Award-winning author George R. R. Martin has been writing professionally since 1971. He has written SF, Horror, epic fantasy, other novels, television and film. His recent fantasy novel, A CLASH OF KINGS, was a New York Times Bestseller. His television work has included TWILIGHT ZONE and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. This is truly a homecoming for George, since he and his friends drove to Detroit from Iowa during the seventies to attend ConFusion.
Another special homecoming guest, Brother Guy was born in Detroit. After receiving his PhD and lecturing at MIT and Harvard, Guy took some time off and joined the Peace Corps in 1983. This was obviously a life changing experience and a few years after his return he was ordained a Jesuit brother. Since then he has lectured throughout the country and published several books including TURN LEFT AT ORION and BROTHER ASTRONOMER - Adventures of a Vatican Scientist. Currently he curates the Vatican Meteorite collection, one of the largest in the world.
Pete is best known as the creator of the online comic strip SLUGGY FREELANCE - now available in book form. Pete Abrams is master of his craft and we are all but innocents in a world where socio-pathic bunnies reign supreme. See the website and worship the comic - is it not nifty?
A talented musician who taught herself to play violin at age nine, Heather found her true calling in celtic music. Heather is very popular among filk circles, but rarely makes it this far east, so ConFusion offers a rare opportunity to see this wonderful performer.
The effervescent and ever-popular Sharon is a familiar face to Michigan fandom. She's been the 'hostest with the mostest' at many a ConSuite and became infamous for the classic panel Sex Tips for Boys.
Martha Allard
Martha Allard writes short fiction, mostly dark fantasy, as well as non-fiction essays. She has been published in the anthologies _Lend the Eye a Terriable Aspect_, and _Death's Garden_. She attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop in 2001.
Randy Asplund is a former ConFusion AGoH and has been involved with Stilyagi for over 20 years. Randy works full time as a Science Fiction & Fantasy illustrator, but he is also internationally known for his research and skills in medieval book style illustration. You can learn
more about Randy on his website!
Tobias Buckell
Tobias S. Buckell is a 'born Caribbean' SF writer hailing from Grenada (spending some time in the US and British Virgin Islands) who now lives in... Ohio (ask him how that happened, he dares you). Some of his published stories include 'The Fish Merchant' in Science Fiction Age, 'Spurn Babylon' in the anthology Whispers From The Cotton Tree Root (edited by Nalo Hopkinson), and 'In Orbite Medievali'. in WOTF XVI. 'Shackles of Freedom', a collaboration with Mike Resnick, should be out soon in the anthology Visions of Liberty.
Steve Climer
Steven Lee Climer is the author of Soul Temple and Demonesque, both from the specialty publisher DarkTales, and Dream Thieves. Dream Thieves was a finalist for Best First Novel of 1997 in the International Horror Guild Awards, won in the Fantasy category for Under the Covers Book Reviews Best Fantasy of 1997 (beating out both Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffrey), and won the Eppie for best e-book in the Horror category. Dream Thieves will be available in trade paperback at the ConFusion Convention.
Storn Cook's mother is an artist, so his desire for drawing started young and never abandoned him. Storn had formal education at New York University for 2 years, then stopped due to money issues. He then spent several years bouncing around the NYC indie comic book scene and handbag industry. Later, he finished his formal education at Columbus College of Art & Design, where he started freelancing for game companies like ICE, Hero Games and West End Games. Storn Cook's client list now includes TSR, AEG, FASA, and Steve Jackson Games among many others.
Kathryn Cramer is a writer and anthologist, website designer and housewife who's presently doing surburban renewal and co-editing Year's Best Fantasy and a forthcoming Hard SF anthology. She won a World Fantasy Award for best anthology for The Architecture of Fear co-edited with Peter Pautz; she was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for her anthology, Walls of Fear. She co-edited several anthologies of Christmas and fantasy stories with David G. Hartwell and now does the annual Year's Best Fantasy with him. The huge anthology of hard sf, The Ascent of Wonder was also co-edited with David G. Hartwell. She is
on the editorial board of The New York Review of Science Fiction, (and for which she has been nominated for the Hugo Award six or more times). Her dark fantasy hypertext In Small and Large Pieces was published by Eastgate Systems, Inc. She was named on a list of the 50 most important people in hypertext/electronic literature. her father, nuclear physicist John Cramer, writes the "Alternate View" science column for Analog.
Hal Clement
Hal Clement's interest in both science and science fiction started in 1930 when he saw a Buck Rogers comic strip featuring a space ship en route to Mars. His father, an accountant unable to answer young Harry's scientific questions, took him to the local (Arlington) public library; he returned with an astronomy book under one arm and Jules Verne's Trip to the Moon under the other. His first story, "Proof", appeared in the June 1942 issue of Astounding Science Fiction (now Analog) Magazine, and his first novel, Needle, serialized there in 1949. His best known story, Mission of Gravity, appeared in 1953 and has been in print most of the time since. Hal Clement received his B.S. in astronomy from Harvard in 1943, an M. Ed. from Boston University in 1946 (G.I. Bill) and an M.S. in chemistry from Simmons College in 1963 (Sputnik panic).
Rain Donaldson
The fabulous Rain Donaldson has been a fan since ze was old enough to be read to. Ze has a unique perspective on sf, movies, comics, writing, & gender. Ze refuses to make time in hir busy schedule to watch any tv shows other than Buffy & Angel even though Scott Bakula is awfully cute.
Jennifer Dye
Jennifer Dye spent the last few decades moving forward in time. After spending her junior high/high school years in ancient Egypt and Rome, she spent a great deal of her college years in the current middle ages, plus of course SF fandom. After gafiating for some time, she became firmly ensconced in Georgian England, though she does dance in the 20th century on occasion. Jennifer's career, of course, is 21st century, which has its points, too.
FREON is the fannish pseudo for a man named Michael A. Andaluz, a longtime fan and major participant in AASFA's annual ConFusion. Over the last ten years, he's alternately run Operations, drawn program art, whipped up flyers, written blurbs, and has recently created the phenomenon known as Radio Free Fandom, which launched officially right here last year. Michael is behind the GIANNI BUBONIC Radio Teleplay, and has published both essays and short stories in Science Fiction's Small Press both online and in print. His novella, THE JAM, appears online as a Sept 11th tribute. An AASFA Board Member for three years running, he's currently editing the Association's 'zine, TANSTAAFL, and shopping his first short-story collection, ASCENT STAGE I
Daniel B. Fox works as a Design Engineer at Indiana University. As well as being an SF fan, Dan has worked with and studied radio communication for 20+ years. He has built and written software for experimenting with amateur SETI and radio astronomy. Dan has also served as Software Chairman for the SETI League for several years.
Mike Gardiner
Mike Gardiner has been hanging around southeast Michigan fandom since the year after ConClave was in Toledo (A challenge for the local history buffs). He has been known to operate a Doctor Who fan club, watch massive amounts of imported SF, and read stacks of books. The recent addition of Harry Potter to the book stacks explains his panels this year. He tinkers with computers for a living, which is not a bad job when you see a computer as a big fancy toy.
Anne Harris
Anne Harris is the author of "The Nature of Smoke" and Spectrum Award-winner "Accidental Creatures." Her upcoming novel, "Inventing Memory," is an exploration of ancient matriarchies and the frontiers of virtual reality. Her work commonly deals with topics such as chaos theory, biotechnology, transcendence, feminism and glbt characters and issues.
David G. Hartwell is a Senior Editor of Tor/Forge Books. He is the proprietor of Dragon Press, publisher and bookseller, which publishes The New York Review of Science Fiction, criticism by Samuel R. Delany and other books; and the President of David G. Hartwell, Inc., a consulting editorial firm. He is the author of Age of Wonders and the editor of many anthologies, including The Dark Descent; Masterpieces of Fantasy and Enchantment; The World Treasury of Science Fiction, Northern Stars, The Ascent of Wonder (co-edited with Kathryn Cramer) and a number of Christmas anthologies, among others. Recently he edited his sixth annual paperback volume of Year's Best SF, and co-edited the new Year's Best Fantasy. He has won the Eaton Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Science Fiction Chronicle Poll, and has been nominated for the Hugo Award twenty-four times to date. He also has theories about fashion in clothing, especially men's neckties. A lot more info is available at his website, always badly in need of updating.
Bill Higgins
Kathe Koja
Kathe Koja is the author of many novels and a short fiction collection. Her newest novel, STRAYDOG, will be published in spring 2002 by Farrar, Straus & Giroux; BUDDHA BOY will follow in 2003.
Loren Kuhlmann
Loren Kuhlmann, known in the SCA as Lady Loren Duilliath, has been a science fiction fan for most of her life and a SCA member
for more than 15 years. She has been sewing since she got drafted to help with the costumes for her high school theatre.
Jane Irwin is a fannish artist, freelance illustrator and web designer from Ann Arbor Michigan, and is currently focusing all her attention on her upcoming comic book, Vögelein. Although she's been Gafiating lately, Jane hopes to be returining to fannish circles with greater regularity!
Wyn Jones
Wyn has been a been a Stilyagi member for more than ten years, but has
never lived in Ann Arbor for more than four consecutive days. She has been reading SF since grade school, having started with Ray Bradbury and
R.E. Heinlein. After a few years of being on various panels, she has
'graduated' to the ConCom. Her current life-goal is to ride her motorcycle to ConFusion this year!
Lady Sarah
Lady Sarah has been involved with fandom for the past 8-ish years. Most recently, she's been traveling the RenFaire circuit. As an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church of Modesto, California, Lady Sarah performed her first wedding this past September. She is an avid reader of Heinlein, R. A. Wilson, Tim Leary, Lovecraft/Cthulhu and anything else that catches her fancy. Lady Sarah has planted herself back "home" in Ann Arbor.
Stephen Leigh has published sixteen novels and over two dozen short stories. His most recent books are THUNDER RIFT (Eos, May 2001, published under the pseudonym Matthew Farrell), DARK WATER'S EMBRACE (Avon Eos, 1998) and its sequel SPEAKING STONES (Avon Eos, 1999). DWE won the Spectrum Award for Best Novel, was on Locus magazine1s Recommended Reading List, and also on the Tiptree Award Long List. SPEAKING STONES also made the Tiptree Award Long List. Steve's married to his best friend Denise, and they have two teenaged children. His interests include music (he plays in a band called "Toast"), the martial art aikido, in which he is ranked nidan (second degree black belt), and fine art. He also teaches Creative Writing at Northern Kentucky University.
Rick Lieder has illustrated book covers based on the X-Files TV series and covers for most major publishers, as well as exhibiting art in many galleries. His art is in public and private collections. Rick was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award in 1995, and was the Artist Guest of Honor at the 2000 World Horror Convention.
Devon spends far too much time thinking about The X-Files characters. He thinks this qualifies him to talk about them endlessly. He's been an X-Phile for 2 years, Buffy fan for 3 years, gamer for 18 years, sci-fi fan for over 20 years. Despite his black and white costume last year, he
sees the world in shades of grey.
Erin McKee
Roxanne Meida King
Roxanne Meida King has been attending ConFusion for more years
than she cares to admit. For the past five years, she has coordinated
suites for General Technics, usually at the Chicago area cons. This
has resulted in knowledge of a lot of things she never thought she'd
know, like what ratios of soda to buy for a weekend-long party, to run
first and ask questions later when someone yells "RUN!", and why not
to stick your finger in a dewer of liquid nitrogen.
Julia Plummer
Julia Plummer, originally from Spokane, Washington, now lives in Ann Arbor, MI. She is currently working on a PhD in Astronomy and Science Education at the University of Michigan, and finished her Masters in Astronomy & Astrophysics there in '99. She also enjoys teaching classes at UM and giving planetarium shows. She wrote and helped produce a planetarium show that explored the various types of collisions that occur within our solar system and beyond, for University of Michigan's planetarium. In her free time she enjoys reading SF and drawing, often with SF related themes.
Nick Pollotta is a professional novelist, stand-up comic, cartoonist and screenwriter. Specializing in Science Fiction, Humor and Military/Thrillers, Nick has over 40 books published to date, with more coming. Currently, he resides in northern Illinois with his beautiful wife, Melissa, 14,000 books, three computers and two cats who plan to conqueror the world any day now. Nick is currently working on a Bureau 13 comic book.
Tom Porter
Tom Porter is a 51 year old nurse who has been reading SF for over 35 years. Tom has been collecting SF by women for 30 years, and has compiled a list of female authors and their books. Having attended 24 Wiscons, 23 of which as a panelist, Tom is well-known in feminist-SF circles. Tom also likes to talk about Harry Potter and children/juvenile SF, as well as political, family, and medical issues. Tom Porter currently resides in Wisconsin.
Patrick O'Leary
Patrick O'Leary is the author of three novels, DOOR NUMBER THREE,THE GIFT and THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD (forthcoming from TOR in Jan 2002). His stories, essays and poems are collected in OTHER VOICES, OTHER DOORS (Fairwoord Press, 2000). His short fiction has appeared in TALEBONES, INFINITY PLUS and SCIFI.COM. He works about a mile from here.
Jim Overmyer
Jim Overmyer has been active in local fandom for 25 years. He has worked on all three local committees and run or assisted in running every department except the art show and consuite. He is an avid reader as well as being fond of SF on TV and movies. He travels to out of state cons regularly, attending at least ten cons a year including Worldcons and Dragoncon and he has attended as many as 18 in one year. You can usually spot him in his rainbow suspenders. As an old fart he tends to be garrulous but you can draw him out by plying him with diet pop.
Steven Piziks
Steven Piziks's short fiction has appeared in Sword & Sorceress, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Esther Friesner's Chicks in Chainmail anthologies, and elsewhere. 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's produced Dreamer, another science fiction novel, and is working on its sequel Nightmare. When not writing, Steven plays professional harp, dabbles in oral storytelling, and spends more time on-line than is probably good for him.
Eric Raymond | Cathy Raymond
Eric S. Raymond is an observer-participant anthropologist in the Internet hacker culture. His research has helped explain the decentralized open-source model of software development that has proven so effective in the evolution of the Internet. His own software projects include one of the Internet's most widely-used email transport programs. Mr. Raymond is also a science fiction fan, a musician, an activist for the First and Second Amendments, and a martial artist with a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Cathy Raymond is the proud wife of Eric Raymond, science guest of ConFusion 19100 and internationally-famous open source software advocate. Her first science fiction convention was Disclave '78. She then spent the next 20 years in denial about being a "fan." Once that was over, she incautiously became involved with a successful Worldcon bid and hopes never to do anything
that stupid ever again. When she is not attending science fiction conventions, Cathy practices law in Philadelphia, playing in live action role playing games, making and designing costumes for herself, and mollifying her cat, Sugar. Her husband adds: Cathy is, in no particular order: a redhead, a witch, a passable shot with a Glock 40, and a hot babe.
Rich Rennicks
Originally from Ireland, Rich Rennicks cut his science-fictional teeth on 2000AD comics featuring Judge Dredd and graphic adaptions of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series. A fixture at Borders.com for all of
its eventful life, Rich was their fiction editor for two years and the editor of "Tractor Beam," their SF email newsletter. He currently buys nonfiction books for Borders bookstores and tries to find time to read and write SF after his 13-month-old daughter goes to sleep.
Patricia Sayre-McCoy
Patricia Sayre-McCoy has published two short stories, 'Winter Roses' in Sword and Sorceress 12 and The Last Swan Princess' in Sword and Sorceress 20 (not yet published) and has many more looking to be published. Both published stories are based on folk tales, as are many of the not-yet published ones. She has been on the Programming Committee for WindyCon for several years, managing the Green Room as well as serving as number 2. She was Assistant Programming Director for Chicon 2000 and also managed Chicon's Green Room. She has been a panelist at WindyCon, Capricon and Chicon. In real life, she is a Law Librarian at the D'Angelo Law Library of the University of Chicago and the coach of the University of Chicago Field Hockey team. She has an identical twin sister, a husband and two bossy cats.
Scott is the author of the sci-fi/horror novel EarthCore, published December 2001 by Time Warner books.
Scott wrote his first monster story in the third grade and hasn't stopped since. A creator of novels, short stories and screenplays, Scott's work revolves around modern science's dichotomy of simultaneously producing good and evil. A blue-collar creative soul, Scott believes in hard work and "talent through sweat." His work ethic was formed by his parents and his years on the wrestling mat in high school and at Olivet College. At Olivet, Scott was a member of the Kappa Sigma Alpha Literary Society and earned a journalism degree. He worked in newspapers for several years, writing for the Grand Rapids Press and the Hometown Newspapers chain of Southeast Michigan. Scott's creativity extends to music. He has played bass and guitar in several
Detroit-area bands, including Kid Rhittalin, Slow Children At Play and StoneMojo. Scott recently married the love of his life, Jody, whom he met at one of his band's performances. He is a firm believer in "love at first sight." Scott lives in Michigan with his wife and their two dogs, an Australian shepherd named Mookie and a troublesome German shorthair pointer named Emma.
Garry Stahl
Garry Stahl is a Detroit area fan who has been active on and off since 1976. He considers himself a first generation role-player, and has been writing fantasy for the purpose of RPGs for 26 years. He also builds models in the Star Trek and fantasy genre. Other than this, he lives in Dearborn Michigan with his wonderful wife Sue; his son Matthew; cats Missy, Diana, Tiger, and Zachary; guinea pigs Abby and Judy; and his snake Percales. The house itself is overstuffed with books, models, horses, and gaming materials.
Shannon White
Shannon White is a long time SF&F fan who is writing her doctoral dissertation on early 20th century Russian popular fiction, with a particular emphasis on women's fiction and early Russian SF. She has also done work on the use of the body and the image of the female body in literature of the fantastic.
Sarah Zettel
Sarah Zettel a favorite new local science fiction author of the Stilyagi book discussion group. Her first novel, Reclamation, was the first of Warner Books' New Aspect releases in June, 1996, received the Locus Award for Best First Novel and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. Her second novel, Fool's War, made the Stilyagi recommended reading list, and she has since published Playing God and The Quiet Invasion. Her short fiction has appeared in both Analog and Realms of Fantasy. Sarah is also a storyteller whose repertoire includes science fiction, fantasy and traditional stories.