FenCon IX Archive - Guests and Program Participants - CJ Cherryh - Donato Giancola - John Anealio - Teresa Patterson - Dr. David Hanson - Peter David

FenCon Tower

A Fan-Operated Science Fiction and Fantasy Literary and Filk Convention in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area

FenCon IX Guests and Program Participants

Guest of Honor: C.J. Cherryh

(C.J. Cherryh's World) (Wikipedia) C.J. Cherryh writes science fiction and fantasy. She has written more than 60 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award-winning novels Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in her Alliance-Union universe. She travels, figure skates, takes photos, and sometimes she does art. She has an asteroid, 77185 Cherryh, named after her. She's been most of the way around the world. She used to teach and trained in linguistics and archaeology. Cherryh, with writers Jane Fancher and Lynn Abbey, runs an e-book operation, Closed Circle Publications, besides her regular writing schedule with New York publishing. She lives in the Pacific Northwest of the USA where she shares a house with Jane Fancher, and their two cats, whose predecessors had about 100,000 miles of travel on them. The new kittehs will be learning the ropes this trip.

Music Guest of Honor: John Anealio

(JohnAnealio.com) With little more than an alternate-tuned acoustic guitar and a dog-eared copy of The Hobbit, songwriter John Anealio composes and performs geeky anthems for writers, librarians, lovers of science fiction, Best Buy customers, and robots. His music sounds like John Mayer, Weezer, and James Taylor playing Dungeons and Dragons together on their iPhones.

Fan Guest of Honor: Teresa Patterson

Teresa Patterson co-authored the World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time with Robert Jordan and The World of Shannara with Terry Brooks. She has also written various fantasy stories, non-fiction articles, and ghost-written a military adventure. Her collaboration No Quarter, written with the late Robert Asprin and Eric Del Carlo, is a murder mystery set in the streets of New Orleans' infamous French Quarter. In 2004 she was awarded the Chesley Award by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists for service to artists. She currently lives in Texas with an ever-changing family of cats and raccoons.

Artist Guest of Honor: Donato Giancola

(Donato Art) (Wikipedia) Donato Giancola is a multi-award winning fantasy illustrator and painter. A member of the Society of Illustrators and ASFA, Donato’s peer honors include three Hugo and nineteen Chesley Awards, and Gold and Silver Medals from Spectrum: The Best of Contemporary Fantastic Art among others. Since graduating summa cum laude in painting from Syracuse University in 1992, his inspiring paintings have graced the covers of over three hundred novels. Clients range from major publishers in New York to concept design firms on the West Coast; notables include The United Nations, LucasFilm, National Geographic, CNN, DC Comics, DAW Books, Tor Books, the Scifi Channel, Random House, Milton-Bradley, and Hasbro. Donato recognizes the significant cultural role played by fantasy art and makes personal efforts to contribute to the expansion and appreciation of the genre that extend beyond the commercial commissions of his clients; to that end he serves as an instructor at the School of Visual Arts and lectures extensively at conventions, tournaments and universities worldwide.

Science Guest of Honor: Dr. David Hanson

(Hanson Robotics) (Wikipedia) David Hanson holds a BFA in film from the Rhode Island School of Design, and worked as a professional sculptor for 2 years, with pieces in Atlantis Resort, Universal Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering prior to transitioning into Disney’s Technical Development area, where he led several robotic and materials projects. Hanson received a Ph.D. in Aesthetic Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas, with a focus Interactive Arts and Engineering, merging cognitive science research, engineering, and artistry in the humanlike conversation robots that formed the basis for founding Hanson Robotics. Hanson founded Hanson Robotics in late 2003 to bring robots to life, literally. Since then the Hanson Robotics team of visionaries introduced a renowned series of the world’s most lifelike intelligent robots, enlivened by Hanson’s breakthrough technologies including Frubber™ skin material, and Character Engine cognition software.

Dr. Hanson has informed us that he has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and is unable to leave Hong Kong until proper medical transport is available next week. He regrets being unable to attend this weekend. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Special Guest: Karl Schroeder

(KarlSchroeder.com/) (Wikipedia) Karl Schroeder is one of Canada's most popular science fiction and fantasy authors. He divides his time between writing fiction and analyzing, conducting workshops, and speaking on the future impact of science and technology on society. As the author of nine novels he has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Russian, and Japanese. In addition to his more traditional fiction, he pioneered a new mode of writing that blends fiction and rigorous futures research—his influential short novels Crisis in Zefra (2005) and Crisis in Urlia (2011) are innovative 'scenario fictions' commissioned by the Canadian army as study and research tools. While doing all of this he is also working to complete a Master's degree in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University in Toronto.

Toastmaster: Peter A. David

(PeterDavid.net) (Wikipedia) Peter David is a prolific author whose career, and continued popularity, spans nearly two decades. He has worked in every conceivable media: television, film, books (fiction, non-fiction and audio), short stories, and comic books, and acquired followings in all of them. In the literary field, Peter has had over fifty novels published, including numerous appearances on the New York Times Bestsellers List. His novels include Sir Apropos of Nothing and the sequel The Woad to Wuin, Knight Life, Howling Mad, and the Psi-Man adventure series. He is the co-creator and author of the bestselling Star Trek: New Frontier series and has also written such Trek novels as Q-Squared, I, Q (with John deLancie), and Imzadi. Peter’s comic book resume includes an award-winning twelve-year run on The Incredible Hulk, plus work on Supergirl, Young Justice, Aquaman, Spider-Man 2099, X-Factor, Star Trek, Sachs & Violens, and many others. Peter is the co-creator, with Bill Mumy, of the science fiction series Space Cases, and he has written several scripts for Babylon 5 and the sequel series, Crusade. He lives in New York with his wife, Kathleen, and his children.

Guest Speaker: Stanley G. Love

Astronaut Stanley G. Love was born in San Diego, California, but considers Eugene, Oregon, to be his hometown. He is married with two children. His recreational interests include martial arts, alpine hiking, reading and writing science fiction and appreciation of new music, cult films and anime. Stanley Love earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1987. He attended graduate school in Astronomy at the University of Washington, receiving a Master of Science degree in 1989 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1993. He was selected by NASA for the Astronaut training in June 1998. He has served several roles at NASA including CAPCOM for several shuttle missions, developing requirements for human-rated launch systems, crewing a simulated lunar surface mission, and piloting DeepWorker submersibles for the Pavilion Lake Research Project and the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations test. In 2008, Dr. Love completed his first spaceflight on the crew of STS-122, logging more than 306 hours in space, including more than 15 hours in two spacewalks. STS-122 Atlantis was the 24th shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station. The primary objective of the flight was to transport and install the European Space Agency's Columbus Laboratory module. Dr. Love performed two spacewalks to help prepare the Columbus Laboratory for installation, to add two science payloads to the outside of Columbus and to carry a failed station gyroscope to the shuttle for return to Earth. Dr. Love's flight duties also included operation of both the station and shuttle robotic arms.

Confirmed Program Participants for 2012:

Paul Abell:

(ARES Directorate) Dr. Paul Abell is the Lead Scientist for Planetary Small Bodies assigned to the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He was a telemetry officer for the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous spacecraft Near-Infrared Spectrometer team and is a science team member on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Hayabusa near-Earth asteroid sample-return mission. Paul was also a member of the Hayabusa contingency recovery team and participated in the successful recovery of the spacecraft‘s sample return capsule, which returned to Woomera, Australia in June 2010. Paul, his wife Amy Sisson, and their feline companions have lived in Houston, Texas since December 2003.

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) (FaceBook) (Twitter)C. Dean Andersson’s I Am Dracula is Dracula’s favorite Vampire novel because the immortal Wallachian Prince Vlad "The Impaler" Drakulya helped write it. Dean’s Raw Pain Max is the Hungarian Blood Countess Erzebet Bathory’s favorite SplatterPunk (heavy metal horror) cult classic for the same reason. Vlad and Erzebet also like Dean’s other novels and short stories, including the delicious "Small Brown Bags of Blood," "Mama Strangelove’s Remedies for Afterlife Disorders," and the Bram Stoker Award Finalist, "The Death Wagon Rolls on By." Meanwhile, back on the Viking Dragonship, Dean’s Bloodsong! HELx3 is an upcoming omnibus e-book from Event Horizon, collecting his Norse Fantasy (Sword and Sorcery) Warrior Witch of Hel, Death Riders of Hel, and Werebeasts of Hel. Dean is currently writing Bloodsong! Valkyries of Hel, and I Am Dracula II.

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 a former FenCon chair, which explains the gray hairs. When not spending her waking hours on FenCon, Julie works as a writer, photographer, and slave to cats.

Bedlam Bards:

(BedlamBards.com) The Bedlam Bards are a duo that specializes in vigorous performances of traditional music at festivals and conventions around the country. Their members include Hawke on guitar, bodhran , bones, pennywhistle, and voice; and Cedric on fiddle, mandola, and voice. Together, they have released five albums: Take Out the Trash, Furious Fancies, Barnyard Bedlam: A Cock and Bull story, and On the Drift, which features songs about "Firefly" and "Serenity." Their newest album is Firefly Drinking Songs, which was recorded in part at FenCon.

Heidi Berthiaume:

Heidi Berthiaume has a last name that is easier to say (berth-e-um) than spell. She writes novels, has a few (2) short stories published, develops children’s iPad apps and any remaining time is spent on some kind of project such as editing fan music videos, prototyping swag, or spreading the philosophy of cake. You can connect with her via Facebook or at her website, http://www.heidi2524.com/.

Paul Black:

(Paul Black Books) (Wikipedia) Paul Black 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 a finalist in the Independent Publisher’s Book Awards and The Eric Hoffer Book of the Year Award. His other books (Soulware and Nexus Point) were also finalists in the IP Book Awards, along with winning ForeWord’s Book of the Year Award for science fiction. His fourth book, The Presence, won the Independent Publisher's Book Award for Science Fiction, along with Forward Magazines Book of the Year. His new book, The Samsara Effect will be out in stores summer of 2012. Paul is creative director and principle of Paul Black Design, a strategic design and branding firm located in Dallas, Texas.

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.

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, Jamie Medford, and Elena Todd will be performing at the FenCon Cabaret.

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.

Lillian Stewart Carl:

(LillianStewartCarl.com) My most recent novel is The Mortsafe, number six in the Fairbairn/Cameron cross-genre series. That is, a series that's mostly mystery/thriller but also has ghosts/paranormal and even light touches of romance. You could call it literary ADHD if you like, but me, I'd call it book-knitting---knit character here, purl setting there, cable in history, add bobbles of sex and violence.

That is not a knitting needle I'm waving in my photo. It's Anduril, Flame of the West, provided by the tour guide at Mt. Potts Station in New Zealand, site of Edoras. I could make some metaphor about pens being more effective than swords, but then, that depends on whether you're trying to write something or win the throne of Gondor, right?

J. Kathleen Cheney:

(JKathleenCheney.com) J. Kathleen Cheney is a former teacher and has taught mathematics ranging from 7th grade to Calculus, with a brief stint as a Gifted and Talented Specialist. She is a member of SFWA, RWA, and Broad Universe. Her works have been published in Jim Baen's Universe, Writers of the Future, and Fantasy Magazine, among others. Her first novel, Of Ambergris, Blood, and Brandy will come out from Ace/Roc in the fall of 2013.

Her website can be found at www.jkathleencheney.com

Cathy Clamp:

Cathy Clamp, who writes both individually and with C.T. Adams, is a USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance, including the Tales of the Sazi series (Hunter's Moon, Moon's Web, Captive Moon, Howling Moon, Moon's Fury, Timeless Moon, Cold Moon Rising, Serpent Moon), the Thrall trilogy (Touch of Evil, Touch of Madness, Touch of Darkness) and, as Cat Adams, the Blood Singer series (Blood Song, Siren Song, Demon Song, The Isis Collar, and The Eldritch Conspiracy--coming in January, 2013) as well as several stand-alone novels and dozens of short stories, including upcoming shorts in the Mammoth Book of Ghost Romance and the Mammoth Book of Futuristic Romance in 2012 and 2013. She lives near Brady, in the geographic Heart of Texas, with her husband, three dogs, three cats and a dozen attack goats.

Rosemary Clement-Moore:

(Rosemary Clement-Moore) Rosemary Clement-Moore is the author of award-winning supernatural mysteries for young (and not so young) adults, like Texas Gothic, The Splendor Falls, and the newly released Brimstone. But she’s mostly known for her wit, beauty, hatred of zombies and her love of dogs, coffee, history, archeology, vintage embroidery, rebooted Star Trek, original Star Wars, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, Russell Crowe movies, books with kissing and movies with many explosions.

Stoney Compton:

(Stoney Compton) (FaceBook) (Profile) Leonard (Stoney) Compton is a native of Nebraska, a U.S. Navy vet, and former 31-year resident of Alaska. During those 31 years he wore many hats, did many things, and is now trying to fit them all into his fiction. He is married to Colette and they live in Corpus Christi, Texas with their many cats and Blue Heeler, Pullo. Colette teaches ballet and Stoney is an independent publisher of science fiction and historical fiction.

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.

Aaron de Orive:

A graduate of the University of Texas' film program, Aaron de Orive began his writing career in video games, serving as a lead or senior writer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. His current projects include the screenplay The Futurists, a collaboration with author Julie Kenner, the fantasy novel Blade Singer, a collaboration with author Martha Wells, and Mr. Mythology, an animated web series.

Aaron lives in Austin with his wife, daughter, and three terriers.

Charlayne Denney:

Charlayne Elizabeth Denney—"Charlie" has been working science fiction conventions since 1979 as a gopher, Excalibur Security, dealer, and con-com. She’s read enough books to fill two rooms of bookshelves and has contemplated moving to a small town just so she can open a lending library. When E-books came out, she jumped on the bandwagon and talked her beloved Bruce into buying her a Nook. That lead to trying to find a way to support her habit, which lead to finding review sites just as she discovered the joys of Paranormal Romance Novels. She now reviews books for Paranormal Romance Guild, Tigris Garden of Books, and GoodReads.

A trained historian, she also has an abnormal love of archives and old, musty corners of libraries, and sometimes thinks the Internet isn’t for porn but for doing research. Her beloved Bruce believes she’s OCD and sometimes possessed. They live in Friendswood, Texas.

Bradley Denton:

(Bradley Denton) (Alive and Well) Bradley Denton's novella "The Adakian Eagle" is a 2012 nominee for the Edgar Allan Poe Award . . . and later this year, the motion picture version of his Campbell-Award-winning novel Buddy Holly Is Alive and Well on Ganymede will begin filming in New Mexico and Canada.

Brad is also the booking manager for Bland Lemon Denton, the World's Oldest (and Worst) Bluesman. Visit Bland on the Web at www.bradleydenton.net/blandlemondenton.htm.

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) (Wishlist Publishing) Carole Nelson Douglas, award-winning author of 60 multiple-genre novels, currently writes the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator, noir urban fantasy series (Virtual Virgin) and the long-running Midnight Louie, PI, cat sleuth mystery series (Cat in a White Tie and Tails coming in August), set in variations of Las Vegas: paranormally post-apocalyptic and contemporary. Carole was the first author to make a Sherlockian female character, Irene Adler, a series protagonist, with the New York Times Notable Book, Good Night, Mr. Holmes. Carole has e-published (Wishlist Publishing) Louie, Irene and Delilah stories. A new Delilah novella debuted in June's P. N. Elrod-edited Hex Appeal anthology.

Saturday Only

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.

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 - RhondaEudaly.com - for her latest publications and downloads.

Elisabeth Fairchild:

(Elisabeth Fairchild) A historical mentalist with old soul insight, a phenomenal floor-to-ceiling research library, two Border collies and Seven-of-Nine, a one-eyed black cat, Fairchild is known for award-winning Regency romances that explore England’s cathedrals, castles and country houses. This summer she responded to pleas from fans, a visitation from the deceased, and a friend's psychic vision, with two Regency era historical paranormal romances. A gifted seer and a Regency era secret agent join forces to save England from a radical plot in Provocateur. Elisabeth's newest Regency romance, a snowbound ghost hunt, The Christmas Spirit, is a November release from NAL.

Jane Fancher:

(Harmonies of the Net) (ClosedCircle.net) Jane Fancher is a full-time author/artist/webmaster/editor/landscaper/gardener. She sleeps...when she gets around to it. She lives in Spokane, Washington with her longtime partner/editor C.J. Cherryh, her crazy, part-Bengal cat, Eushu, Eushu’s buddy, Seishi...and a whole bunch of fish. She writes long, chewy, socially conscious books about really interesting (if slightly crazy) people. Her most recent work,’NetWalkers, the newest in her critically acclaimed GroundTies series is now available as an ebook from Closed Circle Publications.

She’s a fan and loves to interact with other fans, so don’t hesitate to come up and chat. You can follow her blog at: http://www.janefancher.com/HarmoniesOfTheNet/ and buy her ebooks at http://www.closed-circle.net/

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.

Mark Finn:

Mark Finn is an author, actor, essayist, and playwright. His biography, Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, was nominated for a World Fantasy award in 2007 and is currently in its second edition. His fiction, articles, essays, and introductions to Robert E. Howard and his works have appeared in RevolutionSF.com, Greenwood Press, UT Press, Dark Horse Comics, Wildside Press, Monkeybrain Books, and elsewhere. Current comic book projects include SCOUTS! for Ape Entertainment and a story for Monsterverse’s Bela Lugosi’s Tales From the Grave. He lives in North Texas with his long-suffering wife, too many books, and an affable pit bull named Sonya.

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) (RANDOM REALITIES) (Don't Quit Your Day Job Podcast)
Melanie Fletcher has been called many things - weird, "Hey you!", a crazy cat lady, and Auntie Mel among them. But she’s proudest of the title her husband gave her - Renaissance Babe. An e-book collection of her published short stories, RANDOM REALITIES, is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, her Etsy store is doing gangbuster business in steampunk jewelry, plush dolls and other handicrafts, and her podcast "Don’t Quit Your Day Job" has just entered its fifth year. She figures she’ll sleep when she’s dead.

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.

Tiffany Franzoni:

(Roll2Play) Tiffany Franzoni has always had a love of gaming and geek culture since the days of her youth; a love that has continued to grow over the years. Knowing how close-knit those communities are, Tiffany wanted to do more and make a difference in the world. She wanted to grow gaming culture. So, Tiffany opened Roll2Play, a game store in Coppell, to embrace the culture that she loves just a little more.

Tiffany has been involved in the convention circuit and now is glad to have an opportunity to get more involved.

Christopher Fulbright:

(Christopher Fulbright) Christopher Fulbright is a former journalist turned technical writer, but his real job is raising four kids with his wife and sometimes collaborator Angeline Hawkes. Christopher is the author of numerous published short stories and novellas, including THE BONE TREE, and the recent Fulbright & Hawkes collaboration SORROW CREEK, now available from Delirium Books. Their new zombie novel SCAVENGERS (Elder Signs Press) is also currently available in trade paperback. Fulbright received the Richard Laymon President’s Award in 2008 from the HWA, and his short stories have received honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror and Best Horror of the Year.

Mary Gearhart-Gray:

(4StarStories) Mary Gearhart-Gray is a tecnnical editor who has lived in the Dallas area and attended local Science Fiction conventions for the last twenty plus years. Her experiences include schlepping electronic gear as a (major) part of the Buzz Blaster, Space Entrepreneur radio play production crew and acting as publicist and Sound Effects person. In 2011 she founded 4StarStories.com, a quarterly online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine, where she is co-editor with her husband, David Gray. Her phil?osophy is that aspiring authors should have a user-friendly venue to showcase their work.

Generic Radio Workshop:

(Generic Radio Workshop) The Generic Radio Workshop has been around longer than the Golden Age of Radio lasted -- a little over thirty 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.

Brian Guarnieri:

When not hunting zombies or raising his son, Brian wrestles with SQL Server and tries to figure out why storage area network engineers lie. He's a home-grown Boston refugee who survives by war gaming and the occasional roleplaying game, and occasionally speaks on database technology at local user groups. A neo-luddite at heart, he's part of a small group extolling the virtues of imagination, board games and miniatures with some great folks at Texicon.net.

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.

Candace "Candy" Havens:

(CandaceHavens.com) Candace Havens is the bestselling author of the Charmed and Dangerous series, Caruthers Sisters series, four books for Harlequin’s Blaze line, and Take It Like A Vamp, part of Entangled Publishing’s new Covet line. Her books have received nominations for several awards, including RITA's and National Reader's Choice awards. She is the author of the biography Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy and a contributor to several anthologies. She is also one of the nation's leading entertainment journalists and has interviewed countless celebrities. She does film reviews on New Country 96.3, and is the President of the Television Critics Association.

Angeline Hawkes:

(Angeline Hawkes) Angeline Hawkes holds a B.A. in Composite English Language Arts from Texas A&M University-Commerce. Her collection, The Commandments, was a 2006 Bram Stoker award finalist. Angeline’s story, "In Waters Black the Lost Ones Sleep", appears in the 2007 Origins award-nominated Chaosium anthology, Frontier Cthulhu. Recent fiction includes Sorrow Creek and Black Mercy Falls, Delirium Books novellas, co-written with Christopher Fulbright. Bad Moon Books published Angeline’s sword and sorcery collection, Out of the Garden and Other Tales of the Barbarian Kabar of El Hazzar, in March 2012. Scavengers, a 2011 novel from Elder Signs Press, is another Fulbright and Hawkes collaboration. Angeline has seen the publication of novels, novellas, collections, fiction in 40 anthologies, and over 100 short fiction publications. She is an active member of HWA and former member of the Robert E. Howard UPA. Visit her websites at www.angelinehawkes.com and www.fulbrightandhawkes.com.

Katrina Hill:

(ActionFlickChick.com) Katrina Hill is, first and foremost, a lover of all things action. She is the writer/creator of the website www.actionflickchick.com, and has quickly become known as the go to source for action movie news, reviews, and interviews. She also writes freelance for MTV Geek, created a new webseries, Geeks and Gamers Anonymous (GAGA), and is the author of Action Movie Freak by Krause Publications, a guidebook to the best action movies around, due out in November.

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.

Bart Kemper:

Bart is a consulting mechanical engineer, writer, SFWA member, photographer, and combat veteran living in Baton Rouge. He owns his own engineering firm with work ranging from petrochemical to deep sea diving to aerospace to manufacturing to defense to forensics. His military work has taken him to Europe, Asia, and Iraq. Enjoys demolitions, large caliber devices, living on the bayou, and the quiet moment as a hurricane eye passes by. Mostly harmless.

Jake Kerr:

(JakeKerr.com) We won't talk about the fact that Jake Kerr's very first publication, the story "The Old Equations," was nominated for the Nebula and Sturgeon Awards. What's more interesting is that Kerr once hung out on Henry Rollins' tour bus as it traveled from Denver to Albuquerque and that Creed lead singer Scott Stapp once punched him. He recovered from both experiences.

Lee Killough:

(Lee Killough) (Coffee Shop Writers) (Wikipedia) Lee Killough discovered SF/fantasy and Mysteries at the same time and became hooked on both. Fear of exhausting her favorite genres’ supply in her small hometown library drove her to write her own stories, combining the genres as much as possible. Most of her sixteen novels are SF or supernatural mysteries or urban fantasies. Yard Dog Press has published her African fantasy, The Leopard’s Daughter, and Checking On Culture: an aid to building story backgrounds. She has two chapters in The Complete Guide to Writing Paranormal Novels. Her books are being republished as e-books, with new material added.

Diesel Laforce:

(Wikipedia) (Art by Diesel) Diesel is a self-taught artist who started his career as an illustrator at TSR, Inc. (aka Dungeons and Dragons). He created illustrations, logos, game prototypes and thousands of game boards and maps for TSR gaming products and magazines. His accomplishments include two Origins Gaming Awards for his cartographic illustrations.

Diesel’s 30-year career as a professional illustrator has made him a legend in the gaming industry. Even though he has no formal training, his illustration background has provided a natural transition into the field of sculpting.

Diesel now lives in Austin and is devoting all his talents to sculpting fantastic and unique artwork. He also continues to host the Art Show at the annual Gencon Game Fair held in Indianapolis. You can view his work at www.artbydiesel.com.

Travis Langley:

(Beyond Heroes & Villains) Dr. Travis Langley authored the critically acclaimed book BATMAN AND PSYCHOLOGY: A DARK AND STORMY KNIGHT. A professor of psychology at Henderson State University, he teaches courses on crime, mental illness, and media, including a class titled "Batman." He and his students study fan behavior as part of their ongoing ERIICA Project: Empirical Research on the Interpretation & Influence of the Comic Arts. Thousands follow him as @Superherologist on Twitter. Hiis column, "Beyond Heroes and Villains," appears at PsychologyToday.com. He was also an undefeated champion on "Wheel of Fortune" even though none of the puzzles were about psychology or superheroes.

Mark R. Largent:

(The Wannabe Pirates) (Greyhawk and the Starbucklers) (The Paunk! Show) Mark R. Largent is a freelance graphic designer with the heart of a cartoonist. He wrote and provided the 3D art for the humor webcomic, The Wannabe Pirates and also writes the slightly-more-serious webcomic, Greyhawk and the Starbucklers. He just completed a 16-minute animated parody of the classic Trek episode "Amok Time," called Stalled Trek: Amutt Time. He is serializing it in a new animated webseries called The Paunk! Show which he plans to use to parody even more genre TV shows.

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.

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 holds degrees in history and law, and is a copy editor, scuba diver, underwater photographer and belly dancer. Her novels The Four Redheads: Apocalypse Now! and Redheads in Love (with Linda L. Donahue, Rhonda Eudaly and Dusty Rainbolt) and House of Doors (part of Double Dog #5) are available from Yard Dog Press. Her works also appear in Witch Way to the Mall and Fangs for the Mammaries (edited by Esther Friesner), The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse, Dracula's Lawyer, A Bubba in Time Saves None, International House of Bubbas, Houston, We've Got Bubbas and Flush Fiction (from Yard Dog Press).

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.)

Zane Melder:

Recently, a combination of factors convinced Zane Melder that it was time to scale back. Instead of taking up a sizable portion of the Dealers’ Room with EDGE Books, you can now find him out enjoying other areas of the convention. In recent years Zane’s household increased by a bride, Jo, who brought with her the requisite array of cats. Since then, his home life has become controlled by bees, horses, chickens and a ten year old granddaughter. If you get a chance, ask about his and Jo's first date. Or maybe not, it included a funeral.

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 Morgan:

Tim Morgan is a lifelong science fiction fan, but only discovered fandom about 10 years ago. He is a past president of ORAC, a co-founder of MakeDFW, currently serves as the Vice President of the Dallas Future Society, and is on the board of directors of the EarthRise Institute. When he isn't working or planning cons, he enjoys spending time with his family including his grandson. He has been known to commit random acts of writing for fun and sings the occasional song when no one is listening. He enjoys playing games of all types as time allows. He sighs when he sees the ever-growing pile of unread books on his shelf.

Tim is Conchair for this year's FenCon as well as FenCon X in 2013. It is also rumored that he is organizing a Mini-MakerFaire for late 2012. He used to have free time, but fandom discovered his inability to say no. He would welcome a referral to a good psychologist to correct this condition.

Michelle Muenzler:

(Michelle Muenzler) Michelle'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.

Ethan Nahté:

Ethan Nahté is a speculative fiction writer - turned professional journalist - returned to speculative fiction writer. His short stories have appeared in publications by Yard Dog Press, Hall Brothers Entertainment, and Twit Publishing.

His professional work has also included many years of slaving in television/film and radio; getting banged up in the pits @ rock concerts or crawling in the brush and dirt as a professional photographer; and even a professional musician once upon a time way back when.

He is currently working on a sword & sorcery novel, as well as a tall-tale, and a couple of screenplays when not traveling Arkansas for his job in which he works with nature and wildlife conservation.

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.

Mike Nystul:

Mike Nystul has been gaming since the age of nine, when he helped develop Advanced Dungeons and Dragons; the name Nystul is an official part of the Greyhawk setting. Mike has worked in the games industry for more than 20 years, for HERO Games, ICE, Steve Jackson Games, West End Games, and White Wolf. In 1990, Mike was hired by FASA to be their BattleTech Developer, and after by Mayfair to be the lead developer for their Role-Aids line of D&D supplements. In 1993, he founded Pariah Press and published the critically-acclaimed RPG The Whispering Vault and its supplements.

Kathleen O'Brien:

Kathleen O'Brien is fascinated by the techniques used in historical clothing. She began sewing at age 4, learning traditional techniques from her mother and is the latest in several generations of seamstresses. Kathleen began collecting vintage clothing in 1993 in an effort to decipher mysteries of drape and fit found in previous eras. Her collection encompasses pieces from 1838 through the 1970s, focusing heavily on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kathleen constructs both original and reproduction costumes, utilizing many of the techniques she has learned. She enjoys sharing both these techniques and her collection with others.

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) Expert party wallflower, Gloria Oliver can be a great asset during any multi language movie experience, able to translate some Spanish and Japanese when it's splattered without warning or subtitles at your screen. She also likes to dabble at movie reviews, which she posts on her blog every Friday.

A small press author, her latest work is a magical fantasy with a French flair entitled 'The Price of Mercy'. For sample chapters, free fiction, and more, please visit gloriaoliver.com

Eilis O'Neal:

(Eilis O'Neal) Eilis O'Neal is the author of the YA fantasy novel The False Princess, which was an ABC New Voices selection, an ABC Best Books for Children selection, a YALSA Teens’ Top Ten Awards nominee, and a 2012 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection. Her short fantasy has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and other publications. She lives in Tulsa with her husband and two very obnoxious dogs.

Karl Pajak:

His gaming started like most people, it was a family affair. They'd gather around the table to play dice or cards. His life in gaming really began in the summer of 1977 when he bought his first miniature, a Space 1999 ship. He started playing more "wild" games and eventually found what would become AD&D. He's worked at several game stores and countless game conventions. He supposes that's eventually what led him to own Texicon, and a game company. His favorite things are miniatures games, writing, and sculpting figures, and most of all hanging with his twin—Kevin.

Kevin Pajak:

In his teens, it was California game conventions. During college, he formed Gamers for Games, a college gaming club. He also formed several Board Game and RPG clubs at six different California high schools. One of his best experiences was Bachelor Con in 1999 where he organized his brother Karl’s bachelor party. There were even dealer dollars for All Star Games. Attendance was about thirty people. When he moved back to Texas, he got his BA in English and his MA in Rhetoric. Now, he owns Texicon and works toward expanding and strengthening gaming here in the Lone Star State.

Stephen Patrick:

Stephen Patrick lives in the Dallas area with his wife and daughters. His short stories have been published in multiple 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 at the Arkansas Writer Conference. He is also addicted to the frenetic chaos of film racing; writing and acting with the Dallas-based Elephant and Castle productions.

Juan M. Perez:

(juanmperez.com) The 2011-2012 Poet Laureate for the San Antonio Poets’ Association, Juan Manuel Perez is also the author of Another Menudo Sunday, O’ Dark Heaven: A Response To Suzette Haden Elgin’s Definition Of Horror (2009), WUI: Written Under The Influence Of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. (2011), and six poetry chapbooks. His work recently appeared in What Fears Become, The Langdon Review, Rhysling Anthology, Horror Writers Association Newsletter, And Now The Nightmare Begins, Illumen, The Horror Zine, Star*Line, among others.

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.

John Randall:

(Zyvex Labs)(John Randall)(Matricism) Dr. John Randall calls himself a "card-carrying nanotech nerd." With over 30 years in the business, we'd say he's earned his card. As President of Zyvex Labs, he has helped bring a number of nanotech products to market - including carbon nanotube enhanced composites and nanoprobing instruments. As a world-class nanofabricator, he's committed to realizing atomically precise manufacturing.

In addition to his many scientific and engineering accomplishments, John has a Third Degree Black Belt in Judo, he is an amateur Alto Saxophonist, wrote a play "Mary Mason and the case of the lying witness" produced by Dallas Children’s Theater, and developed in collaboration with Christian Seidler a robotic painting system for the production of pointillist paintings.

Ravenar:

Ravenar Dance Troupe has performed at science fiction conventions all over the US (and even invaded Canada once), including several WorldCons, NASFiC, and many regional conventions throughout the South and the Midwest. The current members are Asrai (author Linda L. Donahue), Samirah (author Julia S. Mandala), Amora and Suzette. They are very pleased to return to FenCon!

Paige Roberts:

Paige E. Ewing has published short stories in the US and UK in a variety of genres, vampire tales to space opera. Current projects include editing the shared world superhero anthology The Protectors, and writing the Damson Dragon Diary blog turned book series, and a swords and horses fantasy trilogy. The first Damson Dragon novel, What is a Hero? is available now. When she has spare time (ha!) she likes swimming and various martial arts. She also dives into interactive spooky adventures for a good cause with Scare for a Cure. Find her on Twitter where she really lives @PaigeEwing

Rob Rogers:

(Blog) Rob Rogers is the author of Devil's Cape, a superhero thriller set in Louisiana. Devil's Cape was a Pop Matters pick, and was also named the HeroPress book of the year for 2008. His short story "The Adventure of the Pirates of Devil's Cape" is in the anthology The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Rob lives in Richardson, Texas, where he is working on his next novel.

Nina Romberg:

(www.sabinestarr.com) (Jane Archer) Nina Romberg:
Nina frequently escapes from her writing lair in the Dallas area to her mountain retreat in Oklahoma. Yet her characters find her whether she’s on horseback, four-wheeler, or jeep. They rope and return her to complete their stories and make sure she’s in town for their beloved conventions. Nina is the multi-published, bestselling author of fiction, nonfiction, short stories, and articles. LADY GONE BAD was chosen as a Rhapsody Book Club alternate selection. OUT OF THE WEST was optioned for a television movie. Whether Nina is working in advertising in Hollywood, hunting arrowheads in Flagstaff, or hypnotizing clients in Dallas, she is always creating stories for her hard-driving characters. Keep up with Nina’s alter egos at www.sabinestarr.com and www.janearcher.com.

Rie Sheridan Rose:

(riewriter.com) Rie is a weaver of many strands. She has written a little bit of everything. Currently, she is documenting the saga of "Getting Her House in Order" on the blog Here's the Clean... Her latest conventional forays are the CD "Don't Go Drinking With Hobbits" and a slice of advice in Zombie Writing!

Selina Rosen:

(Selina Rosen) (Castle Farms) (Yard Dog Press) Selina Rosen’s short fiction has appeared in several magazines and anthologies including Sword & Sorceress, Witch Way To The Mall, Turn The Other Chick, the two newest Thieves’ World anthologies, Aoife’s Kiss, and Here Be Dragons. Her novels include How I Spent The Apocalypse, Black Rage, Queen Of Denial, Strange Robby, and Jabone's Sword. Her mystery novels, Bad Lands, and Bad City, the first two Holmes and Storm Mysteries, were co-written with Laura J. Underwood. One of Selina's recent projects was a novelization of the first Duncan and Mallory graphic novel that was co-written by Robert Asprin and Mel. White, tentatively entitled Duncan and Mallory I.

Selina was honored by Deep South Con/FenCon in Dallas this past September where she was awarded the Phoenix Award.

Check out her website (www.selinarosen.com) for her continuing series, The House. It’s posted in episodes approximately two per month. In her capacity as editor-in-chief of Yard Dog Press, Ms. Rosen has edited several anthologies, including the five award-winning Bubbas Of The Apocalypse anthologies and two collections of modern fairy tales including the Stoker-nominated Stories That Won't Make Your Parents Hurl.

Danielle Ross:

Danielle Ross started writing at a very young age after her third grade teacher praised a short story she wrote for a St. Patrick's Day assignment. She is a writer of Science Fiction and Fantasy and with published two short stories and is currently working on her first novel. She has a Master's Degree in Biology and works as an adjunct Biology instructor for various Community Colleges near where she lives. Aside from writing, she also paints, draws, sculpts, crochets, sews costumes, and does most anything else crafty.

Ken Ruffin:

(NSS of North Texas) As a space enthusiast for 38 years, Ken Ruffin began his interest in space watching Star Trek, 5 days a week, without fail. Several years later, Ken was a freshman in aerospace engineering, the Space Shuttle program was new, and Ken had ambitions of designing spaceships powered by nuclear fusion propulsion. Then, the Space Shuttle Challenger, seven brave astronauts - and Ken's dreams - exploded, and Ken changed majors to mechanical engineering. Fast-forwarding 24 years: Ken has a career in environmental engineering, and he became a member of the National Space Society of North Texas (NSS-NT) located in the D-FW area. Then, Ken proudly became the NSS-NT chapter president in 2011. Now, Ken enjoys educating and entertaining the public with his presentations on the "latest and greatest" updates in space travel (NASA), space development (Commercial Spaceflight, such as SpaceX), and space tourism (such as Virgin Galactic). Although Ken is not designing spaceships, he is still having a great ride!

Adrian Simmons:

(Heroic Fantasy Quarterly) Adrian Simmons writes, reads, hikes, teaches taekwondo, and bears a heavy regulatory burden in Central Oklahoma. He is famous on the internet (in a good way), has hoofed the Ouachita Trail, the Ozark Highland trail, and the northern England coast to coast trail. His fiction, essays, and interviews litter the internet like so many empty Skittles packages. He has plans for great things. Plans. He is 1/3 of the editorial team at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

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.

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 writes horror, humor, science fiction and fantasy and has sold work to Yard Dog Press, Ticonderoga Publications, Pill Hill Press, Ink Oink Art Inc., and Permuted Press.

In his other life, he's an IT professional in the Dallas area. When he's not writing, he likes to spend time with his wife, grown daughters and dogs.

Frank's website: franksummers.com

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's big news this year is that a CD of her songs is scheduled for release in late summer 2012, and all proceeds from the CD will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation. The biggest news is the list of artists who are recording tracks for the album, which includes Jim and Susie Malcolm, Aoife Clancy, Robbie O'Connell, Tullamore, Dene Foye, Wild Mercy, and Three Weird Sisters. Watch the website (scheduled to go live in mid-March) for more information CathBenefitCD.org

S. Boyd Taylor:

(sboydtayor.com) S. Boyd Taylor has been published in such markets as Chi Zine, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Drabblecast. He lives in Dallas, TX, with his wife and daughter, where pursues many strange and wonderful hobbies, such as meditation, Tai Chi, and singing along as loud as he can to the Beatles' "Hello Goodbye."

You can find him on twitter and facebook as "sboydtaylor", and on his website at: www.sboydtayor.com

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", "A Bubba In Time Saves None", "It's the Great Bumpkin, Cletus Brown", and "The Anthology From Hell". She also has stories published with Aurora Wolf Press and Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.

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. Please do not stand between her and cheesecake, unless your insurance is paid.

Gerald Warfield:

Gerald Warfield worked on archeological digs on Easter Island and Mammoth Cave. He worked with sea turtles in Costa Rica and on Culebra Island. He was a Writers of the Future winner in 2011. His story "The Origin of Third Person in Paleolithic Epic Poetry" took first place in the nationally syndicated Grammar Girl short story contest. Gerald published music textbooks and how-to books in investing before turning to fiction. He is a graduate of the Odyssey Writers Workshop.

Steven E. Wedel:

(Steven E. Wedel) Steven E. Wedel was born two days before Anton LaVey founded the Church of Satan in America. Not that there's any connection. Best known for his Werewolf Saga, Wedel's most recent publication is a foray into the paranormal young adult world as the co-author of After Obsession.

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.

Edward Wright:

(Citizens In Space) (Citizens In Space Blog) Edward Wright is chairman of the United States Rocket Academy and project manager for Citizens in Space. In that capacity, he is responsible for the integration of approximately 100 citizen-science experiments and the selection and training of 10 citizen astronaut candidates. He has more than 20 years of experience in the computer, aviation, and space industries. How much more, he refuses to say. Details on the Citizens in Space program can be found at www.citizensinspace.org and recent news at www.citizensinspace.org/blog.

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

Aelle Ables

Lou Antonelli

Margene Bahm

Philippa (Pip) Ballantine

Maggie Bonham

James Burk

Scott Cupp

Kevin Hosey

Rocky Kelley

Vickey Malone Kennedy

Julie Kenner (aka J.K. Beck)

Tee Morris

Scott Padget

Brad Sinor

Sue Sinor

Jaye Wells

Glenn Yeffeth

Our program participant slots for FenCon IX in 2012 are full. If you are interested in being a program participant at FenCon X in 2013, please read our program participant guidelines before contacting us. We hope it will answer most of your questions. Thanks.

FenCon Tower

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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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