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Program Schedule
(as of December 31, 1969 13:00 CST)
Roger Cross can currently be seen playing 'Six' aka 'Griffin Jones' on the hit SYFY show Dark Matter.
As well as the role of 'Reggie Fitzwilliam' on Guillermo Del Toro's series for FX, The Strain. And playing 'Travis Verta' on Continuum.
Cross can also be seen on a recurring basis on CW's Arrow, and ABC's Motive. He captivated audiences as Jack Bauer's fellow agent, 'Curtis Manning', on the sensational 24. He's starred in the Sci-Fi series First Wave, The Guard, The Gates. He's reccured on such series as Fringe, Charlies Angels, The L Word, Stargate, Steven Spielberg's Taken, Higher Ground, The X-Files, The Commish, The Days, Peacemakers, Just Cause etc… He's guest starred on Star Trek-Enterprise, UC Undercover, Highlander, Andromeda, Outer Limits, Sliders, Street Justice, Neon Rider. Cross has also appeared in a slate of TV movies including Everything That Rises, Father's Choice, Aftershock, The Color of Courage, Voyage Of Terror, Oklahoma City, Doomsday Rock, Baby 2000, Captains Courageous, The Surrogate, Tailhook, Don't Talk To Strangers, The Winter Garden, Playing For Keeps, Deliver Them From Evil, etc…
His many film roles include Mad Money, alongside Diane Keaton, Katie Holmes, and Queen Latifah, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Chronicles Of Riddick, King's Ransom, Ecks vs Sever, Liberty Stands Still, Deadly Little Secrets, Free Willy III, What's Your Verdict, Double Jeopardy, Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, etc..
Roger was born and raised in Jamaica. With his family, he moved to Vancouver at the age of 11. He enjoyed drama in school, but never considered it a viable career. His heart was set on flying, and he studied Aviation at Trinity Western University. While waiting for a flying job, Cross began working as an extra and doing stunts. He went on to study acting at Breck Academy and landed a few roles before landing the one that ultimately changed the course of his life. After surviving an extremely challenging yet fulfilling experience filming The International Rescue on location in China, Vietnam and Burma, Cross decided to give acting his full focus for a year. His acting career has since taken off, and he now enjoys flying in his spare time.
"Before becoming a freelance illustrator/graphic artist, I worked for
newspapers creating graphics and illustrations for 14 years. I did work
for every section of the paper from Life and Entertainment to Sports.
Now, I try to come up with new and interesting ideas for illustrations. My love for vintage poster, propaganda and product art from the early 20th century and an interest in retro-futuristic art from the mid-20th has led me to create some cool poster art. I mean, who doesn't want to travel the solar system or join the fight against the villains of 1980s arcade games?
I also have experience creating marketing and advertising art for various companies. From label expo organizers to architecture firms. And I've had the opportunity to create artwork under such licenses as Star Wars, Disney, Fox, Star Trek, Hasbro, The Muppets and Marvel.
Most recently, I illustrated the very informative book titled Vacation Guide to the Solar System."
MaryJanice Davidson is a former model and medical test subject, as well as a New York Times best-selling author who has no idea why she is a success at what she does. ("No idea. At all.") Her books have been translated into several languages and are available in 15 countries ("No one is more surprised than I."). She frequently speaks to book clubs ("I don't know why my books sell."), writer's groups ("I don't know why I'm on best-seller lists."), and World War Two veterans ("Thanks for driving Hitler to suicide!"). She lives with husband, family, and dogs in St. Paul, MN, and loves ("No, really…I do!") hearing from readers.
Brent "brentalfloss" Black is a self-described comedian, musician, and gamer. He is best known for his "With Lyrics" series on YouTube, which first gained notoriety in 2008 when he added lyrics to the title theme from Mega Man 3. He has since grown a YouTube subscriber base of over 396,000 and released three full-length albums, all which have reached the Top 10 in the iTunes comedy charts, and two of which reached the top ten on Billboard's comedy charts. He lives in New York City and has performed at music venues and gaming conventions across the USA, Canada, and the UK.
Aside from the "brentalfloss" persona, Brent is a songwriter with a background in musical theatre. He currently co-hosts a podcast on Maximum Fun, titled "Trends Like These", in which he and his former college roommate Travis McElroy discuss topics and issues that are trending on social media websites. He is also co-created and produced the best-selling party video game entitled "Use Your Words!"
Please see marscondementia.wordpress.com for the full MarsCon 2018 Dementia track lineup!
Bridget Landry was educated as a chemist and planetary scientist, trained as an engineer, and has worked in spacecraft operations for nearly 30 years. She has worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, the joint US-French oceanographic Earth-orbiter Topex, the Mars Pathfinder project, the recently-deceased Cassini mission to Saturn, the Dawn mission at the asteroid Vesta, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Spitzer space telescope. Currently, she is on the sequencing team for Mars Odyssey (the oldest active Mars orbiter) and has started part-time support for Mars 2020, the Curiosity follow-on mission set to launch in just over 2 years.
Ms. Landry also 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 STEM fields. 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.
Ms. Landry has been an active fan since the age of 13, when she worked for 4 hours at her first SF con before ever getting her badge. She is a Master-level costumer with a twisted sense of humor, (google the Strauss Waltz Assault Team) and a fondness for ST:TOS. She is a skilled corsetiere and a frequent panelist on a range of costuming topics from “Herding Cats” (large masquerade group entries) and movement in costuming, to proper historical undergarments and “From the Page to the Stage” (bringing 2D images or text descriptions into a 3D world). In addition, Ms. Landry has participated in many masquerades, winning both presentation and workmanship awards from the local to the WorldCon level.
Parke Kunkle dreams of a new Planetarium: Minnesota's Gateway to the Stars. He co-founded the Minnesota Planetarium Society (MnPS), a nonprofit corporation dedicated to building a new Planetarium for Minnesota and to advancing science and technology education through Astronomy. He taught Astronomy and Physics to thousands of students at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, receiving numerous outstanding teacher awards. He is an active member of the Minnesota Astronomical Society. He is past President of the MnPS and has served on several boards including the Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library. He is a past president of the Minnesota Area Association of Physics Teachers. He currently serves on the Advisory Board for the Bell Museum of Natural History + Planetarium, opening in summer of 2018. He can often be found near the eyepiece of a telescope showing sunspots, Saturn’s rings or the Moon’s craters to folks at a planets-at-the-pub event. Occasionally, you might find him dancing among the stars.
The Library Bards transform top 40 songs into the nerdy versions they should have been in the first place. The Library Bards have become a staple in the new Comic and Pop Culture Convention scene. Traveling the United States, the dynamic performances of Bonnie Gordon (ABC's The Quest; voice of R. Mika in Street Fighter V), and Xander Jeanneret (TBS' King of the Nerds; voice of the Announcer in Divekick) bring life to the main stages of Cosplay Contests, Panels, and Concert performances.
Blair Keith grew up on a farm near Moose Lake, MN. In his twenties, he moved to the Twin Cities, became a regular at conventions, and joined the USS Nokomis. Most of his working career was as a patent illustrator. He used these skills along with many others acquired over time to create a large series of costumes and props that many of us have witnessed over the years. Although his first local costume was as Captain Kirk, he was also known as Captain Cardboard or the King of Cardboard for his skill in building props from cardboard. Blair always wanted to be a time traveler, and enjoyed current science fiction, plus older retro science fiction and history, especially WWII. He liked meeting new people, and seeing old friends. He liked conventions, the Renaissance Festival, airshows, Irish pubs (even though he was Scottish) and searching for cool parts for props. He spent many years with the USS Nokomis, the World Defense Force (WDF), and Twin Cities Maker.
We are gathering to share memories and celebrate Blair's life Friday at 6:00pm in the Masquerade Lounge. This is not a badged event. Everyone is welcome.
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
Eleanor Arnason
2007 Guest of Honor
Eleanor A. Arnason is an American author of science fiction novels and short stories. Her work often depicts cultural change and conflict, usually from the viewpoint of characters who cannot or will not live by their own societies' rules. This anthropological focus has led many to compare her fiction to that of Ursula K. Le Guin. She lives in Minnesota. Eleanor is the author of five published novels, and a number of poems and short stories. She has received both the James Tiptree, Jr. award for "gender-bending SF," and the Mythopoeic Society's Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for the novel A Woman of the Iron People, the Spectrum Award (for "Dapple") and the HOMer Award (for "Stellar Harvest"). Also the Minnesota Book Award for Ring of Swords. Her earlier novels are: The Sword Smith, To the Resurrection Station, and Daughter of the Bear King. Her short stories include "The Warlord of Saturn's Moons" (which has been reprinted several times), "The Lovers" (a preliminary nominee for awards in 1996), "Ace 167," "The Hound of Merin," and many others which have appeared in Orbit, New Improved Sun, Tales of the Unanticipated, Xanadu, A Room of One's Own, New Women of Wonder, The Norton Book of SF, and other places.
Ruth Berman
2016 Guest of Honor
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). Aqueduct Press and Black Coat Press have published her translations of French fantasy (The Invisible Prince/The Prince of the Aquamarines, a pair of fairy tales by Louise Cavalier Levesque, and Trilby/The Crumb Fairy, fantasy stories by Charles Nodier, respectively). She is a longtime Twin Cities fan. Ruth was one of the founding members of The Rivendell Group and a founding member of Minn-Stf, the local Minnesota Science Fiction Society.
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, MN where he manages Roy's Comics & Games (est. 1992) with his wife and three sons. He is a published author, poet, journalist, essayist, gag writer, and optioned screenwriter with over 900 publication credits, and internationally awarded playwright with 57 stage plays published (Samuel French, Heuer, et al) with 825+ productions worldwide in 30 countries in ten languages. He is also known for collaborations with R Thomas Riley, Brian Keene, Eric M. Heideman, William F. Wu, Axel Kohagen, and others and is an award winning editor for Indie Authors Press (London/Santiago). Learn more about his career on Wikipedia, Facebook, and at www.amazon.com/author/roycbooth.
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
Dave Duca
2014 Guest of Honor
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 [Glielmi] 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.
Mike Glielmi
2014 Guest of Honor
Mike Glielmi, residing in Holland Town WI, is a mechanical designer of wide experience. Born in Chicago Illinois, 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.
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
Adrian Lee
Adrian Lee is the founder of The International Paranormal Society and a member of the Luton Paranormal Society in England. He has comprehensively investigated ghosts and paranormal activity all over the globe. He became interested in the paranormal after experiencing several events in his childhood home. In adult life, the idea progressively intrigued him that he could interface with the dead from a historical perspective. He first came to Minnesota early in 2008 to work on several paranormal video productions, and he spent two years working in Minneapolis as the national and international news correspondent for a live paranormal talk radio show on 100.3 KTLK. He currently hosts the only weekly paranormal news quiz show, "More Questions than Answers" on the Dark Matter Digital Network.
His paranormal investigations are informed by his clairvoyance. He sees detailed pictures in his third eye presented to him by the deceased. This allows him to have a very precise communication with the spirits. He also has the skill of remote viewing and clairsentience. In his youth, his psychic sensitivities were dormant for some time. It was only through his work with other sensitives and through his exposure to various kinds of paranormal contact--coupled with his own personal psychic development, that he developed to where he can now utilize those skills freely. Like any other ability, his clairvoyance continues to evolve and is becoming stronger through the implementing of structures surrounding his design for life, critical introspection, and practice.
Adrian Lee has written the books Mysterious Midwest: Unwrapping Urban Legends and Ghostly Tales from the Dead, Mysterious Minnesota: Digging up the Ghostly Past at 13 Haunted Sites and How to be Christian Psychic: What the Bible says about Mediums, Healers and Paranormal Investigators. He currently lectures on all aspects of the paranormal including ghosts, UFOs, psychic development, and angels.
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, was 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 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, actor, poet, playwright, and professional storyteller. His debut novel, Last Car to Annwn Station was named a Top Book in 2011 by Readings in Lesbian & Bisexual Women's Fiction and his novella, Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep, was long-listed for the Nebula Award. His scripts have been produced for stage and radio and he has appeared on stage in the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Tellebration!, StoryFest Minnesota and over the air on KFAI and Minnesota Public Radio. Michael is the co-organizer of the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers and a member of the Artists with Disabilities Alliance, the Steampunk Artists and Writers Guild, and Story Arts Minnesota. Visit his homepage at www.michaelmerriam.net.
Lyda Morehouse
2002 & 2015 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, the Vampire Princess of Saint Paul series, and Precinct 13. As Lyda she's won the Shamus (a mystery award) for Archangel Protocol, and the Philip K. Dick Special Citation for excellence for Apocalypse Array. She lives in Saint Paul with her wife, son, and five cats. Website: www.lydamorehouse.com.
G. David Nordley
2014 Guest of Honor
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 four-time 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.
Christi Riverton
Christi Riverton is the author of the sci-fi paranormal romance series, The Penhollow Chronicles. She is currently working on the fifth book in this series as well as a series of children's books, that follow the adventures of a curious little boy, Pooty.
When she's not in her writing room, Christi is busy raising seven children. She is always looking for ways to simplify her life so there is more time to chase her dreams. In her free time she enjoys restoring he one hundred and fifty year old home with her husband and sharing their adventures daily on YouTube.
www.facebook.com/lovejarlife
youtube.com/lovejarvlogs
twitter.com: @ChristiRiverton
Steve Roberts
From South Wales in the U.K. where Doctor Who is now shot ("that's weird – seeing a spaceship crash on a beach on which I built sandcastles as a kid") Steve has been a fan of science-fiction in all media from as early as he can remember.
In 2009, upon attending his first Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, he was horrified that no Daleks were there as they saved the show from cancellation in 1963.
By the next Gallifrey convention, he had built a life-sized Dalek which was (mostly) operational and roamed the halls issuing preposterous threats and exterminating the unwary.
A life size robot dog followed because the size and weight meant a Dalek was difficult to move. K-9 can be shipped or flown anywhere with ease. Steve has also been working on other Sci Fi related props and models such as HAL 9000 from 2001 and a DRD from Farscape.
Ralph J. Ryan
2017 Guest of Honor
Ralph J. Ryan is primarily a landscape painter – what he happens to paint, are landscapes of future possibilities: Science Fiction and Fantasy. He has also been a set designer for theatre. Theatre designs influence his art, infusing them with intense color and dramatic light giving his paintings a theatrical look. Set designing has led to an interest in architecture and its varied styles. The designs of architect Paolo Soleri have been a great influence: cities spanning a river or a space platform aligned with moons in a kind of cosmic dance. He believes his paintings are inviting, intriguing, and fun. The places Ralph paints are places one would like to go and explore.
He also believes the art he does is important, especially now. In difficult times people pull back, turn inward. Art showing the expanse of space, other worlds, and alternative realities point us in an outward-looking direction, opening the mind and imagination to future possibilities.
Ralph's current work involves melding the art and techniques of both the real and the digital worlds. For him, the computer and its digital tools are just another paint brush, pencil, or pen – creating visions of possible futures using the tools once thought of as the future. Digital technology today has given the visual artist the ability to produce works virtually without limitation. If you can imagine it, you can do it.
Ozgur K. Sahin
Ozgur K. Sahin is a local author and life coach with a background in astrophysics, history, and consciousness development. The Wrath of Brotherhood, book one of his historical pirate trilogy, Brethren of the Spanish Main, is currently available in eBook formats with a print version in the works. His weekly column, "Elitism For All," appears in the Calamities Press eMagazine and deals with personal development stemming from self-awareness, as well as its doppleganger: entitled elitism resulting from rampant narcissism in our society.
Christopher D. Schmitz
Christopher D. Schmitz is the traditionally published and self-published author of both fiction and nonfiction. When he is not writing or working with teenagers he might be found at comic conventions as a panelist or guest and has co-hosted panels with NYT best sellers. He has been featured on cable access television broadcasts, metro area podcasts, and runs a blog for indie authors.
Always interested in stories, media such as comic books, movies, 80s cartoons, and books called to him at a young age—especially sci-fi and fantasy which are his primary genres. He lives in rural Minnesota with his family where he drinks unsafe amounts of coffee. The caffeine shakes keeps the cold from killing them. His digital consciousness can be found at www.authorchristopherdschmitz.com.
Brian Sterling-Vete
Brian is an English author (Mental Martial Arts), Guinness World Record Holder, TV broadcaster, stage, film and television actor, stunt performer, motivational speaker, martial arts expert and entrepreneur. He typically works between the United Kingdom and the United States on factual television productions, and research for new books.
He is a Martial Arts Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and he is considered to be one of the World's Leading authorities on isometric exercise. He was named in the media as being amongst one of the top 10 Fitness Experts in the United States.
As an actor and director, Brian is known for After the Dawn (2012), The Drive of Your Life (1997) and Robert Browne: The Rebel Who Inspired a Nation (2014). He also appeared in such TV series at Coronation Street and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Website: briansterlingvete.com
IMDB: www.imdb.com/name/nm1417091/
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Sterling-Vete"
Kathryn Sullivan
Kathryn Sullivan is an award-winning author from Winona. She has an essay in the Hugo winning Chicks Dig Time Lords and reviews in Outside In and Outside In Boldly Goes: 117 New Perspectives on 117 Classic Star Trek Stories. "Search and Rescue" and "The Oracle of Cilens" are her newest short stories. Any birdlike beings in her books only slightly resemble her cockatoo owner. Website: kathrynsullivan.com.
Tyler Tork
Tyler Tork lives in the Minneapolis area with a sweet and strongly opinionated wife, no pets, and several computers. He's a techie guy to pay for groceries, books, and toys, since writing doesn’t quite cover expenses currently*. Tyler believes in the Oxford comma, as do all right-thinking people. His recent book, Doctor Dead, is just out from Rampant Loon Media. His work has also appeared in Tales of the Unanticipated, Stupefying Stories, and the MinnSpec anthology Sky-Tinted Waters, among others.
Douglas Van Dyke Jr
Douglas got to live many different places while growing up, courtesy of the assignments the US Army offered to his father. Too quiet and too shy for too long, there was always dreams of other worlds and places…and the desire to write about them.
He got into fantasy role-playing games in his mid-teens. The first such games played on a computer were offered by a Commodore 64. Often Douglas and his brother would create their own tabletop fantasy games and rules as well, all using very basic 6-sided die. Eventually, they also got into Dungeons and Dragons*. As MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) appeared, he tried a hand at several of them and made several new friends across the internet. To this day he has friends whom he meets in tabletop role-playing games, as well as online adventures. Many of his characters evolved in games, and each developed their own personality.
Inheritance of a Sword and a Path is the second book he has written, though the first published. It starts The Earthrin Stones trilogy, set in the fantasy world of Dhea Loral…a world he created for tabletop role-playing. The Widow Brigade is set in the same world, but a different locale and characters. While The Earthrin Stones trilogy servers as a good overall introduction to Dhea Loral, The Widow Brigade is focused on the dwarf widows of Tok-Maurron and their struggles. Douglas continues to write novels and think up short stories, while pondering the changing world of print vs ebooks.
Douglas lives with his wife and two young autistic children in Minnesota. He works in health care, serving people's healthcare needs in imaging. When most people see him, he is wearing scrubs.
Website: dhealoral.com
Joan Marie Verba
Joan Marie Verba earned a bachelor of physics degree from the University of Minnesota and attended the graduate school of astronomy at Indiana University, where she was an associate instructor of astronomy for one year. She has worked as a computer programmer, and health-weight loss coach. She currently works as a writer, an editor/publisher and a social media manager and mobile marketing consultant. An experienced writer, Joan is the author of the nonfiction books Voyager: Exploring the Outer Planets, Boldly Writing, and Weight Loss Success!, as well as the novels Countdown to Action!, Action Alert!, Deadly Danger!, Situation: Critical!, Extreme Hazard!, and Danger Zone! plus numerous short stories and articles…
Bryan Thao Worra
Bryan Thao Worra was born in 1973 in Vientiane, Laos during the Lao civil war. He came to the US at six months old, adopted by a civilian pilot flying in Laos. In 2003, he reunited with his biological family after 30 years during his first return to Laos. An award-winning writer, his work appears in numerous international anthologies, magazines and newspapers, including Innsmouth Free Press, Kartika Review, Outsiders Within, Bamboo Among the Oaks, Tales of the Unanticipated, Astropoetica, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Whistling Shade, Journal of the Asian American Renaissance, and Asian American Press. In 2009 he became the first Laotian American to receive an NEA Fellowship In Literature. In 2012 he was a Cultural Olympian during the Summer Olympics in London representing Laos. He is the author of the books On the Other Side of the Eye, BARROW, Tanon Sai Jai and Winter Ink. Thao Worra curated numerous readings and exhibits of Lao and Hmong American art including Legacies of War: Refugee Nation Twin Cities (2010), Emerging Voices (2002), The 5 Senses Show (2002), Lao'd and Clear (2003), Giant Lizard Theater (2005), Re: Generations (2005), and The Un-Named Series (2007) .
March 2-4, 2018
Hilton Minneapolis/St Paul Airport/Mall of America
3800 American Blvd. E.
Bloomington, MN 55425
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