Guests of Honor
MarsCon 2014
Actor: J. G. Hertzler
Actor: J. G. Hertzler
John Garman “J. G.” Hertzler is well known in the Star Trek community for his role as General (later Chancellor) Martok on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He is one of only four actors to play seven different characters on Star Trek. He played the Vulcan captain of the U.S.S. Saratoga, General/Chancellor Martok, Roy Rittenhouse and Laas in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), an Hirogen hunter in Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and Kolos and a Klingon captain in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)). He portrayed a record-breaking eighth unique character on Star Trek when he played Kovol in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007). J. G. has also made appearances on films and other television series like Six Feet Under, Roswell, Touched by an Angel, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Charmed, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Zorro, Highlander and Quantum Leap. J. G. has lent his voice to video games, such as Bioshock 2 and Dead Space.
J. G. Hertzler has co-authored two Star Trek books and written seven screenplays, one of which—Dancing With Sancho Panza, about the war in Spain, 1936—is scheduled for production this summer. He has taught theatre at Cornell University and is currently setting up a microsutudio for film production in New York, Bohemia Haus Microstudio. Very recently, in November 2013, J. G. was elected to the Ulysses (New York) Town Council.
Author: Esther Friesner
Nebula Award winner Esther Friesner is the author of 40 novels and over 190 short stories, in addition to being the editor of ten popular anthologies. Her works have been published in the United States, the UK, Japan, Germany, Russia, France, Poland and Italy. She is also a published poet and a produced playwright. Her articles on fiction writing have appeared in Writer’s Market and Writer’s Digest Books.
Her latest novel, Deception’s Princess, will be published in April of this year. It’s about the girlhood of the legendary Queen Maeve of Ireland and will be followed by Deception’s Pawn in 2015. These books join Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize (about young Helen of Troy), and Sphinx’s Princess and Sphinx’s Queen (about Nefertiti), and Spirit’s Princess and Spirit’s Chosen (about shaman-queen Himiko of 3rd century Japan) in her popular Princesses of Myth series for Random House. She is also editing the long-anticipated sixth Chicks in Chainmail anthology for Baen Books.
Educated at Vassar College, she received a B.A. in both Spanish and Drama. She was later awarded her M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish from Yale University, where she taught for a number of years. She lives in Connecticut.
External link:
Princess of Myth
Artist: Mickie Erickson
photo: Ben Huset
Mickie Erickson is a local artist. She was born and raised in Bloomington, MN and still lives in the area today. She is a regular contributor to the MarsCon Art Show. Mickie has perfected the art of pen turning, using lathes on wood or acrylics to create beautifully custom-designed pens, often with a steam punk flair or sci fi twist to them. You will be able to view some of her designs in the Art Show, and she will be sharing some tips on turning pens during programming.
Costumer: Rae Lundquist
photo: Mark Boenish
Known as the DreamStitcher in costuming circles & SF/ Fantasy/ Anime conventions around 5 state area. Been sewing professionally since 1980, for myself since 1960. I man the "Costume Emergency First Aid Station" at conventions I attend, find me there Absolutly rabid about costume, especially when it relates to history. Love the outflow of sheer imagination I encounter when I attend SF/Fantasy/Anime conventions. Everyone has a right to be creative and imaginative. Have made a career of sewing costumes, love helping people find their ‘inner selves’ as expressed by costume. Have been adamant a equal rights. Proud to have been Mayo Clinic’s first female orderly, and the State of MN’s first female stage hand (IATSE union secretary in Rochester, MN). Don’t believe someone is not capable simply because of their sex, etc. I follow the teachings of a carpenter from Nazareth*, in that he preached loving EVERYBODY (including race, religion, sexual preferences, etc.) helping the poor and sick, sharing the wealth, (believing that too much money can corrupt). I believe that Jesus supported what we’d call ‘socialism’ today, and I fully support it. So count me in as a raving socialistic (with small ‘s’ - and no, Germany and Russia were not really a socialist state) LIBERAL! (and damn proud of it!). * I also follow some the teachings of Ghandi (non-violence and abhorrence of war).
Fan Group: IKV RakeHell
The IKV RakeHell! You will never find a greater Hive of Scum and Villainy. Formed in the fevered brow of K’hrtas, we blossomed forth in 1994 to inflict the Empire and beyond with our own skewed sense of humor, adventure and merriment. Based in Minneapolis, we haunt Conventions in the Midwest.We are KAG’s Official Body Group and Drama Disposal Unit. The RakeHell is the Flagship of the Cold Terror Fleet of The Klingon Assault Group, and is in the Cold Beer Sector of the Cold Death Quadrant.The RakeHell also has a close working relationship with Commedia Beauregard.
Musician: Henry Phillips
Since the late 90s, comedian & musician Henry Phillips has been performing his brilliant satirical songs at comedy clubs all across the nation. In addition to appearances on the nationally syndicated radio program The Bob and Tom Show, he has also appeared on Comedy Central Presents and Jimmy Kimmel Live. His award winning semi-autobiographical comedy film Punching The Clown is currently available on Hulu and iTunes. He’s released a handful of albums over the years, which include such hit songs from “The Dr. Demento Show” as “On The Shoulders Of Freaks”, “Talking Again”, “Girlfriend”, “Alone Again”, “L. A. Dream”, and fan favorites “Sweet Little Blossom Of Mine”, “Fresh Out Of Blues”, “Guitar Pill”, and “Jerkin’ Around”. We’re very excited to have Henry Phillips as MarsCon 2014’s Music Guest Of Honor. (http://www.henryphillips.com) Henry Phillips’ appearance is being sponsored by Dementia Radio .org.
Prop Masters: Dave Duca & Michael Glielmi
photo: Ben Huset
Dave Duca from Oconto WI, is an announcer for their local Radio Station, and enjoys the many ambitions in the Community and Events. Born in Green Bay, Dave’s hobbies and interests go anywhere from astronomy, shortwave radio, rotary cam engines, UAVs, and Bread Pudding. He finds it fascinating, taking things apart to figure out how they work. “Anything from a simple space shuttle to a complex door knob….will do” His fort’e is literally anything autonomous, including Daleks. He goes on to say that, these Kaled Creature Machines are a wonderful exercise in frugal budgets and recycling. “…it’s amazing what a person can make in a McGyyver State of Mind…” These past few years of making Daleks with my good friend Michael has enhanced everything so much more. “…Attending Conventions as a proper Dalek, has earned a greater interest in the younger set, than I ever could’ve imagined…” he says.
photo: Ben Huset
Mike Glielmi, residing in Holland Town WI. is a mechanical designer of wide experience. Born in Chicago Ill., he fell in love with all things sci-fi well before he attended school. Science fiction and fantasy are ever present in the warp and woof of his life. Dr. Who has, for a very long time, been the golden threads in that weave. Then Mike once dared to ask his very good friend Dave Duca, a kindred spirit in all things Whovian, if Dave would consider making a Dalek for the purposes of attending conventions. Mike was already an avid attender of many conventions, often showing up at such events in costume. “What better costume than a Dalek?” Mike thought. Little did the unsuspecting resident of Holland Town know how such a question would "Release the hounds!" The hounds have not stopped running since! In the years after that fateful question, Daleks have been flying from Dave’s residence of “Porchwood” at a dizzying pace. Now, Mike also has been creating Daleks from his residence in Holland Town. Wisconsin is soon to be over-run with the children of the “Cult of WISkaro” the Name Dave and Mike have coined for the group of Dalek creators. The goal of the “Cult of WISkaro” is to build the most life-like, fully operational Daleks ever seen anywhere. (With a few surprises along the way!) By doing this we hope to greatly enhance the Dr. Who experience for all the fans, and promote all things Dr. Who, the greatest Science fiction genre ever conceived!
Science Guest: Bridget Landry
Bridget Landry was educated as a chemist and planetary scientist, trained as an engineer, and has worked in spacecraft operations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for more than 20 years. Most of her career has been in what is known as sequencing: building sets of commands that are sent to and stored on the spacecraft to execute the bulk of the spacecraft activities over a specific period of time. She has worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the joint US-French oceanographic Earth-orbiter Topex, the Mars Pathfinder project (which included the first Mars rover), the Cassini mission to Saturn and the Dawn mission to the main asteroid belt. Ms. Landry is currently a team member of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, where she supports the orbiter’s mission and relay for both currently functioning Mars rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity.
Ms. Landry takes great interest in the advancement of women in technical fields, and the helps and bars to their progress, as well as in the problem of sparking and maintaining girls’ early interest in science and math. In her technical hat, she has been on science-related panels at WorldCons, local, and regional conventions and has been a Science GoH at several regional cons, as well as participating in outreach activities outside the fannish community.
With the other side of her brain, Ms. Landry is a Master Level costumer with a twisted sense of humor, (google “Strauss Waltz Assault Team”), and a fondness for ST:TOS. She has been on panels and won Masquerade awards from the local to the WorldCon level.
Other Notable Presenters
Authors
S.N. Arly
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
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
Cynthia Booth is a published poet, short story writer, and internationally awarded playwright presently residing in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Roy C. Booth
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.
Rob Callahan
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
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
Stryder Dancewolffe
Author of the novel Forgiven, not Forgotten. Her short works include “Survival” and “Snow Angel” amongst others, and she’s recently released a collection of short works, Mourning Star.
Douglas Hulick
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…
P M F Johnson
P M F Johnson has published dozens of poems, including genre poetry in Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and Tales of the Unanticipated, mainstream poetry in Threepenny Review and Nimrod, and haiku in Modern Haiku, Acorn, and a couple “Best Of” anthologies. Along with his wife, Sandra Rector, he has published stories in Amazing Magazine and several pro anthologies. His web site is at PMFJohnson.com.
Naomi Kritzer
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
Aimee Kuzenski
Aimee Kuzenski was born in Clintonville, WI, and currently lives in northeast Minneapolis, MN. She moved there in 1996 in an effort to use her BFA Acting Power for good, and discovered she didn’t really enjoy having no health care and looking for a new job every four weeks. After some discussion and internal musing, Aimee took herself to the University of Minnesota for electrical engineering training. The final result seems to be a blending of the two extremely different disciplines. By day, she works as a technical writer for a local engineering company. For much of the rest of the time, she sits in her home studio and writes fantasy, science fiction, and her own blend of the two.
Aimee has been inhaling science fiction and fantasy since her childhood. Starting with six hour marathons of classic Dr Who on Sundays and every single book on Greek myths her grandmother would allow her to check out, she moved on to the adult SF/F stacks, read everything there, and hasn’t stopped since. After discovering the existence of conventions in high school (Wiscon 1988, woo!), Aimee has been active in as many conventions as she could, including acting as MC for the CONvergence masquerade for its first few years and participating in many panels. Unwilling to stop at intellectual pursuits, Aimee also trains in eskrima, a Filipino martial art. She believes hitting things with sticks is both beautiful and therapeutic. Aimee has an apartment, a hairless cat, two house bunnies, and reams of fantastic friends. Website: http://akuzenski.com/
Craig R. Lang
Craig Lang is a UFO and anomaly researcher with Minnesota MUFON, the local chapter of the Mutual UFO Network. He investigates sighting and encounter reports in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas. Craig is a Certified Hypnotherapist, with the National Guild of Hypnotists. His “day job” is as a computer engineer, working with a medical electronics firm in the Twin Cities. Mr. Lang has been interested in astronomy, ET life and UFOs since childhood. He is the author of two nonfiction books on UFO abduction, The Cosmic Bridge and The Other Side of the Sky, The Cosmic Bridge Companion. He is an amateur radio operator (KC0ZH), and also dabbles in writing science fiction. websites: www.craigrlang.com and www.thecosmicbridge.com.
Catherine Lundoff
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
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.
Patrick W. Marsh
Patrick W. Marsh is a writer and publisher from Minneapolis, Minnesota. His short stories and poems have been published in Calliope, The Quail Bell Quarterly, Dagda Publishing, and others. His debut novel, Beware the Ills, was published in July 2013. The sequel, entitled This Living Cage, will be released in October 2014. A dark fantasy and horror writer, his style is specific to the genres Slipstream and Magical Realism. Besides these other publications, he also writes a variety of serialized blogs, the most popular being The Greenland Diaries, an apocalyptic nightmare being released as a novel in July 2014. An attendee of the University of Minnesota’s creative writing program, Patrick originally studied poetry, which seemed stylistically more plausible for his dyslexia. Fiction became a more rewarding mistress, and is now his primary focus. Patrick is also the president and executive editor of Calamities Press, a publishing zine based in the Twin Cities. He lives in Minneapolis with his dog Millie, and still enjoys playing his Super Nintendo. His personal website is www.patrickwmarsh.com.
Michael Merriam
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.
“Rocketman” Ky Michaelson
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
Lyda Morehouse
aka Tate Hallaway
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.
Sandra Rector
Sandra Rector has sold short stories to Dublin Quarterly Review, Black Petals and Pedestal Magazine. Along with her husband P M F Johnson, she has also sold stories to numerous anthologies and magazines such as Amazing Stories, Whatdunnits and Xanadu 2. Their story “A Dwelling in the Evening Air,” was nominated for a Theodore Sturgeon award. Her poetry has been published in Poetic Voices, Poetry Motel and Modern Haiku. She has sold numerous articles and essays to such publications as The Washington Post, Cooking Light and East/West. Previously she was an associate editor of Tales of the Anticipated. Currently she writes “Tuesday Tips,” a self help blog at Sand1.wordpress.com.
Kathryn Sullivan
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
Other Notable Guests
Feng Shui Ninjas
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
David E Romm
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
Samudra, Indian-Tribal Bellydance Fusion
Samudra, directed by FyreSnake, is a new Indian-Tribal Bellydance Fusion group in the Twin Cities. Combining over three decades of dance experience, with styles from the East and West, this group of women embody grace, humility, elegance, and fun. We believe all people possess the ability to express emotions via dance. Our music, art, and style are like the waves of an ocean...dynamic, powerful, and unpredictable. We are Samudra. WORKSHOP: We will teach our choreography to anyone interested. We will highlight the different dance styles used in the choreo. We can offer info on classes in the Twin Cities.
MarsCon 2014
Time Is The Key
March 7-9, 2014
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bloomington-Minneapolis South
7800 Normandale Boulevard
Bloomington, MN 55439
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