Tommy B. Smith is a writer of dark fiction, author of The Mourner’s Cradle, Poisonous, and the short-story collection Pieces of Chaos. His work has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies throughout the years. His presence currently infests Fort Smith, AR, where he resides with his wife and cats.
Caroline Spector has published and edited numerous game modules, written three computer-game hint books, and published three novels in the Shadowrun/Earthdawn universe. Her work has appeared in a half-dozen Wild Cards books, and the to-be-released Joker Moon and Three Kings. Her short story “The Flight of Morpho Girl,” co-authored with Bradley Denton, appeared on tor.com. Her novella “Lies My Mother Told Me” was published in the World Fantasy Award-winning anthology Dangerous Women. She was an Associate Editor at Amazing magazine while the Earth was still cooling. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, noted game designer Warren Spector.
Allison Stein is an artist, author, TV addict, geek princess, and cat servant—not necessarily in that order. Look for her watercolors and mixed-media originals in the Art Show and her award-winning short fiction with Yard Dog Press and NobleFusion Press. Allison is a member of SFWA, a co-founder of NobleFusion writers’ collective (established in 1994), and a long-time member of Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society and the ConQuesT concomm, and serves as webmaster and social media manager for ConQuesTKC.org. By day she writes software documentation that even technophobes can understand. Allison hoards art supplies and practices Advanced Google-Fu.
Arianne “Tex” Thompson was once described as “an explosion of 52 enthusiastic kittens latching onto everything at once.” In addition to writing the Children of the Drought epic fantasy Western series, Tex is the founder and chief instigator for WORD: Writers Organizations ‘Round Dallas. When she’s not leading the charge in Dallas, Tex brings her particular brand of ‘red-penthusiasm’ to conferences, conventions, and workshops all over the country, an egregiously enthusiastic, endlessly energetic one-woman stampede.
Christina Stiles is a tabletop RPG publisher and freelancer from South Carolina. She writes some fiction, too. She teaches courses about games at Winthrop University.
Haileigh Todd is an actress, voice actress, writer, director and musician from Dallas, TX. She participated in eighteen shows in high school, directing two. She earned a nomination for a Teen Choice Award for her role as Eve Rosser in Rachel Caine’s Morganville: The Series, starring alongside geek-culture veterans Robert Picardo and Amber Benson. Recently she has been involved in multiple productions at Funimation, giving voices to characters such as Takashi in Hinamatsuri, Edstrom in Overlord, Shannon in The Ancient Magus’ Bride, and the Young Goblin Slayer in Goblin Slayer. Her obsessions include anything and everything purple, everything food-related, and pranking. She moonlights as a flight attendant for Endeavor Air.
Laura J. Underwood keeps writing stuff, and people keep buying it, so she must be doing something right. She is the author of the Anwyn Baldomyre stories and the Ard Taebh stories, and has coauthored a set of mystery novels with Selina Rosen. Most of her books are available through Yard Dog Press. She is working to get a few more books, including the third Ard-Magister story, Shadow of the Faolan, and a modern fantasy titled Angels of Mercy into print. When not writing, she works as a librarian, plays harp, sews, and photographs and makes tiny props for her vast collection of ball-jointed dolls. Buy her books from Yard Dog Press at www.yarddogpress.com.
Steven E. Wedel began craving literary fame and fortune in high school. Since then he’s had careers as a machinist, journalist, corporate writer, public-relations specialist, and now high-school English teacher. He keeps writing, despite the lack of wealth and notoriety. Wedel has published over 20 books, mostly in the adult horror genre, but he’s also written for the young adult, children, Western, and thriller markets, and has dabbled in other genres using pseudonyms. His non-fiction writing includes how-to articles, literary criticism, and hundreds of articles for print newspapers and online sites.
Wedel earned a master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma and holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. He is a lifelong Oklahoman living in Midwest City with his dogs Bubba and Bear. He’d still take the fame and fortune if it comes his way …
Known to her kids as “Indiana Mom,” Dr. Mel. is a scientist, writer, artist, comic-book creator, poet, storyteller, filker, and World of Warcraft player (not necessarily in that order.) She makes use of her degree in Egyptology as an adjunct professor at Richland College, teaching fun ed courses to senior citizens. She is currently continuing the Duncan & Mallory series (originally done with Robert Asprin) with her new coauthor, John DeLaughter. With DeLaughter, she’s co-written and illustrated several projects with John DeLaughter, somof which can be found on Amazon and Smashwords.