Keith DeCandido – Special Guest
Myths and Legends is pleased to announce that Special Guest Keith R.A. DeCandido will be joining us this year! Among many other things, Keith wrote the Serenity novelization, several Supernatural novels, and multiple Doctor Who short stories.
Keith R.A. DeCandido was raised by a roving pack of librarians who trained him in their strange ways. A career in publishing was inevitable to avoid lots of very expensive therapy bills. His career as an author, nonfiction writer, editor, comics scripter, and more spans twenty-five years. Recent and upcoming work includes: Star Trek: The Klingon Art of War; the Sleepy Hollownovel Children of the Revolution; the Stargate SG-1 novel Kali’s Wrath; the “Precinct” series of fantasy police procedurals, starting withDragon Precinct in 2004 and continuing through half a dozen books and short stories; the graphic novel Icarus; the Farscape graphic novel The War for the Uncharted Territories (written in collaboration with Farscape creator Rockne S. O’Bannon); short stories in Buzzy Mag Online and the anthologies Bad-Ass Faeries: It’s Elemental, Out of Tune, Stargate SG-1/Atlantis: Far Horizons, V-Wars: Night Terrors, andThe X-Files: Trust No One; the short fiction collections Ragnarok and Roll: Tales of Cassie Zukav, Weirdness Magnet and Without a License: The Fantastic Worlds of Keith R.A. DeCandido; rewatches of variousStar Trek and Stargate series for Tor.com; and tons more that he’ll be happy to tell you all about at the convention.
In 2009, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, which means he never needs to achieve anything ever again. Besides the IAMTW, he’s also a member of the Liars Club, the Science-fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, and the Horror Writers of America. In addition to writing, he is a freelance editor for clients both personal and corporate, a second-degree black belt in karate (which he teaches to both children and adults), a veteran podcaster, an avid baseball fan, and probably some other stuff that he can’t remember due to the lack of sleep. Find out less at his cheerfully retro web site at DeCandido.net.
Stant Litore – Author Guest of Honor
Myths and Legends is pleased to announce that Stant Litore will be joining us this year as our Author Guest of Honor!
An emerging voice in weird fiction, Stant Litore has published five volumes of The Zombie Bible, which retell history (and the Bible) as a series of encounters with the restless dead; the first, Death Has Come Up into Our Windows, has been translated into several languages, including Spanish and German. His debut novel was also the #2 horror bestseller on the Amazon Kindle in December 2011. His second novel won second place in the 2012 eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards, Horror.
Litore has been a Guest at Denver Comic Con and at several Colorado conventions. He has appeared in interviews for podcasts such as ReelNerds and The Geek Port. He has been featured in “The Year’s Best New Sci-Fi” at NPR (March 2014) and as an Author Success Story on the Amazon.com homepage (November 2013).
He has also been featured in the Examiner, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the Huffington Post, SF Signal, and in interviews for Weird Fiction Review and Nomos. Litore was interviewed extensively on the topic of “writing characters your readers won’t forget” for Jeff Vandermeer’s Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction.
Besides The Zombie Bible, Litore is the author of Dante’s Heart and an ongoing scifi series, The Ansible Stories, in which future explorers become trapped in alien bodies on alien worlds. Stant Litore lives in Denver with his wife and two daughters, where he is working on his next novel.
To see previous years’ authors, please check out the previous years’ content to see authors we have at Myths and Legends.
Editor Guest of Honor – Vivian Trask
When not fighting crime, Vivian Trask has studied under Rebecca Moesta, Kevin J. Anderson, Dave Farland and Peter J. Wacks. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Regis University and is a member of the Editorial Freelancer’s Association. When not editing, Vivian writes across all genres of speculative fiction, and especially loves weird westerns and science fiction. She also drinks copious amounts of tea. While doing all these things, she lives in Colorado with her husband, their dog who thinks he’s a werehuman, and a supergenius cat. For more details, she can be found at http://www.viviantrask.com/
Aaron Michael Ritchey
Aaron Michael Ritchey is the author of The Never Prayer and Long Live the Suicide King, both finalists in various contests. His latest novel,Elizabeth’s Midnight, was called “a transformative tale for those who believe in magic and in a young girl’s heart” by Kirkus Reviews. In shorter fiction, his G.I. Joe inspired novella was an Amazon bestseller in Kindle Worlds and his steampunk story, “The Dirges of Percival Lewand” was part of The Best of Penny Dread Tales anthology published through Kevin J. Anderson’s WordFire Press. His upcoming young adult sci-fi/western epic series will also be published through WordFire Press. He lives in Colorado with his wife and two ancient goddesses of chaos posing as his daughters.
For more about him, his books, and how to overcome artistic angst, visit www.aaronmritchey.com. And I’m on Facebook as Aaron Michael Ritchey and I tweet – @aaronmritchey.
Amalie Howard
AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 22 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn’t entirely convinced which takes more guts.
She is the award-winning IndieNext author of Alpha Goddess, The Aquarathi series, The Riven Chronicles series, and the Cruentus Curse series. Her novels have been critically acclaimed by Kirkus, PW, VOYA, and Booklist, and her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller and a Seventeen Magazine Summer Read. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children. Visit her at www.amaliehoward.com.
Carolyn K Fritz
Carolyn Kay enjoys writing about an eclectic variety of things, and imagining what normally inanimate things would do if given life. She is currently collaborating with award-winning illustrator, Chaz Kemp, on the World of Ashelon, a series of novellas set in a steampunk fantasy world. When she’s not writing, she can be seen dancing with Batavia, a tribal fusion belly dance troupe, or donning her lightsaber in defense of the Dark Empire. You can see her other works at bewitchinghips.com and fanfiction.net
Catherine Winters
Catherine Winters is an undefeated four-time Chopped champion and the principal mezzo-soprano for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver. When she’s not writing, she teaches French to cats.
One of these things is actually true.
Damon Alan Smithwick
Damon Alan is a retired air traffic controller. He currently writes military space opera and is author of the Dark Seas series. Living in Colorado Springs with his amazing bride, Damon writes stories, drives too fast, and devotes hours a day to research on current tech, military and otherwise.
David Boop
David Boop is a bestselling Denver-based speculative fiction author. He’s also an award-winning essayist, and screenwriter. His novel, the sci-fi/noir She Murdered Me with Science, will return to print in 2015 from WordFire Press. David has had over forty short stories published and two short films produced. While known for Weird Westerns, he’s published across several genres including media tie-ins for The Green Hornetand Veronica Mars. His RPG work includes Interface Zero and Deadlands: Noir for Savage Worlds. David regularly tours the country speaking on writing and publishing at schools, libraries and conventions.
He’s a single dad, Summa Cum Laude graduate, part-time temp worker and believer. His weirdest job was as a professional Beetlejuice impersonator. His hobbies include film noir, anime, the Blues and Mayan History. You can find out more on his fanpage,www.facebook.com/dboop.updates or Twitter @david_boop.
Eneasz Brodski
Eneasz produces a biweekly podcast of Rationalist fiction at www.HPMoRPodcast.com and blogs at www.DeathIsBadBlog.com.
Guy Anthony De Marco
Guy Anthony De Marco is a speculative fiction author; a Graphic Novel Bram Stoker Award® finalist; winner of the HWA Silver Hammer Award; a prolific short story and flash fiction crafter; a novelist; an invisible man with superhero powers; a game writer (Sojourner Tales/D&D modules, Interface Zero 2.0 Core); and a coffee addict. One of these is false.
A writer since 1977, Guy is a member of the following organizations: SFWA, WWA, SFPA, IAMTW, ASCAP, RMFW, NCW, and HWA. He hopes to collect the rest of the letters of the alphabet one day. Additional information can be found at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Anthony_De_Marco, GuyAndTonya.com, and GuyAnthonyDeMarco.com.
Ian Brazee-Cannon
Ian Brazee-Cannon is a writer, film maker, game designer, podcaster. He has a dozen or so stories published in various magazines and anthologies. He is a founder and regular cohost of the Amateur Skeptics podcast. He has worked on various short films as a writer and director.
Jason Evans
Jason Evans is an educator, writer and a bon vivant. He worked as a classroom teacher for 13 years. Now he is Editor-in-Chief of Man-Gazine, an online portal for all things manly. Jason holds two bachelor degrees; one in History & one in Renaissance studies, from UC Santa Barbara. In addition to a teaching certificate, he holds a Master’s degree in History from CU Denver. Currently, Jason teaches courses for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is finishing his first novel.
Jason Kent
Lt Col Jason Kent, USAF (Ret) is an Amazon Best Selling science fiction/steampunk author and military space expert. Launching rockets, no problem. Space ops, check. Supporting front line soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines through two wars, got you covered. Jason is a seasoned US Air Force veteran with years of experience designing, fielding and launching billion dollar space systems. Join him as he shares his in-depth knowledge of military space and his passion for exploration. Jason is a licensed professional engineer and has authored several articles about the space elevator, particularly as it relates to future military space activities and human expansion into the solar system. During his years in the Air Force, Jason worked in jobs spanning diverse mission areas including reconnaissance, systems engineering, space and launch vehicle operations, space system acquisition, and missile defense. Each of his assignments helped to broaden his experience in real-world space technology and space business ventures. Jason’s books include Kindle #1 Best Seller New Sky: Eyes of the Watcher, New Season: Sparrow’s Quest, and Far Space.
Jessica Brawner
Jessica Brawner grew up in the wilds of South Texas and plotted ways to spend her life traveling the world. She has been remarkably successful at that endeavor, attending school and travelling all over Europe at the age of eighteen, moving back to the United States to achieve two bachelor’s degrees, and then moving to Central Asia for a time with the Peace Corps. Fifteen years ago she discovered the wonders of Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions and the crazy, loveable, friends-are-the-family-you-choose mentality found there. She spent many years working as a booth babe and volunteering at conventions all over the country.
In addition to her convention activities, Ms. Brawner has developed and taught self-defense classes, worked as an event planner, an entertainment agent, a computer teacher, and a personal assistant. More recently she has channeled her adventures into writing and running several different small businesses. Her newest ventures are Story of the Month Club – excellent stories to your inbox (www.storyofthemonthclub.com) and Life Stats. Find out more at jessicabrawner.com.
Josh Vogt
Josh Vogt’s work ranges across numerous genres and formats, including writing for a wide variety of RPG developers. His debut fantasy novel, Forge of Ashes, is a tie-in to the Pathfinder roleplaying game. WordFire Press has also launched his urban fantasy series, The Cleaners, with Enter the Janitor and The Maids of Wrath. He’s a member of SFWA, the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, and a Scribe Award finalist. Find him at JRVogt.com.
J.A. Campbell
Julie has been many things over the last few years, from college student, to bookstore clerk and an over the road trucker. She’s worked as a 911 dispatcher and in computer tech support, but through it all she’s been a writer and when she’s not out riding horses, she can usually be found sitting in front of her computer. She lives in Colorado with her three cats, her vampire-hunting dog Kira, her new horse and Traveler-in training, Triska, and her Irish Sailor.She is the author of many Vampire and Ghost-Hunting Dog stories and the young adult fantasy series Tales of the Travelers. She’s a member of the Horror Writers Association and the Dog Writers of America Association and the editor for Steampunk Trails fiction magazine.
Dr. Karen Stollznow
Dr. Karen Stollznow is a linguist with a background in history and anthropology and is the author of the best-selling book God Bless America. Her other titles include Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic, Haunting America, Not What The Doctor Ordered (forthcoming) and the forthcoming novel Hits & Mrs.
Karen was born in Sydney and has a PhD in linguistics from the University of New England, Australia. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband Matthew Baxter of the Bryan & Baxter duo and her baby boy Blade. www.karenstollznow.com
Kevin Ikenberry
Kevin Ikenberry’s head has been in the clouds since he was old enough to read. Ask him and he’ll tell you that he still wants to be an astronaut. Kevin has a diverse background in space and space science education. A former manager of the world-renowned U.S. Space Camp program in Huntsville, Alabama and a former executive of two Challenger Learning Centers, Kevin works with space every day. Kevin lives in Colorado with his family. His short fiction has appeared in markets around the world and several anthologies including Extreme Planets, Fiction Foundry: One, and the upcoming Pernicious Invaders. His novelette “Ascent” won an Honorable Mention in the 4th Quarter 2011 Writers Of The Future Contest. Kevin is a bestselling Kindle Worlds author having written stories in Hugh Howey’s The Silo Saga and the G.I.JOE: A Real American Hero cartoon universes.
Kevin’s debut novel, Sleeper Protocol, was contracted for publication by Red Adept Publishing in October 2014. His novel Runs In The Family was contracted for publication by Strigidae Publishing in February 2015. Both novels are due in late 2015.
L.J. Hachmeister
Author L.J. Hachmeister writes, fights, and draws. Though she has invested the last few years penning the science fiction/fantasy seriesTriorion, L.J. still enjoys teaching Doce Pares Eskrima and illustrating her upcoming trilogy, Hearts in Dreams.
L.J.’s current series, Triorion, takes readers across the galaxy with the telepathic triplets Jetta, Jaeia and Jahx. Only five-years-old, the siblings must learn how to survive amongst adults who wish to exploit their incredible gifts. However, when the tide of war changes, the siblings find their persecutors at their mercy and a new and more powerful enemy at their door, eager to harness their talents for intergalactic genocide.
The Triorion series features illustrations by artists Melissa Erickson, Jacob Mathews, Jeremy Aaron Moore, and Michael Webber.
For more information, please go to: www.triorion.com
Lou Berger
Lou J Berger is a Denver-based writer who tends to focus on Science Fiction. He’s been writing for nine years and is a full member of SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
He’s mostly been published in Mike Resnick’s GALAXY’S EDGE magazine, but also has stories in various anthologies. His website is: www.LouJBerger.com.
Mario Acevedo
Mario Acevedo is the author of the bestselling Felix Gomez detective-vampire series which includes Rescue From Planet Pleasure from WordFire Press. His debut novel, The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, was chosen by Barnes & Noble as one of the best Paranormal Fantasy Novels of the Decade and was a finalist for a Colorado Book Award. His novel, Good Money Gone, co-authored with Richard Kilborn, won a best novel 2014 International Latino Book Award. His short fiction and essays have been published by Arte Publico Press and appeared in Modern Drunkard Magazine, Exquisite Corpse, and Now Write! Mario lives and writes in Denver, Colorado.
Mike Cervantes
Mike Cervantes is a graduate of creative writing and communication from The University of Texas at El Paso. He is a humorist, a cartoonist, a steampunk enthusiast, a regular contributor to Denver’s local steampunk convention, AnomalyCon, and just a swell person besides. He writes and publishes stories featuring his steampunk hero characters “The Scarlet Derby and MidnightJay” regularly on his website, TheScarletDerby.com.
Paul Lell
Born and raised in and around Denver, Colorado, Paul has been telling stories (some true, some not so much) for most of his life. This trait led to an early adoption of role playing games and a life-long love of the written word. An abrupt change of career in 2007 gave him the opportunity to publish his first novel, and he’s been at it ever since; trying to outdo himself with each new book.
Currently residing in Westminster, Colorado (he never did make it far from where he began), with his family; a wife, two sons, a giant dog, and two giant cats, he writes daily, reads everything he can, and works on refining his stories, and games at all hours.
Peter J Wacks
Peter J. Wacks is a #1 bestselling cross-genre writer and the Managing Editor of Kevin J. Anderson’s WordFire Press. He has worked across the creative fields in gaming, television, film, comics, and most recently, when not busy editing, he spends his time writing novels.
Peter, in his editorial capacity, has worked on Stories by Tracy Hickman, Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland/David Wolverton, and many others. He has also helped bring some of the seminal works of the 20th century, like Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent, back into print.
He has been a panelist, guest speaker, and Guest of Honor at a combined total of over 250 conventions, Trade Shows, organizations, and Colleges – including GAMA, Mensa, & UCLA.
When he isn’t working on the next book he can be found practicing martial arts, playing chess, drinking Scotch or IPA, or fighting with swords.
Quincy J. Allen
Quincy J. Allen, a cross-genre author, has been published in multiple anthologies, magazines, and one omnibus.Chemical Burn, a finalist in the RMFW Colorado Gold Contest, is his first full novel. He made his first pro-sale in 2014 with the story “Jimmy Krinklepot and the White Rebs of Hayberry,” included in WordFire’s A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories. He’s written for the Internet show RadioSteam and his first short story collection Out Through the Attic, came out in 2014 from 7DS Books. Blood Ties, the first in a series of steampunk western fantasy novels, is also due out in 2015.
He works part-time as a tech-writer by day, does book design and eBook conversions for WordFire Press by night, and lives in a cozy house in Colorado that he considers his very own sanctuary—think Batcave, but with fewer flying mammals and more sunlight.
Raine Giorgio
Raine Giorgio is the founder of NerdNest, the world’s first social media site just for fandom. When she’s not fangirling or cosplaying, you can find her studying business at the University of Denver.
Robert Spiller
Besides being a master of space and time, Robert Spiller is the author of the Bonnie Pinkwater mystery series: The Witch of Agnesi, A Calculated Demise, Irrational Numbers, Radical Equations. Number five, Napier’s Bones, was released April 2015. His math teacher/sleuth uses mathematics and her knowledge of historic mathematicians to solve murders in the small Colorado town of East Plains. For thirty-five years Robert taught Mathematics at every level from Elementary through university, the last ten at Lewis Palmer Middle School. Now retired, Robert lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado with his wife Barbara.
Sam Knight
A Colorado native, Sam Knight spent ten years in California’s wine country before returning to the Rockies. When asked if he misses California, he gets a wistful look in his eyes and replies he misses the green mountains in the winter, but he is glad to be back home.
As well as being part of the WordFire Press Production Team, he is the editor of two anthologies and author of three children’s books, three short story collections, two novels, and more than a dozen short stories.
A stay-at-home father, Sam attempts to be a full-time writer, but there are only so many hours left in a day after kids. Once upon a time, he was known to quote books the way some people quote movies, but now he claims having a family has made him forgetful, as a survival adaptation. He can be found at SamKnight.com.
Thomas A. Fowler
Thomas A. Fowler is the author of nerdy things. His feature film, “The Code: Legend of the Gamers,” is available for streaming on IMDb. His latest short story, “Adam’s Ale,” will be available through the Story of the Month in September. Find out more at ThomasAFowler.com.
Tonya L. De Marco
Tonya L. De Marco is a Costume Designer, Cosplayer, Model, and Author. She splits her time between the Ozark Mountains of Missouri and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
She’s been hooked on costumes and costuming since she was a preteen. Growing up reading about the wonderful characters and places created by authors such as Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R.Tolkein, and Frank Herbert, Tonya turned to costuming as a way to immerse herself more deeply into those fantastic worlds. Her love of the written word also encouraged her to pursue a writing career.
Tonya has over twenty years of sewing experience which includes designing and sewing numerous costumes for school plays and local theater.
Tonya cosplays across multiple genres including anime, sci-fi, steampunk, Disney, comic book, and pin-up. She attends several conventions per year across the country and enjoys meeting and talking with people about cosplay and writing. Tonya has been involved in costume contests/masquerades as both a participant and a judge—at different times, of course!
When she isn’t sewing or writing, Tonya enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and her three adopted miniature donkeys – Rogue, Storm, and Phoenix.