Guests of Honor

 
S. M. Stirling

S. M. Stirling

Guest of Honor


(S. M. Stirling) S. M. Stirling is an award-winning author with several book series to his credit. The Desert and the Blade (sequel to The Golden Princess) will be out from Ace/Roc in September.

We're excited to have him back with us for FenCon XII!

Tricky Pixie

Tricky Pixie

Music Guest of Honor


(Tricky Pixie) Tricky Pixie is Alexander James Adams, Betsy Tinney, and S. J. Tucker. Oft compared to a musical blend of whiskey, chocolate, and honey mead, the trio draws their enthusiastic audiences into a daring and dangerous world of original folk ballads, pirate shanties, jigs and reels the likes of which you'll hear nowhere else. Alec, Betsy and Sooj take inspiration from the fairytales of many cultures, as well as modern-day literature, and they proudly fuse those tales into original songs and arrangements for voice, cello, guitar, hand drum, mandolin, fiddle, and whistle. Tricky Pixie is thrilled to join in the fun at FenCon this year!

Tadao Tomomatsu

Tadao Tomomatsu

Fen Guest of Honor


(Tadao Tomomatsu)Tadao is an actor, instructor, comedian, and science fiction personality living in the Los Angeles area. He has had years of TV and movie roles from a spot on “Heroes” to portraying “Mr. Shake Hands Man” on Banzai. He's also a frequent convention guest and all around fun guy! FenCon is thrilled to welcome Tadao to the Dallas area!

Mitch Bentley

Artist Guest of Honor


Artist Mitchell Davidson Bentley spent the last 20 years moving physically from place to place and artistically from traditional oils to cyber compositions. Trained in the traditional medium of oil by his mother, and inspired by his grandfather’s love of science fiction, Bentley began his career as a full-time science fiction artist in 1989 from his home base in Tulsa. While actively involved in the science fiction art world, Bentley also moved from Tulsa to Austin to Central Pennsylvania where his search for knowledge earned him bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Penn State University. Over the same period of time, Bentley shifted from the more traditional oil painting to airbrushed acrylics, and since 2004 has been working exclusively in electronic media.

Dr. Penny Boston

Dr. Penny Boston

Science Guest of Honor


(Dr. Penny Boston)Dr. Penelope J. Boston is Director of the Cave & Karst Studies Program and Professor and Chair of the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department at the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology in Socorro, NM. Boston is also Associate Director for Academics of the National Cave & Karst Research Institute in Carlsbad, NM. Her research includes geomicrobiology and astrobiology in extreme environments (especially in some of the world’s most chemically and thermally extreme caves and mines), speleogenetic (cave-forming) processes on other planets, human space exploration, and the use of robotics to assist exploration and science in challenging Earth and extraterrestrial environments.


Jaye Wells

Jaye Wells

Special Workshop Guest


Jaye Wells is a USA Today-bestselling author of urban fantasy and speculative crime fiction. Raised by booksellers, she loved reading books from a very young age. That gateway drug eventually led to a full-blown writing addiction. When she’s not chasing the word dragon, she loves to travel, drink good bourbon and do things that scare her so she can put them in her books. Jaye lives in Texas. Visit her web site at www.jayewells.com.

Rick Loomis

Special Gaming Guest


Hi. I'm president and owner of Flying Buffalo Inc. I started Flying Buffalo Inc.  45 years ago to run "play by mail" games. That is, multi-player, hidden movement, wargames and fantasy games where the results are posted through the mail. My original idea was almost exactly like WoW and other MMOG's, except the internet didn't exist in 1970. In 1972 I was able to buy a Raytheon 704 Minicomputer to run the games. (I am positive I am the first person in the world to buy a computer just to run games on it.) I am the publisher of the Nuclear War card game, and designer of the expansions: Nuclear Escalation, Nuclear Proliferation, and WMD. (This year, by the way, is the 50th anniversary of the initial publication of the Nuclear War game by Doug Malewicki). I am the publisher of the Tunnels & Trolls RPG, and writer of the first solitaire adventure for any role playing game, Buffalo Castle. I am also the current president of GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association). Feel free to ask me questions about running a small game company. I may not have the RIGHT answer, but I'll try to make it interesting or funny!

Astronaut Stanley G. Love

Astronaut Stanley G. Love

Guest Speaker


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. He currently serves as a flight crew representative for the Space Launch System (SLS) and helps plan for future human exploration of asteroids, the moon, and Mars.



Program Participants


Paul Abell | David Afsharirad | C. Dean Andersson | Kimm Antell | Julie Barrett | Paul Barrett | Bedlam Bards | Paul Black | Bland Lemon Denton and the Lemon-Aides | Rick Boatright | Karen Bogen | Vivian Caethe | Rachel Caine | Lillian Stewart Carl | Peri Charlifu | J. Kathleen Cheney | Dantzel Cherry | Cathy Clamp | R. Cat Conrad | Aaron de Orive | John DeLaughter | Charlayne Denney | Bradley Denton | Chris Donahue | Linda L. Donahue | Dennis Donigan | Donigan & Foye | P.N. Elrod | Rhonda Eudaly | Mark Finn | Michael Ashleigh Finn | Melanie Fletcher | Dene Foye | Karl Gallagher | Mary Gearhart-Gray | Generic Radio Workshop | David Gray | Teddy Harvia | Angeline Hawkes | Kristi Hutson | Vickey Malone Kennedy | Lee Killough | William Ledbetter | Steve Liptak | Julia S. Mandala | Marshall Ryan Maresca | A. Lee Martinez | Margaret Middleton | Tracy S. Morris | Michelle Muenzler | Ken Murphy | Ethan Nahté | Kathleen O'Brien | October Country | Gloria Oliver | Mark Oshiro | Stephen Patrick | Teresa Patterson | Trakena Prevost | Dusty Rainbolt | Ravenar | Rob Rogers | Rie Sheridan Rose | Selina Rosen | Ken Ruffin | Patrice Sarath | Shawn Scarber | Adrian Simmons | Brad Sinor | Sue Sinor | Amy Sisson | Seth Skorkowsky | Casey Sledge | Libby A. Smith | Tom Smith | Caroline Spector | Sabine Starr | Kathryn Sullivan | Shanna Swendson | Mel Tatum | The Scrap Merchants | Triskelion | Katherine Turski | Donna Whitaker | Karen White | Mel. White |
Paul Abell

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. His main areas of interest are physical characterization of near-Earth objects (NEOs), examination of NEOs for future robotic and human exploration, and identification of potential resources within the NEO population. Paul, his wife Amy Sisson, and their feline companions have lived in Houston, Texas since December 2003.


David Afsharirad

David Afsharirad

(David Afsharirad) David Afsharirad is the editor of the anthology series The Year’s Best Military Science Fiction and Space Opera. A graduate of North Carolina State’s MFA in creative writing program, his work has appeared in various magazines and journals. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and son.


C. Dean Andersson

C. Dean Andersson

(Bloodsong! Helx3) (Wikipedia) (Facebook) (Twitter) C. Dean Andersson’s HelX3, available from Baen ebooks, contains expanded author’s cut editions of his heroic fantasy trilogy: Warrior Witch of Hel, Death Riders of Hel, and Werebeasts of Hel. He is preparing expanded editions of I am Dracula and Raw Pain Max. A new Hel novel in progress features Viking warriors and a K-Pop idol turned swordswoman. If you mention K-Pop to him, be prepared to discuss T-ARA and name your bias: Jiyeon? Hyomin? Eunjung? Soyeon? Qri? or Boram?


Kimm Antell

Kimm Antell

(ChickGeek) (Facebook) (GooglePlus) Kimm Antell writes SFFH and is an artist and cartoonist. She is currently working on her first novel, Hauntingdons, and has had six plays produced. She is infamous on Snopes. She chaired four ArmadilloCons and was a part of World Fantasy 2006 and Renovation. When she married Captain America in 2013, Loki turned the guests into loser hockey fans. Thor was able to reverse the effects, but he was too late for Tim Miller.


Julie Barrett

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.


Paul Barrett

Paul Barrett

Amongst Paul's many pastimes, a favorite is creating, finding, and programming the sound effects for Generic Radio Workshop productions. As with the other GRW founders, he's done so many of these shows, he's no longer sure if this is reality, or if he's living in an episode of Dimension X. Another hobby is 3D printing - he'll be demonstrating all the ways this can go wrong.


Bedlam Bards

Bedlam Bards

(Bedlam Bards) The Bedlam Bards specialize in vigorous performances of traditional music at festivals and conventions around the world. Their members include Hawke on guitar, bodhran, bones, 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.


Paul Black

Paul Black

(Paul Black) (Wikipedia) (Facebook) Paul Black always wanted to make movies, but a career in advertising sidetracked him. Born in Chicago, he is the international award-winning author of The Tels, Soulware, Nexus Point, The Presence, and The Samsara Effect. He has twice won the Independent Publishers Book Award, along with ForeWord Magazine's Book Award, The London Book Festival, and has been on the Barnes & Noble Best Seller list. His new book of fiction is tentatively called Cool Brain.


Bland Lemon Denton and the Lemon-Aides

A FenCon fixture, Bland Lemon Denton and the Lemon-Aides features Bradley "Bland Lemon" Denton on guitar, Caroline "Honey Badger Spector on bass, and Bot "Thumper" Yeagar on percussion.


Rick Boatright

Rick Boatright

(1632) (Facebook) (Twitter) Rick Boatright is exactly the same age as Bill Gates. He’s also a software developer but nowhere near as wealthy.

He's been on-line almost as long, starting with Uncle Henry's bar on Bix, the predecessor to Baen's Bar.

Since 2001 he's been a writer, editor, and head Geek for Eric Flint's 1632 universe. He's the perpetrator of the "Weird Tech" lectures at the 1632 minicons and is, to his shame, creator of Dr. Phillipe Theophrastus Gribbleflotz, the world's greatest alchemist.


K.B. Bogen

Karen Bogen

(Facebook) Karen is a self-confessed knit-and-yarn-aholic. She spends as much time as she can get away with either knitting something, inventorying her yarn stash, or fondling yarn at any shop within driving range. Interesting? Depends on your point of view. She likes to cook and she enjoys reading forensic anthropology books. Occasionally at the same time. In January of 2012, she allowed herself to get talked into taking a full-time+ job. It's really eating into her knitting time.


Vivian Caethe

Vivian Caethe

(Vivian Caethe) (Facebook) (Patreon) When not fighting crime, Vivian Caethe writes weird fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and everything inbetween. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Regis University and is a member of the Editorial Freelancer’s Association. She also drinks copious amounts of tea. While doing all these things, she lives in Colorado with her husband, their dog who thinks he’s a werehuman, and a super genius cat.


Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine

(Rachel Caine) Rachel Caine is the NYT, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of more than 40 young adult, urban fantasy, paranormal romance, suspense, and horror novels. Her Morganville Vampires series (15 books) was released as a digital television series, and her new book, Ink and Bone, starts a brand new series: Novels of the Great Library.


Lillian Stewart Carl

Lillian Stewart Carl

(Lillian Stewart Carl) (Facebook) Lillian Stewart Carl is known for mystery, thriller, and fantasy books and short stories. Her most recent novel is The Avalon Chanter. She’s wandered countless British single-track roads, excavated the Biblical city of Gezer in Israel, worn a pink and mauve sari to a wedding in Hyderabad, India, searched for Middle-earth in New Zealand, and sung "Waltzing Matilda" in a haunted cottage in the Australian outback. Check it all out on her website or join her on her Facebook page.


Peri Charlifu

Peri Charlifu

(Aegean Goods) Although an accomplished and proficient graphic artist, Peri’s first love is pottery. He is highly skilled in both Wheel thrown and hand-built work. He mixes all his own stains and glazes, and has developed an underglaze technique that he uses in 90% of the items he produces. At the time of this writing, Peri has been selling his work for 36 years and produced over 36,000 pieces of pottery.


J. Kathleen Cheney

J. Kathleen Cheney

(J. Kathleen Cheney) 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. Her novella "Iron Shoes" was a 2010 Nebula Award Finalist. Her novel The Golden City was a Finalist for the 2014 Locus Awards (Best First Novel). The final book in that series, The Shores of Spain, came out in July, and a new series will debut in February 2016 with Dreaming Death.


Dantzel Cherry

Dantzel Cherry

(Dantzel Cherry) (Facebook) (Twitter) By day, Dantzel Cherry teaches Pilates and raises her daughter, and by night/naptime she writes. Her baking hours follow no rhyme or reason. She is prone to dance as the need arises, and it often does. Her short stories have appeared in several fine publications, including the Cats in Space anthology, Fireside, Galaxy’s Edge, and the upcoming Funny SF anthology. 


Cathy Clamp

Cathy Clamp

Cathy Clamp, writing individually and with C.T. Adams, is a USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. Her latest solo series--The Sazi of Luna Lake--hits the shelves in 2015 and is a spin-off of her bestselling Tales of the Sazi series. She's also known for the Thrall trilogy, and as Cat Adams, the Blood Singer series. She lives near the geographic Heart of Texas with her husband, three dogs, three cats, and dozen attack goats.


R. Cat Conrad

R. Cat Conrad

(Artists In Residence) FenCon's Special Guest R. Cat Conrad provided cover art for their first program, the dystopian painting ominously titled You're Next. His work encompasses many genres directed to the fine art and illustration collecting community, but Cat's most popular compositions are his space landscapes and whimsical dragon sketches. It should also be noted he's a trail-blazer in frontiers beyond space and fantasy. In addition to being an award-winning painter, he’s a Golden Age comic historian, collector/dealer, auctioneer, and recently, film actor. 


Aaron de Orive

Aaron de Orive

(Aaron de Orive) (Facebook) (Twitter) Aaron de Orive was a writer on Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. He is also the creator and author of the fantasy role-playing game SHARD: World of the False Dawn. Blade Singer, co-written with author Martha Wells, is his first novel. Aaron lives in Texas with his wife, daughter, and two very spoiled terriers.


John DeLaughter

John DeLaughter is a planetologist living in Oklahoma City, OK. He has made explosions at the Omniplex Science Museum, frozen stuff at the Miami Science Museum, explored Venus as a NASA intern, played with earthquakes as part of EarthScope, and listened to whales as a Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute intern. With a PhD in Geophysics, he is the author of two science adventure books for middle school students and four citizen science books.


Charlayne Denney

Charlayne Denney

(Charlayne Denney) (Facebook) (Twitter) (Goodreads) Given Charlayne's habit of checking people for fangs and living in the dark, she discovered her own vampires and Lilly, Marcus, and the rest of the gang inhabiting her Fangs & Halos series. When not hanging with vampires, she's a WoW gnome mage, Rubyrose. Of course, all this stuff weirds out her kids and grandkids. She found her husband, Bruce, through a want-ad in the program book for ConTroll 93. She's attended, worked, and guested at Texas conventions since 1979.


Bradley Denton

Bradley Denton

(Bradley Denton) (Bland Lemon Denton) Four Bradley Denton titles are in new formats for 2015: Novels Blackburn and Lunatics, plus story collection One Day Closer to Death, are now available as ebooks. And Buddy Holly is Alive and Well on Ganymede is now an audiobook -- complete with cover art from FenCon Artist GoH Mitch Bentley. Meanwhile, Brad’s 2014 collection Sergeant Chip and Other Novellas is still in print, and he still manages the career of Bland Lemon Denton, the World’s Oldest (and Worst) Bluesman.


Chris Donahue

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

Linda L. Donahue

(Linda L. Donahue) Linda has degrees in computer science, Russian studies, Earth science education, and electrical engineering. Additionally, she teaches tai chi and belly dancing, can borrow moon rock samples, and is a certified commercial instrument pilot, advanced ground instructor, and SCUBA diver. Her latest short stories have appeared in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly #25 and Chicks and Balances. Her novel, Jaguar Moon, is available from Yard Dog Press. She lives with her husband and pet rabbits, sugar gliders, and cats in Garland, Texas.


Dennis Donigan

Dennis Donigan

Dennis was introduced to Irish music (and Guinness) in the ‘80’s (several Irish Catholic wedding dances) and it was love at first “sight”. Greatly influenced by Tommy Makem & the Clancy Brothers to Gaelic Storm, Dennis enjoys performing (recently the Houston Celtic Festival) not only Celtic music, through his guitar, mandolin, bodhran, and harmonica, but a variety of folk, bluegrass, and country. Now part of Donigan & Foye, Dennis is excited about playing at his first F&SF Convention.


Donigan & Foye

Donigan & Foye

Imagine, if you will, a small redneck town in Texas...the favorite music of the area, Country.... a most unlikely place for a singer of Celtic music...and even more unlikely for two...but Dennis and Dene met one morning in Columbus and started talking... The rest is history... Donigan & Foye played their first gig on St. Patrick's Day 2014 and are performing this year at Fencon for the 2nd time.


Pat Elrod

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. This year has seen the release of the first novel in a new steampunk series from Tor: On Her Majesty's Psychic Service, The Hanged Man.


Rhonda Eudaly

Rhonda Eudaly

(Rhonda Eudaly) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband and two dogs. She's an author who hasn't met an industry she doesn't like - that's what happens with a Radio-TV-Film degree. She's only into two of the three "R"s - reading and writing...arithmetic is right out - like five in holy hand grenades. Her vices are ink (pen not skin), good coffee, and bad puns. Check out her website for publications and downloads.


Mark Finn

Mark Finn

(Twitter) Mark Finn is an author, pop culture critic, essayist, playwright, and authority on Robert E. Howard. His biography, Blood and Thunder: The Life and Art of Robert E. Howard, was nominated for a World Fantasy award. Finn’s fiction can be found in Ray Guns Over Texas, Empty Hearts, Year of the Hare, and The Adventures of Sailor Tom Sharkey, among others. He lives in North Texas with his long-suffering wife, too many books, and an affable pit bull named Sonya.


Michael Ashleigh Finn

Michael Ashleigh Finn

(LiveJournal) (Twitter) (Coyote Reviews) (Dirty Magick: LA) (Amazon) Mickey is a short story author expanding into novels, as well as a thematic consultant for Dynamite Entertainment (Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files) / Hot Goblin (ManaPunk).

His latest Wormwood story, "All the Pretty Little Horses," is available in the anthology Dirty Magick: New Orleans (Lucky Mojo Press).

Errata: took first and third place in FenCon's first story contest, being told afterwards "We had to make up new rules because of you."

He's oddly proud of that fact.


Melanie Miller Fletcher

Melanie Fletcher

(Melanie Fletcher) (Random Realities) (Don't Quit Your Day Job Podcast) Melanie Fletcher likes to write, ideally for money. Her most recent sales (as paranormal erotic romance writer Nicola Cameron) include Deep Water (Book Three in her Olympic Cove series). She is currently finishing a historical suspense novel set in 1923 Berlin, and will start working on Olympic Cove Book Four in September.


Dene Foye

Dene Foye

(Cath Album) As a teen, Dene began playing guitar and singing folk music, and for the last 15 years he has immersed himself in the wonders of Celtic music. He is currently one half of Donigan & Foye.

In 2012 he was one of twelve Celtic performers on the Cath Benefit CD, benefiting Parkinson’s Disease research.

After procrastinating for many years, Dene has finally finished a Celtic CD, entitled “For the Love of Haggis”.


Karl Gallagher

Karl Gallagher is a systems engineer, currently performing data analysis for Lockheed Martin. In the past he's calculated trajectories for a commercial launch rocket start-up, operated satellites as a US Air Force officer, and selected orbits for government and commercial satellites. He's published gaming articles and is now writing science fiction. Karl lives in Saginaw, TX with his family.


Mary Gearhart-Gray

Mary Gearhart-Gray

(4 Star Stories) Mary Gearhart-Gray is a free-lance technical editor. In 2011 she founded 4StarStories.com, a quarterly, online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine, which she co-edits with her husband, David Gray. Her philosophy as an editor is that aspiring authors should have a user-friendly venue to showcase their work.


Generic Radio Workshop

Generic Radio Workshop

(Generic Radio Workshop) 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 and have performed at festivals, conventions, and yes, on the radio. They use as much vintage equipment as possible for that "old time radio" feel. Plus, many of their sound effects devices are hand-built, following period designs. While they've made a few concessions to modern technology, their core practices follow radio's Golden Age.


David L. Gray

David Gray

(4 Star Stories) David L. Gray is the creator of the Buzz Blaster, Space Entrepreneur series of radio plays and writes science fiction short stories 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 four times a year. In his spare time he works in the Aerospace industry writing instruction manuals for robots that assemble airplanes and feeds cats.


Teddy Harvia

Teddy Harvia

Teddy Harvia is an anagram of David Thayer. Teddy has drawn and contributed cartoons to fan publications since the mid-70s. Fans and friends have rewarded his efforts with a few Hugos for Best Fan Artist. He has cut back on cartooning recently to allow David to concentrate on writing SF poetry. In his professional life, he works as a technical writer for a big telecommunications company. With his wife Diana, six cats, and thousands of books, he lives in Dallas.


Angeline Hawkes

Angeline Hawkes

(Angeline Hawkes) (Fulbright and Hawkes) (Facebook) Bram Stoker Award finalist, Angeline Hawkes, holds a B.A. in Composite English Language Arts from Texas A&M University-Commerce. Angeline has worked for Delirium Books, Chaosium, Elder Signs Press, Dark Regions Press, DarkFuse, and other horror/fantasy/nonfiction publishers. She has seen the publication of novels, novellas, collections, and fiction in 40+ anthologies and 100+ short fiction publications. Angeline often writes with her husband, Christopher Fulbright. Look for the new Fulbright & Hawkes novel, Night Wraith, coming from SST Publications in 2015.


K. Hutson Price

Kristi Hutson

(KHP at GooglePages) Born in Texas, but educated on both coasts, Hutson did time as a government contractor and currently flings information at 6th grade pubescents. Hutson has also been the LETS (Law Enforcement Teaching Students) liaison, a Krav Maga student, and member of the Texas Defensive Shooters club. So far these facts remain mutually exclusive. Occasionally Hutson writes fiction instead of grading papers: "An Undercover Haunting" appears in the Strange Afterlives anthology, and the novella Bound by Ink is available at Amazon.


Vickey Malone Kennedy

Vickey Malone Kennedy

(Vickey Malone Kennedy) (4RV ) Originally from Alamo, TN, Vickey Malone Kennedy illegally immigrated to Norman, OK. over thirty years ago. 

vck is proud to be a dog - a  Yard Dog Press Author -, the Editor-In-Chief at 4RV Publishing, and the 2011 Darrell Award winner for her short story “Bobbie Sue Almost Got Married” in A Bubba in Time Saves None published by Yard Dog Press.



Lee Killough

Lee Killough

(Lee Killough) (Coffee Shop Writers) (Wikipedia) Lee Killough became hooked on both SF/fantasy and mysteries at age eleven. As a result, most of her sixteen novels combine genres as SF, supernatural, or urban fantasy mysteries. Living on a lake, she enjoys ever-changing nature there, and uses breaks from writing to make empty bird seed sacks into colorful tote bags. Her older books are republishing as e-books. See the revised, updated Doppelganger Gambit at Amazon...and her space opera Ancient Enemy at the Yard Dog Press table.


William Ledbetter

William Ledbetter

(William Ledbetter) William Ledbetter lives near Dallas with his family and too many animals. His fiction is published in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Year’s Best Military SF and Space Opera, Baen.com, Escape Pod, Writers of the Future, Yard Dog Press, and many others. He is an editor at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and runs the annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society.


Steve Liptak

Steve Liptak

Steve Liptak is a retired pilot who's been involved in fantasy/SciFi and costuming for over thirty years. He's earned past awards from DragonCon, AllCon, and Fencon in costume competitions. He and his wife Deborah dabble in the steampunk genre and have lectured at conventions such as AKon, SoonerCon, and the DFW area. He enjoys working in metal, leather, and plastic vacuforming, and built a 3D printer for prototyping earlier this year. His lectures focus on lighting effects and fabrication.


Julia Mandala

Julia S. Mandala

(Julia S. Mandala) 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 are available from Yard Dog Press. Her works also appear in Chicks and Balances, Witch Way to the Mall, Fangs for the Mammaries, Dracula's Lawyer, A Bubba in Time Saves None, and Flush Fiction.


Marshall Ryan Maresca

Marshall Ryan Maresca

(Marshall Ryan Maresca) Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, as well as a playwright, living in South Austin with his wife and son. His first two novels, Thorn of Dentonhill and A Murder of Mages, were released this year, and his next novel, The Alchemy of Chaos, is coming out in February 2016 . His work also appeared in Norton Anthology of Hint Fiction and Rick Klaw’s anthology Rayguns Over Texas. He also has had several short plays produced.


A. Lee Martinez

A. Lee Martinez

(A. Lee Martinez) 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 10 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.


Margaret Middleton

Margaret Middleton

Filker Margaret Middleton is retired from the Arkansas Highway Department. She now lives in Mississippi where she keeps busy sorting through the Books and Stuff that she and her late husband accreted over 46 years of marriage. When that gets boring she quilts and collects songs about aviation and space. She has even found a recording studio in the back of a local bait shop whose owner is not too freaked-out over the theme of her next proposed CD.


Tracy S. Morris

Tracy S. Morris

(Tracy S. Morris) (LiveJournal) When Tracy S. Morris was four, she wrote her first “book” on newspaper with a crayon and put the manuscript in the mail along with a silver dollar for postage. She’s still waiting to hear back from her publisher.

Tracy is the author of the Tranquility series through Yard Dog Press, and co-writes the Dennis and Betsy stories for the Grantville Gazette along with Brad Sinor. You can find her at her website.


Michelle Muenzler

Michelle Muenzler

(Facebook) Michelle Muenzler, also known at local conventions as "The Cookie Lady", writes fiction both dark and strange to counterbalance the sweetness of her baking. Her fiction and poetry have been published in magazines such as Star*Line, Daily Science Fiction, and Apex Magazine, and she takes immense joy in crinkling words like little foil puppets.


Ken Murphy

Ken Murphy

(Out of the Cradle) Ken Murphy is best known as the Gen X Moon Guy, actively educating the public about our Moon, advocating for its development, and organizing the Moon Day event at the Frontiers of Flight Museum every July. 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. At his website, he also maintains an extensive Lunar Library of reference materials regarding the Moon and High Frontier.


Ethan Nahté

Ethan Nahté

 (Nahte Words) Ethan Nahté spent most of his youth writing fiction. After winning the National Quill & Scroll Award, he broke away to slave in journalism and broadcast journalism. In 2004, he started writing fiction again and placed first for the John L. Balderston award. He focused on screenwriting the next five years, then sold a short story to Yard Dog Press.

Since then, he's sold approximately two dozen stories and several poems to various publications, and he's currently writing a novel.


Kathleen O

Kathleen O'Brien

(Vintage Fashion Explained) Kathleen O'Brien began sewing at age 4, learning traditional techniques from her mother and grandmother. She collects and studies vintage clothing from the 19th and 20th centuries in order to decipher mysteries of drape and fit found in previous eras. Her costumes include both original designs and reproductions, utilizing many of the techniques she has learned. She enjoys sharing both these techniques and her collection with others.

Photo ©2012, Carol Schiraldi


October Country

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

Gloria Oliver

(Gloria Oliver) 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 gender swap fantasy novel entitled Jewel of the Gods. For sample chapters, free fiction, and more, please visit her website.


Mark Oshiro

Mark Oshiro

(Mark Reads) (Mark Watches) (Mark Does Stuff) (Facebook) Mark Oshiro is the Hugo-nominated writer of the online Mark Does Stuff universe, where he analyzes book and television series unspoiled, largely in the SF/F genres. He was the nonfiction editor of Queers Destroy Science Fiction! and will be the co-editor of Speculative Fiction 2015. His first novel, a YA sci-fi book set in a pre-dystopian world, is nearly done, and his life goal is to pet every dog in the world.


Stephen Patrick

Stephen Patrick

(Films) Stephen Patrick loves to tell stories. His fiction ranges from horror to historical and his most recent story “Hungry” is part of the Sins of the Seven anthology from Wicked East Press.

As a compulsive film racer, he relishes the chaotic battle between creativity and the clock while making a movie from scratch in 48 hours. The Solera Visuals film "precycling" won second place in the Dallas 48 hour film race - auteur division.


Teresa Patterson

Teresa Patterson

(Event Horizon EBooks) (Facebook) Teresa Patterson’s work includes The World of the Wheel of Time with Robert Jordan, The World of Shannara with Terry Brooks, No Quarter with Robert Asprin, Combat Corpsman with former Navy SEAL Greg McPartlin, plus numerous short stories and humorous history essays. A former President of the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists, she won the Chesley Award for service, twice. She currently edits for Event Horizon Books while working as a balloon sculptor, horse trainer, and kayak instructor.


Trakena Prevost

Trakena Prevost was born and raised in the great state of Texas, where everything IS bigger and the people are very friendly. She spends most of her time oscillating between being completely obsessed with reading and watching Korean dramas, and writing down the fantastic tales rumbling around in her head. When not reading and writing, Trakena spends her time working in HR for a major medical system in Houston, and hanging out with her family and friends.


Dusty Rainbolt

Dusty Rainbolt

(Dusty Rainbolt) Dusty Rainbolt swears she was raised by aliens after being abandoned on Earth by grays who abhorred the TransGalactic School System. She’s the author of the new Yard Dog Press paranormal mystery, Death Under the Crescent Moon, and coauthor of The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series. Like to shop online? She’s the editor-in-chief of AdoptAShelter.com, a free shop-to-donate website that benefits animal charities. She’s written numerous books and thousands of articles on cat care, behavior, and animal hauntings.


Ravenar

Ravenar

Ravenar (Amora, Linda Donahue, and Julia Mandala) performs traditional and SF/Fantasy-themed belly dance. They have appeared at several World Cons and at regional conventions in the Midwest and South.


Rob Rogers

Rob Rogers

(Rob Rogers) Rob’s first novel, Devil's Cape, a superhero thriller set in Louisiana, was a Pop Matters pick and HeroPress book of the year. Rob’s stories have appeared in Comets and Criminals magazine and the anthologies The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Triumph Over Tragedy, and This Mutant Life, plus an upcoming Pro Se Productions anthology. Rob lives in Richardson, Texas, where he writes about superheroes, pirates, aliens, mad cultists, dragons, interdimensional rifts, carnival freaks, and cowboys, often in the same stories.


Rie Sheridan Rose

Rie Sheridan Rose

(Rie Sheridan Rose) (Facebook) Rie's short stories appear in numerous anthologies, including Nightmare Stalkers and Dream Walkers Vols. 1 and 2, Avast Ye Airships!, The Grotesquerie, and In the Bloodstream as well as Yard Dog Press' A Bubba In Time Saves None. Mocha Memoirs has the short story collection RieTales. Online, she has appeared in Cease, Cows, Lorelei Signal, and Four Star Stories. She is also the author of seven novels, five poetry chapbooks, and lyrics for songs on several of Marc Gunn's CDs.


Selina Rosen

Selina Rosen

(Selina Rosen) (Yard Dog Press) (Castle Farms) (Facebook) Selina Rosen’s short fiction has appeared in Sword and Sorceress, Turn the Other Chick, and Thieves’ World anthologies among others.

Among her 25+ published novels are the Chains trilogy, Strange Robby, The Holmes & Storm Mysteries, Black Rage, and How I Spent the Apocalypse. She also has a non-fiction and several non-genres including The Pit.

She also owns and runs Yard Dog Press.


Ken Ruffin

Ken Ruffin

(National Space Society of North Texas) A lifelong Trekkie, space enthusiast--and a former Aerospace Engineering student--Ken is the chapter president of the National Space Society (NSS) of North Texas: the 2014 NSS Chapter of the Year! During the monthly NSS Championship meetings, Ken presents "the latest and greatest information in space travel and space development"--and visitors are welcome. Ken advocates using technologies, energy, and materials from space, to benefit humanity. Hang with the DFW's 2015 NSS Award Winners at FenCon!


Patrice Sarath

Patrice Sarath is an author and editor living in Austin, Texas. Her novels include the fantasy series, Books of the Gordath (Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God’s Girl) and the romance The Unexpected Miss Bennet. She's the author of numerous short stories that have appeared in several magazines and anthologies. Her short stories “A Prayer for Captain La Hire” and “Pigs and Feaches” were reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy and in Best Tales of the Apocalypse, respectively.


Shawn Scarber

Shawn Scarber

(Shawn Scarber) Shawn Scarber lives in North Texas. He’s written a number of short stories that have appeared in magazines, collections, and e-zines. He’s a Clarion West 2006 graduate and an active member of the Future Classics Speculative Fiction Writers. By day he's an application developer specializing in full stack JavaScript programming for the web. He has 18 years experience in application product development, management, delivery, and he's a certified SCRUM master. Sorry, but he won't fix your computer.


Adrian Simmons

Adrian Simmons

(Heroic Fantasy Quarterly) (Heroic Quarterly Fantasy Facebook) (Facebook) Adrian Simmons writes, reads, and edits from a well provisioned base in Central Oklahoma. He has hoofed the Ouachita, Ozark Highland, and northern England coast to coast trails, and a respectable distance of the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

His nonfiction has appeared in Black Gate and Strange Horizons, his short fiction in James Gunn’s Ad Astra Magazine, Plasma Frequency, and Pseudopod.

In 2009 he founded the webzine Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and currently serves as 1/3 of its editorial staff.


Brad Sinor

Brad Sinor

(Brad Sinor) (LiveJournal) Bradley Sinor has been writing most of his life. He has many short stories published in a lot of anthologies, including most of the ones by Yard Dog Press (some in collaboration with his wife, Sue). He also has several stories in Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire and Grantville Gazette series. He's written and published several Sherlock Holmes pastiches, and lives in Tulsa with Sue and the Master and Mistress of the universe, Ashe and Pewter (cats).


Sue Sinor

Sue Sinor

Sue's been writing not long enough or often enough, but she plans to correct that now she’s retired. The majority of her stories are in Yard Dog Press anthologies such as International House of Bubbas, Houston: We've Got Bubbas!, A Bubba in Time Saves None!, and Flush Fiction. A collection of her Bubba tales will be out soon from Yard Dog Press. She and Brad live in Tulsa with the Master and Mistress of the universe, Ashe and Pewter (cats).


Amy Sisson

Amy Sisson

(Amy Sisson) Amy Sisson is a writer, book reviewer, crazy cat lady, and former librarian. Her fiction ranges from Star Trek work for Pocket Books to the short stories in her Unlikely Patron Saints series, which have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lady Churchillʼs Rosebud Wristlet, and the Toasted Cake podcast site. She enjoys making artist trading cards, studying German and Japanese, attending Houston Ballet performances, and traveling with her husband, Paul Abell.


Seth Skorkowsky

Seth Skorkowsky

(Seth Skorkowsky) (Facebook) (Twitter) Raised in the swamps and pine forests of East Texas, Seth Skorkowsky gravitates to the darker sides of fantasy, preferring horror and pulp heroes over knights in shining armor.

His debut urban fantasy novel, Dämoren, the first in his Valducan series, was published in 2014. Seth 's sword & sorcery series, Tales of the Black Raven, was released in 2015 with Mountain of Daggers.

When not writing, Seth enjoys tabletop role-playing games and traveling the world with his wife.


Casey Sledge

Casey Sledge

Casey has been filking for more than 25 years, both solo and as founder of the Celt/folk/filk band "October Country".

His songs have been performed by Ravens, Hawke Morrow, and Ghost of a Rose. He and Margaret Middleton are the only Filkers to be guests at every FenCon.


Libby A. Smith

Libby A. Smith

Libby A. Smith's story "Plunder in the Valley" appears in the anthology Avast, Ye Airships. She's previously been published by Caliber Comics, Hanthercraft Publications, Shanda Fantasy Art, 4StarStories, and several upcoming anthologies. Libby also adapted The Rainbow Bridge to poetry for cross-stitch designer Sue Hillis. Besides writing, she's an actress in Central Arkansas and in her free time works as an administrative assistant to support her creative habits. Libby lives in Little Rock with her three fat and sassy cats.


Tom Smith

Tom Smith

(Tom Smith OnlineLast year, Tom's appearance at FenCon was cut short by a medical emergency. Well, he's all better, a lot lighter, and even sillier. If you've not yet heard The World's Fastest Filker and his over-the-top song ideas, multi-layered lyrics, solid rhythm guitar chops, dynamic vocals, and dreadful puns, trust us -- Not To Be Missed. The most you'll laugh at this convention, or any convention.  Visit Tom on Facebook, get his music at Bandcamp, and/or become a patron at Patreon!


Caroline Spector

Caroline Spector

(Caroline Spector) Caroline Spector has been an editor and writer in the science fiction, fantasy, and gaming fields for over twenty-five years. She's authored three novels (Scars, Little Treasures, and Worlds Without End), various stories in the Wild Cards collections, and several adventure modules and hint books. She also spent two years as Associate Editor at Amazing Magazine. Her novella “Lies My Mother Told Me” appeared earlier this year in Dangerous Women edited by Gardner Dozois and George R.R. Martin.


Sabine Starr

Sabine Starr

(Sabine Starr) (Lady Gone Bad) (Facebook) Sabine Starr is the bestselling author of Lady Gone Bad, Angel Gone Bad, Bride Gone Bad, and Belle Gone Bad from Kensington Books. She explores Old West and Native American myths, legends, and mysteries in her historical-paranormal novels. She is also a certified hypnotherapist who helps writers reach their goals.


Kathryn Sullivan

Kathryn Sullivan

(Kathryn Sullivan) (Facebook) Kathryn is the author of The Crystal Throne, Agents & Adepts, Talking to Trees, and picture book Michael & the Elf. A Chick who has dug Time Lords for many years, she has an essay in the Hugo Award-winning Chicks Dig Time Lords and a review in Outside In. Her newest short story, “Search and Rescue”, is an expansion of “The Rescue” from FenCon's 2009 program book. Any birdlike beings only slightly resemble her cockatoo owner.


Shanna Swendson

Shanna Swendson

(Shanna Swendson) (Wikipedia) Shanna Swendson is best known as the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series from Ballantine Books, the YA steampunk fantasy Rebel Mechanics, 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) (Benefit CD for Parkinson's Research) Mel writes songs, short stories, essays, and various assorted academic articles. Her short stories can be found in Yard Dog Press anthologies and her songs can be found online, in filk circles, and on the CATH Benefit CD. For those desperately seeking a cure for insomnia, her academic articles are also available online.


The Scrap Merchants

The Scrap Merchants

(The Scrap Merchants) The Scrap Merchants is an amalgamation of acoustic/electric, rock fusion sound with political, social, and personal themes. Capturing, rediscovering, and re-imagining the world we all live in as a place for hope, we gather from the noise around us, embracing life and addressing issues that affect all of us.


Triskelion

Triskelion

(Triskelion) Triskelion started as a group of friends who enjoyed playing music for fun, using MusiconFriday as their Yahoo group. Inspired by a love of Celtic music, Triskelion brings a 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.


Katherine Turski

Katherine Turski

Kathy Turski writes the way she looks--short and funny. She’s published in Flush Fiction, A Bubba In Time Saves None, The Anthology From Hell, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, and by Aurora Wolf Press. Her latest work, "My Inner Fat Girl", is in You & Me Magazine.

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


Donna Whitaker

Donna Whitaker

(Squeezi-Seams) Donna Whitaker, aka Squeezi-Seams, is a versatile seamstress who's worked on many costumes, from medieval doublets to Marvel and DC superheroes, Star Trek (both Klingons and Starfleet), Star Wars, and Dr. Who. She's worked with Fleet 31, IKV Melota, and also does special requests for individuals. In addition to sewing, she is experienced in home construction and repair and is just as good at tearing down and rebuilding car motors as she is at getting a cosplay outfit just right.


Karen White

Karen White

Karen White has been described as a creator, a connector, and living heavily in the right half of her brain, but the important thing to know is that she's all about the creative process and connecting the pieces to see it realized. A veteran of FenCon since its inception, Karen has also helped other creators launch their own products and businesses, as well as helping to dress the cast at Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie, TX.


Mel White

Mel. White

(Facebook) (Twitter) 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.


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

Rachael Acks   
Scott Cupp   
Carole Nelson Douglas   
Christopher Fulbright   
J-Mag Guthrie   
Alan J. Porter   
The Heather Dale Band   
Our program participant slots for this year are full. If you are interested in being a participant next year, please read our program participant guidelines before contacting us. We hope it will answer most of your questions. Thanks.