FenCon VIII / DeepSouthCon 49 Archive - Guest and Program Participants - Gail Carriger - Joe Bethancourt - Steven H Silver - Bradley Denton - Les Johnson - Lou Anders

Guest of Honor: Gail Carriger

(Gail Carriger) (Wikipedia) New York Times Best Selling Author Gail Carriger is best known for her Parasol Protectorate books: urbane fantasies mixed with comedies of manners and steampunk. The first book, Soulless, won the ALA's Alex Award. Her new series for young adults is called the Finishing School and hits stores in 2012. She began writing to cope with being raised in obscurity by an expatriate Brit and an incurable curmudgeon. Her other hats (neither pith helmet nor fedora) have included tromping the Peruvian highlands excavating ancient pottery and writing cryptic reviews of children's books for the Horn Book Guide.

Music Guest of Honor: Joe Bethancourt

(Joe Bethancourt) (Wikipedia) Joe was born (or found under a rock, depending on who tells the story) in El Paso, Texas in 1946. He began learning banjo at age 9 and when his family moved to Phoenix in 1961, Joe began learning guitar, hanging around cofeehouses, mariachi bands, bluegrass groups, and a place called "J.D.'s," where he would sneak in to listen to a local guy called Waylon Jennings. After his first "real pro" gig at age 18, Joe spent a stint with a local bluegrass band, worked in L.A. as a studio musician, came back to Phoenix to host his own radio show, and appeared as a regular on the Emmy award-winning Wallace and Ladmo Show in the 1980s. For almost 17 years, he was the "house band" at a little restaurant in Phoenix, called "Funny Fellows," playing instruments from his enormous collection of traditional (and not so traditional) instruments.

Joe plays no less than 65 different instruments; from his beloved banjos to 12-string guitar, to more exotic things like 6-course Cittern, Celtic Harp, Lute, and Ozark Mouthbow. Currently, he's operating his own production company, White Tree Productions, and has recorded both solo, with Leslie Fish, and with neo-Celtic band The Bringers. He and his wife Cher, plus their cats and several greyhounds, currently divide their time between Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona.

Artist Guest of Honor: Vincent Di Fate

(Vincent Di Fate) (Wikipedia) Vincent Di Fate is one of the world's leading artistic visionaries of the future. In his prolific career, he has produced art of science fiction, astronomical and aerospace subjects for such clients as IBM, Reader's Digest, the National Geographic Society, and NASA. Di Fate has received many awards for his paintings, including the Frank R. Paul Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction Illustration (1978), the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist (1979), the Skylark Award for Imaginative Fiction (1987), the Lensman Award (1990), and the Chesley Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (1998).

The artist has had his paintings exhibited throughout the world. His work is included in the collections of the National Air and Space Museum and the U. S. Air Force Art Collection in Washington, D. C., the Society of Illustrators in New York City, and in the University of Kansas Center for Science Fiction Studies at Lawrence. He was commissioned by NASA in 1985 to create the official painting of the International Space Station. That painting, completed in 1987, is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center.

Di Fate has published two major books, Di Fate's Catalog of Science Fiction Hardware and Infinite Worlds: The Fantastic Visions of Science Fiction Art. He has been a consultant for MCA/Universal, 20th Century Fox and MGM/United Artists. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where he teaches courses in the history of illustration and in science fiction and fantasy art. He is also a founding member and a past president of the Association of Science Fiction/Fantasy Artists.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, Vincent Di Fate will be unable to join us in person. He will join us via video conferencing for a presentation of his art at 6:00 pm on Friday, and then stay for Opening Ceremonies.

Fen Guest of Honor: Steven H Silver

(SF Site) (Wikipedia) Steven H Silver attended his first science fiction convention in 1986 and by 2000 he was programming chairman for Chicon 2000. He is currently one of the vice-chairs for Chicon 7, the 2012 Worldcon. In 2001, Silver debuted his fanzine, Argentus, which has been published annually (plus a few special editions), and has racked up three Hugo nominations for Best Fanzine. Silver�s fan writing, which has appeared in Argentus, File 770, The Drink Tank, and several other fanzines, has netted Silver additional Hugo nominations for Best Fan Writer. As of 2011, he has a total of thirteen nominations, putting him tied for fourth on the list of most nominations without a win.

Since 1996, Silver has maintained the Harry Turtledove website, one of the oldest continuously maintained science fiction author websites on the internet. Silver was also one of the founders of, and continues to be a judge for, the Sidewise Awards for Alternate History plus he began reporting the news for SF Site in 2002. In 2008, Silver published his first short story, �Les Lettres de Paston,� which appeared in the final issue of Helix SF. His short fiction has subsequently appeared in DAW anthologies Zombie Raccoons and Killer Bunnies and Love and Rockets.

Toastmaster: Bradley Denton

(Bradley Denton) (Alive and Well) Bradley Denton's first professional story appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1984, and since then he's published five novels and a few dozen more short stories. His novels include Blackburn, Lunatics, and Laughin' Boy, and some of his stories have been collected in the World-Fantasy-Award-Winning volumes A Conflagration Artist and The Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Comedians. His novella "Sergeant Chip" won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in (but came in second in the Hugos) 2005. A new novella, "The Adakian Eagle," will appear in Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin's paranormal/sf/mystery anthology DOWN THESE STRANGE STREETS this fall. Also this fall, shooting is scheduled to begin on the film version of Brad's 1992 John W. Campbell Memorial Award-winning novel Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede, starring Jon ("Napoleon Dynamite") Heder as Oliver Vale.

Although born in Kansas, Brad and his wife Barb have lived in Central Texas for the past twenty-three years, which makes them naturalized Texans. They now reside on the outskirts of Manchaca, just south of Austin, with three dogs and a wide assortment of wildlife. In addition to writing, Brad also manages the career of Bland Lemon Denton, the World's Oldest (and Worst) Bluesman. But writing pays better.

Special Guest: Lou Anders

(Lou Anders) (Wikipedia) (Facebook) (Twitter) A 2011 Hugo Award winner (and 2010/2009/2008/2007 nominee), 2010 Shirley Jackson Award nominee, 2008 Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 2011/2010/2009/2007 Chesley Award nominee/nominee/winner/nominee, and 2006 World Fantasy Award nominee, Lou Anders is the editorial director Pyr, as well as the anthologies Swords & Dark Magic (Eos, 2010, with Jonathan Strahan), Masked (Gallery Books, 2010), Fast Forward 2 (Pyr, October 2008), Sideways in Crime (Solaris, June 2008), Fast Forward 1 (Pyr, February 2007), FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain, December 2004), Live Without a Net (Roc, 2003), and Outside the Box (Wildside Press, 2001). He is the author of The Making of Star Trek: First Contact (Titan Books, 1996), and has published over 500 articles in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers Weekly, Dreamwatch, DeathRay, free inquiry, Star Trek Monthly, Star Wars Monthly, Babylon 5 Magazine, Sci Fi Universe, Doctor Who Magazine, and Manga Max. His articles and stories have been translated into Danish, Greek, German, Italian & French.

Science Guest of Honor: Les Johnson

(Les Johnson) (MSFC Advanced Concepts) Les Johnson is the Deputy Manager for NASA�s Advanced Concepts Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He is also the co-author of three published popular science books, Living Off the Land in Space, Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, and Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth. His first science fiction novel, Back to the Moon, was published in December 2010 by Baen. In the early 2000s, Les was NASA�s Manager for Interstellar Propulsion Research and later managed the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program. Les has worked for NASA since 1990 and has served in various technical and management roles. He was the technical consultant for the movie, Lost in Space. NPR, CNN, Fox News, The Science Channel and The Discovery Channel have all interviewed him about space and space exploration. Les has twice received NASA�s Exceptional Achievement Medal and holds three space technology patents.

Special Guest: Stephan Martiniere

(Stephan Martiniere) Stephan Martiniere is an internationally acclaimed artist. In the past 25 years he has become known for his talent, versatility and imagination in every entertainment fields including feature films, animation, video games, theme parks, editorial and book covers. He was the Creative Visual Director for Midway Games in Chicago and is currently art directing �Rage� for ID software in Dallas. Stephan has done lectures and workshops in the US and abroad and is also an advisory board member of the CG society.

Confirmed Program Participants for 2011:

Aelle Ables:

(Aelle Ables) Aelle Ables is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer who lives in the DFW area. She has published numerous articles and short fiction while working on longer works. Her YA fantasy book, The Dragonwood Box, will be published next Spring. This year Aelle became publisher at Wayfarer Publishing, an e-book publisher for fantasy and paranormal books and short fiction based in Dallas.

David Lee Anderson:

(David Lee Anderson) David Lee Anderson is a science fiction and fantasy illustrator. He's shown paintings at more than 440 convention art shows since 1980. 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. David Lee is known for his science fiction and space paintings.

C. Dean Andersson:

(C. Dean Andersson) C. Dean Andersson is an internationally published novelist, best known in heroic fantasy for the Bloodsong Trilogy, Warrior Witch, Warrior Rebel, and Warrior Beast, and in Horror for I Am Dracula, Raw Pain Max, and Fiend. He is interviewed in Michael McCarty's Masters of Imagination, sharing the pages with Ray Bradbury, John Carpenter, and others. Degreed in astrophysics and art, he confides that the Meaning of Life is, "Be Good to Cats and Hope Sekhmet has Mercy on you." (Sekhmet told him to say that.)

Lou Antonelli:

(Lou Antonelli's blog) (Wikipedia) Lou Antonelli is a working journalist, the managing editor of the Mount Pleasant (Tx.) Daily Tribune. He's had short stories published - since he started writing sf and fantasy in 2002 - in the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Some of his best Texas-themed short stories have been published in the collection, Fantastic Texas.

Philippa (Pip) Ballantine:

(Philippa Ballantine) Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Philippa has always had her head in a book. For this she blames her father who thought Lord of the Rings was suitable bedtime reading for an eight year old. She is the author of Geist with Ace Books, with another three books in that series coming out shortly. She is also the co-author with Tee Morris of Phoenix Rising; a Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel, the second book due out 2012. Recently Pip has signed a two book deal with Pyr Books for her series the Shifting World novels. She is currently a bit of a gypsy, but always has to take her two Siberian cats where ever she goes. Few know however that she was in childhood a tap-dancing machine!

Michele Bardsley:

(Michele Bardsley) National bestselling author Michele Bardsley writes about Oklahoma vampires, Texas wizards, and zombie-making teenagers. She's obsessed with gourmet chocolate, History Channel, and all things shiny. She lives in Plano, Texas, with her son, where they are slaves to their numerous pets.

Julie Barrett:

(Stately Barrett Manor) Julie is ~~head masochist~~ chair for FenCon VIII. When not spending her waking hours on FenCon, Julie works as a writer, photographer, and slave to cats.

Kurt Baty:

Kurt is a fan from the Austin area who collects books, loves Lego, and has a passion for root beer. A driving force behind ALAMO, Kurt has helped secure the Worldcon for Texas in 1997 and 2013. He recently co-chaired Brick Fiesta, a Lego convention held in Austin, Texas.

Danny Birt:

(Danny Birt) Danny Birt was born about three decades ago in Washington State to Irish and Californian parents, and has since lived in Idaho, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia, and North Carolina. He attended high school at New Mexico Military Institute, studied music therapy and psychology at Loyola University New Orleans, and most recently graduated from Shenandoah University with his Master's Degree in Music Therapy. In addition to literary publication, Danny composes classical and filk music, such as his nonstop hour-long piano solo �Narcoleptic Pianist,� and the ever-peculiar album Warped Children�s Songs.

Paul Black:

(Paul Black Books) (Wikipedia) Paul Black is a professional writer, graphic designer, and branding specialist with more than 25 years of experience in corporate communications. His firm's work has been recognized by many major national and international design publications for its design excellence. Also an accomplished author, Black has independently published a trio of books (The Tels, Soulware, and Nexus Point) that garnered several awards, including 2005 Book of the Year (for genre fiction) from Writer's Digest Magazine, gold and silver medals from Foreword Magazine, and multiple appearances as a finalist in the Independent Publishers Book Awards and the New York Book Festival. His new book, The Presence, is currently in stores nationwide.

Karen Bogen:

K.B. Bogen has a head for technology, a knack for humor, and a taste for the macabre. A native Texan, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering from UT Arlington, as well as several health and nutrition certifications. Her favorite form of communication is humor, preferring to make people laugh rather than cry, though she is not above causing the occasional shiver in her audience. A full-time wife and mother, part-time copyeditor and writer, Karen is �jacq of all trades.� She plays domestic when she has to, knits compulsively, and reads forensic anthropology textbooks for fun.

Maggie Bonham:

(ShadowHelm.net) M.H. (Maggie) Bonham is an award-winning author of 31 books including Lachlei, The King�s Champion, Serpent Singer and Other Stories, Prophecy of Swords, Runestone of Teiwas and editor of the WolfSongs I Anthology. Her work has appeared in Tales of the Talisman, WolfSongs I, Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse, Sonic Fiction, Houston We�ve Got Bubbas, The Best of the Bubbas of the Apocalypse, Flush Fiction, Small Bites, among others.)

Brazen Bellies:

Brazen Bellies is an Improvisational Tribal Style belly dance troupe that honors the beauty, mind and spirit of all women. With 8 years of collective American Tribal Style and Tribal Fusion belly dance experience, Kelly Hart and Danielle Reboli founded Brazen Bellies in the Fall of 2007. They celebrate women through diversity in bodies, color, and generations. They express themselves through their dance. Troupe members Kelly Hart, Tess Haranda, Stu Kirgis, and Elena Todd will be performing at the FenCon Cabaret.

Warren Buff:

Warren is the ninth president of the Southern Fandom Confederation, and edits its various newsletters, which can be found online at efanzines.com. He also chaired ReConStruction, the 2010 NASFiC, in Raleigh, where he lives. He has worked on StellarCon, RavenCon, Illogicon, Dragon*Con, and various Worldcons, and volunteered around quite a bit more. He got his first real taste of hanging out and discussing science fiction through playing D&D and Magic in middle school, and by the time he was a junior in high school, had been suckered into running for president of its sci-fi/fantasy club.He's a native Southerner, even if his accent does peg him as a city boy. Warren was also our Fen Guest of Honor for 2009.

George P. Burdell:

(Wikipedia) George is an engineer with decades of experience, several published works, and strong ties to Georgia Tech. This Atlanta native is an Air Force veteran who served on Mad magazine's Board of Directors from 1969 until 1981. Burdell and his wife, Ramona Cartwright, are active in the Atlanta fictional community.

Rachel Caine:

(RachelCaine.com) (Wikipedia) Rachel Caine is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Morganville Vampires series (Glass Houses, The Dead Girls� Dance, Midnight Alley, Feast of Fools, Lord of Misrule, Carpe Corpus, Fade Out, Kiss of Death, Ghost Town). She is also the author of the bestselling Weather Warden series (Ill Wind, Heat Stroke, Chill Factor, Windfall, Firestorm, Thin Air, Gale Force, Cape Storm, Total Eclipse), as well as the Outcast Season series, set in the universe of the Weather Warden novels (Undone, Unknown). She�s written more than 30 novels to date, with 8 coming out in 2010 and 2011.

She and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Fort Worth, Texas with their iguanas, Popeye and Darwin.

Todd Caldwell:

Lillian Stewart Carl:

(LillianStewartCarl.com) Lillian Stewart Carl has been studying tai chi for several years, from an instructor who teaches it as a martial art. Even though she will sometimes do kung fu moves in her driveway, her neighbors still speak to her. A good thing they can't hear her playing Lord of the Rings movie music on the piano, which she does as she does many things, intuitively, the proper fingering be darned. She has written a good-sized stack of novels, short stories, and non-fiction, including THE VORKOSIGAN COMPANION (Baen Books, 2008), which was nominated for a Hugo award.THE BLUE HACKLE, the fifth novel in her cross-genre mystery series, appeared in December 2010.

Saturday only.

Peri Charlifu:

(Aegean Goods) Peri Charlifu is a master potter who shows at conventions all over the country. He is highly skilled in both Wheel thrown and hand-built work, and he mixes all of his own stains and glazes. Peri also teaches pottery and sculpture and is a Guild master for Art and Artisans of Colorado, and a founding member of Stoneleaf potters guild.

J. Kathleen Cheney:

(JKathleenCheney.com) J. Kathleen Cheney has been a teacher, a retail buyer, and a grocery jack-of-all-trades, among other things...none of which prepared her to work with camels. She spent a week in the Outback dealing with (and smelling like) camels, and has decided she prefers horses. She's a member of both SFWA and RWA, which should give some hint about her writing. Her short fiction has covered all the bases--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and paranormal romance--and has appeared in such venues as Fantasy Magazine, Writers of the Future, Jim Baen's Universe, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Who knows? Someday perhaps there will even be steampunk.

Cathy Clamp:

Cathy left a career as a certified paralegal in Denver to begin writing full time. Since then, she has published several short stories, dozens of articles, and a number of paranormal romance and historical novels with C.T. Adams. These include the EVVY award winning Road to Riches: The Great Railroad Race to Aspen, Hunter's Moon, Moon's Web, a short mystery in the anthology Secrets: Fact or Fiction?, as well as a series of novels for Tor Paranormal Romance including Touch of Evil (a USA Today Top 150 bestseller), Captive Moon, and Howling Moon. Their latest novel, Timeless Moon, came out in August 2011. Cathy lives in the Texas hill country with her husband, two dogs, three cats, and 24 Boer goats.

Rosemary Clement-Moore:

(Rosemary Clement-Moore) Rosemary Clement-Moore is the author of award-winning supernatural mystery novels for young (and not so young) adults, including the Maggie Quinn: Girl versus Evil series, The Splendor Falls, and Texas Gothic. A recovering thespian, she is addicted to coffee and cupcakes, and loves dogs, history, Jane Austen, archeology, Rock Band, Gilbert and Sullivan, BBC America, Science Fiction movies, and working in her pajamas. You can visit her webpage at www.rosemaryclementmoore.com

R. Cat Conrad:

(ArtistsInResidence.com) Cat arrives from Arlington � that�s Texas, not the national cemetery, although his puns can be deadly and have reportedly jeopardized his allotted nine lives. His background includes a degree in fine arts from the University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma. From there, Cat learned just how far an art degree would take him ... across town and into a 10-year stint with an UnFortunate 500 company ... as an industrial chemist.

Prolonged exposure to hazardous materials did little to improve Cat�s humor, but it did convince him that he wasn�t making a better living through chemistry. In 1991 he moved on to greener pastures � in preference to becoming a permanent part of the "underground" movement!

Currently, in addition to being an award-winning painter and cunning linguist, Cat is making broad strokes as a popular speaker and auctioneer, and continues to gain prominence as a fan entertainer. He has been a featured auctioneer at almost a hundred conventions throughout the Southwest, including the famed five and a half hour marathon auction of WorldCon 51.

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Tony Daniel:

Tony Daniel is the author of five science fiction books, the latest of which is Guardian of Night due out in 2012 from Baen, as well as an award-winning short story collection, The Robot�s Twilight Companion. He was a Hugo finalist in 1996 for his short story �Life on the Moon,� which also won the Asimov�s Reader�s Choice Award. Daniel�s short stories have been much anthologized and have been collected in multiple year�s best compilations. Daniel has a strong interest in drama and screenwriting, as well. In the 1990s, he founded and directed the Automatic Vaudeville dramatic group in New York City. He�s also co-written the screenplays for a couple of horror movies, and during the early 2000s was the writer and director of numerous radio plays and audio dramas for SCI-FI.COM�s Seeing Ear Theatre. Daniel is a consulting editor for Baen Books and a lecturer in creative writing and the literature of science fiction at the University of Texas at Dallas. Born in Alabama, Daniel has led a peripatetic life. He�s lived in St. Louis, Los Angeles, Seattle, Prague, and New York City. He is now settled in Allen, Texas with his wife and two children.

Chris Donahue:

Chris Donahue is an electrical engineer living in the Dallas area with his wife and fellow-author, Linda. A former member of a Joe Bob Briggs' Drive In Review committee, he served the public by counting rolling heads, types of Fu and exposed breasts in committee films. Outside of that, he has been a Navy Avionics tech, brewer and writes sci-fi, military fiction, horror, humor and combinations of those themes.

Linda Donahue:

(LindaLDonahue.com) An air-force brat, Linda grew up traveling and has lived in exotic places such as Okinawa and South Dakota. She has degrees in computer science, Russian studies, a Masters in Earth science education and a minor in electrical engineering. As well, she�s a certified commercial instrument pilot, advanced ground instructor, and a SCUBA diver. Linda is also certified by NASA to borrow moon rock samples. This means, she�s been a hazard by space, sea, air or land, at one time or another. When she�s not writing, she teaches tai chi and belly dance classes. Linda�s short stories have appeared in many anthologies, including �Strip Mauled� and �Fangs for the Mammories.� Her novel, �Jaguar Moon� is available from Yard Dog Press, along with �The 4 Redheads in Apocalypse Now!� She is married to Chris Donahue. They live in Garland, Texas and have lop-earred rabbits, sugar gliders and cats for pets.

Carole Nelson Douglas:

(Official Site) (Wikipedia) Collecting vintage clothing is a lingering symptom of Carole Nelson Douglas's acting days. Her series leading ladies all wear vintage, from the historical dress of Irene Adler to Las Vegasites Temple Barr in the contemporary Midnight Louie feline PI mysteries and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in the 2013-set noir urban fantasies. Carole is in recovery from this year's Career Achievement Award in Mystery at the RT Booklovers LA convention and Guest of Honorships at Malice Domestic mystery and CONduit 21 sf/fantasy conventions in D.C. and Salt Lake City. Yes, she wore vintage all over the country! Elsewhere in 2011, Midnight Louie prowls in Cat in a Vegas Gold Vendetta while Delilah appears in the Chicks Kick Butt anthology and a new novel, Virtual Virgin. One of the book's Virtual Virgins is a vampire, one is a cocktail recipe, and one is Futura, the silver robot from the silent film classic, Metropolis. Call it Art Deco steampunk.

Saturday Only

Ed Dravecky:

Ed Dravecky is a fan, a voracious reader, and FenCon's webmaster. He grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, with rocket scientists for neighbors and attended schools named for astronauts so, naturally, he became a reporter, a disc jockey, a morning-show sidekick, and news reader. He moved to Dallas in 1991 to develop and support broadcast automation systems. Ed is a co-founder of FenCon and recent past president of ORAC. He was one of the driving forces in FenCon's bid to host DeepSouthCon this year, but if anything goes wrong blame Tim.

Mike Eber:

Mike Eber was assembled from spare parts and stray radio signals on the outskirts of Tulsa, OK. After giving up on his quest to become "a real boy," Mike settled on Trying to Take Over the World. To that end, he founded Kineteka Systems, a high-tech R&D and business services company in Lewisville, Texas. In traditional Evil Genius fashion, he's exploited technology in devious plans encompassing feline diversions and human Spinning. He is married (as part of his Secret Identity) to Tamisan and it is wildly rumored that his son is the reincarnation of Nikola Tesla.

P.N. Elrod:

(VampWriter.com) (Wikipedia) P.N. Elrod is best known for The Vampire Files, featuring Undead gumshoe Jack Fleming. She's edited a number of award-winning anthologies for St. Martin's with stories from the top writers in the paranormal and urban fantasy genres. She is working on a new steampunk series for Tor and venturing into ebooks with the P.N. Elrod Omnibus from her own VampWriter Books imprint. More on her toothy titles may be found at www.vampwriter.com.

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Rhonda Eudaly:

(RhondaEudaly.com) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's worked in offices, banking, radio, and education to support her writing. She's married with dogs and a rapidly growing rubber duck collection. She likes to spend time with friends and family, movies, and reading. Her two passions are writing and music.

Rhonda has fiction and non-fiction stories published in anthologies, magazines, and websites. Check out her website - www.RhondaEudaly.com - for her latest publications and downloads.

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 had the local fauna been wolves or apes, but the aforementioned wilderness was Turkey Mountain, Tulsa, where the local fauna is raccoons. This explains his tendencies to dig through trash cans and wash his food before eating it. In his late teens, he discovered SF fandom, where such behaviors hardly raise an eyebrow, and has been deeply involved (read; mired) in it ever since. He currently resides in Tulsa with his wife Barbara and two 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", but he figures that it could be worse; history might forget about the penguins.

Michael Ashleigh Finn:

(Live Journal) (Twitter) (Coyote Reviews)
Michael Ashleigh Finn is a short story author trying his hand at novel writing. In addition, he's a freelance thematic consultant, currently working for Dynamite Entertainment on the Hugo-nominated Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files. He is also a moderator for jimbutcheronline.com, and was chief editor for the Backspace and CHUDStories internet anthologies. He also took first and third place in FenCon's first short story contest, being told afterward that "We had to make up new rules because of you." He's oddly proud of that fact.

Melanie Miller Fletcher:

(Melanie Fletcher) (Don't Quit Your Day Job)
Melanie Fletcher is best known for two things: 1) a truly impish grin and 2) huge tracts of land. No, wait, that's three things. An interesting fact about Melanie is that she once had a private, late-night tour of Abbey Road Studios (and no, she didn't sneak in). When she's not writing, she's recording the podcast Don't Quit Your Day Job (www.dqydjpodcast.com) and letting her cats in or out the back door. You know you want her life. http://www.melaniefletcher.com

Brad W. Foster:

(Jabberwocky Graphix) Brad Foster is still a geek at heart- and in mind and body, though if pressed to act like an adult, he can fake it for a couple of minutes. While he did manage to get over his early addiction to comicbooks (the soaring price of which helped that out a LOT), he is still addicted to drawing, owing to having veins full of ink rather than blood. Out of the several hundred drawings he creates each year, a handful are worth showing to other people, and sometime people like them enough to give him shiny awards, or print them in comics, or on book covers. Sometimes they even give him money for that! You can give Brad money, too, either through his Jabberwocky Graphix website, or here at the convention. Remember, if you don't, who will?

Dene Foye:

Dene Foye is part of the singing group Ghost of a Rose. He has been playing guitar and singing folk music since 1967, playing with several different groups over the years, performing everything from folk music to German Oktoberfest songs. Along the way he received a Bachelors in Music Education and taught music for a year.

For the past year and a half, he's been writing original songs in collaboration with Mel Tatum, most of which Ghost of a Rose performs.

Christopher J. Garcia:

(Drink Tank) Christopher J Garcia is a writer, fanzine editor, historian and filmmaker from Sunnyvale, CA. His fanzine, The Drink Tank, has been nominated for the Best Fanzine Hugo five times, and the zine he co-edits with James Bacon and Claire Brialey, Journey Planet, won the Nova Award for Best Fanzine in 2010. He also makes documentary films, publishes a zine on Steampunk, runs Fan Lounges at conventions, was the TransAtlantic Fan Fund delegate for 2008, has worked as a Curator at the Computer History Museum since 1999 and really likes cheese. Chris won Hugo this year for co-editing Drink Tank.

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:

(My Space) After meeting at ApolloCon 2007, Dene & Sundara were talking about singing as a performing duo...and Ghost of a Rose was born. At Conjour they met cellist William Boatman, invited him to jam with them at a party, after which they decided a cello would be a perfect addition to their sound. They invited him to play with them, which he agreed to, and turned the duo into a trio.Sadly (for the group). William will be leaving to become a resident of Ireland at the end of July, so once again Ghost of a Rose becomes a duo (because the commute would be horrendous without teleportation!) The music Ghost of a Rose plays is eclectic�within the same performance you can hear Celtic music, SCA/Renaissance music, Pagan music, Filk music, or original pieces. They currently have two CD�s: Live at CMA Samhain, and Plaid & Personal.

David Gray:

David L. Gray is the creator of the Buzz Blaster, Space Entrepreneur series of radio plays, which have been read and performed at Dallas-area and other science fiction conventions. He also writes science fiction short stories, mostly about warfare in the (not so near?) future Asteroid Belt and unsavory visitors from parallel universes. He is co-founder with his wife Mary Gearhart-Gray of the online Science Fiction/Fantasy publication 4StarStories, which publishes 4 Star stories four times a year. In his spare time he writes instruction manuals for robots that assemble airplanes in the Aerospace industry and feeds cats.

Beverly A. Hale:

(BevHale.com) While usually a writer, Bev has lately become obsessed with Steampunk and Gears--especially Gears. She creates Steampunk Accessories you can view on Facebook at Otherwhen Oddities, also on www.etsy.com at Otherwhen Oddities. Bev is currently working on a YA SF novel and a Gaslight Fantasy.

Dell Harris:

Dell was born in the tiny town of Oktaha, Oklahoma. He stands head and shoulders above other artists and most everyone else, which makes him easy to spot in a crowd at a convention. Starting with an intense interest in dinosaurs, his art evolved through his teens into a detailed distinct pencil style that has influenced many other artists. His acrylic paintings and pencil pieces appeared in many Amazing and Analog magazines as well as quite a few covers including Robert Silverberg's "Across a Billion Years". In the 1990s, Dell finally got his hands on a computer and began branching off into 2D and 3D computer art for several game projects as well as mainstream design. His artwork is the jewel of many collections.

Teddy Harvia:

Teddy Harvia is an anagram of David Thayer. Teddy has been drawing and contributing cartoons to fan publications since the mid-70s. Fans have reciprocating by giving him the Hugo for Best Fan Artist. He has semi-retired from his avocation to allow David to concentrating on novel writing. He cochaired a bid to hold the World SF Convention in Cancun but lost to Toronto. He is currently working on the second draft of a galactic war romance. Until he can find a publisher, he works for a living as a technical writer with a telecommunications company. With his wife Diana, six cats, and thousands of books, he lives in Dallas.

Bill Hodgson:

W.J. Bill Hodgson has been writing and illustrating professionally for over 30 years, with over 1,000 projects for various clients, including book publishers (mostly romance novel covers), game companies (e.g. TSR/WotC, ICE, White Wolf, Mag Force 7, Cactus Games, etc.), et al, for projects as diverse as illustrations of NASA hardware to I Love Lucy games to ballet and opera posters. His art has appeared in over 400 shows of many types, earning over 200 awards. In addition to his illustration and personal work, he has sold over 1,500 reverse-painted astronomicals at conventions, and he has some hanging in the FenCon art show! He lives with his wife and 3 kids on a wiener dog ranch in a suburb of Oklahoma City.

Kevin Hosey:

(Kevin Hosey)Kevin Hosey is an author, editor and cartoonist. His short stories have appeared in the Star Trek Strange New Worlds anthologies, Hint Fiction, and the sci-fi magazine, Beyond Centauri. He also co-edited and wrote stories for two anthologies published by Cliffhanger Books. The first was a paranormal romance collection entitled Paramourtal that was nominated for Best Romance Anthology of 2010. The second, a collection of superhero stories called Gods of Justice, premiered at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con. His short story, "Cure" (from Hint Fiction), will be filmed by contestants for the 2012 Vail Film Festival in Colorado. It was also the subject of a sculpture created by artist Lawrence L'Horte at a recent Columbia Art League exhibit in Missouri.

Sarah A. Hoyt:

(Sarah Hoyt) (Blogspot) Sarah A. Hoyt has sold over seventeen novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery and historical fiction. Her short stories have been published in Asimov's, Analog, Weird Tales, and several anthologies. When not writing, Sarah can be found herding cats or teen boys (not much difference there), discussing plots with her husband, Daniel M. Hoyt, or drawing. Her latest novels are Darkship Thieves (science fiction), No Will But His (historical) and, under Elise Hyatt, French Polished Murder (mystery.) To see more about Sarah, see her web site where you'll find free stuff under the blue plate special tab. She'd move to TX if it were not quite as lizardy.

Rocky Kelley:

(Rocky Kelley) (Ashen Gray) Rocky Kelley is an award winning artist whose works include fantasy, science fiction, pre-Raphaelite, surrealism, and more. Rocky received the Director�s Award at the 2006 World Fantasy Art Show. Kelley also creates works of dark fantasy under the pseudonym of �Ashen Gray� and he is the founder of the Dark Rose Alliance. Current projects include graphic novel illustrations and a new series of fantasy paintings. His works may be viewed at his web sites.

Vickey Malone Kennedy:

(Vickey Malone Kennedy) Originally from Alamo, Tennessee, Vickey Malone Kennedy (aka vck-�pronounced Vick) now lives in Oklahoma with her grown children, three dogs, a ferret and her beautiful red-haired granddaughter. vck is the winner of the 2011 Darrell Award for Best Midsouth Short Story for "Bobby Sue Almost Got Married" published by Yard Dog Press in the anthology A Bubba In Time Saves None and the winner of the coveted Oklahoma Writers' Federation Inc. 2011 Cr�me de la Cr�me award for her Western novel A Woman Alone. For more information about vck's writing and personal adventures visit her website.

Julie Kenner (aka J.K. Beck):

(Angry Superheroes) Julie/J.K. has climbed the Great Wall of China, scuba dived to a shipwreck and slept in airports and train stations throughout Europe. Lately, her life is much more suburban. Check out her demon hunting soccer mom short story in Those Who Fight Monsters (as Julie Kenner) and her Shadow Keepers series (as J.K. Beck). You can find out what Julie's up to and link to both websites through her blog, Angry Superheroes.

Lee Killough:

(Lee Killough) (Coffee Shop Writers) (Wikipedia) Lee Killough discovered SF/fantasy and Mysteries at the same time and fell in love with both. Most of her sixteen novels are SF or supernatural mysteries or urban fantasies. Her first short story "Caveat Emptor" appeared in Analog in 1970, and she published her first novel A Voice Out of Ramah in 1979. Her short story "Symphony For a Lost Traveler" was a 1985 Hugo Award nominee. Yard Dog Press has published her African fantasy, The Leopard�s Daughter, and a revised edition of Checking On Culture: an aid to building story backgrounds. Her books are now being published as e-books, and can be found at the major book sites and most e-book sites. Most have been re-edited with new material added.

Alexis Glynn Latner:

(Alexis Glynn Latner) Alexis Glynn Latner has written Hurricane Moon (Pyr 2007) and stories in various SF, fantasy and horror magazines and anthologies. Her novelette "Quickfeathers" in the May 2009 issue of Analog is a Hurricane Moon sequel that involves soaring: flying the way hawks and sailplanes do, on rising currents of air. She has a sailplane pilot's license. So she understands the calculus of risk and reward when people undertake adventure

Jackie Leaf:

Jackie is a self-confessed trivia queen who believes that children benefit from early sf/f exposure and the corrupting influence of books. An expatriate Okie, she enjoys American football, crocheting, counted cross-stitch, showing off pictures of her granddaughter. She would totally freak out if she ever got to meet Richard Dean Anderson or Mark Harmon. She now lives in the D/FW area with her husband Bill and knows where every thrift store is in her area of town.

William Ledbetter:

(WilliamLedbetter.com) William Ledbetter lives near Dallas with his family and too many animals. He's an unrepentant space geek, unrecoverable science fiction addict and drinks very few beers he can see through. And he gets paid to make crap up! His short stories have appeared in Jim Baen's Universe, Yard Dog Press and various other
publications. He's a recent 1st Place winner in the Writers of the Future contest for this year's second quarter, an editor at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and runs the annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society. For more fascinating information about William visit his website at the link above.

Guy H. Lillian III:

Guy H. Lillian III got his start in fandom writing letters of comment to comic books edited by his future friend and mentor Julius Schwartz. A 40-year fanzine publisher, Hugo-nominated 11 -- or is it 12? -- times for his genzine Challenger, he has edited program books for two Worldcons (Nolacon II and Noreascon 4) and the 2010 NASFiC. He is serving as Publications Director for the 2012 worldcon, Chicon 7. With his beloved wife Rose-Marie he served as DUFF delegate to the 2003 Australian National SF Convention in Perth. He has been a booster of Southern SF fandom for decades, serving four times (including now) as Editor of the Southern Fandom Press Alliance; he was Fan Guest of Honor at the '83 DeepSouthCon and won Southern Fandom's Rebel Award the following year. In private life he is a criminal ... defense lawyer in Louisiana. Guy says with complete conviction, "without Rose-Marie he'd be garbage."

Angela Lowry:

(Angel Arts) Angela was born in Nashville in the 1960s and spent her childhood in Tennessee, Florida, and Oklahoma. She says she's always aimed her path to be an artist and see her artwork go out into the world. As an artist, she blends Art Nouveau, Klimt, Mucha, Cyber, and Punk into a classical realism. After attending the University of Tulsa she started publishing with several game companies and attending SF conventions with art shows. Angela does murals, commercial design, jewelry design, portraits, illustration and other fine art. If it sits still enough, she'll paint it!

Julia S. Mandala:

(JuliaSMandala.com) Julia S. Mandala is a reformed lawyer who does penance by writing fantasy and science fiction. Her novel, House of Doors (part of Double Dog #5) and The Four Redheads: Apocalypse Now!, coauthored with Linda L. Donahue, Rhonda Eudaly and Dusty Rainbolt, are available from Yard Dog Press. Her works appear in Fangs for the Mammaries (October 2010) and Witch Way to the Mall, both edited by Esther Friesner, and in The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse, Dracula's Lawyer, A Stitch in Time Saves None, International House of Bubbas, Houston, We've Got Bubbas and Flush Fiction (all from Yard Dog Press). She holds degrees in history from Kansas State University and law from Tulane University. She is a copy editor, scuba diver, underwater photographer and belly dancer.

A. Lee Martinez:

(ALeeMartinez.com) (Wikipedia) A. Lee Martinez is best known for his sparkling wit, incredible good looks, and his ability to endlessly debate the Superman VS. Batman dilemma. (Correct answer: Tarzan) Also, he's written 7 fantasy novels and managed to get paid for it. If you would like to read random thoughts from him, you can go to his website, or check him out on Twitter or Facebook.
(Photo by Scott Edelman.)

Margaret Middleton:

Margaret is a quintessential Baby Boomer, a Valparaiso alumna, and a 24-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.

Tim Miller:

Tim has been active in D/FW fandom for more than 20 years, going to his first SF convention in 1988. Shortly after that, Bobb Waller asked him to help with a small convention called Conniption. Since then he has worked on too many conventions to count and has attended even more. He is one of the founders of FenCon and has the distinction of being a former conchair (FenCons III & IV). In addition to his work with FenCon, he is on the board of InterFilk and ALAMO and has been on staff of several recent Worldcons and last year's NASFiC. Tim was one of the driving forces in FenCon's bid to host DeepSouthCon this year, so if anything goes wrong it is all his fault. (But he will probably try to blame Bobb.)

Tim Morgan:

Tim Morgan is a lifelong science fiction fan, but only discovered fandom a few years ago. His initiation into ORAC (and D/FW fandom in general) happened when several members found out he had never watched either Buffy or Angel. A half dozen or so of the club's female fans spent 30 minutes excitedly projecting a jumbled series of facts, character descriptions, plots and sub-plots at Mr. Morgan. When asked later what he learned, Tim responded with "I think I got that Angel spiked Buffy with a willow." After the groans stopped, he was told "You definitely are one of us". Tim has been fitting in just fine with area fandom ever since. He is a past president of ORAC, a co-founder of MakeDFW, currently serves on the board of directors of the Dallas Future Society, is Vice Chair for this year's FenCon, and will be ConChair for FenCon 2012 & 2013. You will frequently hear Tim called "E.H.T." which stands for "Emergency Holographic Tim". Sadly, he has run out of space to tell that tale.

Tee Morris:

(Tee Morris) (Podio Books)began his writing career with his 2002 historical epic fantasy, MOREVI The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana. In 2005 Tee took MOREVI into the then-unknown podosphere, making his novel the first book podcast in its entirety. That experience led to the founding of Podio Books and collaborating with Evo Terra and Chuck Tomasi on Podcasting for Dummies. Tee has written articles and short stories for BenBella Books�s Farscape Forever: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Muppets, the podcast anthology VOICES: New Media Fiction, BenBella Books� So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions of Battlestar Galactica, and Dragon Moon Press�Podthology: The Pod Complex. This summer, he releases (with Pip Ballantine) his first steampunk adventure with Harper Voyager � Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel.

Tracy S. Morris:

(Tracy S. Morris) (Live Journal) Tracy S. Morris is an author and professional freelance writer working in the Fort Smith, Arkansas, area. Her most recent work includes the short story "Portrait of Bees in Spring" along with Brad Sinor in the Grantville Gazette and "Queen of Knaves" in Lee Martindale's The Ladies of Trade Town. She is the author the Tranquility mysteries which are published through Yard Dog Press. The Tranquility mysteries are available in ebook format from Baen books. Tracy posts interviews with authors every Thursday at her Live Journal blog.

Michelle Muenzler:

Michelle Muenzler's goal in life is to bring forth the bunny apocalypse and bury the earth with furry-soft goodness. When not working toward this goal, she experiments on her husband with new recipes and builds blockades around her NetBook to protect it from her cats. Her latest publication, "The Fowler's Daughter", can be found in Ekaterina Sedia's Bewere the Night anthology (with the original published in Shroud Magazine). For more information on how you can help with the bunny apocalypse or any other furry-soft apocalypse of your choice, visit Michelle at the link above.

Ken Murphy:

(Out of the Cradle) Ken Murphy is probably best known as being the Gen X Moon Guy, actively educating the public about our Moon, and advocating for its development. He works in the D/FW metroplex through the North Texas chapter of the National Space Society, and was recently elected president of The Moon Society. He also maintains an extensive Lunar Library of reference materials regarding the Moon and High Frontier which is cataloged online at his website.

Shawn Murphy:

Shawn Murphy is a graphic designer and illustrator who has been involved with FenCon from the beginning. He has provided illustrations for the FenCon souvenir book to accompany short stories by authors including Jim Butcher and C Dean Andersson, designed the first four FenCon t-shirts, and put together various signage and other art pieces. He lives outside Austin with his wife and three children.

Ethan Naht�:

(Live 'N' Loud) Ethan Naht� created the music TV program LIVE'N'LOUD in which he interviewed numerous rock stars alongside the many magazines he has written for as a professional journalist. On occasion, he riles the masses with a review or article but has also been known to entertain. One of the more interesting quotes from a 500 word movie review he wrote for Underworld: Evolution was used for the official TV commercials when they quoted "It's Sexier." He is currently in a handful of anthologies, ranging from sci-fi to fantasy to horror because his mind just can't sit still in one genre.

Michael Nelson:

Michael is a programmer, an amateur genealogist, a comic book collector, a Louisiana State University alumnus (Geaux Tigers!) and former FenCon Chairman (2004 and 2005). Michael and his wife Angela enjoy traveling and perusing used bookstores. He first saw Star Trek in the mid-1970s when he was a wee lad and enjoys Doctor Who, Top Gear, Babylon 5, Blake�s 7, Mythbusters, Chuck, Warehouse 13, Being Human, and much more.

Melia Dawn Newman:

(Be Mused Art) My first attempts to create art were not much appreciated. I am not sure if it was the use of lipstick or the fact that that first mural was painted on my mother's bedroom wall. But very soon, I was kept supplied with appropriate art supplies and things to paint on. Later I honestly think my family was relieved when I changed my major from psychology to art. These days you can either find me making a mess of my home with the paint that should be going onto canvas or paper or hanging out at science fiction and fantasy conventions. My artwork is licensed for rubber stamps, cross stitch patterns and digital tube art.

Noddy:

Noddy, appearing as Miss Cordelia MoonTea: As Miss Cordelia, Noddy uses her education as a Tea Master to spread the message of Steampunk Tea and as a phytotherapist to lure people into both monstrumology and steampunk apothecary. She's written a steampunk tea book: Time Tarts and Chrono-Teas, and is working on a steampunk apothecary book. As herself, Noddy plays at conventions with her hearing ear dog, Itzl. Call her what you will, just be sure to call her for Tea.

October Country:

October Country is a Celtic-influenced folk and filk band consisting of Casey Sledge on vocals & rhythm guitar and Shaddow Walter on lead. They have played pubs, coffeehouses, benefits and cons in the DFW area since 2001, including FenCon, Trinity Hall, and Hawkwood Fair. Also, they were Interfilk GoH at Seattle's Conflikt 3, in January 2010.

Gloria Oliver:

(GloriaOliver.com) Many years ago, before anime and manga were popular in the US, Gloria sat around for hours on end digging through Japanese kanji dictionaries and trying to translate her favorite manga, City Hunter, so she could figure out what the heck was going on! Her latest fantasy/YA fantasy novel, Price of Mercy, was released in May 2011 by Zumaya Publications. For sample chapters and other info, please visit her site.

Eilis O'Neal:

(Eilis O'Neal) Eilis O'Neal is the author of The False Princess, a young adult fantasy novel published by Egmont USA and nominated for this year's YALSA Teens' Top Ten Award. Her short fantasy has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and others. By day, she is the Managing Editor of the University of Tulsa's literary magazine, Nimrod International Journal. She lives in Tulsa, in a house filled with swords, knitting needles, video game controllers, chocolate, d20s, one husband, two obnoxious dogs, and far, far too many books.

Scott Padget:

Scott Padget is an aerospace engineer with nearly 20 years� experience in human spaceflight including operations planning for the International Space Station and ascent guidance/navigation/control for the Space Shuttle (he frequently describes the latter position as �making sure that Shuttle launches happen with No Gigantic Kaboom�). He credits exposure to science fiction at an early age as a major influence in that career choice, particularly the early works of Heinlein. Of course, it�s also possible that a little venture known as �Apollo� (which occurred during Scott�s childhood years) may also have had an influence, too�.

Stephen Patrick:

Stephen Patrick is a freelance writer living in the Dallas area with his wife and daughter. His short stories have been published in several genres, including horror, science fiction, and mystery. He is a four-time winner of the Rowlett Short Story Competition and was named an Arkansas Traveler in 2007 after being selected as the winner of the special prize category at the Arkansas Writer Conference. He has recently transitioned to screenplays and film racing, writing and starring in two short films, Acceptance and The Traveler, for the Dallas-based Elephant and Castle productions.

Teresa Patterson:

Teresa Patterson is best known for her work with Robert Jordan on The World of the Wheel of Time. Her newest collaboration was with the late Robert Asprin on No Quarter. Though a pro writer, she did a story in the newest "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" book just for the fun of it. Fun fact: She used to run a medieval jousting show.

Alan J. Porter:

(Alan J. Porter) (Twitter) After a couple of years chronicling the world of talking cars Alan is now actively researching the various lives and stories of a certain spaceman who was created in 1929, but spends most of his time hanging out in the 25th Century. In the meantime he's written a couple of techy business books, and had fun seeing and reviewing various SF related movies and books, as well interviewing some legendary SF writers, for a selection of magazines and websites. And of course he is still slinging book proposals and comic book pitches at publishers in the vain hope that someone will actually like them.

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.

Darwin Prophet:

Darwin Prophet is a steampunk-themed musical artist out of the Austin, Texas, area. She describes herself as "a traveler and aural exhibitionist from Planet Mi, the third sphere following the Phantom in the Galaxy Solfege."

Dusty Rainbolt:

(Dusty Rainbolt) Dusty Rainbolt is the coauthor (with three other redheads) of The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse (Yard Dog Press) and the recently released hit, Apocalypse Now! (YDP). Author of numerous books on cat care and behavior, as well as veteran cat rescuer, she merged her love of everything feline with her interest in the unexplainable to write the award-winning Ghost Cats: Human Encounters with Feline Spirits (Lyons Press). She�s also the author of the humorous science fiction novels All the Marbles (YDP), Kittens for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons) and Cat Wrangling Made Easy (Lyons Press). She�s the product editor for the Tufts� University publication, Catnip, and she�s a regular contributor to Cat Fancy and other magazines and websites.

Nina Romberg:

(Way of the Writer) (Jane Archer) Nina Romberg:
(aka Jane Archer) is the bestselling author of twenty internationally published books in several popular genres, including horror/urban fantasy novels Shadow Walkers and The Spirit Stalker. The First Fire: Stories of the Cherokee, Kickapoo, Kiowa, and Tigua and Texas Indian Myths and Legends are critically acclaimed Native American mythology and history books. Out of the West was optioned for a television movie. She also edits and ghostwrites for a national book publisher.

Saturday Only

Rie Sheridan Rose:

(riewriter.com) Rie is a poet and novelist with 5 poetry collections and 4 novels under her belt, as well as 3 short story collections and pieces in several anthologies. She writes mostly fantasy, but dabbles in science fiction, light horror and romance. She has embarked on a new area of writing: she is now a lyricist. Her collaboration with Marc Gunn has been worlds of fun. The first song they wrote together was "Soul of a Harper", which came out several years ago. They also have a track on the June 2011 Firefly Drinking Songs album.

Selina Rosen:

(Selina Rosen) (Castle Farms) (Yard Dog Press) Selina Rosen�s stories have appeared in several magazines and anthologies. Some of her fifteen published novels include Queen of Denial, Black Rage, Fire & Ice, Bad Lands (with Laura J. Underwood), and Jabone�s Sword. She owns Yard Dog Press and created their Bubbas of the Apocalypse universe. You may read about her dairy goats at Castle Farms.

Brad Sinor:

(Brad Sinor) (LiveJournal) Bradley H. Sinor has seen his short stories published in numerous science fiction, fantasy and horror anthologies such as The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Tales of the Shadowmen, The Grantville Gazette Ring of Fire 2 and 3. Three chapbooks of his short fiction have been released by Yard Dog Press, Dark and Stormy Nights, In the Shadows, and Playing With Secrets (along with stories by his wife Sue Sinor.) He has two collections of short stories Echoes From the Darkness (Arctic Wolf Press) and Where The Shadows Began, which was released in March by Merry Blacksmith Press. His non-fiction work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies.

Sue Sinor:

Susan P. (Sue) Sinor has been involved in Tulsa's local conventions for over twenty years. She has also been involved in Tulsa's local community theatre for over twenty years. She's been keeping pretty busy. She is most known for writing for Yard Dog Press, with stories in the chapbook "Playing With Secrets" and anthologies International House Of Bubbas, Houston, We've Got Bubbas, and A Bubba In Time Saves None. Currently, she hopes to have sold another story (in collaboration with her husband) to Yard Dog Press and have finished a few other stories. Wish her luck. She's on Facebook, when she has time to read it.

Amy Sisson:

(Amy Sisson) Amy Sisson is a writer, book reviewer, crazy cat lady, and academic librarian, not necessarily in that order. Her published fiction ranges from Star Trek work for Pocket Books to a group of thematically linked short stories in her Unlikely Patron Saints series, which have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lady Churchill?s Rosebud Wristlet, and Irregular Quarterly. Most recently, her story Patriot Girls appeared in Aeon Speculative Fiction. When not writing, she enjoys making artist trading cards, studying German and Japanese, attending performances by the Houston Ballet, and traveling with her husband, Paul Abell.

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 and by 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 D/FW area. Casey's band, October Country, was Interfilk's Guest of Honor at Seattle's "Confilkt 3" in January 2010.

Libby A. Smith:

(Tandra) Libby A. Smith (formerly 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. She also adapted The Rainbow Bridge story to poetry form for counted cross stitch designer Sue Hillis' design "The Story of the Rainbow Bridge." 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 where she's a member of the Central Arkansas Speculative Fiction Writers Group

Jesse Sosa:

Jesse is a 3D character artist that has been in the game industry for over 10 years. His work can be seen in such games as Ghostbusters: The Video Game, BloodRayne 2, the upcoming Star Wars: Kinect, the movie Grandma's Boy, and much more.

Caroline Spector:

(Caroline Spector) Caroline Spector has been an editor and writer in the science fiction, fantasy and gaming fields for the last twenty-five years. Most recently, Caroline has had stories in the Wild Cards collections, Inside Straight, Busted Flush, and Suicide Kings. Before joining the Wild Cards consortium, Caroline authored three published novels -- Scars, Little Treasures, and Worlds Without End -- editions of which have been published in several languages. Caroline has also written adventure modules and hint books (along with her husband, gaming legend Warren Spector). She also spent two years as Associate Editor at Amazing Magazine, plays bass and sings backup vocals with Bland Lemon Denton, and was a contributor to Steve Gould�s Eat Our Brains blog.

Kathryn Sullivan:

(Kathryn Sullivan) Kathryn is the author of young adult fantasies The Crystal Throne, Agents & Adepts, and Talking to Trees. A children�s picture book, Michael & the Elf, will soon be reprinted by Guardian Angel Publishing. A Chick who has dug Time Lords for many years, she has an essay, "The Fanzine Factor", in the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords. Kathryn lives in Winona, Minnesota, where the river bluffs double as cliffsides on alien planets or the deep mysterious forests in a magical world. Her fight scenes in her books are based on her SCA experience and any birdlike beings only slightly resemble her cockatoo owner. She is a proud member of EPIC and Broad Universe.

Frank Summers:

(Frank Summers) Frank Summers writes speculative fiction and lives in the Dallas area. His short fiction has appeared in a variety of print and eBook anthologies. His most recent publishing credit is "Buffalo Bubba's Wild West Show" which appears in A Stitch in Time Saves None from Yard Dog Press.

Frank enjoys spending time with his wife, two daughters and four dogs. He is also a performing songwriter, and has been an IT professional for thirty years.

Sundara:

Sundara is one half of the duo Ghost of a Rose. Sundara is from the Chicago Area originally, where she participated in filk circles at conventions and SCA events.

Shanna Swendson:

(ShannaSwendson.com) (Wikipedia) Shanna Swendson is best known as the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series from Ballantine Books and a variety of geeky pop-culture essays published by BenBella Books. She can occasionally be lured out of her writing cave by movies, promises of Doctor Who episodes, conventions or new books calling to her from the library or bookstore. Or tea or chocolate (or tea and chocolate, but not chocolate tea).

Mel Tatum:

(Mel Tatum) Mel Tatum is an author of short stories, non-fiction, and songs. She has several short stories available from Yard Dog Press; her essay on the Anita Blake series is available from BenBella Books; her academic writing on filk is available on the web; her filk songs are available at her site; and her original songs (most of which were co-written with Dene Foye) are published in songbooks available from Sablewood Village.

TheLoneGunman:

(TLGTunes) I'm a professional drummer from the Kansas City area named Alex Boyd. That's how I make my living.. But I have an alter ego. Based upon my love for all things geeky, nerdy, silly, science fiction, the people that love that stuff too and my love for folk music, may I introduce you to TheLoneGunman. My music is simple, stemming from the fact that I spend all my time practicing drums and not guitar and my love for the Ramones. The songs are about whatever it is I feel like singing about, from silly songs with no point whats so ever, to epic stories where the tunes are like chapters in a book and everything in between.

Triskelion:

Triskelion started as a group of friends who enjoyed playing music for fun, using MusiconFriday as their Yahoogroup. Inspired by a love of Celtic music, Triskelion brings a wide variety of musical talent to the stage. Floyd Brigdon's background playing guitar for rock bands (and a begrudging country band or two) and as a singer/songwriter, Sarah Brigdon's as a church vocalist, and Leah Tharp's rhythm 12-string guitar and vocals blend together to bring a joyful and diverse blend of harmonies. Floyd continues to introduce more instruments to the mix, with bouzouki and cittern being the most recent. Triskelion lends itself to music from a variety of sources that fit the Celtic genre but are not the songs most often heard. A love of filk makes Fencon a great event for them. Their first CD , "Music on Friday's", was a great first project that includes two original compostions� one of which started off as a writing exercise in a FenCon panel in 2008. Their next CD, coming out in Spring of 2012, will be a children's lullaby collection.

Jeffrey Turner:

Jeffrey Turner is a Texan screenwriter and novelist who writes to support his reading addiction. He was an associate producer of the award-winning documentary "My Run," which aired recently at theaters nationwide and will be available via NetFlix in September. Many of his short stories and novellas can be found at Yard Dog Press, and he's currently working with the Yard Dog family to produce the first "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" short film. When not writing, Jeff likes to travel around the world, visit ancient ruins, ruin golf courses with horrible attempts to hit a ball with a crooked stick, and participate in the ruin of rival poker players.

Katherine Turski:

Kathy Turski writes the way she looks--short and funny. Several of her short and funny stories are published in the Yard Dog Press books Flush Fiction and A Bubba In Time Saves None, along with the upcoming chapbook, "It's the Great Bumpkin, Cletus Brown". Her short story, "Fairest Of The Mall" is also published in the New Fairy Tales anthology with Aurora Wolf Press.

Kathy lives in North Texas with her husband. By day she clerks for a local library, and in her spare time she loves old movies, baking, and coming up with weird story ideas--mainly fueled with caffeine and chocolate.

Bobb Waller:

Bobb is a long-time Texas science fiction fan and member of ORAC. He has been involved with fandom, and conventions since 1976. He learned to read at the age of six with the help of comic books, and has never stopped reading them, as well as the world Science Fiction that he discovered at age 10. Bobb is the head of FenCon's Programming division this year. If Bobb is not working FenCon you will find him reading the multitude of books he bought in the dealers room. He also denies anything Tim Miller says about him!

Steven E. Wedel:

(Steven E. Wedel) Steven E. Wedel recently saw the publication of After Obsession, a young adult novel co-authored with bestseller Carrie Jones. His other books include the four volumes of The Werewolf Saga, and others. He lives in central Oklahoma with his wife, four kids, two dogs, and a cat.

Toni Weisskopf:

Toni Weisskopf is the publisher of Baen Books, and also ran our Writers Workshop in 2007. She is also the winner of the 1994 Phoenix Award for lifetime achievement as a science fiction professional. Toni is a graduate of Oberlin College with a degree in anthropology. She is also a Cubs fan, even though she has never lived in Chicago.

Jaye Wells:

(Jaye Wells) After several years as an editor and freelance writer, Jaye Wells finally decided to leave the facts behind and make up her own reality. Her overactive imagination and life-long fascination with the arcane and freakish blended nicely with this new career path. Her most recent release is The Mage in Black, the second book in her popular Sabina Kane urban fantasy series (published by Orbit).

Mel. White:

(Twitter) (Facebook) Known to her kids as "Indiana Mom", Mel. has gone back to school to become "Dr. Indiana Mom." She still works on fossils for the Museum of Nature and Science, and is now a volunteer educator at Trinity River Audubon Center as well as a Texas Master Naturalist. She's also a proud member of the Yard Dog Press gang, with a story in A BUBBA IN TIME SAVES NONE.

Skyler White:

(Skyler White) Nationally bestselling author Skyler White�s debut novel, the vampire/neuroscience fable �and Falling, Fly� (Berkley, March 2010), was named one of the top five sci-fi/fantasy books of 2010 by �Library Journal�. Her follow-up, �In Dreams Begin� (Berkley, November 2010), is a time-travel horror/romance involving W.B. Yeats and other luminaries of the late Victorian �Golden Dawn� occult movement, and was called a �singularly unique work of art� by Barnes & Noble. She lives in Austin, TX.

Sandy Williams:

(Sandy Williams) (Twitter) (Facebook) Sandy Williams graduated from Texas A&M University with degrees in political science and history. She worked as a librarian until her husband whisked her off to London on an extended business trip. Now, she�s back in Texas, writing full time and moonlighting as a librarian. Her debut urban fantasy, The Shadow Reader, will be released by Ace Books on October 25, 2011. Feel free to chat with her on Twitter or Facebook.

Craig Wolf:

(Craig Wolf) (Blog) Craig Wolf does weird things up in Oklahoma, most of which you don't want to know about. Sometimes that weirdness spills out in ink. Maybe it was that he was dropped on his head early and often. Or maybe it's just that he was born under a weird sign. In any event, there are short stories and a novel and more crimes against humanity on the way. His newest little dinky collection of flash fiction is called Nibbled to Death.

The following regret they are unable to attend FenCon this year:

Paul Abell

C. T. Adams

James Burk

Dakota Cassidy

Scott Cupp

Christopher Fulbright

Candace "Candy" Havens

Angeline Hawkes

Carrie Jones

Rob Rogers

Adrian Simmons

Our program participant list for 2011 is full. If you are interested in being a program participant at FenCon IX in 2012, please read our program participant guidelines before contacting us. We hope it will answer most of your questions. Thanks.

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FenCon is a production of the Dallas Future Society, a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to the advancement of science, literature, and music for the future of all mankind. This material is published by the Dallas Future Society in furtherance of its literary and educational purposes. The opinions expressed are those of the editors and contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Dallas Future Society, its Officers, or Directors.
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