Interaction Program Participant Biographies
A-D
Michael Abbott
Michael Abbott is actually very shy. He used to do a fanzine called Attitude.
Dan Abnett
Dan Abnett has been a freelance writer since the late 1980s,
originally specialising in comics and children's books. His comic credits
include everything from the Mr. Men to the X-Men. Particular recent credits include
a five year run on the Legion of Super Heroes (DC Comics), Resurrection Man
(DC) and stories for Superman and Mr. Majestic (DC/Wildstorm). He also writes
for 2000AD, including the regular strips Sinister Dexter, Avatar, Durham Red
and The VCs, and contributed extensively to the Warhammer Comic. In 2004, he
wrote the Dr. Who audio adventure The Harvest. He was voted
Best Writer Now at the 2003 National Comic Awards. Dan is also the author of a
number of fantasy and action SF novels for Black Library, including the Gaunt's
Ghosts and Eisenhorn series. His latest is Ravenor Returned, and he is
currently at work on his 20th novel.
Andrew Adams
Andrew Adams is a lecturer in computer science at The University
of Reading, specialising in social and legal aspects of computers and
communications technology. He has been an active fan for fifteen years, mostly
as a conrunner, including chairing the 2000 Eastercon and being a member of the
UK in 2005 Bid Committee.
Jae Leslie Adams
Fanwriting has been very very good to me, but I don't think I can
catch up at this late date on all the stories that keep happening to me. So
maybe I can draw you a picture. I'm a calligrapher and artist and poet, do you
call that a day job? Lately I'm still co-editing the fanzine Wabe, still proud
of the online on-the-road travel account North_afanzine, still
LiveJournaling and apahacking, and making art show displays of my calligraphic
paintings and ceramics.
Penguin Books have invited me to compile an anthology of SF stories of the eighties and nineties. I'm working on that and on a new SF novel. The movie of my novel Brothers of the Head (Marlin Films) should be screening next month. Publications this year: Jocasta, from the Rose Press, and Sanity and the Lady, from Peter Crowther's PS Publications. Both in limited editions. Folio Society's edition of Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago, with my long Introduction, should be out soon.
Alma Alexander is a fantasy novelist who has lived and worked on almost every continent of this planet. She herself is fluent in two and a half world languages, but her work has been translated into many more, including Turkish and Catalan. Her new work includes the fantasy duology The Hidden Queen and Changer of Days and the internationally acclaimed The Secrets of Jin Shei. She currently makes her home in the cedar woods of the American Pacific Northwest, with her husband and two cats.
Brian Ameringen
I have been going to conventions since 1972, and I run Porcupine
Books -- purveyors of quality second-hand books to the cognoscenti.
Lou Anders is the editorial director of Prometheus Books' science
fiction & fantasy imprint Pyr, described by SciFi.com's Science
Fiction Weekly as destined to become a leading imprint in the field, as well as
editor of several anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed Live Without
a Net
(Roc, 2003), Projections: Science Fiction in Literature & Film (MonkeyBrain,
December 2004), and FutureShocks (Roc, January 2006). He has written more than
500 articles appearing in such magazines as The Believer, Publishers
Weekly, Dreamwatch, Star Trek Monthly, and Sci Fi
Universe.
Kevin J Anderson has more than sixteen million books in print in 30 languages. He has penned many popular Star Wars and X-Files novels, as well as six Dune prequels with Frank Herbert's son Brian. His work has appeared on numerous Best of the Year and awards lists. In 1998, he set the Guinness World Record for Largest Single-Author Book Signing. Recent novels include The Saga of Seven Suns series, and Prodigal Son (with Dean Koontz). Anderson has written numerous comics for DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Wildstorm, Topps, and IDW. An avid hiker, Anderson dictates his fiction into a recorder while hiking. He is a member of the prestigious Explorers Club. Research for his novels has taken him to the deserts of Morocco, the cloud forests of Ecuador, Inca ruins in the Andes, Maya temples in the Yucatan, the Cheyenne Mountain NORAD complex, NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building, a Minuteman III missile silo, the aircraft carrier Nimitz, the Pacific Stock Exchange, a plutonium plant at Los Alamos, and FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC. He also, occasionally, stays home and writes.
At 7 I was reading science fiction and building my first electronic project (a crystal radio). I graduated in electrical engineering and married in 1975, and have worked in electronics ever since. Self-employed since 1984, I now split my time between designing websites and analogue electronics. I am a published writer, though only of articles is about electronics. I am webmaster for The Tolkien Society, and am managing tech for the upcoming Tolkien 2005 convention. The electronics for the 1995 Worldcon Masquerade winner "Return of the Hunt" were my design.
Ellen Asher
I've been editing the Science Fiction Book Club since the early
paleolithic; before that, I spent two years as SF editor for NAL. Started
reading SF at the statistically average age of 12, when I found a copy of Slan in the library
of the summer camp my parents sent me to. Said parents couldn't understand why
I wasted my time with that junk; after all, it would never prepare me to earn a
living. Ha!
Sarah Ash has just completed Children of the Serpent Gate, the third volume of her fantasy trilogy The Tears of Artamon. Her first published works were short stories in Interzone and then followed the fantasy novels Moths To A Flame, Songspinners, and The Lost Child. Sarah runs a primary school library and is passionate about sharing stories with children. Along with Chaz Brenchley, Mark Chadbourn, Juliet McKenna, Stan Nicholls, and Jessica Rydill, she is a member of The Write Fantastic.
Fiona Avery is a writer from Los Angeles defecting to some place more romantic, since she was once an archaeologist, which entailed such Indiana Jones-like activities as prowling through pyramids in Egypt. She writes all forms, with an emphasis on historical, action, and fantasy. Her novel is a secret history of the French monarchy, called The Crown Rose. In 2004, her Marvel heroine, Anya Corazon, was named "Woman of the Year!" by Latina Magazine. Women who write action are a rare species. Fiona's favorite possession is a katana circa 1200. She balances her tomboyish collection of swords by wearing pink.
Chaz is webmaster for Hazel's Picture Gallery, a collection of more than 25,000 photos (mostly of fans) on www.boston-baden.com, the inventor of Margarita Jell-O (another adult use for lime Jell-O), one of the custodians of the Fan Photo Gallery, and pubs A Bear Went Over The Mountain. If you ask him nicely, he might give you a silly ribbon. Look for the teddy bear ears.
Margene Bahm
Margene Bahm is one of the two principle
instructors of the Clanna Eireanne Ceilidh Dancers. Margene has been dancing
Irish and Scottish Ceilidh for 20 years and teaching for 10 years. The two
instructors do not charge to teach dance. They teach out of love and dedication
to the art form and their desire to spread that joy to anyone truly interested
in learning. What is important to them both is that those who cross their threshold
to learn the Irish and Scottish dances not only learn but also have fun as
well.
Chris Baker
Chris Baker's artistic career began in Graphic
Design. In 1989 he moved into the world of fantasy and science fiction,
producing book covers, picture book,
graphic novels, and personal works. He has since moved on to producing
design and storyboards for film and television. His credits include Artificial
Intelligence (For Kubrick and Spielberg), The Time Machine, Big Fish, Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory, and the upcoming War of the Worlds. He also
likes to sculpt.
James Barclay was born in 1965, has a degree in Communication Studies and is a trained actor. He worked in investment marketing for over 10 years before leaving the City to pursue a full-time writing career in 2004. He is best known for his six-book series concerning favourite fantasy cult heroes, The Raven. He has also written a novella, “Light Stealer.” James is currently writing The Ascendants of Estorea, a ground-breaking fantasy series dealing with the birth of magic in a crumbling empire. The first book in the series will be published in October 2005.
Chris Barkley
Chris M. Barkley's very first convention was Midwestcon 27 in
1976. In the years since then, he has attended more than 100 conventions and 20
World Science Fiction Conventions. He has been active as a radio talk show
host, fan writer and editor, book and film reviewer, amateur historian,
literacy advocate, and conrunner (currently for the Cincinnati and Dayton area
based convention Millennicon). Since 1983, he has been a mainstay in the
Worldcon Press Offices as a liaison, troubleshooter and explainer of fandom to
the attending mainstream media. In the past few years, he has been an irregular
commentator for LocusOnline and the Hugo-nominated fanzines File 770 and Challenger. He was also
involved with the splitting of the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo that was
inaugurated in 2003 and was nominated as a North American candidate for the
2005 Down Under Fan Fund. He currently resides in Middletown, Ohio USA.
Liz is a newcomer to fandom, having been drawn in by the 2004 Eastercon, where she found herself present at the birth of Third Row Fandom and hasn't looked back since.
Allen Baum
Allen Baum has been a science fiction fan since before he could
read, and a computer designer since learning how on Steve Wozniak's knee. He
has worked at HP, Apple, DEC, Compaq, and now Intel designing microprocessors.
He spells program(me) without an (me). Lately he's been working on how to be a
good traveler and tourist, concentrating on Japan and India. He can write on
paper bags, but not write his way out of them.
Stephen Baxter
I'm currently in the middle of one series of novels, Destiny's
Children, set in my Xeelee universe; the next out is Transcendent
(Sep
2005 Gollancz). And I've just published book 2 of another series, Sunstorm, in the Time Odyssey
multiverse with Sir Arthur C Clarke. In the last year I moved to
Northumberland, not solely because it's closer to the Worldcon.
I'm a microbiology grad who fell into IT journalism
because I wrote erotica (don't ask). I currently live in Sydney, where I work
at the Australian equivalent of Consumer Reports as a
project manager and writer. I get to test lots of techie gadgets and get paid
for it. Imagine applying Consumer Reports-style
testing to SF... "Pegasus or unicorn: which one has the best energy
consumption over a three-year period? And what about ease of use?" In my
spare time, I'm an active member of the Andromeda Spaceways collective, which
has published Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (ASIM) for
the last two years. Asimov's described ASIM as
"impressively regular," but we like to think it resembles a fun and
lighthearted speculative fiction mag rather than laxatives. If you can catch
me, I'm happy to chat about the Australian small press scene, or Australian
conventions. I attended the inaugural Clarion South workshop in Brisbane, and
even kept a journal about it, which you can find on her web log. I write
science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and I've published one non-fiction book,
two short stories -- one in Canberra Speculative Fiction Group's Elsewhere
anthology -- and several poems.
Greg Bear
Greg Bear is the author of more than twenty-five books, including
such well-received novels as Blood Music, Eon, Queen of
Angels, The Forge of God, Darwin's Radio, and Dead Lines. He is
married to Astrid Anderson Bear and they have two children, Erik and Alexandra.
Darwin's Radio and The Forge of
God
are in development for a television miniseries and a feature film,
respectively.
Frank Beddor runs Automatic Pictures, a film, television and game production company. Beddor produced There's Something About Mary, which grossed $385 million worldwide for Twentieth Century Fox, and Wicked starring Julia Stiles, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was distributed through Sony. Beddor's debut novel, The Looking Glass Wars, is the first part in a trilogy telling the real story of Alice in Wonderland. It has been nominated for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, awarded annually for an outstanding book for children. The Guardian selected The Looking Glass Wars as one of the Ten Best Children's Books of 2004.
Doug Bell
I've been involved with fandom since helping found the local group
in Aberdeen in 1991, and for many years was a stalwart of both the Edinburgh
and Bristol groups. In my time I've attended numerous cons, ran unsuccessfully
for a fan fund, written for and edited a number of fanzines including Head! which won the
best fanzine at Novacon 31. Although I've been quite recently on the fanzine
front, I have been heavily involved with Legion of Super-Heroes fandom via the
apa Klordny and online
comics fandom. A new issue of Head! is expected for Interaction.
Former software engineer Carol Berg majored in math and computer science so she wouldn't have to write papers. But since her first epic fantasy novel was published in 2000, her books have been finalists for the 2001 Compton Crook Award (Transformation), for the 2001 Barnes and Noble Maiden Voyage Award (Transformation), for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for the best epic fantasy of 2002 (Restoration), and her 2003 release Song of the Beast won the 2004 Colorado Book Award. Her newest release is The Soul Weaver, book three in The Bridge of D'Arnath Quartet. Book four, Daughter of Ancients is forthcoming in September 2005.
Tina Beychok
Tina Beychok is a medical editor by trade, currently working for a
psychiatric publication. In her spare time, she swings swords at people for
both fun and profit. She plays
pyrate at Renaissance Faire, and is studying both Elizabethan period rapier and
all three modern fencing weapons, although partial to saber. SaberGood. She is
additionally a space activist by marriage (to a Rocket Scientist. No, really!),
a beginning knitter and bellydancer. But
she's only half as scary as legend purports, except before coffee. Then, twice
as scary.
Elizabeth A Billinger
Having served many years as Treasurer and then co-Chair of
the BSFA, Elizabeth is looking forward
to retiring after Worldcon, though she will continue to review for Vector. She is also
a member of the board of Serendip Foundation which administers the Arthur C
Clarke Award. In her spare time she is studying for an MA in Children's
Literature at Reading University.
Joshua Bilmes
Joshua Bilmes has been a literary agent since 1986, and proprietor
of his own JABberwocky Literary Agency since 1994. JABberwocky clients include
British author Simon Green; Orbit authors Charlaine Harris, Elizabeth Moon
(Nebula Winner; Clarke & Hugo finalist) and Tanya Huff; Hugo finalist Lee
Killough, Campbell-winner Kristine C. Smith and Campbell finalist Tobias
Buckell, Locus-bestselling authors Scott Mackay and Rick Shelley (Estate);
up-and-coming fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson; and US rights for British
author Martin Sketchley. He is an avid moviegoer and watches lots of baseball
and tennis.
Sandra Bond
Sandra Bond has been a fan since her tender
youth in 1987, and still doesn't know any better. She is the editor of the
fanzines Quasiquote and Bogus, and likes to keep a finger in
every pie that science fiction fandom has to offer. Which is a lot of pies.
Frank Borsch
Frank Borsch was born in 1966. German writer, editor, translator
and, at times, journalist. Has been publishing professionally since 1998. Translations
include novels by Harry Harrison, Algis Budrys, and Michael P. Kube- McDowell
as well as numerous Marvel comics (Daredevil, Hulk and other
series). In 2001 he joined the Perry Rhodan series as editor. Has published two
hardcovers, three paperbacks and ten novelets set in the Perry Rhodan universe.
The most recent is Die Sternenarche (The Star Ark). When not
writing he's frequently spotted on mountain bike tours in the Black Forest.
Bridget Bradshaw
Bridget (also known as "Bug") is an inveterate volunteer
and usually ends up trying to part people from their cash. This weekend you can
mostly give her money for the League of Fan Funds, the Science Fiction
Foundation, Concussion (Eastercon 2006), and purchases from the Art Show. She
published two fanzines (Obsessions) espousing the delights of
chocolate (chocolate cake, chocolate truffles, chocolate liqueur...) before
discovering that she can't eat milk or cream. She no longer uses a wheelchair
though, which seems a good trade. Currently obsessed by: hamsters.
Simon Bradshaw
Simon Bradshaw got involved in fandom through the Imperial College
Science Fiction Society. He has co-chaired Seccon and SecconD, two small
general-interest science fiction conventions, and ConteXXt, the 2002 Unicon.
Simon helped run the science programme for Intersection, the 1995 Worldcon, and
is currently Chair of the Science Fiction Foundation and Deputy Chair of
Concussion, the 2006 Eastercon. An electronics engineer with an MSc in Satellite
Communications, Simon is now studying part-time for a law degree.
Chaz Brenchley has been making a living as a writer since he was eighteen. He is the author of nine thrillers, most recently Shelter, and a major fantasy series, The Books of Outremer, based on the world of the Crusades. He has also published three books for children and more than 500 short stories. His novel Light Errant won the British Fantasy Award in 1998. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with a left- handed cat and a famous teddy bear.
Michael Brett-Surman
Dr. Michael Brett-Surman is the Museum Specialist for Dinosaurs
and Fossil Reptiles at the Smithsonian Institution. He is also an award winning
author/editor of several dinosaur books, including The Complete
Dinosaur and The Jurassic Park Field Guide To Dinosaurs. His listing
of all the non-juvenile science fiction stories featuring dinosaurs as the main
plot device can be found at his web site.
Claire Brialey has been reading science fiction since her father steered her towards the good stuff in the library in the late '70s. These days she's the administrator of the British Science Fiction Association awards and also reviews for the BSFA and the Science Fiction Foundation, having previously done her time as a judge for the Arthur C Clarke Award. Co-editor of the fanzine Banana Wings, she is an award-winning fan writer.
Barrett Brick
Barrett Brick has been a member of Washington DC's Lambda Sci-Fi
since 1990, and has served on the convention committees of Gaylaxicon 1994 and
Gaylaxicon 1999. He is recognised as one of the world's top ten eclipse
chasers. He met his partner, Antonio Ruffini, at AussieCon 3 in Melbourne in
1999.
Keith Brooke's first three adult SF novels appeared in the early 90s and he has published over 60 short stories around the world since 1989. Since 1997 he has run the web-based SF, fantasy and horror showcase infinity plus, featuring the work of around 100 top genre authors, including Michael Moorcock, Stephen Baxter, Connie Willis, Gene Wolfe, Vonda McIntyre, and Jack Vance. His new novel, Genetopia, will be published by Pyr in February 2006. Writing as Nick Gifford, his teen fiction is published by Puffin, with one novel optioned by Little Bird.
Terry Brooks was born in Sterling, Illinois, USA, in 1944. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University. A writer since the age of ten, he published his first novel, The Sword of Shannara, in 1977. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List, where it remained for over five months. He has written twenty-two novels, two movie adaptations, and a memoir on his writing life. He has sold over twenty-two million copies of his books and is published worldwide. He teaches annually at the Maui Writers Conference & Retreat and lectures extensively on the craft of writing. He lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.
Mike Brotherton is a hard science fiction writer and a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming. His first novel, Star Dragon (Tor 2003), features an expedition to the distant binary star system SS Cygni. Star Dragon received rave reviews and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell award for best science fiction novel. He lives in Laramie, WY, with his wife Leah Cutter and their fierce cat, Sita.
Charles N Brown
Charles
N Brown is publisher of 24-time Hugo winner Locus magazine and has been
involved in the science fiction field since the late 1940s. He was the original
book reviewer for Asimov's, has edited several SF anthologies, and has written
for numerous magazines and newspapers. Brown founded Locus in 1968 and has won more
Hugos than anyone else. Also a freelance fiction editor for the past 35 years,
many of the books he has edited have won awards. He travels extensively and is
invited regularly to appear on writing and editing panels at the major SF
conventions around the world, is a frequent Guest of Honor and speaker and
judge at writers' seminars, and has been a jury member for several of the major
SF awards.
Tanya Brown
I've been coming to conventions -- mainly at the literary end of
UK fandom -- since the early 1990s. I've been a reviewer and reviews editor for
the BSFA, whose website I currently administer; I've also been a judge for the
Arthur C Clarke Award, and have written various critical articles for Vector, Foundation, and other
publications.
Ginjer Buchanan
In the early '70s, Ginjer Buchanan moved from Pittsburgh, PA,
to New York City where she made her living as a social worker while doing
free-lance editorial work. In 1984, she took a job as an editor at Ace Books.
She has been promoted several times. Her current title is Senior Executive
Editor, Marketing Director Ace Books/Roc Books.
Critics have called Robert Buettner's Locus-List Best
seller Orphanage Robert Heinlein's Starship
Troopers and Joe Haldeman's The Forever War for the
post-9/11 generation. Warner Aspect is introducing Orphan's Destiny, the sequel,
here at Interaction. Buettner is a former Military Intelligence Officer,
National Science Foundation Fellow in Paleontology and has published in the
fields of natural resources law and community association law. He lives in the
Colorado Rockies writing, and snowboarding passably.
Bill Burns
I started reading SF at age 10, progressing from British juveniles
to Heinlein and other adult SF. I found I could buy second-hand paperbacks and
American magazines on Salford market, whence I fell in with the Delta SF Group
when I was 16. My first convention was the Birmingham Eastercon in 1965; I was
so impressed that I haven't missed an Eastercon since. I've often been involved
in the production of fanzines and convention materials: cutting stencils,
hand-cranking a Gestetner duplicator, setting type, making printing plates, and
running printing presses of vintages from the late 1800s to the 1960s. My
earliest piece of fannish equipment is an Edison electric pen (the first
stencil cutting machine) from 1876. My publishing urges are now satisfied by running eFanzines.com
and producing Earl Kemp's eI every two months.
Andrew M Butler has been the features editor of Vector since 1995 and is the author of books on Philip K Dick, cyberpunk, Terry Pratchett, postmodernism, and film studies. He has edited or co-edited books on Terry Pratchett, Ken MacLeod and Christopher Priest. He was the winner of the 2004 Pioneer Award.
Randy Byers
I have been attending SF conventions since
1979, and have been a part of fabulous Seattle fandom since 1984. I am the
second-hardest-working co-editor of the Hugo nominated fanzine Chunga, which we
started in 2002, and I won TAFF and traveled to the UK in 2003. I won the 2003
Fan Achievement Award for Best Fan Writer as well. That was a pretty good year,
all in all, even before I met this gafiated Aussie woman...
Pat Cadigan
Pat Cadigan is the two-time winner of the Arthur C Clarke
Award for best SF novel published in the UK. She lives and works in North
London.
David Cake
Very active in Australian fandom, this is my
first international Worldcon. I am also a small press publisher and editor as
part of the Borderlands magazine team.
Trudi Canavan lives in Ferntree Gully, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Passionate about writing and painting, she quit full time work in her mid 20s to start an illustration business in order to support herself while she attempted to write a book. Her first published story "Whispers of the Mist Children" received an Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story in 1999. By then the book had turned into three, and the Black Magician Trilogy was published in 2001. She was also Art Director of Aurealis magazine, for nine years and is a keen knitter.
I write science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance, sometimes all at once, always with historical underpinnings. My twelfth novel, The Secret Portrait, is a mystery with a touch of fantasy and a hint of romance, set in Scotland. I've had 22 short stories published in magazines and anthologies. The latest is "Over the Sea from Skye" in Alternate Generals III. (Yes, I like Scotland.) My older work is available from Fictionwise.com. I live in a book-lined cloister disguised as a suburban house in Texas, procrastinating from writing with needlework, music, and Lord of the Rings.
Jay Caselberg is the London-based author of the Jack Stein series of science fiction mysteries includng Wyrmhole, Metal Sky, and The Star Tablet. The latter is forthcoming this December from Roc Books, to be followed next year by Wall of Mirrors. His short fiction has appeared in Interzone, The Third Alternative, and a number of anthologies and magazines worldwide. He is currently Overseas Regional Director of SFWA and also writes as James A Hartley.
Lillian Cauldwell is an author, speaker, and radio talk show host. Her first nonfiction book was Teenagers! A Bewildered Parent's Guide, and her recent release is an alternate history book, Sacred Honor, set against the early years of the American Revolution, from 1774 to 1776, and against the bitter turmoil of a dying British Empire, 2276. During the interim years, Ms. Cauldwell was involved in several seminars at Lakeland Community College, Polaris Vocational School, and The Beachwood Library, in Cleveland OH. She wrote articles for Cleveland's The Plain Dealer about "A Temporary's First Day," and it was later reprinted in TempDigest, a temporary magazine targeting temporary agencies. Ms. Cauldwell was invited to several science fiction conventions to speak. At present, Lillian Cauldwell is involved in working as a radio talk show host on her hit guest-author show, Thru-the-Cracks-of-Time, for published newbie and midlist authors or published writers who have fallen thru-the-cracks-of-time. Born 1951 in Manhattan, and lived in NJ, Lillian Cauldwell graduated from high school and then received her AA degree. She homesteaded with her now ex-husband for 2 1/2 years, and with her son rejoined civilization. Lillian moved to Houston TX, working as a temporary until she remarried in 1989, and moved to Cleveland. Today, Lillian lives in Ann Arbor, MI with her husband.
Christopher M Cevasco
Christopher M Cevasco is the editor/publisher of Paradox: The
Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction. His own
fiction has recently appeared or is forthcoming in The
Horror Express, The Leading Edge, Lovecraft's Weird Mysteries, flashquake, and Twilight
Tales,
among others. Chris and his wife live in New York City.
Mark Chadbourn is a screenwriter and journalist who has written six critically acclaimed fantasy novels. His latest, The Hounds of Avalon, was published in April of this year. His writing career took off when Fear magazine's readers voted him Best New Author. He has since won a British Fantasy Award for his novella “The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke,” and has been shortlisted for the August Derleth Award for Best Novel five times.
Paul Chafe is a scientist, soldier and author based in Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada. He studies computer vision systems at Dalhousie University
in Halifax, and serves as an infantry officer in the 1st Battalion of the Nova
Scotia Highlanders. He has just finished Destiny's Forge, an epic
novel of the Man/Kzin wars set in Larry Niven's Known Space, and is now working
on the Exodus trilogy, a hard science saga chronicling the ten thousand year
voyage of an interstellar colony ship.
When he isn't studying, soldiering or scribing, he sleeps.
Didi Chanoch is SF&F editor of Israel's Modan Publishing. During my time at Modan and at Opus Press, I have translated over 20 books, and edited dozens. I have been heavily involved in Israeli fandom since I was involved in the creation of the Israeli Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy in 1997, and have served twice on the board of the society. I've been involved in Israeli cons since 1999. I currently write film reviews for Maariv, one of Israel's most popular newspapers and comics reviews for walla.co.il, Israel's most popular web portal.
Ria Cheyne
I am a graduate student doing a PhD on science fiction at Royal
Holloway, University of London.
Being Interfilk guest at FilkOntario 2003 was a life-changing event on par with the day owls delivered Harry Potter's mail. Back in active fandom after 10 years absence; planning to stay. Multi-instrumentalist, singer-song-re-writer. Current projects: CD nearly done, long-unawaited third songbook in progress. Web site:
Susanna Clarke is the author of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, shortlisted for this year's Best Novel Hugo. She lives in Cambridge with her partner Colin Greenland.
Dave Clements
I am a professional astrophysicist working at Imperial College
London on extragalactic astronomy and observational cosmology. Much of my time
is current;y occupied with preparations for the ESA PLANCK and HERSCHEL
missions, to be launched in 2007. I've also written for Astronomy
Now
and am trying to get some hard SF published.
Jonathan Clements started out as a translator of Japanese animation, writing the English scripts for dozens of titles, leading to later roles as a scriptwriter and voice director, chiefly for Big Finish audio productions featuring Strontium Dog (Simon Pegg), Judge Dredd (Toby Longworth), and David Warner as Doctor Who. A former TV presenter on the Sci-Fi channel, he has also worked as a scriptwriter or consultant on Japanorama, Nanoworld, and Halycon Sun. He is the author, co-author or translator of over 30 books, including Pirate King, Strontium Dog: Ruthless, and the acclaimed Anime Encyclopedia.
John Clute
Born 1940 in Canada; raised there and in the United States; in
England from 1969. Have been reviewing sf and the fantastic from 1964;
collections of reviews and essays include Strokes (1988), Look at the
Evidence (1996) and Scores (2003), all in print.
Encycylopedias include The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2nd ed 1993)
with Peter Nicholls; Science Fiction: the Illustrated
Encyclopedia (1995) solo; The Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997) with
John Grant. All won Hugos. Novels include The Disinheriting Party (1977) and Appleseed (2001).
I live in Camden Town, London, with John Clute. We moved here in
1969 from Toronto Canada. It's a quirky flat, too small for two people working
day in and out in the same small space, but I'm of the opinion that if you
really want to do your stuff, you'll do it wherever. I've never illustrated
anything literally -- what I do is illuminations of fantasy as John once said,
though I've been lucky to do a few science fiction covers and odd things like the
logo for Foundation.
Paul Cockburn
Paul Cockburn is a Glasgow-based journalist and wannabe fiction
writer, whose writing has appeared in publications ranging from The Scotsman newspaper and
Able magazine to
media titles including Star Trek Magazine and Dreamwatch. He tries not
to dress like an SF fan.
Jack Cohen is an internationally-known reproductive biologist -- last position, at Warwick University, bridged the Ecosystems Unit and the Mathematics Institute, bringing more science to more public awareness. Now Hon Prof in Math Inst(!!). About 120 research papers, latest on Sex, diploidy and the human Y chromosome. Books: Living Embryos (Pergamon); Reproduction (Butterworth's); Spermatozoa, Antibodies and Infertility (Blackwell); The Privileged Ape (Parthenon. With mathematician Ian Stewart he has explored issues of complexity, chaos and simplicity. First book, The Collapse of Chaos (Viking/Penguin) and Figments of Reality: the evolution of the curious mind (Cambridge University Press). Both, with Terry Pratchett in The Science of Discworld (Ebury), and The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe (Ebury); third, The Science of Discworld: Darwin's Watch has just appeared. Both: s-f novel Wheelers (Warner-Aspect) November 2000's monthly choice by the SFBC, & UK (Simon&Schuster). Sequel, Heaven (Warner-Aspect), prequel in preparation. With Graham Medley, epidemiologist and statistician: Stop Working and Start Thinking: how tobecome a scientist (Taylor & Francis)2nd edn June 05. Evolving the Alien (Ebury), with Ian Stewart, about the real biology of alien life, was published in 2002;aka What Does a Martian Look Like; the science of extra-terrestrial life (Wiley,US and Ebury UK pb) The Science Museum in London is putting on an Aliens Exhibition, later than Oct 2005, based in these books. The Appearance of Design with Stewart, in preparation, (Penguin). Consultant to top science fiction authors (e.g. McCaffrey, Gerrold, Harrison, Niven, Pratchett) designing alien creatures and ecologies. TV programmes, e.g. BBC Horizon: Genesis; ITV Science: Take Another Look; Channel 4: Reality on the Rocks BBC Channel 2:Fancy Fish; BBC2 on the 1997 Mars week-end: The Natural History of an Alien. More in preparation. His hobbies include boomerang throwing and keeping strange animals (from Hydras to mantis shrimps, and octopi to llamas) drjackcohen@aol.com
Noel Collyer
I've been involved with fandom since the mid '80s helping out with
various conventions, usually ones with fun as the main motive. I've served on
the committee of The Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Appreciation Society for
7-8 years, as Membership Secretary and for two years as President. I'm also a
past winner (2001) of the Doc. Weir Award for services to British fandom and
once wrote an edition of Fermat on the Beach. In my spare
time I shoot rifles, look after a cat that's deaf and gradually going senile,
and designing the biggest shed in the known universe.
Ralan Conley lives in Scandinavia, where he writes and maintains his two web sites, www.ralan.com and www.spectravaganza.com. His short stories have been featured in numerous print and electronic publications. To the consternation of his old writing teachers, many have won contests, awards, and readers polls. Ralan.com has been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ studies comets, asteroids, and
meteorites at the Vatican Observatory. (Co)author of Turn Left at
Orion, Brother Astronomer, and 155 scientific publications, he writes
a science column for The Tablet and is an occasional science
presenter on BBC Radio. He earned planetary science degrees from MIT and
Arizona (PhD), worked at Harvard and MIT, and served in Kenya, before entering
the Jesuits in 1989. He is president of the IAU Commission on Planets and
Satellites, and Asteroid 4597 Consolmagno is named in his honour. A lifelong
fan, Br. Guy has been a speaker at several Worldcons.
Brenda Cooper's collaborative fiction with Larry Niven has appeared in Analog and Asimov's. She and Larry have a novel, Building Harlequin's Moon, coming out in June 2005 from Tor. Brenda has published solo fiction and poetry in multiple venues, and her 2004 story, "Savant Songs," from Analog Magazine was chosen for David Hartwell's and Kathryn Cramer's Year's Best SF 10 anthology. Brenda lives in Bellevue, Washington, with her partner Toni and Toni's daughter Katie. She has a grown son, David. She serves as the City of Kirkland's CIO. Brenda can often be found speaking publicly about the future, and suggesting that science fiction books make great reading.
Paul Cornell
I'm an SF author with two novels published by
Gollancz (Something More and British Summertime) who's also
written an episode (“Father's Day”) of the new BBC Doctor Who, as well as the
“Scream of the Shalka” webcast and numerous Who books and audios. I've also
written comics for 2000AD, been a columnist for SFX Magazine, and am the
creator of the long-running SF heroine Bernice Summerfield.
Jonathan Cowie
Jonathan Cowie is a UK environmental scientist who has worked in
science communication for over 20 years, several of them as Head of Science
Policy & Books at the Institute of Biology where he represented UK
bioscience learned societies to Parliamentarians and Government. Issues covered
have ranged from GM crops to antibiotic resistance. He has an interest in
energy, biosphere science, and also human ecology and is the author of Climate
& Human Change: Disaster or Opportunity? (1998) and The Biology
&
Human
Ecology of Climate Change (forthcoming), not to mention numerous
articles in the scientific press. With his other book responsibilities he has
been a commissioning editor for the Studies in Biology series of undergraduate
texts. With regards SF he has been active in fandom since 1977, ran Hatfield
PSIFA (1978-1981), was part of the BECCON convention team (1981-1987) and the
Science Fact & Fiction Concatenation (1987-present). In the '80s he ran
press relations for a number of conventions, and in the 1990s to the present
has been active at Eurocons and in several collaborative projects with East
European fandom.
Kathryn Cramer lives in Pleasantville NY,
with her husband David Hartwell and their two children Peter and Elizabeth. She
is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and is frequently nominated for the Hugo
for her work on the New York Review of Science Fiction. With
Hartwell, she edits the Year's Best SF and Year's Best Fantasy series published
by HarperCollins.
Paul M. Cray lives in Brentford, Middlesex with more books than frankly he knows what to do with. He has a PhD in physics, but hopes that won't be held against him too much. Paul is current an MBA student at Imperial College London and plans on becoming a Master of the Universe -- if the Singularity hurries up and happens. Various puerile literary emissions of his can be found on his weblog.
Dr. Mary Crowell teaches music appreciation, composition, and piano lessons at a local community college. and teaches yoga at the Wellness Center. She's been a gamer since the 1980s, and most of her song lyrics reflect this. Mary was introduced to filk music in 2001. And now people cannot keep her away with sticks. In August 2004, Mary accepted the invitation to join Three Weird Sisters and looks forward to a long and happy collaboration with the band. She is currently recording a solo CD.
Julia Daly
My first great deceit came at the age of
eight. God at this time ruined my whole weekend by insisting I attend Saturday
morning Catechism classes as well as mass on Sunday. As it was halfway to the
library, I just walked on by, abandoning the Church for a lifelong passion
exploring strange new worlds. It was all downhill from there. I worked in
offices from the age of 19, mostly as a secretary, mostly hating it, but
financing my book-buying habit. Redundancy gave me the freedom to travel round
the world, and I am now a full time student.
Gail Dana
Gail Dana Sheckley is a free-lance writer living in Portland, Oregon. She's written columns for the local daily as well as for several weeky newspapers, monthly magazines and has contributed chapters to several books. She has won awards for humanitarian newsgathering and fashion writing. A serious yoga student she also teaches yoga classes at the local university. She has been married to Robert Sheckley for fourteen years.
Dennis Danvers has written six SF/fantasy novels, Wilderness (Bram Stoker nominee), Time and Time Again, Circuit of Heaven (New York Times Notable, 1998), End of Days, The Fourth World, and The Watch (New York Times Notable, 2002; Booklist 10 Best SF novels, 2002). The Bright Spot will be published under the pseudonym Robert Sydney in July 2005 by Bantam. He's the creator and moderator of The Writing Show, a monthly creative writing program in Richmond, Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in literature and an MFA in fiction and has taught writing and literature at all levels.
Cecilia Dart-Thornton was 'discovered' on the Internet when she posted some of her work on an Online Writers' Workshop, and was signed for a three-book deal with Time Warner USA. She is the author of the highly acclaimed Bitterbynde trilogy: The Ill-Made Mute, The Lady of the Sorrows and The Battle of Evernight, published world-wide in five languages. Her latest series is The Crowthistle Chronicles. Book #1: The Iron Tree, Book #2: The Well of Tears, and Book #3: Fallowblade. In 2005 she will unveil a huge project that will fascinate fantasy and science fiction fans. It will be a world-first, but right now it's a secret, so watch her home page for details.
Ellen Datlow has been editor of Sci Fiction, the fiction area of scifi.com, for five years. Previously, she was fiction editor of OMNI for over seventeen years. She has been co-editor (with Terri Windling) of the six Snow White, Blood Red adult fairy tale anthologies, two children's fairy tale anthologies, and two young adult anthologies including The Faery Reel. She has been editing the horror half (first with Windling, and now with Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant) of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for eighteen years. Her most recent solo anthologies are Vanishing Acts, and the International Horror Guild Award winner, The Dark: New Ghost Stories.
James Stanley Daugherty is active in American West Coast fandom, and has credentials in archaeology and cat breeding, but he is primarily known as a photographer specializing in surreal romantic nudes. His images have been featured in Graphis Nudes, Zoom, and N Magazine and shown in galleries in the US, New Zealand, and the UK. Recent shows have included “Love & Revolution,” “Prisoners of Paradise,” and “The Mud Women of Haleakala.” He has a passion for mythical places and shares his time between Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Maui.
I've been into SF since childhood and attended my first convention in 1981. I read as much as my job allows but must also confess to being a big media SF fan! I regularly attend UK conventions, but this will be only my second Worldcon. I've never offered a program item at a major Con before, but was persuaded to do so after running a similar Music Quiz at Redemption 2005.
Michael Davidson
I have attended a number of SF cons over the years. I would never
have dreamt of running a programme item at Worldcon, but somehow got talked
into it. Oh well, fingers crossed!!
Steve has been involved with the Plokta cabal since it started out as a convention committee. He now helps edit and write the fanzine, organize occasional conventions and contribute other bits of fanac in the copious free time left by his job as a consultant.
Genevieve Dazzo
I have been active in fandom since 1971, when I attended the first
Star Trek convention in NY, volunteered to help at registration, and have been
working on and at science fiction conventions ever since. In between my normal
career as a consultant, I have gotten my PhD in Chemistry, worked on many
bidding committees, sold several scripts for children's animation, been Fan
Guest of Honor at conventions, and enjoyed myself thoroughly meeting fans from
all over the world. Currently, I am writing a mystery novel about a troupe of
British and Scottish actors, so I'm out to soak up as much local culture as I
can.
DC
DC got hooked by SF at the age of 3 when he first
saw William Hartnell step out of the Tardis; as soon as he could read, he set
about devouring all the SF he could find. A onetime member of the Friends of
Kilgore Trout, a demanding job kept him away from cons until he got back into
con-going via media cons in England,
before returning to Glasgow and the joys of Albacon and 2Kon. He is also
well known on the local pagan scene, and is a founder member of the Association
of Polytheist Traditions. He's got a beard and a multi-pocketed waistcoat and
is looking forward to Worldcon as one of the few places he can blend into the
background.
Giulia De Cesare
Giulia De Cesare is interested in costume and beadwork. She's a
member of Plokta Cabal, and is trying to write a novel (aren't we all) but life
gets in the way (doesn't it always).
Susan de Guardiola is best known in fandom for her involvement in masquerades as a participant, a director, and the M.C. of the 1997 and 2004 worldcon masquerades. When not at cons or sewing she can be found sneezing in musty book stacks and time traveling in formal ballrooms, researching and teaching historical social dance forms from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
Jim de Liscard
Not really relevant.
Jetse de Vries
Jetse de Vries is a co-editor for Interzone, and has sold
a dozen short stories to various markets so far. Before joining the Interzone team, he used
to be a voracious short fiction reviewer for The Fix.
Keith R.A. DeCandido has written several billion tie-in books, edited thousands of anthologies, and millions of bios, some of which tend to exaggerate. His most recent work includes Articles of the Federation, a Star Trek/West Wing pastiche that looks at the politics of the Trek universe; the novelization of the Joss Whedon film Serenity; and a new Spider-Man novel, Down These Mean Streets. His original novel Dragon Precinct was published in 2004, and besides the above, he's also written in the universes of Buffy, Warcraft, Resident Evil, Farscape, Andromeda, Xena, and more. Learn several gajillion more exaggerations about Keith at his web site.
Dan DeLong
Dan is Vice President and Chief Engineer, XCOR
Aerospoace. He is the lead designer of the EZ-rocket, manned rocket vehicle.
I am a 40-something singing costume fan -- so there's no hope for me -- who makes costumes for a living. l have run numerous filk and costume conventions and am heavily involved in light hearted medieval recreations. l've been doing this a long time and have won costume awards, including a mastership at Glasgow 95. I am currently making a lot of Jedi costumes... I also have a part time job tasting beer -- honest.
Daniel P. Dern is currently an
independent technology writer. Most recently Daniel was Executive Editor for Byte.com. His
SF has appeared in Analog, F&SF, New
Dimensions, Tomorrow SF, and Worlds
of IF.
An amateur (that means "no refunds") magician, Daniel is still trying
to start clearing out his non-collectible unwanted comics via eBay.
Cory Doctorow is European Affairs Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org), a member-supported nonprofit group that works to uphold civil liberties values in technology law, policy and standards. He represents EFF's interests at various standards bodies and consortia, and at the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization. Doctorow is also a prolific writer who appears on the mastheads at Wired, Make , and Popular Science, and whose science fiction novels have won the Campbell, Sunburst and Locus Awards and whose novel Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a finalist for this year's Nebula Award. He is the co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing (boingboing.net). Born in Canada, he now lives in London, England. His most recent novel is Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town, simultaneously released in hardcover by Tor Books and as a free Creative Commons licensed download online.
Paul Dormer
I'm 51 (52 by August) and I retired last year after 30 years
programming computers for the UK electricity supply industry. I've been in
fandom for about 30 years, attending my first con in 1976. At UK cons I seem to
be typecast for music panels (I have a strong interest in classical music, but
don't play an instrument or sing; I'm
not a filker) and Buffy panels. I'm also treasurer of the SF Foundation.
I attended my first con as a pre-teen, and over the years have participated in fannish or para-fannish activities like Regency dancing, costuming, and APAhacking. My fellow mad scientist Vanessa Schnatmeier and I put on the first Regency Science Fairs near San Francisco; Vanessa continues the tradition. In 2003 I relocated to the beautiful and historic city of York to write about pre-1830 railway, and visit historic sites on my vintage motorcycle, Henry. I currently write my adventures in my APA and LiveJournal (ladyjillian), but when I complete my railway research I want to publish them more formally.
Fran Dowd
I'm an active UK fan, most recently the Sofa of the 2005 Eastercon
(Paragon2), and the Sheffield SF Group which is being relaunched this year. I'm
an LJ rather than fanzine fan, as "frandowdsofa." I have a background
in literature, theatre, computer and food journalism, but am currently working
on process and change management in university administration.
Just yer ordinary middle class white English genius media-loving psychotropic mountain-loving noise-appreciating libertarian anarchist socialist mathematician psychologist philosopher sociologist physicist programmer realist dreamer sceptic optimist transhumanist apocalyptic geek. I'm a UK fan, based in Edinburgh. Started reading SF at an early age with Heinlein juveniles and have never really stopped. Will happily argue on a wide ranging set of subjects, with computers, technology, and their effects on society being a favourite.
Andy Duncan
Duncan has won two World Fantasy Awards and a Theodore Sturgeon
Memorial Award. His books include Beluthahatchie and Other Stories (2000),
fiction; Alabama Curiosities (2005), non-fiction; and Crossroads:
Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic (2004), a fiction anthology
co-edited with F. Brett Cox. He wrote
the chapter on alternate history in The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (2003). He
teaches at Clarion, Clarion West, and the Honors College of the University of
Alabama. By day, he is senior editor at Overdrive Magazine,
The Voice of the American Trucker. He lives in Northport, Alabama, with his
wife, Sydney.
Hal Duncan
Hal Duncan lives in Glasgow where he works part-time as a computer
programmer. His debut novel, Vellum, is due to be published by
MacMillan in August 2005, with a sequel, Ink, coming out
in 2006. He has stories appearing in the Nova Scotia anthology edited by Neil
Williamson and Andrew Wilson, and in Electric Velocipede magazine.
Sydney Duncan
I teach at the Unversity of Alabama in the US and am a long time
reader of genre fiction. I attend the International Conference on the Fantastic
each year, in addition to other academic conferences and conventions related to
the field. I teach a course at Oxford each summer on gothic fiction using texts
by authors from the UK, including writers as different as Emily Bronte and Alan
Moore. I'm married to writer Andy Duncan.
