Panelists

Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong is the author of the NYT-bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" paranormal suspense series and "Darkest Powers" young adult urban fantasy trilogy, as well as the Nadia Stafford crime series. She grew up in Southwestern Ontario, where she still lives with her family. A former computer programmer, she's now escaped her corporate cubicle and hopes never to return. Her website is www.KelleyArmstrong.com.

Al Bogdan

Steve Buchheit

Steve Buchheit has mowed lawns, flipped burgers, been a computer geek, shelved books, tossed mail, given tours, been an elected politician and a graphic designer, and lived all over the US. He now resides in Orwell, Ohio with his forgiving wife and two cats. He has been writing for eight years. So far he has been rejected by the best in the business, but has no plans on giving up.

Tobias Buckell

Jim Frenkel

Anne Harris

Anne Harris writes science fiction and fantasy. She is the author of Accidental Creatures, which won the Spectrum Award for lgbt sf; Inventing Memory, a Book Sense Pick; and The Nature of Smoke. Her short story, "Still Life with Boobs," was a 2005 Nebula Award finalist. As Jessica Freely, she writes m/m romance and blogs about it at friskbiskit.com. Anne also mentors graduate students in Seton Hill University's Writing Popular Fiction program, and is a member of Book View Café, an innovative collective of professional authors bringing fiction directly to readers online. Visit Anne and BVC at bookviewcafe.com.

Merrie Haskell

Merrie Haskell lives in southeastern Michigan. She wrote her first story at the age of seven but she didn't start rigorously submitting stories until she was twenty-seven. Since then, her fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Strange Horizons, and the forthcoming Unplugged: The Year’s Best Online Fiction.

Jim C. Hines

Jim C. Hines has sold six novels, forty short stories, and one bumper sticker at the time this bio was written. His latest book is The Stepsister Scheme, best described as a mash-up of fairy tale princesses and Charlie's Angels. He'll be launching the book at the convention, including the crowning of the 2009 Princess of ConFusion. Jim's short work has appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Sword & Sorceress, and Turn the Other Chick, among others. He lives in mid- Michigan with his wife and two children, and hangs out online at www.jimchines.com.

William Jones

William Jones is a fiction writer and editor. He has published works in various genres, and is the author of the recent novel, The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson. He is presently editing several anthologies for a variety of publishers. He is also a writer of role-playing games books, and an editor at Chaosium, Inc. You can find him at his website: www.williamjoneswriter.com

Philip Edward Kaldon

Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon teaches Physics at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo by day, while aspiring to write The Great Science Fiction Romantic Epic in the wee hours of the night. In 2008, his SF story "A Man in the Moon" appeared in the Writers of the Future Vol. XXIV and he has stories coming out in Analog and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Dr. Phil attended the 2004 Clarion and 2008 WOTF workshops and event with fellow Michigander Al Bogdan. He just turned fifty and met his wife Debbie in the Science and Engineering Library at Northwestern University - they've been married for just about a quarter century, which does not impress their three cats.

David Klecha

David Klecha is a writer, editor, and IT consultant who lives in the Grand Rapids, Michigan area. His fiction has appeared in Subterranean Magazine, and his writing on technology and environmental issues has appeared in various spots on the web, including his own sporadically updated blog, http://www.klech.net/blog. Dave has been attending ConFusion regularly since 1999.

Violette Malan

Violette Malan has taught creative writing, English as a second language, Spanish, beginner's French, and choreography for strippers. She's been an administrative assistant, and a carpenter's helper. Violette is co-founder of Wolfe Island's Scene of the Crime Festival, and with Therese Greenwood, she is the editor of Dead in the Water, Rendezvous Press, Toronto. Violette's mystery fiction has been published in the anthologies of the Ladies Killing Circle, in the noir anthology Crime Spree, and in the magazine Over My Dead Body. Her erotica has been published in Penthouse. Violette's fantasy novels are published by DAW Inc. New York.

Paul Melko

Paul's fiction has appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Singularity's Ring, his first novel, was released from Tor Books in February 2008 and a science fiction collection, Ten Sigmas and Other Unlikelihoods, appeared from Fairwood Press in March 2008. His novella "The Walls of the Universe" was nominated for the Sturgeon, Nebula, and Hugo Awards in 2007. This became the basis for his second novel, The Walls of the Universe, from Tor Books this February.

Steven Harper Piziks

Steven Harper Piziks was born in Saginaw, Michigan, but he moved around a lot. Currently he lives in Ypsilanti. His novels include In the Company of Mind and Corporate Mentality, both science fiction published by Baen Books. Writing as Steven Harper for Roc Books, he has produced The Silent Empire series. He's also written movie novelizations and books based on Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and The Ghost Whisperer.

Steven currently teaches English in Walled Lake. When not writing, he plays the folk harp, dabbles in oral storytelling, and is a recovering City of Heroes junkie. Visit his web page at www.sff.net/people/spiziks or find his LiveJournal at spiziks.livejournal.com/

Matthew Stewart-Fulton

Doselle Young

Doselle Young is an author, graphic novelist and story consultant. For comics, he has penned stories for Vertigo's critically acclaimed anthologies Gangland, Heart Throbs and Strange Adventures as well as working on well-known characters such as Superman and Wonder Woman. Characters he has created for Wildstorm Productions include Jon Farmer, Professor Q, The Metropolitan and for the DC universe, the Wonder Woman character Nu'Bia (a post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Comics character based on the pre-Crisis character Nubia, created by Robert Kanigher and Don Heck in the 1970s).

Doselle also works as a paid consultant for feature films and television. He is a member of the Brights movement and an advocate for a naturalistic worldview.

His prose story "Housework" will appear in the upcoming anthology The Darker Mask (Tor/August 2008).

Sarah Zettel

Sarah Zettel started writing in eighth grade and has never stopped. She is the author of thirteen science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as numerous short stories. When not writing she reads, plays the fiddle, practices tai chi, gardens, chases her 5 yr. old, and cooks, although not all at once.