Photo Credit:
David Honl (via Wikipedia)
Photo Credit:
David Honl (via Wikipedia)
Multi-talented Claudia Christian is an actor, a singer, a musician, a writer and a director. She has appeared in more than 50 films and hundreds of TV series including The Hidden, The Chase, Clean and Sober, Hexed, Highlander and NYPD Blue. Claudia is perhaps best known and loved by science fiction fans for her role as Commander Susan Ivanova in the Hugo award winning television series Babylon 5. Her musical talents are showcased on five albums. Her amazing voice has been featured in Disney’s feature film Atlantis as well as in award winning audio books, Jaguar commercials, video games and cartoons.
Claudia’s current book, Babylon Confidential is available in dead-tree and dead-electron editions at your friendly local bookstore.
A trivia bit from IMDB.com: Since scratching a cornea firing a prop gun during the shooting of The Hidden, Claudia blinks when pulling the trigger. Babylon 5 was the exception: PPG blasts are CGI and were added in post production.
Website: claudiachristian.net
Photo Credit:
Szymon Sokół (via Wikipedia)
Harry Turtledove more or less owns the field of Alternate History, where everything is just as you learned it in school, except the South wins the Civil War… or Atlantis exists… or aliens show up to mix it up World War II. You can see the full list of Turtledove’s books at Wikipedia.
A man of many pseydonyms, in 1979, Turtledove published his first two novels, Wereblood and Werenight, under “Eric G. Iverson.” Turtledove later explained that his editor at Belmont Tower did not think people would believe the author’s real name was “Turtledove” and came up with something more Nordic. He continued to use the “Iverson” name until 1985, when Herbig-Haro and And So to Bed were published under his own name. He published three books under “Dan Chernenko” (the Scepter of Mercy series), and has also published under “Mark Gordian.” Turtledove has recently begun publishing historical novels under “H.N. Turteltaub”, Turteltaube meaning “turtle dove” in German.
Unofficial website: www.sfsite.com/~silverag/turtledove.html
Photo provided by Sarah Clemens
Sarah Clemens graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in fine arts and art history, and the conviction that she would always be an artist in one capacity or another. She has freelanced in logo design and book cover illustration and photography, worked as the curator of exhibits at a science museum and for the last fifteen years been a medical illustrator. But the need for self-expression is most important, and she began creating her own challenges, in the form of large oil paintings of friends and family members. Her realistic approach was second nature, after so many years of meticulous detailing in medical illustration. She has shown her work at galleries in Palm Beach, Florida and Boca Raton, Florida, Scottsdale Arizona and Beverly Hills, as well as exhibiting at the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach and the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach and the Mesa Art Center in Mesa, Arizona. A recent move to the Southwest has been inspiring, and trips to the Grand Canyon for intensive photographic shoots are sure to show up in her paintings.
Website: www.clemensart.com/fantasy.htm
Magnus and Loki subsite: http://www.clemensart.com/mlindex.htm
Photo provided by G. David Nordley
G. David Nordley was born and raised in Minneapolis and Golden Valley, Minnesota. His main interest as a writer is the future of human exploration and settlement of space, and his stories typically focus on the dramatic aspects of individual lives within the broad sweep of a plausible human future. His novella Kremer’s Limit, written with C. Sanford Lowe, appeared in the July/August 2006 issue of Analog. A collection of linked Mars-related stories was published as an electronic book by Scorpius Digitalin September 2001, with a print version appearing in 2003 (sold out). His novel To Climb a Flat Mountain (first appearing as a serial in Analog) was published (ebook and print-on-demand) by Variations on a Theme Publishing. He is a fourtime winner of the AnLab, the Analog reader’s award for best story or article of the year, and has also been a Hugo and Nebula award nominee.
Website: www.gdnordley.com
Photo Credit:
Ben Huset (via FreeMars)
The Thrift brothers have lately been stunning costume aficionados with the Steampunk TARDIS and Steampunk Dalek costumes they created which come complete with blinking hats and LED-enhanced sonic ray-guns. These brothers from Minnesota have created some of the greatest Con Costumes the state has ever seen, and we are so fortunate they will be sharing their costume knowledge and techniques with us at MarsCon this year. You can see some of the other costumes by visiting www.flickr.com/photos/11030197@N06.
Photo Credit:
Flat 29 Website
Dan, Charlie, and Rich formed the band in 2004 while they were attending a poncy performing arts school, all living together in ‘flat 29’. After their 2nd album, they started a fortnightly podcast called “Flat 29’s Big Book Of Everything”, in which each episode tackled a specific topic and featured a new comedy song on that topic. In late 2010, they recorded a 30 minute musical about Sherlock Holmes and his time traveling adventures with his robot sidekick Professor Winston, and joined the ranks of the FuMP dot com. In early 2012, FLAT 29 released an album of soupedup versions of their most popular songs from their podcast, titled “Secret Handshake”, which Luke Ski calls the best comedy music album of the year. Thanks to a very generous donation from Dementia Radio dot org, Flat 29 is coming to America for the first time to perform for us at MarsCon 2013. So get psyched, yankees!
Website: flat29.com
St. Paul science fiction and fantasy writer, S.N. Arly has had short stories featured at FearsMag.com, a limited edition DragonCon 2000 chapbook, several issues of Tales of the Unanticipated, and most recently the WolfSongs anthology. She has received two honorable mentions from the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest. She is a member the local critique group Guts and Rocks. Facebook page: www.facebook.com/S.N.Arly1?ref=name
Ruth Berman has published fiction and poetry in many magazines and anthologies, including science fiction, fantasy, general, and literary publications. Her novel Bradamant's Quest was published by FTL Publications. and she is one of the contributors to the anthology Lady Poetesses from Hell, by the LPFH. She is one of the co-authors of Autumn World by Joan M. Verba et al., and has written articles on sf/fantasy for many journals. Books she edited: Dear Poppa (MN Historical Society), The Kerlan Awards in Children’s Literature (Pogo Press), Sissajig and Other Surprises (short fantasy by Oz author Ruth Plumly Thompson). She is a longtime Twin Cities fan. Read more at www.tc.umn.edu/~d-lena/RuthBermanPage.html.
Cynthia Booth is a published poet, short story writer, and internationjally awarded playwright presently residing in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Roy C. Booth hails from Bemidji, Minnesota, and is a published author, game designer, comedian, poet, journalist, essayist, screenwriter/doctor, but is mostly known as an internationally awarded playwright with 56 plays published with over 750 productions of his work in 28 different countries with translations in seven other languages to date. A prolific writer on his own, Roy is also known for collaborating with Brian Keene, William F. Wu, R. Thomas Riley, and others on a wide variety of other projects as well. Roy and his wife, Cynthia, have owned and operated Roy’ Comics & Games in Bemidji for over 20 years now, and Roy’s work can be found at www.samuelfrench.com, www.hitplays.com, www.amazon.com/author/roycbooth, and elsewhere.
2012 Guest of Honor
Rob Callahan is a professional purveyor of made-up stories about the way we really are. His works of fiction include the novel Hellbound Snowballs and the short story collections, Grave Whisperer and Damaged Goods. He has written and performed two award-winning spoken word shows, Idiosynchronicity and The Last Ditch (co-written with Allegra Lingo), and he regularly joins the Minneapolis entertainment troupe The Rockstar Storytellers on stage. His nonfiction has graced the pages of Secrets of the City, Salon.com, l’etoile Magazine, Cracked.com, and Livestrong.com. He is also a part-time contributor to several magazines published by Tiger Oak Publications.
Haddayr Copley-Woods is a radio commentator, essayist and fantasy writer with pieces in places such as Minnesota Public Radio, Strange Horizons, and Best American Erotica – with honorable mentions in Best Horror of the Year. She writes dark fantasy and horror; her radio commentaries and essays cover disability issues, community, fandom, and politics. She works in nonprofit communications and lives with her family in Minneapolis. You can find her work at haddayr.com
According to his business cards, Douglas Hulick is an “Author and Swordsman.” Since he recently sold a three book crime-based fantasy series to Penguin USA, the first part is likely true. As for the second claim, well, while he has been fencing for over fifteen years and studying and teaching Western European Historical Combat for seven, can anyone who hasn’t served in the King’s Musketeers say he is truly a swordsman? I mean, really…
2001 Guest of Honor
Chris is a professional illustrator and comic book artist, having worked for comic book publishers including DC, Marvel, Slave Labor Graphics, Image, Malibu, Caliber, and more. Most of Chris’ work in recent years has been penciling and inking for DC Comics and Marvel Comics. He was the regular artist on Young Justice, based on the hit Cartoon Network animated TV series, providing pencils, inks and covers for the comic, which was written by the TV series head writer Greg Weisman. During the same period, Chris was also contributing stories and covers to Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, based on that popular animated TV series.
Peter Kokh has been involved in space advocacy since the early 1970s when he became one of the first members of von Braun’s National Space Institute, the forerunner of today’s National Space Society (NSS). He has remained very active till the present day and is involved with the NSS, the Mars Society, and the Moon Society, both at the local and national levels. Since 1986 Peter has published the Moon Miners’ Manifesto for which he is the editor and primary contributor. The monthly issues of the Manifesto “contain speculative articles that deal with the opening of the Lunar frontier, suggesting how pioneers can make best use of local resources.” Most of the material deals directly with pioneer life on the Moon but much of it is also relevant to living on Mars. (Bio credit: HobbySpace)
2008 Guest of Honor
Naomi Kritzer is the author of three fantasy novels in her “Dead Rivers” series: Freedom’s Gate (2004), Freedom’s Apprentice (2005), and Freedom’s Sisters (2006), and short fiction in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and Tales of the Unanticipated. Naomi recently completed a children’s fantasy novel in which a ten-year-old Minneapolis girl notices that no one else can see one of the houses on her block. Website: www.naomikritzer.com
Catherine Lundoff is a former archeologist, former grad student and former bookstore owner turned professional computer geek and award-winning author and editor. She is a transplanted Brooklynite who now lives in Minneapolis with her wife and the two cats which own them. Silver Moon (Lethe Press, 2012) is her latest book. Website: www.catherinelundoff.com
Rebecca Marjesdatter is a past winner of the Rhysling Award for Speculative Poetry. Her work has appeared in Tales of the Unanticipated (TOTU), The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, the anthologies Women of Other Worlds and The Moment of Change, and Asimov’s. She is the current Poetry Editor of TOTU. She lives in Minneapolis with too many cats.
Michael Merriam is an author of speculative fiction and spoken- word performer living in Hopkins, MN. He has published a novel, two short story collections, three single-title novellas, and over 80 pieces of short fiction and poetry. His novella, Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, was long-listed for the Nebula Award in 2010, and his novel Last Car to Annwn Station was named a Top Book in 2011 by Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women’s Fiction. Michael is the co-organizer of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers, and a member of the Artists with Disabilities Alliance, the Outer Alliance, the Steampunk Artists and Writers Guild, and Story Arts Minnesota. Visit his homepage at www.michaelmerriam.net.
Ky Michaelson’s inventions are legendary. Ky has contributed to over 200 films, television programs and commercials. He also built the rockets for the movie October Sky. In 2004, Michaelson’s Civilian Space eXploration Team became the first amateur group to design, build and launch a rocket into space. Ky’s creations are the subject of a book currently in the publication process Motorbooks International. He is also developing a screenplay focused on his life and accomplishments. Webiste: www.the-rocketman.com"
2002 Guest of Honor
Lyda Morehouse leads a double life. By day she is the science fiction author of the award-winning AngeLINK series. At night she transforms into the best-selling vampire romance writer, Tate Hallaway, author of the Garnet Lacey series and the young-adult vampire princess of Saint Paul series. As Lyda she’s won the Shamus (a mystery award) for Archangel Protocol, and came in second for the Philip K. Dick award for Apocalypse Array. She lives in Saint Paul with her partner of twenty-four years, eight-year-old son, four cats, two gerbils and a multitude of fishes.
Kathryn Sullivan is an award-winning author from Winona. Her children’s picture book Michael & the Elf has been reprinted by Guardian Angel Publishing. She also has an essay in the Hugo winning Chicks Dig Time Lords and a review in Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Doctor Who stories by 160 writers. “The Taste of Treasure” is her newest short story in Clockwork Spells and Magical Bells. Any birdlike beings in her books only slightly resemble her cockatoo owner. Website: kathrynsullivan.com
Saymoukda D. Vongsay is a Lao American poet and playwright whose work has been published by literary journals, lifestyle magazines, almanacs, newspapers, anthologies, and scholastic journals nationwide. Her experience in literary arts and community engagement has been invaluable to the work and programming of organizations like the Smithsonian Institute, the MN Historical Society, Paj Ntaub Voice Literary Journal, and the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre in Luang Prabang, Laos.
She is the recipient of the 2010 Alfred C. Carey Prize in Spoken Word Poetry (NY), the 2012 and 2011 Jerome Foundation/Mu Performing Arts Fellowship in Theater, and a 2012 Storytelling Fellowship from the MN State Arts Boards’ Folk and Traditional Arts Grant. She has been recognized as a 2011 Change Maker by Intermedia Arts, was the only Honorable Mention named for the 2011 MN Emerging Writer Grant, and has received scholarships from the Loft Literary Center (MN/prose seminar), the Joyce Foundation/Alliance of Artist Communities (IL/arts administration), and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (DC/public policy). She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Intermedia Arts, The Saint Paul Almanac (literary), the Saint Paul Foundation’s Asian Pacific Endowment Fund (philanthropy), and the Dispute Resolution Center. Her play, Kung Fu Zombies vs Cannibals, is being produced by Mu Performing Arts and is slated to premiere in Fall 2013.
An award-winning Laotian American writer, Bryan Thao Worra holds a Fellowship in Literature from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has served as a consultant to the Minnesota History Center, the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans and the Minnesota Humanities Commission. He is also an active professional member of the Horror Writer Association and the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and represented Laos as a Cultural Olympian during the Poetry Parnassus of the London 2012 Summer Games. His forthcoming book Demonstra will be published in 2013 by Innsmouth Free Press. You can visit him online at thaoworra.blogspot.com.
The Feng Shui Ninjas are Dave Stagner, John Kentner, Justin Hartley, and Tami Murck. But the band is way more than the sum of its parts. The four singer/multi-instrumentalists draw from every music we have ever heard (whether we like it or not!), and synthesize it into sounds that feel both new and ancient, like the music you didn’t realize you have been hearing all your life. Website: www.fengshuininjas.com
2004 Guest of Honor
Baron David E Romm (aka DavE) produced Shockwave Radio Theater in the Twin Cities for nearly 30 years, bringing a variety of strange and interesting material to the airwaves. Beyond his involvement with Shockwave, DavE has also been a fixture of Minnesota science fiction fandom for over a generation. He’s helped plan several conventions, MCs Minicon Opening and Closing Ceremonies and has performed Shockwave live on stage. He published fanzines in hard copy and designs web sites that are hard to categorize. He does a lot of fanac online, and currently has more than 14,000 photos on Facebook, some of which are from MarsCons. He’s interviewed science fiction people at conventions, numerous interesting people for Shockwave, and politicians for the KFAI News Department. And yes, he is a real Baron of the not entirely fictitious country of Ladonia. Website: romm.org
For an up-to-date list of Dementia Track Artists & Events, visit: marscondementia.com.
MarsCon 2013
March 1-3, 2013
Crowne Plaza Hotel and Suites
3 Appletree Square
Bloomington, MN 55425
Questions about MarsCon: info
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