvard Divinity School (MTS, 1990), and the University of Notre Dame (PhD, 1995). Starting in 2006, he turned his analysis towards horror films and literature. He has written Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth - WINNER, 2006 Bram Stoker Award; Dying to Live: A Novel of Life among the Undead; Orpheus and the Pearl; and Dying to Live: Life Sentence.

Stephen Patrick:

Stephen is an award-winning writer living in the Dallas area with his wife and daughters. He works in law enforcement during the day, while pursuing his writing after hours. As a child growing up in Kentucky, he wrote mostly for himself, exploring the world of superheroes and super-soldiers in backyard worlds of his own creation. As a teenager and young adult, he moved to Texas and his literary tastes and personal experiences changed. With his roots dug deep in the heart of Texas, Stephen's now draws upon his eclectic influences, exploring whatever stories his muse finds for him. His short stories have been published in several genres, including horror, sci-fi and mystery.

K. Hutson Price:

(KHP at GooglePages) Born in Texas and educated on both coasts, K. Hutson Price did time as a government contractor, recruiter, used car salesmen, and currently flings information at prepubescent individuals as a 5th grade teacher in a local public school. Price is the LETS (Law Enforcement Teaching Students) liaison for the Mesquite Independent School District and a member of the Texas Defensive Shooters club. So far these facts remain mutually exclusive. Price's writing is influenced by Joss Whedon's every word, World of Warcraft, the insane things students pull at school, and almost anything that Yard Dog Press throws out there.

Dusty Rainbolt:

(Dusty Rainbolt) Dusty Rainbolt is an award-winning cat writer, according to her answering machine. She recently stopped writing on her cats because they move around too much. In 2007 her book Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits won the Muse Medallion from the Cat Writers' Association. Her humorous science fiction novel All the Marbles won a certificate of excellence from the Cat Writers. She's also the author of the cat care books Cat Wrangling Made Easy: Maintaining Peace & Sanity in Your Multicat Home plus Kittens For Dummies for the famous "Dummies" series. She's co-author of The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse. She writes the monthly feline advice columns, "Dear Hobbes" and Ask Einstein. In her real job, Dusty is the product editor for Catnip. She also freelances for Cat Fancy and anyone else whose checks don't bounce. Saturday only.

Nina Romberg:

(JaneArcher.com) Nina Romberg (aka Jane Archer) is the bestselling author of twenty internationally published books such as Shadow Walkers, Out of the West (optioned for a television movie), and Texas Indian Myths and Legends. A new short story appears in Tales Told at Midnight Along the Rio Grande. She is an editor and ghost writer for a national book publisher. As a hypnotherapist, she also works with other writers.

Rie Sheridan:

(riewriter.com) Rie's poetry has appeared in Mythic Circle, Dreams of Decadence, Aberrant Dreams, Electric Wine, and Tapestry. Her stories have been published in The Eternal Night, ShadowKeep, and Verge ezines, as well as on the EOTU and Planet Relish websites. She stories in anthologies from Double Dragon Publishing and Mundania Press. Her most popular works to date are the "Adventures of Bruce and Roxanne," humorous horror shorts. Her most recent release is the romantic fantasy Sidhe Moved Through the Faire from Midnight Showcase. Rie lives in Texas with her husband Newell and three cats, all spoiled rotten.

Libby Smith Singleton:

(Tandra.com) Libby Libby Smith Singleton first started attending conventions in 1982 as a 17-year-old intent on being a published writer. Her stories have appeared in Caliber Comic's Negative Burn and Dominique: Protect and Serve, Hanthercraft Publications' "Tandra" and "Dragonroc" universe comics and website, and Shanda Fantasy Art's Atomic Mouse. She is also a two-time winner of the Little Rock Free Press' Literary Contest. Besides writing, she is also a stage actor in the Little Rock area, including two times with The Weekend Theater productions of The Rocky Horror Show. By day, she is an administrative assistant for the state of Arkansas. She lives in Little Rock with her three cats.

Amy Sisson:

(AmySisson.com) Amy Sisson is a writer, book reviewer, academic librarian, crazy cat lady, and graduate of the Clarion West writers workshop. Most recently, her fiction has appeared in The Sky's the Limit, a 20th anniversary celebration of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Stories in her "Unlikely Patron Saints" series have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and Irregular Quarterly.

Casey Sledge:

Casey has been filking since before he knew what it was. That was 20 years ago and he's still doing it. His songs have been sung by Ravens, Hawke of the Bedlam Bards, and played (during sound check) at a Worldcon. He is the singer/songwriter half of the Celtic/folk/filk band October Country in the DFW area.

Caroline Spector:

(CarolineSpector.com) (EatOurBrains.com) Caroline Spector was an Associate Editor for Amazing Magazine. She also edited many role-playing game modules and wrote three computer game hint books. Then she decided to branch out and write fiction. Her novels Scars, Little Treasures, and Worlds Without End have appeared in French and German, and Scars and Worlds Without End are available in English. Her story "Metagames" appeared in the latest Wild Cards book, Inside Straight. Her story "Woulda Coulda, Shoulda" will be in Busted Flush due out in December. She lives in Texas with her husband, noted game designer, Warren Spector.

Kathryn Sullivan:

(KathrynSullivan.com) Kathryn writes young adult fantasy and science fiction. Her first book, The Crystal Throne, won the 2002 EPPIE for best Fantasy, and her second, Agents & Adepts, won the 2003 Dream Realm Award for Best Anthology. The sequel, Talking to Trees, was released in January 2006, also by Amber Quill Press. Her short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies. Kathryn lives in Winona, Minnesota, where the river bluffs double as cliffsides on alien planets or the deep mysterious forests in a magical world. She is not, however, an astronaut. She is owned by two birds, a Moluccan cockatoo and a Jenday conure.

Bill Sutton:

(Bill Sutton's Pile of BS) Bill is a talented filker, an occasional columnist for The Danedelion Report, and a fan of the Indiana Pacers. In his spare time between performances he enjoys Irish music, homebrew beer, and trains. Bill spends 9 to 5 chilling at Hewlett-Packard, working at a desk with a funny little placard, paying the bills with his mad technology skills. Oh, and he is a two-time Pegasus winner, eleven-time Pegasus nominee, and the husband of Brenda Sutton of Three Weird Sisters.

Shanna Swendson:

(ShannaSwendson.com) (Wikipedia) Shanna Swendson writes humorous contemporary fantasy novels for Ballantine Books and spends way too much time discussing SF television on the Internet, which she has managed to turn into "work" by contributing to anthologies from BenBella Books. She will likely have at least one panel giggle fit during the con. There may be a prize for the person who manages to set off the giggle fit.

Mel Tatum:

(Mel Tatum at SFF.net) Mel is a writer, artist and filker. Her short stories can be found in the Yard Dog Press anthologies International House of Bubbas; Houston, We've Got Bubbas; and Flush Fiction. By day, she is a law professor specializing in Indian law and by night (at least on convention weekends), she can usually be found in a filk room near you.

Lee Thomas :

(LeeThomasAuthor.com) Lee is the award-winning author of Stained, Parish Damned, Damage, and The Dust of Wonderland. In addition to numerous magazines, his short fiction has appeared in the anthologies A Walk on the Darkside (Roc), Unspeakable Horror (Dark Scribe), Wilde Stories 2008: The Best of the Year's Gay Speculative Fiction (Lethe Press), and Inferno (Tor), among others. He has won both the Bram Stoker Award and the Lambda Literary Award.

Thomas M. Wagner:

(SFReviews.net) 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 behind SF Reviews.net. His reviews are known for their detail, passion, wit, and willingness to defy popular opinion and tradition. In his film efforts, Wagner has spent the summer of 2008 continuing his feature documentary, Bloody Work, and directing a music video.