Guests of Honor


Mur Lafferty Guest of Honor Mur Lafferty is a podcaster, author, and editor. She began podcasting in 2004 and in 2005 she launched the still-running podcast “I Should Be Writing," a podcast aimed at aspiring writers. She currently co-hosts the show “Ditch Diggers,” a business-focused podcast aimed at authors trying to make a career. After writing several novellas and publishing them via podcast, her first book was released from Orbit in 2013: The Shambling Guide to New York City which won the Manly Wade Wellman Award. Her book Six Wakes, a science fiction mystery, came out a few years later and was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, and Manly Wade Wellman awards. Her current series, the Midsolar Murders, features murder mysteries aboard a sentient space station. The series has two books, the most recent being Chaos Terminal, published in November 2023. Mur has also been the recipient of the Astounding Award for Best New Writer in 2013 and was inducted into the podcast academy hall of fame in 2015. She lives in Durham, NC with her family. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Via Bella Music Guests of Honor (Bandcamp) (HearNow) (Patreon) (Facebook) (Twitter) (Instagram) Via Bella (aka Erin and Rand Bellavia) are a nerd rock band from Buffalo, NY. Their songs address many fandoms, including Agent/Peggy/Captain Carter, A Wrinkle in Time, Mr. Rogers, the October Daye books, Sesame Street, and the Princess Bride. Their debut album The Way of Beauty was released in 2018. In January 2023, Erin was the Toastmistress at GAFilk. She has been nominated for 7 Pegasus Awards, including a 2021 nomination with Merav Hoffman and Seanan McGuire for the Via Bella song “Dear Seanan.” In 2022, she took on the role of co-conchair for FilKONtario. Rand’s other band Ookla the Mok were the Music Guest of Honor at FenCon in 2014. Rand co-wrote the theme song to Disney’s Fillmore, and (True Story) his voice is the first thing you hear on Gym Class Heroes’ Billboard top five hit “Cupid’s Chokehold.” Rand released a solo album (The Tips of My Fingers) in 2021 and a Bandcamp exclusive EP in 2022. He has twice had the most requested song of the year on Dr. Demento, won the Logan Award for Best Original Comedy song in 2014, and has been nominated for 23 Pegasus Awards, winning 4. Rand plays guitar. They both sing. Erin’s been known to wear a costume or two. Come see what all the fuss is about. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Scott Zrubek Fen Guest of Honor Scott has been active in convention running since 1997. His first job was to assist in running security for LoneStarCon2 in San Antonio. His second was running security for the World Fantasy Convention (WFC) in Corpus Christi in 2000. Starting in 2004, he has been in charge of ArmadilloCon’s Art Show. In various years, he has run (or helped to run) the Art Show for WorldCon in 2013, WFC in 2006, 2017, 2021, and 2022. He is currently scheduled to run the Art Show for NASFiC 2023 in Winnipeg, and WFC 2024 in Niagara Falls. As is often the case with folks who run art shows, Scott tends to acquire works of art at shows he runs, and others he attends. The collection spills off the walls of his home and into piles waiting to rotate onto the walls. He has a number of pieces that were used as cover art for Roger Zelazny’s books and magazine appearances. The art includes works by Ron Walotsky, Wendy Pini, Richard Hescox, and others. As a continuation of his interest in Roger Zelazny, He runs the website Zelazny & Amber, a major on-line resource for the works of Roger Zelazny. He also edited the book "Manna from Heaven", a collection of the harder-to-find short stories by Roger, of which a second edition of which was recently published. His two dogs, both Blue Heelers, are named after Zelazny characters: Random and Oberon. Scott's craftwork can occasionally be found in convention art shows. He works in stained glass, chainmaille wood, and leather. Check back next month, it will probably have changed. Outside of fandom, he is currently working on the data infrastructure for the soon-to-be-launched space station that will orbit the moon. He also studies Shindo Muso Ryu and studies and teaches Tomiki-Ryu Aikido. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Lisa Snellings Artist Guest of Honor Lisa grew up in South Carolina, where her favorite pastimes were reading science fiction and horror books and making art with any medium available. Her unique artistic perspective was further informed by her first job at a hospital, specifically in its basement morgue. A fascination for county fairs and her family’s deep involvement in religion added to the mix, resulting in beautiful, whimsical, and sometimes macabre sculptures. These found captive audiences at speculative fiction conventions, drawing the attention of authors she had grown up reading. Her kinetic carnival collection, “Dark Caravan,” premiered at the 59th World Science Fiction Convention in 2001 and eventually made its way to the American Visionary Art Museum in 2010. Lisa has enjoyed collaborating with the likes of Neil Gaiman, Harlan Ellison, Larry Niven and Peter S. Beagle. Her “Poppets,” two-inch-tall figurines that mimic “silly humans,” are collected around the world. Her highly acclaimed novel “Night Birds” written with Alan M. Clark, was published in 2022. “No Other Season” a collaboration with Jan Thie, is a collection of writings inspired by her art and was published in June of this year. Currently, Lisa is writing “The Poppet’s Guide to the Tarot” and “The Little Red House.” After nearly two decades in the Southern California desert, Lisa lives in Eugene, Oregon with her spouse, Pete Clark, and two ever-present cats. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Dr. Jancy McPhee Science Guest of Honor (SciArt Exchange) Dr. Jancy McPhee is a neuroscientist and the Founder and Executive Director of SciArt Exchange. She currently works as the Multidisciplinary Program Scientist in the NASA Human Research Program's Chief Scientist's Office. She is The SciArt Exchange's mission to engage people around the intersection of science and art. She became a neuroscientist to examine the science behind these human capabilities. Formally, Dr. McPhee has a B.A. in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Biophysics from Brandeis University. She was a cellular and molecular neuroscience researcher in academia for 17 years before joining the National Space Biomedical Research Association and later the Universities Space Research Association to manage various aspects of NASA’s domestic and international space life sciences research programs. Since 2010, she has been implementing motivating and novel ways to enhance space education and science and technology innovation and to promote global collaboration in human space exploration. She created the international Humans in Space Art Program and has been working to establish SciArt Exchange. Learn more about Dr. McPhee on her episode of the Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria Podcast episode. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Maurice Broaddus Toastmaster (MauriceBroaddus.com) (Patreon) An accidental teacher, an accidental librarian, and a purposeful community organizer (resident Afrofuturist at the Kheprw Institute), his work has appeared in such places as Magazine of F&SF, Lightspeed Magazine, Black Panther: Tales from Wakanda, Weird Tales, and Uncanny Magazine, with some of his stories having been collected in The Voices of Martyrs. His novels include the science fiction novel, Sweep of Stars, the steamfunk novel, Pimp My Airship and Buffalo Soldier; and the middle grade detective novel series, Unfadeable and The Usual Suspects. He’s an editor at Apex Magazine. His gaming work includes writing for the Marvel Super-Heroes, Leverage, and Firefly role-playing games as well as working as a consultant on Watch Dogs 2. Learn more at MaruceBroaddus.com (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)
Keith Lansdale Special Guest Keith writes comics, film scripts, novels, and short stories. Keith has made films such as The Pale Door, The Projectionist (in production), and Christmas With The Dead, adapted for the screen, a stage musical, and even a pod cast. Keith has written multiple comics such as Hoot Goes There, a short X-Files series for IDW comics, Mud for Creepy Comics, Prisoner Of Violence (an extension of the Prisoner 489 universe), along with comic adaptations of Crawling Sky for Antarctica Comics, Vampirella for Diamond comics, Dog, Cat, and Baby for Dark Horse and Avatar comics, as well as adaptations for God of the Razor, the Dump, The Fat Man, a short comic called The Hanging (in production), and others. Among his writing credits are, the novella Big Lizard with Joe R Lansdale, as well as the short story, Hoppity White Rabbit Done Broke Down, appearing in the recent collection: The Drive-In: Multiplex. Others of mention, soon to be released are Elijah’s Elixer, It Goes With Everything (inspired by Ozymandias), Two Sides Of The Same Dream (pirate/Lovecraft). He was also a co-editor for Son Of Retro Pulp Tales, published by Subterranean Press and is editing multiple other collections. Keith also co-wrote the children's story The Companion when he was twelve with his younger sister which was picked up by the tv show Creepshow and co-authored the children’s book In Waders From Mars. (Psst! Wanna share this bio on social media? Go here.)

Program Participants

Julie Barrett (Stately Barrett Manor) (Steamcat) (Facebook)Julie Barrett is a writer, photographer, and maker of interesting things from Plano, TX. She is also a founding member of The Generic Radio Workshop, member of the Dallas Future Society board, and sells photography, fiber art, and hats through SteamCat.net. Julie writes short stories, radio plays, and whatever else helps pay the bills. She hates the bills. Find her at Stately Barrett Manor or on Facebook. (Share)
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. Other hobbies are prop-building and 3D printing--he has been known to demonstrate all the ways this can go wrong. (Share)
Jon Black (Jon Black) (Facebook) (Twitter) From a 24-hour coffeehouse in Austin, Jon writes historical fiction with pulp or supernatural flavors. His work includes the Arthurian historical fantasy series Bel Nemeton and the Jazz Age supernatural mystery Gabriel’s Trumpet. Out in October, Chupacabra vs. Rougarou, is a monster-mashup that cuts to the funnybone. (Share)
Paul Black (Paul Black) (Wikipedia) (Facebook)Paul Black always wanted to make movies, but a career in advertising sidetracked him. He's the international award-winning author of The Tels, Soulware, Nexus Point, The Presence, The Samsara Effect, Cool Brain, and Dark Slide. He has twice won each the Independent Publishers Book Award, London and the New York Book Festival. He has also been on the Barnes & Noble Regional Best Seller list, has won the Writer’s Digest Book Award for Genre Fiction, and was optioned for television. (Share)
K.B. Bogen (Facebook) A cat-loving native of Texas, K.B. Bogen is a self-confessed knit-/yarn-aholic. She spends much time knitting something (with the help of her three cats), inventorying her stash (also with the help of the cats), or fondling yarn anywhere within driving range (the cats don’t like road trips). She likes to cook and enjoys reading forensic anthropology books. Occasionally simultaneously. For nearly thirty years, she has also been lurking behind the scenes doing editing, copy editing and manuscript repair. With the rise in the numbers of epublications, her client load has increased. Time to come out of the editorial closet! Fortunately, writing and editing are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Her most recent publication, Everything Works in Theory, is available on Amazon, Baen, and Barnes & Noble. The first two books of the Quest series are also available. Coming soon Surely, You Quest—book three of the Quest. (Share)
R. Cat Conrad R. Cat Conrad is an illuminator with art & words, entertainer, actor, auctioneer, golden age comic & pulp historian, punster, and connoisseur of dark brews. "Seems I've been walking forever, no destination in sight. Wisdom handed down through the ages rarely helps travelers as it’s usually the abridged version. If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step, why no mention of how many pairs of shoes will be needed or where one can acquire them?" (Share)
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. His first novel, Death's Paladin, is now available. (Share)
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. (Share)
Dennis Donigan Dennis Donigan resides in Boulder, Colorado with his fiancée, Cheryl. Having retired fromteaching, he has embraced helping Cheryl with the grandkids. His musical interests are diverse,but he has recently (thanks Covid!) been exploring Celtic pagan music, mythology and folklore.A common thread is the appreciation of nature and its changing seasons. His concert willhighlight these themes and others and will feature the music of Damh the Bard and Leslie Fish,among others. (Share)
Rhonda Eudaly (Rhonda Eudaly) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's ventured into several industries and occupations for a wide variety of experience. She's married with dogs and a rapidly growing Minion© army. Her two passions are writing and music, which is evident in her increasing horde of writing instruments. Rhonda has a well-rounded publication history in fiction, non-fiction, and script writing. Check out her website for her latest publications and downloads. (Photo by Bobby Hitt) (Share)
Brad W. Foster (Brad W. Foster) (Jabberwocky Graphix)Hugo-award winning artist Brad W Foster lives to draw, and draws to live, and still loves to see his artwork in that so-last-century thing called "print". Over the decades his work has appeared in hundreds of publications, large and small, and he hopes to add a few thousand more to that list. You can learn more than you would probably care to just by spending a few hours wandering around his website, Jabberwocky Graphix. (Share)
William Ledbetter (William Ledbetter)William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with two novels and more than seventy speculative fiction stories and non-fiction articles published in four languages, in markets such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Analog. He's been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace and defense industry. "Level Five" and "Level Six," the first two novels in his Killday Series, are available from Audible Originals. (Share)
Julia S. Mandala (Julia S. Mandala)Julia S. Mandala holds a BA in history from Kansas State University and a JD in law from Tulane. In addition to being editor of The Fantasy Writers Asylum, an imprint of Yard Dog Press, she is a scuba diver and belly dancer. She lives in Plano, TX with her husband Larry and two demanding, but adorable cats. She is best known as a co-author of the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series and the Corimar series. (Share)
Marshall Ryan Maresca (Marshall Ryan Maresca) Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of the Maradaine Saga: Four parallel series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. This includes The Thorn of Dentonhill, A Murder of Mages, The Holver Alley Crew, The Way of the Shield, and the upcoming Shield of the People. His work also appeared in Norton Anthology of Hint Fiction and Rayguns Over Texas. He lives in Austin with his family. (Share)
Kip McMurray Clifford R. McMurray (AKA “Kip”) is a space advocate, writer, singer, and science fiction devotee with extensive knowledge of the politics, history, and current progress of space exploration. A former National Space Society vice-president and Board of Directors member, he yearly publishes at least four space-related articles. Cliff attended both the first and last space shuttle launches, as well the last Apollo launch, and in the evenings can be found telling jokes at parties or singing along at a filk. (Share)
Tracy S. Morris (Tracy S. Morris) Tracy S. Morris’s journalism career was inaugurated with the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase. She ended her career the week after 9/11. In between she photographed presidents and sports legends. Her latest book, The Grantville Inquisitor, which she co-wrote with fellow former journalist Brad Sinor, tells the tale of two hapless reporters trying to get by in 1632. (Share)
Michelle Muenzler (she/her) (Michelle Muenzler) (Facebook)Michelle Muenzler is an author of the weird and sometimes poet. Known at local conventions as "The Cookie Lady", she writes fiction both dark and strange to counterbalance the sweetness of her baking. (Share)
Kathleen O'Brien (Vintage Fashion Explained) (Victorian Smoking Caps) (Writers' Resources) Kathleen M. O'Brien began sewing at age 4, learning traditional techniques from her mother and grandmother. She collects and studies vintage clothing to decipher mysteries of drape and fit found in previous eras. Her costumes include both original designs and reproductions, utilizing many historical techniques. She enjoys sharing both these skills and her collection with others and has published several books including "Victorian Smoking Caps" and her "Writers' Resources" series. Check out her website at Vintage Fashion Explained. (Share)
Teresa Patterson (Event Horizon EBooks) (Facebook)Teresa Patterson’s work includes, The World of Shannara with Terry Brooks, The World of the Wheel of Time with Robert Jordan, No Quarter with Robert Asprin, Combat Corpsman with Navy SEAL Greg McPartlin, numerous short stories, and humorous history essays. Her newest work, with Navy SEAL Craig Marley, is No Lifeguard on Duty. When not writing she works as a balloon sculptor, kayak instructor, show horse trainer, and managing The Armory at DragonCon. She also loves to sing and entertain. (Share)
Alan J. Porter (Alan J. Porter) (Twitter)Writer, and award-winning editor, Alan J. Porter, has written adventures featuring Sherlock Holmes, Allan Quatermain, Houdini, and private eye Rick Ruby; as well as his own New Pulp adventurers, The Raven and The Lotus Ronin. His pop-culture non-fiction work has featured properties such as Batman, Star Trek, The Beatles, and James Bond. He has also written comics for Tokyopop, BOOM Studios, Marvel, Disney, and Kid Domino. (Share)
Dusty Rainbolt (Dusty Rainbolt) Dusty Rainbolt was raised by aliens after being abandoned on Earth by grays who abhorred the School System in the eastern spiral arm of the galaxy. An award-winning veterinary journalist, she authored/coauthored 13 fiction and nonfiction books including Death Under the Crescent Moon, All the Marbles and The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series. Her latest book, Ghost Cats 2: More Encounters with Feline Spirits will be released in August 2022. Her feline behavior books, Cat Scene Investigator and Finding Your Lost Cat have saved many family felines. (Share)
Rie Sheridan Rose (Rie Sheridan Rose) (Facebook) (Twitter) Rie Sheridan Rose's work appears in numerous anthologies, including Under Her Skin, Hides the Dark Tower, Dark Divinations, and Startling Stories. In addition, she has authored twelve novels, six poetry chapbooks, and dozens of song lyrics. For the most complete bibliography, check out her Amazon page. Member of the SFPA, HWA, and SFWA, she tweets as @RieSheridanRose. Now the air-conditioning is working for the first time in 5 years, she's on a mission to clean house! (Share)
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 33+ published books are the Chains trilogy, Strange Robby, The Holmes & Storm Mysteries, Black Rage, and How I Spent the Apocalypse. In addition to her sci-fi/fantasy titles, she has written a non-fiction self-help book, It’s Not Rocket Science, and several non-genre novels including The Pit and Vanishing Fame. She also owns and runs Yard Dog Press. (Share)
Amber Royer (Amber Royer) (Facebook) (Instagram) (Youtube) (Amazon) (Goodreads)Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists. She teaches creative writing and is an author coach. Amber and her husband live in the DFW Area, where you can often find them hiking or taking landscape/architecture/wildlife photographs. If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes. Amber blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate. (Share)
Ken Ruffin (National Space Society of North Texas) A Trekkie and a former Aerospace Engineering student, Ken serves on the Board of Advisors of the National Space Society (NSS) and is the Vice Chair of the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in the DFW Metroplex in May 2020. Ken has also been serving as the VP of the award-winning NSS of North Texas (NSS-NT) since 2016. Across the DFW Metroplex and beyond, Ken gives presentations to inform and inspire the public about "the latest and greatest information in space travel and space development." Contact Ken with space questions or comments at ken.ruffin@nss.org. (Share)
Patrice Sarath (Patrice Sarath) (Facebook) (Twitter)Patrice Sarath is an author and editor living in Austin, Texas. Her novels include the fantasy books The Sisters Mederos and Fog Season (Books I and II of the Tales of Port Saint Frey), the Gordath Wood series (Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God’s Girl), and the romance The Unexpected Miss Bennet. You can find more about Patrice and her work at her website. (Share)
Brad Sinor (Brad Sinor) (Facebook) (LiveJournal)Bradley H. Sinor’s short stories have appeared in many anthologies. His collections include The Game’s Afoot: A Sherlock Holmes Miscellany and Of Two Minds, including stories by both Brad and Sue. Novels include The Hunt For The Red Cardinal, written with Sue, The Eye Of Dawn, and two new publications, The Grantville Inquisitor, written with Tracy S. Morris, and Megan Thomas, Forensic Sorceress. Check Amazon for availability of these books. (Share)
Sue Sinor (Facebook)Sue Sinor started writing at the urging of her husband, Brad. She has stories in several Yard Dog Press publications, as well as others. Sue and Brad have collaborative stories in the anthology Rotten Relations and in Grantville Gazette 4, as well as several for Yard Dog Press. Most recently they have a joint collection, Of Two Minds, and a novel in the Ring of Fire universe titled The Hunt For The Red Cardinal, both available on Amazon. (Share)
Libby A. Smith Libby A. Smith’s short stories have appeared in Avast, Ye Airships and Haunted Holidays, online at 4 Star Stories, and in small press comics. Her adaptation of Rainbow Bridge was designed for cross stitch by Sue Hillis. In normal times, she acts on stage and film in Central Arkansas. Libby’s COVID life consisted of watching Star Trek DS9 with Oscar Wilde and Dolly Parton… her cats … as well as the Life Support Live pandemic support group for Trek fans. (Share)
Mike Stewart (Victorious Website ) (Facebook) Mike Stewart has been part of the Role Playing Game industry for the past twenty years. His Steampunk Superhero RPG Victorious was the winner of the Three Castles RPG Design Award, in print through Troll Lord Games. Mike was also involved in the development of TLG’s Castles & Crusades RPG and books. He is also a podcaster, on both the C&C-based Crusader podcast as well as the Save For Half Old School Gaming Podcast. (Share)
Kathryn Sullivan (Kathryn Sullivan) (Facebook)Kathryn Sullivan writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. Any place and any object is at risk of appearing in her stories--the river bluffs surrounding Winona, MN, where she lives, can become the windswept cliffs of an alien planet or the deep mysterious woods of a fantasy tale. She is owned by a large cockatoo, who graciously allows her to write about other animals, as well as birdlike aliens. (Share)
Mel Tatum (Mel Tatum) (Benefit CD for Parkinson's Research) Mel writes songs, short stories, essays, and assorted academic articles. Her short stories can be found in Yard Dog Press anthologies and her songs online, in filk circles, and on the CATH Benefit CD. For those desperately seeking an insomnia cure, her academic articles are also available online. (Share)
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. (Share)
Ben Yalow Ben has been to 800+ cons, including the last 51 Worldcons, and worked on about a third of them, including most of the Worldcons on four continents. He was Fan GoH at the last Worldcon, and will be co-chairing the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China. He’s edited four books for NESFA Press – the Hugo nominations were for the excellence of the author, not the editor. He’s just moved to Texas from New York. (Share)
D.L. Young (D.L. Young)D.L. Young is a Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of the Independent Press Award. He’s also much less serious than his author photo implies. His Dark Republic series is a Mad Max-inspired near-future thriller set in Texas (yes, there was a secession, and no, it didn’t work out very well). His most recent series is a 5-book cyberpunk saga involving a war between artificial intelligences. He’s currently working on a space opera trilogy (release date late 2021 / early 2022). (Share)

Julie Barrett

(Stately Barrett Manor) (Steamcat) (Facebook)Julie Barrett is a writer, photographer, and maker of interesting things from Plano, TX. She is also a founding member of The Generic Radio Workshop, member of the Dallas Future Society board, and sells photography, fiber art, and hats through SteamCat.net. Julie writes short stories, radio plays, and whatever else helps pay the bills. She hates the bills. Find her at Stately Barrett Manor or on Facebook.

(Share)

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. Other hobbies are prop-building and 3D printing--he has been known to demonstrate all the ways this can go wrong.

(Share)

Jon Black

(Jon Black) (Facebook) (Twitter)

From a 24-hour coffeehouse in Austin, Jon writes historical fiction with pulp or supernatural flavors. His work includes the Arthurian historical fantasy series Bel Nemeton and the Jazz Age supernatural mystery Gabriel’s Trumpet. Out in October, Chupacabra vs. Rougarou, is a monster-mashup that cuts to the funnybone.

(Share)

Paul Black

(Paul Black) (Wikipedia) (Facebook)Paul Black always wanted to make movies, but a career in advertising sidetracked him. He's the international award-winning author of The Tels, Soulware, Nexus Point, The Presence, The Samsara Effect, Cool Brain, and Dark Slide. He has twice won each the Independent Publishers Book Award, London and the New York Book Festival. He has also been on the Barnes & Noble Regional Best Seller list, has won the Writer’s Digest Book Award for Genre Fiction, and was optioned for television.

(Share)

K.B. Bogen

(Facebook)

A cat-loving native of Texas, K.B. Bogen is a self-confessed knit-/yarn-aholic. She spends much time knitting something (with the help of her three cats), inventorying her stash (also with the help of the cats), or fondling yarn anywhere within driving range (the cats don’t like road trips). She likes to cook and enjoys reading forensic anthropology books. Occasionally simultaneously. For nearly thirty years, she has also been lurking behind the scenes doing editing, copy editing and manuscript repair. With the rise in the numbers of epublications, her client load has increased. Time to come out of the editorial closet! Fortunately, writing and editing are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Her most recent publication, Everything Works in Theory, is available on Amazon, Baen, and Barnes & Noble. The first two books of the Quest series are also available. Coming soon Surely, You Quest—book three of the Quest.

(Share)

R. Cat Conrad

R. Cat Conrad is an illuminator with art & words, entertainer, actor, auctioneer, golden age comic & pulp historian, punster, and connoisseur of dark brews.

"Seems I've been walking forever, no destination in sight. Wisdom handed down through the ages rarely helps travelers as it’s usually the abridged version.

If the journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step, why no mention of how many pairs of shoes will be needed or where one can acquire them?"

(Share)

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. His first novel, Death's Paladin, is now available.

(Share)

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.

(Share)

Dennis Donigan

Dennis Donigan resides in Boulder, Colorado with his fiancée, Cheryl. Having retired fromteaching, he has embraced helping Cheryl with the grandkids. His musical interests are diverse,but he has recently (thanks Covid!) been exploring Celtic pagan music, mythology and folklore.A common thread is the appreciation of nature and its changing seasons. His concert willhighlight these themes and others and will feature the music of Damh the Bard and Leslie Fish,among others.

(Share)

Rhonda Eudaly

(Rhonda Eudaly) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's ventured into several industries and occupations for a wide variety of experience. She's married with dogs and a rapidly growing Minion© army. Her two passions are writing and music, which is evident in her increasing horde of writing instruments.

Rhonda has a well-rounded publication history in fiction, non-fiction, and script writing. Check out her website for her latest publications and downloads.

(Photo by Bobby Hitt)

(Share)

Brad W. Foster

(Brad W. Foster) (Jabberwocky Graphix)Hugo-award winning artist Brad W Foster lives to draw, and draws to live, and still loves to see his artwork in that so-last-century thing called "print". Over the decades his work has appeared in hundreds of publications, large and small, and he hopes to add a few thousand more to that list. You can learn more than you would probably care to just by spending a few hours wandering around his website, Jabberwocky Graphix.

(Share)

William Ledbetter

(William Ledbetter)William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with two novels and more than seventy speculative fiction stories and non-fiction articles published in four languages, in markets such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Analog. He's been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace and defense industry. "Level Five" and "Level Six," the first two novels in his Killday Series, are available from Audible Originals.

(Share)

Julia S. Mandala

(Julia S. Mandala)Julia S. Mandala holds a BA in history from Kansas State University and a JD in law from Tulane. In addition to being editor of The Fantasy Writers Asylum, an imprint of Yard Dog Press, she is a scuba diver and belly dancer. She lives in Plano, TX with her husband Larry and two demanding, but adorable cats. She is best known as a co-author of the Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series and the Corimar series.

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Marshall Ryan Maresca

(Marshall Ryan Maresca) Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of the Maradaine Saga: Four parallel series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. This includes The Thorn of Dentonhill, A Murder of Mages, The Holver Alley Crew, The Way of the Shield, and the upcoming Shield of the People. His work also appeared in Norton Anthology of Hint Fiction and Rayguns Over Texas. He lives in Austin with his family.

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Kip McMurray

Clifford R. McMurray (AKA “Kip”) is a space advocate, writer, singer, and science fiction devotee with extensive knowledge of the politics, history, and current progress of space exploration. A former National Space Society vice-president and Board of Directors member, he yearly publishes at least four space-related articles. Cliff attended both the first and last space shuttle launches, as well the last Apollo launch, and in the evenings can be found telling jokes at parties or singing along at a filk.

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Tracy S. Morris

(Tracy S. Morris) Tracy S. Morris’s journalism career was inaugurated with the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase. She ended her career the week after 9/11. In between she photographed presidents and sports legends. Her latest book, The Grantville Inquisitor, which she co-wrote with fellow former journalist Brad Sinor, tells the tale of two hapless reporters trying to get by in 1632.

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Michelle Muenzler (she/her)

(Michelle Muenzler) (Facebook)Michelle Muenzler is an author of the weird and sometimes poet. Known at local conventions as "The Cookie Lady", she writes fiction both dark and strange to counterbalance the sweetness of her baking.

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Kathleen O'Brien

(Vintage Fashion Explained) (Victorian Smoking Caps) (Writers' Resources)

Kathleen M. O'Brien began sewing at age 4, learning traditional

techniques from her mother and grandmother. She collects and studies

vintage clothing to decipher mysteries of drape and fit found in

previous eras. Her costumes include both original designs and

reproductions, utilizing many historical techniques. She enjoys sharing

both these skills and her collection with others and has published

several books including "Victorian Smoking Caps" and her "Writers'

Resources" series. Check out her website at Vintage Fashion Explained.

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Teresa Patterson

(Event Horizon EBooks) (Facebook)Teresa Patterson’s work includes, The World of Shannara with Terry Brooks, The World of the Wheel of Time with Robert Jordan, No Quarter with Robert Asprin, Combat Corpsman with Navy SEAL Greg McPartlin, numerous short stories, and humorous history essays. Her newest work, with Navy SEAL Craig Marley, is No Lifeguard on Duty. When not writing she works as a balloon sculptor, kayak instructor, show horse trainer, and managing The Armory at DragonCon. She also loves to sing and entertain.

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Alan J. Porter

(Alan J. Porter) (Twitter)Writer, and award-winning editor, Alan J. Porter, has written adventures featuring Sherlock Holmes, Allan Quatermain, Houdini, and private eye Rick Ruby; as well as his own New Pulp adventurers, The Raven and The Lotus Ronin. His pop-culture non-fiction work has featured properties such as Batman, Star Trek, The Beatles, and James Bond. He has also written comics for Tokyopop, BOOM Studios, Marvel, Disney, and Kid Domino.

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Dusty Rainbolt

(Dusty Rainbolt)

Dusty Rainbolt was raised by aliens after being abandoned on Earth by grays who abhorred the School System in the eastern spiral arm of the galaxy. An award-winning veterinary journalist, she authored/coauthored 13 fiction and nonfiction books including Death Under the Crescent Moon, All the Marbles and The Four Redheads of the Apocalypse series. Her latest book, Ghost Cats 2: More Encounters with Feline Spirits will be released in August 2022. Her feline behavior books, Cat Scene Investigator and Finding Your Lost Cat have saved many family felines.

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Rie Sheridan Rose

(Rie Sheridan Rose) (Facebook) (Twitter)

Rie Sheridan Rose's work appears in numerous anthologies, including Under Her Skin, Hides the Dark Tower, Dark Divinations, and Startling Stories. In addition, she has authored twelve novels, six poetry chapbooks, and dozens of song lyrics. For the most complete bibliography, check out her Amazon page. Member of the SFPA, HWA, and SFWA, she tweets as @RieSheridanRose. Now the air-conditioning is working for the first time in 5 years, she's on a mission to clean house!

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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 33+ published books are the Chains trilogy, Strange Robby, The Holmes & Storm Mysteries, Black Rage, and How I Spent the Apocalypse. In addition to her sci-fi/fantasy titles, she has written a non-fiction self-help book, It’s Not Rocket Science, and several non-genre novels including The Pit and Vanishing Fame.

She also owns and runs Yard Dog Press.

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Amber Royer

(Amber Royer) (Facebook) (Instagram) (Youtube) (Amazon) (Goodreads)Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists. She teaches creative writing and is an author coach. Amber and her husband live in the DFW Area, where you can often find them hiking or taking landscape/architecture/wildlife photographs. If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes. Amber blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate.

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Ken Ruffin

(National Space Society of North Texas) A Trekkie and a former Aerospace Engineering student, Ken serves on the Board of Advisors of the National Space Society (NSS) and is the Vice Chair of the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in the DFW Metroplex in May 2020. Ken has also been serving as the VP of the award-winning NSS of North Texas (NSS-NT) since 2016. Across the DFW Metroplex and beyond, Ken gives presentations to inform and inspire the public about "the latest and greatest information in space travel and space development." Contact Ken with space questions or comments at ken.ruffin@nss.org.

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Patrice Sarath

(Patrice Sarath) (Facebook) (Twitter)Patrice Sarath is an author and editor living in Austin, Texas. Her novels include the fantasy books The Sisters Mederos and Fog Season (Books I and II of the Tales of Port Saint Frey), the Gordath Wood series (Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God’s Girl), and the romance The Unexpected Miss Bennet. You can find more about Patrice and her work at her website.

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Brad Sinor

(Brad Sinor) (Facebook) (LiveJournal)Bradley H. Sinor’s short stories have appeared in many anthologies. His collections include The Game’s Afoot: A Sherlock Holmes Miscellany and Of Two Minds, including stories by both Brad and Sue. Novels include The Hunt For The Red Cardinal, written with Sue, The Eye Of Dawn, and two new publications, The Grantville Inquisitor, written with Tracy S. Morris, and Megan Thomas, Forensic Sorceress. Check Amazon for availability of these books.

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Sue Sinor

(Facebook)Sue Sinor started writing at the urging of her husband, Brad. She has stories in several Yard Dog Press publications, as well as others. Sue and Brad have collaborative stories in the anthology Rotten Relations and in Grantville Gazette 4, as well as several for Yard Dog Press. Most recently they have a joint collection, Of Two Minds, and a novel in the Ring of Fire universe titled The Hunt For The Red Cardinal, both available on Amazon.

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Libby A. Smith

Libby A. Smith’s short stories have appeared in Avast, Ye Airships and Haunted Holidays, online at 4 Star Stories, and in small press comics. Her adaptation of Rainbow Bridge was designed for cross stitch by Sue Hillis. In normal times, she acts on stage and film in Central Arkansas. Libby’s COVID life consisted of watching Star Trek DS9 with Oscar Wilde and Dolly Parton… her cats … as well as the Life Support Live pandemic support group for Trek fans.

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Mike Stewart

(Victorious Website ) (Facebook)

Mike Stewart has been part of the Role Playing Game industry for the past twenty years. His Steampunk Superhero RPG Victorious was the winner of the Three Castles RPG Design Award, in print through Troll Lord Games. Mike was also involved in the development of TLG’s Castles & Crusades RPG and books. He is also a podcaster, on both the C&C-based Crusader podcast as well as the Save For Half Old School Gaming Podcast.

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Kathryn Sullivan

(Kathryn Sullivan) (Facebook)Kathryn Sullivan writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. Any place and any object is at risk of appearing in her stories--the river bluffs surrounding Winona, MN, where she lives, can become the windswept cliffs of an alien planet or the deep mysterious woods of a fantasy tale. She is owned by a large cockatoo, who graciously allows her to write about other animals, as well as birdlike aliens.

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Mel Tatum

(Mel Tatum) (Benefit CD for Parkinson's Research) Mel writes songs, short stories, essays, and assorted academic articles. Her short stories can be found in Yard Dog Press anthologies and her songs online, in filk circles, and on the CATH Benefit CD. For those desperately seeking an insomnia cure, her academic articles are also available online.

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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.

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Ben Yalow

Ben has been to 800+ cons, including the last 51 Worldcons, and worked on about a third of them, including most of the Worldcons on four continents. He was Fan GoH at the last Worldcon, and will be co-chairing the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China. He’s edited four books for NESFA Press – the Hugo nominations were for the excellence of the author, not the editor. He’s just moved to Texas from New York.

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D.L. Young

(D.L. Young)D.L. Young is a Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of the Independent Press Award. He’s also much less serious than his author photo implies.

His Dark Republic series is a Mad Max-inspired near-future thriller set in Texas (yes, there was a secession, and no, it didn’t work out very well). His most recent series is a 5-book cyberpunk saga involving a war between artificial intelligences.

He’s currently working on a space opera trilogy (release date late 2021 / early 2022).

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If you are interested in being a participant this year, please read our program participant guidelines before contacting us. We hope it will answer most of your questions. Thanks.

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

February 23-25, 2024 * Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Dallas Near the Galleria, 4099 Valley View Lane, Dallas

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Guests of Honor

Program Participants