Norwescon 41 Program Book

Norwescon 41

The souvenir program book for Norwescon 41.

Cheryl Dyson

Norwescon

March 29–April 1, 2018

All content ©Norwescon save artwork and fiction © the respective artists and authors and used by permission.

English

THE NORTHWEST SCIENCE FICTION SOCEITY PROUDLY PRESENTS

NORWESCON FORTY ONE

THE 41ST ANNUAL NORTHWEST SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY CONVENTION

MARCH 29TH - APRIL 1ST 2018

Contents

5
Chairman’s Letter

7
PK Dick Award

13
Guests of Honor

20
Northwest Charities

25
Professional Panelists

61
Memorials

68
Art Show

69
Dealers Room

72
Norwescon Staff

79
Ammo

Chairman's Letter

To new members and old friends, those who join us every year, and those who are here for the first time, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to Norwescon 41.

This event and community is a labor of love for our staff and volunteers, who work year-round to throw a four-day party for 3,000 of their closest friends. Norwescon is an entirely volunteer-run nerdy family reunion, and I’m thrilled to show you the end product of many hours of work by dozens of people who truly love what they do, and love being part of our culture of service.

Norwescon 41 is full of things to see and make and do. From panels and workshops to concerts and demos, music, costumes, science, art, literature, and so much more! With more than 20 different tracks in our programming department, featuring almost 400 hours of entertaining and educational content, coupled with activities for fans of all ages, we hope there’s something for everyone.

If spectacle and grand presentation is more your speed, our special events department has you covered. Dances, karaoke, burlesque, contests, games, the Masquerade, the Philip K. Dick Award presentation ceremony and more await you. Speaking of the Philip K. Dick Award, Norwescon has had the honor of hosting this award, presented for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form, since 1984. Many of this year’s nominees will be joining us to read from their nominated works in Grand Ballroom 2 at 7 p.m. on Friday evening. Join us for the award ceremony and reception—and dessert!

Our wonderful guests of honor are also here to share their skills and teach us a thing or two. Ken Liu is a Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award- winning author and translator. Galen Dara, our artist guest, is also a World Fantasy Award winner. You can see fine examples of her work in our art show and on this year’s souvenir t-shirt. Our science guest, Mathew Wedel, is a paleontologist who happens to share an IMDb credit with William Shatner. He was also once a classmate of mine (I’m hoping I can bribe him heavily enough so that those yearbook photos never again see the light of day). Our spotlight publisher, Green Ronin, is unique for us—a local gaming company that has branched out into fiction publishing. We’re excited to see what new experiences they have in store for us.

We hope you enjoy Uncovering Mysteries with us at Norwescon 41. And if you like what we do here, we welcome you to join us as a volunteer to help us keep the fun going all weekend, or all year! Stop by the info table in the lobby, the convention lounge down in Wing 7, or join us this summer at a ConCom meeting when we begin planning Norwescon 42.

And if you use a smartphone, be sure to check out the Guidebook app to find out what delightful trouble awaits you this year! Download the app by going to http://guidebook.com/g/nwc41.

Loree Parker
Chair, Norwescon 41

Philip K Dick Award

2018

Norwescon has had the honor of hosting the Philip K. Dick Awards since 1984. The Philip K. Dick Award and Special Citation is presented annually for distinguished science fiction books published for the first time in the United States as a paperback original. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, and the ceremony is sponsored by the Northwest Science Fiction Society and held annually at Norwescon. Special guests attending the ceremony often include the nominated authors and publishers, as well as an administrator of the award. There is no charge to Norwescon members to attend the ceremony. We hope to see you there!

2018 Nominees

The Book Of Etta
by Meg Elison (47North)

Six Wakes
by Mur Lafferty (Orbit)

After The Flare
by Deji Bryce Olukotun (The Unnamed Press)

The Wrong Stars
by Tim Pratt (Angry Robot)

Revenger
Alastair Reynolds (Orbit)

Bannerless
by Carrie Vaughn (Mariner/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

All Systems Red
by Martha Wells (Tor.com)

The five Philip K. Dick Award judges for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original format in the United States in the 2018 award year are: Madeline Ashby, Brian Attebery, Christopher Brown, Rosemary Edghill, and Jason Hough.

Previous Winners

Last year’s winner was THE MERCY JOURNALS by Claudia Casper (Arsenal Pulp Press) with special citation was given to UNPRONOUNCEABLE by Susan diRende (Aqueduct Press)

2016 - Apex by Ramez Naam (Angry Robot Books). Special citation: Archangle by Marguerite Reed (Arche Press)

2015 - The Book Of The Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Sybaritic Press). Special citation: Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett (Aqueduct Press)

2014 - The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (Sybaritic Press). Special Citation: Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett (Aqueduct Press)

2013 - Countdown City by Ben H. Winters (Quirk Books). Special Citation: Self - Reference Engine by Toh EnJoe, translated by Terry Gallagher (Haikasoru)

2012 - Lost Everything by Brian Francis Slattery (Tor). Special Citation: Lovestar by Andri Snaer Magnason

2011 - The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy by Simon Morden. Special Citation: The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett

2010 - The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder (Pyr). Special Citation: Harmony by Project Itoh, translated by Alexander O. Smith (Haikasoru)

2009 - Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson (Ballantine Books/Spectra). Special Citation: Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald (Pyr)

2008 - (tie) Emissaries from the Dead by Adam Troy Castro (Eos Books), Terminal Mind by David Walton (Meadowhawk Press)

2007 - Nova Swing by M. John Harrison (Bantam Spectra). Special Citation: From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain by Minister Faust (Del Rey)

Guests of Honor

2018

Writer Guest of Honor Ken Liu

Ken Liu is an author, translator, lawyer, and programmer. He first launched in the SFF market with his short stories, and quickly gained acclaim for the elegance of his language, clarity of his ideas, and depth of his plots. A prolific and dedicated author, Liu dominated the science fiction world with a rapidly-expanding catalog of short stories, novellas, and nonfiction, winning his first major award in 2011, for the short story “The Paper Menagerie,” which won the World Fantasy Award, the Hugo Award, and the Nebula Award, a trifecta no other piece of fiction has ever managed.

Liu quickly became a familiar name on the award lists, racking up an impressive list of nominations and wins, marking another milestone in 2015 as the translator for Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem, the first translated novel to win the Hugo Award.

Liu’s first novel, The Grace of Kings, was released to critical acclaim from Saga Press in 2015. Described by Liu as “silk-punk,” it blends the author’s Chinese heritage with epic fantasy, bringing a vibrant new voice to the genre. The Wall of Storms followed soon after. His short stories were released in The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, a collection from Saga Press, followed by an anthology of translated Chinese science fiction short stories, Invisible Planets. In 2017, Liu left his footprint in a galaxy far, far away, authoring The Legends of Luke Skywalker, a Star Wars novel.

When he’s not writing or translating, Liu is a lawyer, programmer, and editor. He lives in Boston, with his family, and speaks regularly at conferences around the world. To find a list of Liu’s stories, his upcoming appearances, and other information, visit his site, https://kenliu.name .

Artist Guest of Honor Galen Dara

Galen Dara broke into the industry with an early Hugo Award win for best fan artist in 2013, followed by a nomination in 2014 for best professional artist, a category for which very few women had ever been nominated. She quickly followed up with more nominations for the Hugo and Chesley Awards, and won the World Fantasy Award in 2016.

Dara has illustrated covers for numerous anthologies, magazines, and novels, as well as games and comics. Working primarily in digital mediums with a raw, impressionistic bent, Dara’s art balances whimsey and horror, using bright strikes of color to highlight her dark, dreamy compositions. She finds her inspiration in “monsters, mystics, and dead things,” elements that are often found or referenced in her paintings.

Dara attended the Illustrator’s Master Class in 2012 and 2014, and is a frequent participant in the Spectrum Art Show. Widely regarded as one of the best up and coming artists in the field, Dara currently works with a number of regular publications, including Fireside Magazine, Lightspeed, Nightmare, 47North, and many more.

Her portfolio, prints, and more information may be found at http://www.galendara.com .

Science Guest of Honor Mathew Wedel

Mathew J. Wedel is a paleontologist with a research focus on sauropods, gigantism, and the evolution of pneumatic bones and avian lungs. The co-author of three papers that named newly-discovered dinosaurs— the Sauroposeidon, the Brontomerus, and the Aquilops—Dr. Wedel has been featured in documentaries for Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel.

Born in Dodge City, Kansas, Dr. Wedel grew up in rural Oklahoma. He studied zoology at the University of Oklahoma, and completed his doctorate in int egrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Wedel is an active scientific peer reviewer and has won numerous academic awards, from the Fourth International Award in Paleontology Research to the 1987 Kremlin-Hillsdale spelling bee. His work has been featured in the Encyclopædia Britannica and at museums and conferences worldwide including The Field Museum of Natural History Chicago, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Evolution of Gigantism symposium in Punta del Este, Uruguay, and the University of Bonn, Germany. Matt is a major proponent green access and of open science initiatives, and was a founding member of the Open Dinosaur Project.

Dr. Wedel enjoys astronomy with his son London and is a contributing editor for Sky & Telescope magazine where he has written the popular “Binocular Highlights” column since 2016. When not writing about dinosaurs, running two blogs (Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week and 10 Minute Astrology), or looking at the sky through a pair of binoculars, he continues to teach gross anatomy as an associate professor at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California.

Spotlight Publisher Green Ronin Publishing

Seattle-based Green Ronin Publishing has published role- playing games for nearly 20 years. Owned by Chris Pramas, Nicole Lindroos, and Hal Mangold, the company maintains a consistent focus on inclusivity and representation.

Green Ronin’s flagship properties include the swashbuckling Freeport: City of Adventure, the Mutants & Masterminds superhero RPG (the most successful game of its kind built off the d20 system and Open Game License), Freedom City, and the romantic fantasy RPG Blue Rose, inspired by the works of fantasy authors such as Mercedes Lackey, Ellen Kushner, and Diane Duane which has won acclaim for its inclusion and treatment of LGBTQ characters. The company has also established itself as a licensor of top properties with the acquisition of licenses for George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire setting and a license to produce role-playing material for DC Comics. It has gone on to produce the Dragon Age RPG and has announced settings for Greg Rucka’s Lazarus comic book adaptation, and an adaptation of SF/F phenomenon The Expanse. Green Ronin collaborated with industry giant Wizards of the Coast to design and produce the adventure Out of the Abyss and the Forgotten Realms sourcebook The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide for the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

In 2017, Green Ronin founded a fiction imprint, Nisaba Press, to release short fiction and novels connected to its original settings. Nisaba will not only support the RPG settings, but will be actively involved in fleshing out the stories and histories of known characters and locations.

Green Ronin won the Gen Con & EnWorld award for best publisher for an unprecedented three years running, and is looking forward to a stellar 2018 with the release of Lazarus, The Expanse, a new version of Mutants & Masterminds: Freedom City, two novels from Nisaba, and Modern Age, a new version of the classic AGE rules.

Norwescon Charities

2018

The Charities Superfriends salutes all the heroes in our midst who have donated money or non-perishable goods to Northwest Harvest. Founded in 1967, Northwest Harvest is Washington's statewide hunger relief agency. Its mission is to lead the fight statewide for hungry people to have access to nutritious food while respecting their dignity and promoting good health. Their vision: ending hunger in Washington. More than 90% of every dollar donated goes directly to help feed those in need all over our state. Northwest Harvest has a network of more than 375 food banks, meal programs, and high-need school programs serving urban and rural areas. In 2016, Northwest Harvest distributed 33 million pounds of food and served more than 2 million meals a month. Two thirds of the food it provides is fresh fruits and vegetables. They participate in programs such as Three Squares, Growing Connections, The Kids Summer Food Club, and the Cherry Street Food Bank in Seattle. Every little bit really does help! Northwest Harvest can feed a family of three for just $0.67. If you add just a dollar to your shopping cart as you register for Norwescon, it goes a long way.

According to Charity Navigator, Northwest Harvest received a 4-star rating, 94.5 out of 100 on finances and 100 out of 100 on accountability and transparency in fiscal year 2015. Watchdog site Guidestar gives Northwest harvest a Gold rating.

Please use the donation bins near the Info Table to donate food and other nonperishable goods. This is valued just as highly! Your thoughtfulness provides variety to supplement the staple items and produce Northwest Harvest distributes. A big, BIG thank you to each of you who donated, dropped off canned goods, or bought a ribbon to wear with pride—every little bit helps! Norwescon is proud to be part of such a generous and thoughtful community. And don’t forget Norwescon’s charity auction Sunday morning! All proceeds benefit Northwest Harvest!

Professional Panelists

Norwescon 41

ADAM VICK
Adam Vick is a senior designer/art director at Paizo, for the Pathfinder and Starfinder role playing games. He has worked in the gaming industry for five years, with previous jobs at PopCap Games and Tilting Point Creative. His background is as a freelance illustrator for comics, gig posters, and apparel. When not drawing or designing, you can find him trying to sneak in a game of Warhammer 40k or spending time with his wife and two fur babies.

ADIA
Adia lives in Bellingham, Washington, and loves comic books. Loves loves loves loves loves them. She has recently gotten into acting, dancing (like a zombie), and mermaids (but no zombie mermaids yet). When she gets older, she plans to be an intergalactic superhero (in case of interstellar zombie mermaid invasion).

ADRIENNE CARLSON
Adrienne has close to two decades of experience in medieval recreation and ancient lifestyles. She doesn’t always live in the past, she also designs sci-fi/fantasy costumes! Her ever-growing sci-fi collection spans several thousand volumes, but that doesn’t stop her from working on her own stories. As an avid gamer, she has dominated everything from MMOs to pen-and-paper RPGs. While she no longer resides in Washington state, Adrienne still travels to the PNW for conventions and events.

AGATHON MCGEACHY
Mark Chapman built armor and studied personal combat in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) from the 1970’s through early 1990’s, leaving after achieving the SCA’s highest honors. He then turned to sand sculpture and built recumbent bicycles of his own design. By 2012 he had competed several times as a soloist at the prestigious World Championships of Sand Sculpture in Harrison Hot Springs British Columbia. In 2004, Mark began studying ceramic sculpture. One of his fantasy sculptures won Best 3D Art in Show at Sasquan.

ALAN ANDRIST
Alan Andrist has a bachelor of science in biology and a master’s degree in English literature, along with 20 years’ experience in Nordic studies. He has taught veterinary nursing, published animal science research, and participated in Nordic archeology.

ALEXANDER JAMES ADAMS
From the land of Fae, carrying the legacy of Heather Alexander, comes the Faerie Tale Minstrel with stories and songs of myth and magic. Fiddle, guitar, and a voice of magic spin tales old and new to enchant listeners of all ages. Aja’s most recent endeavor is the writing, production, and release of music for the live adventure online series Canticles, conceived by Matthew Morrese. Find his work at www. faerietaleminstrel.com, www.matthewmorrese. com, and at https://alexanderjamesadams1. bandcamp.com.

ALEXANDRA RENWICK
Alexandra Renwick is a dual U.S./Canadian writer and editor whose genre-elastic fiction has been translated into nine languages and adapted to stage and audio. Her collection Push of the Sky was an Endeavour Award finalist and a Powell’s SF Book Club reading selection. Part-time resident of weird sister-cities Portland and Austin, she currently spends most days in a downtown heritage manor in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa. Find her on Twitter at @AlexCRenwick or on alexcrenwick.com.

AMANDA HAMON KUNZ
Amanda Hamon Kunz is a two-time ENnie Award- winning tabletop game developer and editor, the co-creator of the Starfinder RPG, the author or co- author of dozens of Pathfinder RPG titles, and the development coordinator at Paizo Inc. In addition to waxing nerdy about fantasy worldbuilding traditions and theory, she has spoken extensively about intersectional feminism and gaming. You can find Amanda on Twitter at @amandahamon.

ANDY DUDAK
Andy Dudak writes and translates science fiction. His original work has appeared in Analog, Apex, Clarkesworld, Daily Science Fiction, Interzone, Rich Horton’s Year’s Best, and elsewhere. He translates Mandarin to English, and has translated the likes of Liu Cixin, Chen Hongyu, Wang Yuan, Chi Hui, A Que, and Zhang Ran.

ANITA TAYLOR
Anita Taylor is a technical writer by profession and an avid costumer and independent historical researcher. Her current costuming and art interests and projects include the Early Medieval to Elizabethan era, the Victorian Era, steampunk, and fantasy. An active member of the SCA, she is an event steward for the Barony of Blatha An Oir and enjoys teaching a variety of classes.

ANN SHILLING
Ann Schilling has spent several years riding, jousting, and swinging swords with the Seattle Knights, and has also logged countless hours on horseback compiling a list of King County horse trails, riding in wagon trains, and investigating the countrysides of Europe from the saddle. She has ridden in the Tournament of the Phoenix, a historical reenactment tournament in Poway, California, the Hackaland tournament in Liege, Belgium, and enjoys organizing and squiring for other knights at events around the country when the opportunity presents itself. Her historical interests range from medieval Europe to the American West to ancient China. Her written work includes several plays performed regularly around the Northwest by the Seattle Knights and a number of short stories.

ARTHUR BOZLEE
After a number of years working in the aerospace industry, Arthur Bozlee decided to concentrate on private space efforts. He is an investor in XCOR Aerospace and will fly the Lynx spacecraft as flight engineer on a test mission this year. A large, friendly man, he is known for his stories and approachable nature. Some say he is colorful. He denies this. To support this conclusion, he holds a voting seat on the Board of Directors of XCOR Aerospace.

ASTRID BEAR
Astrid Bear attended her first SF convention at the age of 6 weeks and never quite got over it. She is currently exploring fiber arts, bicycling, and is the in-house first reader for her husband, Greg Bear.

ATLAS IMAGING
Kyle Parker-McGlynn has loved building worlds and mapping places since he was a child. He decided to become a cartographer, getting a master’s degree in geography with a focus on GIS, and has been a professional cartographer/archaeologist for the last ten years. Kyle now runs Atlas Imaging, a mapping company that crates maps of this world and those beyond.

BARRY WILSON
Born a feral child deep in the backwooods of the Pacific Northwest, Barry was literally raised by wolves. He spends his time repairing vending machines, playing roleplaying games, and cursing at the injustices of the world.

BARTH ANDERSON
Barth Anderson’s short stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Talebones, and other quality venues. Salon called his novel The Patron Saint of Plagues “a page-turner with smarts and heart.” His book The Magician and the Fool was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, and Anderson has won the Spectrum Award for Best Short Fiction. His next book is a historical fantasy called The Mad Queen’s Game. Barth lives in Minneapolis.

BERLYNN WOHL
Berlynn Wohl is an octopus in a Russian fur hat who sometimes writes fan fiction. No one knows why this is. Berlynn is actually quite docile, and can be approached by humans.

BETHANY ROULLETT
Man, does Bethany love costumes. She’s been doing them all her life, ever since she played dress-up as a little kid. She loves pretty clothes from all historical periods and really enjoys recreating specific pieces, from fancy medieval dresses to fancy movie dresses. She was recently featured on KING 5’s Evening. At the con, she’ll likely be wearing something pretty, and for anyone who wants some advice on how to make something pretty for themselves, she’s totally willing to help you out.

BILL BEATS
Death*Star, the hardest working nerdcore hip- hop group in show business, has returned to Norwescon! We bring you raps about sad villains, video games, online dating, romantic failures, table top tragedies, and hoarding! The storytellers of the nerdcore scene invite you to enjoy our panels and our performances.

BILL GRUNER
An armorer/weaponsmith, Bill travels worldwide to historical sites, has a Master of Science in Education, and has been an EMT, taught science, and led an SF OPDETA (special forces operational detachment A—a special forces A team). He studies metallurgy, Roman tech, Latin, geology, blacksmithing, military history, historical reenactment, and Euro martial arts. He is a member of the Senior Classical League, Society for Creative Anachronism (a peer), Single Action Shooting Society, and fights in Cohors II Legio VI. He operates a 12’ traction trebuchet, and teaches classes in Roman and Norse combat. He teaches wood and metal crafts out of his atelier.

BRENDA COOPER
Brenda Cooper writes science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. Her most recent novel is Wilders, which came out in 2017 from Pyr. Her earlier novel, Edge of Dark, was shortlisted for the P.K. Dick Award and won the Endeavour Awards. See her website at www.brenda-cooper.com. Brenda lives in the Pacific Northwest in a household with two people, four dogs, more than three computers, and only one TV in it.

BRENNA CLARKE GRAY
Brenna Clarke Gray holds a doctorate in Canadian literature and works in the Department of English at Douglas College just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, where, among other things, she teaches an introductory class on Fandom Studies. She publishes scholarly work about comics regularly, with a special focus on Canadian superhero comics and representations of Canada in American comics. She also blogs about books and comics at Book Riot. You can find her on Twitter at @brennacgray.

BRIAN D. OBERQUELL
Brian keeps busy doing fireworks (New Year’s Eve, Canada Day 150, Celebration of Light), pyro (Phantom of the Opera, Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience), and special effects (Dirk Gently, Lost in Space, Arrow, Six, Supernatural). He collects film scores and “so bad they’re good” movies, and he shares his life with one “pyro widow” wife and one rabbit.

BRIDGET LANDRY
Bridget Landry was educated as a chemist/planetary scientist and works as an engineer. She has worked on robotic space missions for over 25 years, including the HST, Mars Pathfinder, and the Cassini mission to Saturn. In her technical hat, Bridget has been on science panels at local and regional conventions, and Worldcons. Ms. Landry has been attending and working cons since the age of 13. She is a master-level costumer and has won masquerade awards from the local to the Worldcon level.

BRYAN SYME
Bryan Syme is a freelance illustrator and concept artist living in Weiser, ID. Bryan has done work for numerous role- playing game and publishing companies, such as Paizo, Kobold Press, Green Ronin, Onyx Path, and many others. Bryan adores bad movies, RPGs, and his wife, but his daughter stole his heart and probably won’t ever give back. For more of his artwork, see www.bryansyme.com/

C0SPLAY
Death*Star, the hardest working nerdcore hip- hop group in show business, has returned to Norwescon! We bring you raps about sad villains, video games, online dating, romantic failures, table top tragedies, and hoarding! The storytellers of the nerdcore scene invite you to enjoy our panels and our performances.

CAREN GS
Caren Gussoff Sumption’s book-length works include Homecoming, (2000) and The Wave and Other Stories (2003), first published by Serpent’s Tail/High Risk Books; The Birthday Problem (2014: Pink Narcissus Press); and Three Songs for Roxy (2015: Aqueduct Press). She is also proud of her day job working in a crisis center, and never thought she’d find anything she likes as much as writing. She’s a lucky cat, and is everywhere online as “spitkitten.”

CARMEN BEAUDRY
Carmen Beaudry started her costuming career when she was 14. She has costumed for musical theater, opera, television, historical reenactment, and science fiction conventions. Historic clothing is her passion, especially the early 17th century and the 1880s. Her historical designs come from the study of period source material and of extant garments in museums in North America and Europe. In 2006, she was elevated to the SCA’s Order of the Laurel for her work in costuming and costuming research.

CARRIE VAUGHN
Carrie Vaughn is best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty. Her latest novels include a near- Earth space opera, Martians Abroad, and a post- apocalyptic murder mystery, Bannerless. The sequel, The Wild Dead, will be out in 2018. She’s written several other contemporary fantasy and young adult novels, as well as upwards of 80 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

CAT RAMBO
World Fantasy and Nebula- nominated Cat Rambo’s 200+ fiction publications include stories in Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Tor.com. Her most recent book is Hearts of Tabat, sequel to Beasts of Tabat. She is the current President of The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. For more information about her, see http://www.kittywumpus.net

CATHERINE COOKE MONTROSE
Catherine Cooke Montrose lives south of Seattle and works for a youth theater company in Kirkland. She wrote the Mask of the Wizard series, the Winged Assassin series, and The Wendigo Border some years back. You’ll find her hanging out with Fairwood Writers. Spot her by looking for a redhead with a knitting project. She’s currently writing a contemporary YA fantasy series and an alternate-Byzantine sword and sorcery novel.

CATHY PLESKO
Dr. Cathy Plesko is a research scientist in computational physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She uses supercomputers to study asteroids, comets, and impact craters.

CLAYTON MANN

CHARLOTTE LEWIS BROWN
Charlotte is a vertebrate paleontologist, a science writer, and a college professor. Charlotte has published numerous science articles for adults and three books that use true stories about dinosaurs and other fossil animals to draw children into the world of reading.

CHERYCE CLAYTON
Cheryce Clayton once named a company PoshRat, which means “half-blood” and “out of culture” in Romani. Buy her a coffee, and she’ll talk.

CHRISTEN N. SOWARDS
Christen is the owner and publisher of Lost Spheres Publishing. Christen learned to read from fantasy RPGs when he was five years old and has been gaming ever since. Lost Spheres Publishing has been making Pathfinder content for five years, including the City of Seven Seraphs. He also runs a blog about Pathfinder that focuses on integrating third-party content and permissive gaming in general at www.lostspherespublishing.com. He has worked with Nat 20 Studios, Stormbunny Studios/ Design Camp, and Jon Brazer Enterprises.

CORY SKERRY
Cory Skerry is an editor, illustrator, and author whose greatest wish is that when his current meat shell falls apart, science will place his brain into a giant killer octopus body, with which he will be very responsible and not even slightly shipwrecky. He pinky swears.

CRYSTAL FRASIER
As a game industry polymath, Crystal Frasier has worked as a writer, game developer, editor, illustrator, and graphic designer with 18 years’ experience. Best known for her work on the Pathfinder roleplaying game and adventures, she is also the lead developer for Green Ronin’s Mutants & Masterminds superhero roleplaying game and has written for companies ranging from Onyx Path Publishing to Undead Labs and Dynamite Entertainment.

CURTIS C. CHEN
Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (陳陳 陳) now writes fiction and runs puzzle games near Portland, Oregon. His debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo is a science fiction thriller about a superpowered spy facing his toughest mission yet: vacation. The sequel, Kangaroo Too, sends our hero to the moon. Curtis’ short stories have appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Mission: Tomorrow, and Oregon Reads Aloud. He is a graduate of Clarion West and Viable Paradise. https://curtiscchen.com

CYNTHIANN HECKELSMILLER
Cynthiann Heckelsmiller is a multi-disciplinary researcher and educator, passionate about connecting science to culture, and anything to do with plants. She is excited to learn and discuss diverse topics, clarify concepts, and relate literature to issues in science and culture. She is a graduate student of cultural anthropology at Washington State University. She has a master’s degree in ethnobotany from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, and a Bachelor of Science in botany.

D.L. SOLUM
D.L. Solum is a recently published author currently living in Seattle, but will always be from Butte, Montana. A collector of odd friends and odder hobbies including medieval combat/armor/ weapons, fishing, hunting, and computer games. This latest obsession of writing fiction is only made possible via the tough encouragement and impatient tolerance of Kate.

DAMERUTH
DameRuth has a wide-ranging and checkered past involving science, history, fandom, art and writing, and she’s happy to talk your ear off about any (or all) of those subjects. She currently works as a technician in a neurobiology research lab.

DAN DELONG
Mr. DeLong is currently in his third career as chief engineer and a founder of Agile Aero, Inc. For 28 years before that, he was chief engineer for XCOR Aerospace, engineer for Boeing on the space station, and space shuttle payload integration. His second career of 10 years was in underwater vehicles, both commercial and military. His first career was in electronics as an AM/FM broadcast engineer, and as a lab tech building circuits for Cornell’s Laboratory of Atomic and Solid-State Physics.

DAN DUBRICK
Known to many in northwest U.S. fandom as Kahboi (pronounced Cowboy), Dan has for many years been the editor for the H.R. McMillan Planetarium’s affiliated space and astronomy educational BBS SpaceBase. Dan has also witnessed space launches as an accredited journalist, including the U.S. space shuttle, and on his annual holidays he can be found prowling the aerospace bone yards of the Arizona desert studying American aerospace history, even though they still won’t let him into the B-52 that dropped the X-15.

DANIELLE GEMBALA
Danielle Gembala is a writer, archaeologist, science educator, historian, and neurodivergent parent of two neurodivergent children living in rural Southwest Washington.

DARA KORRA’TI
Dara Korra’ti—a.k.a. Solarbird, the Lightbringer—performs rage-driven acoustic elfmetal with an ever-shifting set of supervillains with her band, Crime and the Forces of Evil. Between escapades, she marauds the airwaves with the dark faeries of Leannan Sidhe. Her music has appeared on ARfm London, RadioTLX Lexington, Transmission FM 88.3 Auckland, and several music podcasts. Everything, including the urban-fantasy soundtrack album Bone Walker, can be streamed at http://crimeandtheforcesofevil.com.

DAVE DAVIS
Dave Davis has a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering and over 30 years’ experience in the aerospace field involving projects from commercial to the space shuttle. He is presently working as a project manager on a commercial aircraft program. As a member of the National Association of Rocketry and a tornado/storm chaser, Dave has merged these two endeavors into “The Glenda Project” of launching weather-related payloads into storms, supplying data for improved severe weather warning systems.

DAVID ANTHONY DURHAM
David Anthony Durham is the author of seven novels: The Risen, The Sacred Band, The Other Lands, Acacia (John W. Campbell Award winner), Pride of Carthage, Walk Through Darkness, and Gabriel’s Story. His stories have appeared in three of George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards novels: Fort Freak, Lowball, and High Stakes. He currently teaches creative writing for the Stonecoast Master of Fine Arts program and for the MFA program of the University of Nevada, Reno.

DAWN VOGEL
Dawn Vogel writes and edits fiction and non-fiction. In her spare time, she also runs a craft business and helps edit Mad Scientist Journal. She is an associate member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She lives in Seattle with her husband, author Jeremy Zimmerman, and their herd of cats. Visit her at http://historythatneverwas.com.

DEAN WELLS
Dean Wells is author of the ongoing Clockwork Millennials series published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Other works have appeared in Ideomancer, 10Flash Quarterly, Demensions, ShadowKeep, Eldritch Tales, The Nocturnal Lyric, and the anthologies Ceaseless Steam and The Best of BCS, Year Four. He has also written for the performing arts in various capacities and teaches the writing craft. Dean is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

DEBORAH STRUB
Deborah is a textile artist from the Pacific Northwest. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Central Florida. She has been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) for over 30 years, where she is a Laurel for her research and work in historical Japanese clothing. She occasionally makes medieval western European clothing for her husband. She also enjoys creating science fiction costumes. She has won many awards in both the SCA and science fiction venues and has had work published in The Costume Maker’s Art.

DEJI BRYCE OLUKOTUN
Deji Bryce Olukotun is the author of two novels. His fiction has appeared in four different book collections. His novel After the Flare, a sequel to Nigerians in Space, was published in September 2017 and chosen as one of the best science fiction books of 2017 by The Guardian, The Washington Post, Syfy.com, Tor.com, and Kirkus Reviews. He is currently the head of social impact at the audio technology company Sonos, and a Future Tense fellow at New America.

DJANGO WEXLER
Django Wexler graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh with degrees in creative writing and computer science, and worked for the university in artificial intelligence research. Eventually he migrated to Microsoft in Seattle, where he now lives with two cats and a teetering mountain of books. When not writing, he wrangles computers, paints tiny soldiers, and plays games of all sorts.

DONNA BARR
Donna Barr has been published since 1986, and is the author and artist of the classic drawn book series The Desert Peach, as well as Stinz, and the continuing Afterdead. She specializes in historical fiction and historical fantasy, although she doesn’t write in genres and uses those categories for simpler marketing. She’s always entertaining and open to seeing new creations from fellow creatives. She was a pioneer in self-publishing and print on demand. She runs the Clallam Bay Comicon in July and is assisting with the new Forks Raincon, in June.

DONNA PRIOR
Donna “Danicia” Prior is the sparkly princess of social media & community management. She is the organized play manager for Catan Studio. Donna is the executive director of OrcaCon, the inclusive tabletop games convention (http://www.orcacon.org/). She has worked in both video games and tabletop games. In short: gamer, geek, and future wife of Wedge Antilles. Lives on Twitter @_Danicia_. Find Donna at http://about.me/Danicia

DR. DANA ANDREWS
Dr. Dana Andrews has worked in aerospace for over 45 years, including 33 years for Boeing, 10 years for Andrews Space, Inc., and the last three years teaching at the University of Washington. He has designed commercial airplanes, military aircraft, missiles, spacecraft, and the current space station modules. His areas of expertise are space systems design, orbital mechanics, safety, and advanced propulsion. Recently, he has been working on using space resources and near term interstellar missions.

DR. RICKY
Dr. Ricky is the nom de plume of a working research scientist with a passion for science education outreach, and the science and impact of food on culture and evolution. He blogs at http:// sciencebasedcuisine.com and is active on Twitter at @drricky.

DR. VICKI WEDEL
Dr. Vicki Wedel is a forensic anthropologist and Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She is an associate professor of anatomy at Western University of Health Sciences, where she maintains an active forensics lab. She consults with local, state, and federal authorities when human skeletal remains are found. She is a member of a national Disaster Mortuary Operations Response Team (DMORT). In her capacity as a DMORT forensic anthropologist, Dr. Wedel most recently deployed to Haiti in the wake of the 2010 earthquake. She also works to develop new forensic science methods, in particular a method to determine season at death in humans using seasonal bands in the roots of teeth. Her book with Dr. Alison Galloway, Broken Bones: Anthropological Analysis of Blunt Force Trauma, was published in 2014.

DYLAN TEMPLAR
Since 2015, Dylan has been working for Green Ronin Publishing, wearing a variety of administrative hats. Prior to this, he worked full time as a contract artist doing paint masters for collectible miniatures games. He worked primarily for Wizkids and Wizards of the Coast on a wide range of games, including MageKnight, Mechwarrior, Dungeons & Dragons, and Star Wars. He even managed to work on the “Re-action” line of action figures for the local toy company Funko.

E. LILY YU
E. Lily Yu is an author and narrative designer. She received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2012. In addition, her short stories have been finalists for the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards. Recent fiction appears in Terraform, Hazlitt, Tor.com, and The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017.

ECHO CHERNIK
Echo is an award-winning fine artist, illustrator, and instructor, specializing in her vision of Art Nouveau. She is a highly sought after artist for advertising, packaging, posters, books, and games. Clients include: Miller, Camel, Coors, Nascar, Trek, Kmart, Sears, Patrick Rothfuss, Arlo Guthrie, Dave Matthews, the Sheikh of Dubai and more.

ELIZABETH “LIZ” VANN-CLARK

ELLIOTT KAY
Like many Seattleites, Elliott is a transplant from Los Angeles. He took a swing at self-publishing just for grins and soon found his books paying more bills than his day job. His work ranges from military sci-fi to steamy/comedic urban fantasy. Elliott’s Poor Man’s Fight series has hit the top of Amazon’s sci-fi charts.

ELSA SJUNNESON-HENRY
Elsa Sjunneson-Henry is a partially deafblind SFF/H writer and editor. Her work has appeared in Fireside, Uncanny, Tor.com, and Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling. She is the guest co-editor in chief of Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction (nonfiction section), and the managing editor of Fireside Magazine. She has also written for tabletop RPGs. Elsa is an instructor at Writing the Other, and a graduate of the Viable Paradise Workshop. She is a Seattleite, but now lives in New Jersey.

EMILY C. SKAFTUN
Emily C. Skaftun’s fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Asimov’s, and others. If Emily could zap things out of this dimension, there’d be a lot less traffic, chewing gum, and rain. Despite the inability to vanquish rain, Emily lives in Shoreline with a mad scientist husband and a mini-tiger. She dabbles in roller derby and writes about fate, flying tigers, and strange fish. Emily has been the editor-in-chief of The Norwegian American since 2014. Hun lærer seg norsk!

ERIC SNYDER
Eric is a jack-of-many-trades who has done stints as a writer, programmer, web designer, scientist, and educator. But for the moment, dad is his best trade. He is also an avid reader and gamer.

ERIK SCOTT DE BIE
Erik Scott de Bie is a speculative fiction writer who got his start in the Forgotten Realms setting, home of his Shadowbane series. The author of ten published novels and counting, he is celebrating the release of Mask of the Blood Queen, the third novel in his epic World of Ruin series, and several novels for The Ed Greenwood Group (Blind Justice plus the forthcoming Wanderer in the Mists and Priority: Hyperion). He lives in Seattle with his wife, cats, and dog.

ERIN WAGNER TIDWELL
Erin helps run the writer’s workshop at Norwescon. She has also published short fiction and writes technical documentation for a living. Professional Panelists

ETHAN SIEGEL
Ethan was born in New York, majored in three different things as an undergrad, and has adoctorate in theoretical physics. Yes, indecisive young people: there is hope. After postdoctoral research, he became a physics professor and a professional science communicator. He now writes and speaks full-time, including for Forbes and NASA. His newest book, Treknology, about the real- life science behind the technologies envisioned by Star Trek, is available everywhere.

EVA L. ELASIGUE
Eva L. Elasigue combines a far-reaching and honor- awarded imagination with scientific and empirical backgrounds to create the mythic intergalactic space saga Bones of Starlight, as well as works ranging from poetic to humorous for Internet and stage. She lives with her dog Spirit in the island town of Friday Harbor, Washington. Eva is currently continuing her debut series and managing Primal Spiral, an imprint events collective studio. A mixed media artist and renaissance woman, Eva loves music and the wilderness.

EVAN J. PETERSON
Evan J. Peterson is the author of The PrEP Diaries (Lethe Press), a memoir of life in the new era of HIV prevention. His speculative poetry books include Skin Job (Minor Arcana Press) and The Midnight Channel (Babel/Salvage). His fiction has been published in Weird Tales, Unspeakable Horror 2, and The Book of Three Gates; his nonfiction appears in Nightmare Magazine, Queers Destroy Horror, BoingBoing, Best Gay Stories 2015, and The Stranger.

FONDA LEE
Fonda Lee is the author of the gangster fantasy saga Jade City (Orbit) and the award-winning young adult science fiction novels Zeroboxer (Flux) and Exo (Scholastic). Cross Fire, the sequel to Exo, releases in May 2018. Fonda is a recovering corporate strategist, a black belt martial artist, and an action movie aficionado. She loves a good eggs Benedict. Born and raised in Canada, she now lives in Portland, Oregon. You can find Fonda online at www.fondalee.com and on Twitter @fondajlee.

G. WILLOW WILSON
G. Willow Wilson is a New York Times bestselling author and graphic novelist. Her works include the Hugo Award-winning comic book series Ms. Marvel (Marvel Comics) and the World Fantasy Award-winning novel Alif the Unseen (Grove/Atlantic Press). Willow’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages and featured on media outlets from CNN to Al Jazeera to the Colbert Report. When she isn’t writing or running after two toddlers, Willow enjoys cooking comfort food and playing MMOs.

G.R. THERON
G.R. Theron is a Seattle-based storyteller and member of the Fairwood Writers Group. In addition to writing, he is also an active artist, photographer, podcaster, and wayward spirit. A graduate from the University of Washington, he is formally educated as a classic historian. He currently balances his time between those things that make a living and those that make a life.

GABRIEL DE LOS ANGELES
Gabriel de los Angeles is a Snoqualmie tribal member and a candidate for a doctorate of philosophy in learning science and human development at the University of Washington. His research interests are development across the life course through play and learning in informal environments. His life combines his love of popular culture, fandom, and games with nearly two decades of experience with fan-made events and community organizations around the world. He examines these things through equity, equality, and indigenous philosophies.

GORDON VAN GELDER
Gordon Van Gelder became the sixth editor of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1997. He held the position until 2015. Before that, he worked as an editor for St. Martin’s Press and also for The New York Review of Science Fiction. He has edited several anthologies, including Welcome to the Greenhouse, Fourth Planet from the Sun, and most recently, Go Forth and Multiply and Welcome to Dystopia. He lives in New Jersey.

GREG BEAR
Greg is the author of over forty novels, including Blood Music, Eon, Darwin’s Radio, Hull Zero Three, and the War Dogs trilogy. He is the winner of five Nebulas and two Hugos and, most recently, the Galaxy Award as China’s most popular foreign- language author.

GREGORY A. WILSON
Gregory A. Wilson is a professional author of speculative fiction and professor of English at St. John’s University in New York City. His first novel, The Third Sign, was published by Gale Cengage in 2009; his second novel, Icarus, was released as a graphic novel by Silence in the Library. Grayshade was published by The Ed Greenwood Group; the sequel is due out shortly. He is co-host of acclaimed podcast Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans, and lives with his family in New York.

J. F. HIGH
J.F. High is an advocate for aboriginal rights and an (urban) fantasy author who lives in Washington but is originally from Los Angeles. The differences are staggering, but the ocean and the I-5 are the same. J.F. is a Chiricahua Apache (Ndeh) and Cora Indian (Náayarite). He may or may not be a believer/practitioner of real-world magic, but if he were, he is not interested in your hippy- dippy, crystal swinging, dream-catcher-slinging garbage. But magic is real, let’s not mess around.

JACK SKILLINGSTEAD
Since 2004, Jack Skillingstead has sold more than 40 stories to markets including Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, F&SF, and Lightspeed, as well as various Year’s Best volumes and original anthologies. In 2004 he was a finalist for the Sturgeon Award and in 2013 his novel, Life on the Preservation, was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. Jack has taught writing classes onboard ship in the Bahamas and in Seattle for Clarion West’s one-day workshop series. He lives in Seattle with his wife, writer Nancy Kress.

JAKE MCKINZIE
Jake is 47 years old. He is married to Shyla with a daughter, Caitlyn. Jake has been a high school science teacher since 1999. His favorite authors include Moorcock, Feist, Niven, Bova, and Howard. Jake’s first RPGs were Car Wars and red box D&D, circa 1980. He is currently playing various Savage Worlds settings and D&D 5th Edition.

JASON VANHEE
Jason Vanhee was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington. Raised by a single mother who left him free to explore his imagination, he began to write almost as soon as he could read. His work most often encompasses the speculative fiction that was a reading mainstay in his younger life. Jason lives in Seattle still with his husband Adam. His first published novel, Engines of the Broken World, was released by Henry Holt in 2013.

JAYM GATES
Jaym Gates got her start in editing by making a joke on Twitter six years ago. At the time of writing this bio, she’s working on her 15th anthology. The titles she has worked on include Rigor Amortis, Broken Time Blues, War Stories, Geek Love, Genius Loci, Strange California, Upside Down, Legends of Strategy: How Star Wars Explains Future Strategy, Eclipse Phase: After The Fall, and Vampire: Endless Ages. She is also a developmental editor for Falstaff Books and the Editorial Manager for Nisaba Press.

JENNIFER BROZEK
Jennifer Brozek is a Hugo Award finalist and a multiple Bram Stoker Award finalist. She has worked in the publishing industry since 2004. With the number of edited anthologies, novels, RPG books, and nonfiction books under her belt, Jennifer is often considered a Renaissance woman, but she prefers to be known as a wordslinger and optimist. Read more about her at jenniferbrozek.com or follow her on Twitter: @JenniferBrozek.

JEREMY ZIMMERMAN
Jeremy Zimmerman is a teller of tales who dislikes cute euphemisms for writing like “teller of tales.” He is the author of the young adult superhero books Kensei and The Love of Danger. In his copious spare time, he is the co-editor of Mad Scientist Journal. He lives in Seattle with his herd of cats and his lovely wife (and fellow author) Dawn Vogel. You can find Jeremy at www.bolthy. com.

JOHN (J.A.) PITTS
As a key member of the Pacific Northwest Dark Forces Defense League, J. A. Pitts keeps a low- key public profile. In his most recent interview, word-wizard Pitts is quoted as saying, “Can’t just have any old troll or pixie showing up at my day job, now can I? I’ve got a kid in college and a mortgage to pay.” Rumors of his connections with notorious bard Ken Scholes have yet to be proven.

JOHN LOVETT
John Lovett has over twenty years of experience as a producer, writer, and military technical adviser for television and film productions. He has written or co-written two produced movies as well as over one hundred television or motion picture scripts. He teaches screenwriting Bellevue College and has taught screenwriting and motion picture production at national writers conferences.

JON LASSER
Jon Lasser lives in Seattle, WA. He is a graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop. His stories have won the Writers of the Future contest and been shortlisted for the James White award. They have appeared or are forthcoming in Galaxy’s Edge, Diabolical Plots, DarkFuse, and elsewhere. When not writing or working in tech, Jon plays with his children, cooks, and scuba dives. He prefers cold- water over tropical diving. Find him on the web at twoideas.org and on Twitter as @disappearinjon.

JOSEPH BRASSEY
Joseph Brassey lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, children, and two cats. In his spare time, he trains in, and teaches, Historical European Martial Arts. He has lived on both sides of the continental United States and has worked everywhere from a local newspaper to the frameshop of a crafts store to the smoke-belching interior of a house-siding factory with questionable safety policies.

JOSEPH CARRIKER
Joseph Carriker is a game developer for Green Ronin, as well as working on other games such as Fantasy AGE and the Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting books. He has worked in the gaming industry for over 15 years. He is an outspoken queer gamer, having helped found the annual Queer as a Three-Sided Die panels at Gen Con and other conventions. He is also novelist, having recently published his first novel, Sacred Band, about a team of LGBTQ superheroes.

JOY ALYSSA DAY
Joy is a professional artist, and her work is in collections internationally. With her partner, BJ Johnson, Joy has expanded into sculptural works, creating large installations with glassblowing, carving, and painting. She also works small pieces, the most famous being their solar system ornament set and the TARDIS fridge kit. Joy got her start with costuming, winning many master-class awards, but now focuses on artworks and running a small kitty rescue shelter for abandoned and abused kitties.

JULIE DILLON
Julie Dillon is a Hugo Award- winning artist from Northern California. She has had a livelong love of fantasy, science fiction, and art, and she is very grateful she’s been able to make a career out of her combined passions. Her clients include Tor Books, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Books, Wizards of the Coast, Oxford University Press, Llewellyn Worldwide, and Popular Science magazine. Her artwork is available at www.juliedillonart.com

JULIE MCGALLIARD
Julie McGalliard is a writer and occasional cartoonist. Her first novel, Waking Up Naked in Strange Places, was released in 2015. Her short stories have appeared in the magazine Talebones and in the anthologies Witches, Stitches & Bitches: A Three Little Words Anthology (Volume 1) and Space Grunts: Full-Throttle Space Tales #3. She lives in Seattle with her husband Paul, a fellow lover of books and New Orleans.

K TEMPEST BRADFORD
K. Tempest Bradford is a speculative fiction writer by night, a media critic and culture columnist by day, and an activist blogger in the interstices. Her fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Electric Velocipede, and illustrious anthologies such as Diverse Energies. She’s also a regular contributor to NPR, io9, and books about Time Lords. Visit her blog: KTempestBradford.com

K. C. ALEXANDER
K. C. Alexander is the author of Necrotech and Nanoshock, aggressive transhumanist sci-fi, and is the co-author of Bioware’s Mass Effect -Andromeda: Nexus Uprising. Specialties include imperfect characters, reckless profanity, and an inclination to defy expectations.

K.G. ANDERSON
A career journalist and technology writer, K.G. Anderson has interviewed Muddy Waters and Harlan Ellison, reviewed the World Wide Web for an Apple ezine, worked on the launch of the iTunes Music Store, and served on the board of Clarion West. Her stories have appeared in anthologies including the Aurora-winning Second Contacts, Welcome to Dystopia, and More Alternative Truths as well as online at Metaphorosis, Ares Magazine, and Far-Fetched Fables. Visit her at writerway. com/fiction.

KARI ANN RAMADORAI
Kari Ann Ramadorai is a Seattle creativity junkie and science enthusiast who runs parallel lives in SF/F writing and early childhood librarianship. Books and science education weave in and out of both lives, bringing adventure from the smallest experience. She loves spending time with the youngest learners and creating new universes and faerie realms.

KAT RICHARDSON
Kat Richardson is the bestselling author of the Greywalker paranormal detective novels and the author of upcoming science fiction novels under the name K. R. Richardson. She lives in the wilds of Western Washington with her husband and two dogs, where they hunt yetis. They haven’t caught one yet, but they’re still looking....

KATE RISTAU
Kate Ristau is an author and folklorist who writes young adult and middle grade fiction, like Clockbreakers and Shadow Girl. In her ideal world, magic and myth combine to create memorable stories with unforgettable characters. Until she finds that world, she’ll live in Oregon, with her husband, her son, and her dog.

KATHRYN BRANT
Kathryn Brant has been sewing for years. She rolled into costuming while attending science fiction conventions; she is a master class costumer.

KAY KENYON
Kay Kenyon is the author of 14 science fiction and fantasy novels, most recently At the Table of Wolves, a historical fantasy. It is set in 1936 England when Talents have come into the world, and a woman uses her gift for hearing the truth, the spill, to uncover a Nazi plot to subdue England with a mysterious power over ice and cold. (“A superb adventure.” --PW starred review) Book 2 of the trilogy, Serpent in the Heather, releases April 10. Follow Kay: Twitter, @KayKenyon and www. kaykenyon.com.

KEERAWA
keerawa is a writer, an aspie, a pod-ficcer, a fan, a level-110 druid, a level 12 sylvan sorcerer with a honey badger pet, and an advocate of transformative culture. Ze believes that fans are not “consumers” of media. We are critics, commentators, and creators who make fandom up as we go, because storytelling is too important to leave in the hands of the professionals.

KEN ANDERSON
Ken Alexander is a thirty year veteran of the U.S. Navy and has worked as an engineering consultant for the last 25 years. While in the Navy he developed the U.S. Navy’s first emergency management program and he served as the Navy liaison at FEMA Region X for the last six years of his Navy service. As an engineering consultant he has advised his clients in the planning, design and construction of resilient infrastructure, primarily in the water and wastewater field, and he wrote over a dozen emergency management plans for water and wastewater utilities. He is a registered professional engineer in four states and is a certified emergency manager with the International Association of Emergency Managers.

KENT HAMILTON
Kent Hamilton is a professional Illustrator and concept artist. For the last six years he has worked on a variety of movie and video game projects, but has recently made the switch to working for board game and publication companies such as Paizo Publishing and Petersen Games. He loves science fiction, fantasy and fishing.

KIM RITCHIE
Kim Ritchie is a member of the Fairwood Writers Group.

KIVA MAGINN
Kiva Maginn is the Lead Designer for BattleTech at Harebrained Schemes, where she’s making giant robots fight and making their pilots kiss. She’s been in the video game industry for 15 years, doing game system design and battling her impostor syndrome. She’s worked on large-scale MMOs and tiny mobile games and all the stuff in between. She collects old and obscure RPG systems like other people collect comics. You can follow her at @HBS_thratchen, or follow her game at battletechgame.com.

KRISTINA PAULSEN

KURT CAGLE
Kurt is a published author of words technical and mythopoeic, a designer of information systems and semantic perambulations, a future historian, a keeper of cats (or at least cat), the spouse of a writer of stories of mice, a sirenophile, and a steampunker. Kurt is also a professional blogger, a humanist, a proud Scottish Neanderthal, an architect (INTP), a coffeeshop addict, and an ontologist. Kurt is the author of Voyage of the Canto, Lady Jane Doe, and Storme Crow: Sins of Our Fathers, all published by SeaTails.

LAURA ANNE GILMAN
Since her first novel in 2004, Laura Anne Gilman has established a reputation for herself with darker-edged fantasy, both urban and epic. She is the Nebula- and Endeavor-nominated author of The Devil’s West novels, The Vineart War trilogy, and the Cosa Nostradamus series, as well as the story collections Dragon Virus and Darkly Human. She also wrote the Seattle-based Gin & Tonic mystery series under the name L.A. Kornetsky. Her most recent release is the third Devil’s West novel, Red Waters Rising.

LEE MOYER
A portrait of Lee Moyer in four decades: 1. Starving artist; 2. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History; 3. Art director for EA, Hasbro, Sony, and Fox; 4. Illustrator for Stephens King & Sondheim, George R.R. Martin, Tori Amos, Iain M Banks, The Call of Cthulhu, Spider-Man 2, 13th Age, The Doom That Came to Atlantic City, and a trio of literary pin-up calendars. There’s a cunning plan forming, so if you’d like to see more literary pin-ups, please let him know. www.leemoyer.com @lccmoyer

LILITH DAWN
Lilith Dawn is an author, performance artist, humorist, and all-around swell gal. Under the name Lilith von Fraumench, she contributed to the SubGenius books Revelation X and The Bobliographon. Now she turns her eye toward writing hard SF. Also, performing as Lilith Van Dyke, she emcees burlesque shows at Norwescon and other shows in the Seattle area. She is also a trans activist, an experienced kinkster, a headbanger, and all-around geek. She currently lives in Kirkland under protest.

LISA MANTCHEV
Lisa Mantchev writes picture books for kids, speculative fiction for teens, and smut for grown-ups. Her first picture book, Strictly No Elephants, was an NCTE Charlotte Huck Award Honorable Mention and a WA State Book Award Finalist. It was also translated in 11 languages, endorsed by Amnesty International, and developed into a musical for children. Her Théâtre Illuminata trilogy includes the Andre Norton and Mythopoeic awards- nominated Eyes Like Stars, and her steampunk novel, Ticker, was a Kindle #1 bestseller.

LISH MCBRIDE
Lish McBride writes funny and creepy young adult books such as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer; Necromancing the Stone; Firebug; and Pyromantic. She is a regular contributor to Tor.com, including a reoccurring book recommendation post called Necessary Whimsy. Her first book, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults title, Morris Award finalist, and Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award winner. While she has no long-term goals for world domination, she would like her own castle.

LIZ BARLOW
Liz Barlow is a Seattle native who has been writing fiction for 16 years. She will also totally team up with you to fight zombies and/or Daleks. Liz is passionate about video games, writing, conventions of all geek-types, and LEGO bricks. She also gets physically uncomfortable if a week passes in Seattle without rain.

LIZ COURTS
Liz blames her brother for all of this. An avid gamer for almost 30 years, Liz has worked on over 80 different RPG products, helped organize the first unofficial PaizoCon, started and headed the Wayfinder fanzine, went to work for Paizo after being a member of its community for five years, and is now a mostly organic, free-range artist and graphic designer. Liz also likes art, baking, coffee, and all things ninja, but not always in that order. She is not a werewolf.

MARK TEPPO
Mark Teppo is the founder and publisher of Resurrection House, an independent genre publisher. He is the author of more than a dozen novels, including The Potemkin Mosaic, Earth Thirst, and Lightbreaker. He also teaches about writing and living a creative life.

MARTA MURVOSH
Marta is a YA librarian and fiction writer in the Pacific Northwest. She grew up watching Star Trek reruns and lunar landings. She loves pulp fiction with gnarly apocalypses and hard- boiled mysteries. Prior to becoming a librarian, she was an award-winning newspaper reporter and continues to write for national trade magazines. She will talk anywhere, anytime about books, writing craft, research skills, digital literacy and digital citizenship. http://murvosh.weebly.com/

MASHA LEPIRE
Masha Lepire is a Seattle-based sound designer, composer, and conductor. She began her Old Norse translation and culture studies at UCLA under the renowned Dr. Jackson Crawford. As a writer, she creates Viking-inspired content for the tabletop RPG Blood and Bone by Arcana Games. Her Norse -inspired musical creations can also be heard on Spotify and Bandcamp with her band, The Travelers VGM.

MATT MUENCHRATH

MARY FORBES

MATT VANCIL

MC-3PO
Death*Star, the hardest working nerdcore hip- hop group in show business, has returned to Norwescon! We bring you raps about sad villains, video games, online dating, romantic failures, table top tragedies, and hoarding! The storytellers of the nerdcore scene invite you to enjoy our panels and our performances.

MEG ELISON
Meg Elison is a Bay Area writer and the author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife and The Book of Etta from 47North. She has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, is a high school dropout, and a graduate of UC Berkeley. Find her at megelison.com, @megelison

MELISSA “MERLISSA” THOMAS
Melissa “Merlissa” Thomas, also known online as “Little Orca,” has been part of the mermaid community since 2008 when she got her first monofin and made her first tail. Since then, she has made seven additional tails over the years and has acquired a silicone tail made by Merbella Studios. She has volunteered at Faerie Worlds for the past four years and served as inspiration for other merfolk to achieve their dreams regardless of body image issues and society pressure to look a certain way.

MELISSA QUINN
Melissa Quinn’s life took a sharp turn when she discovered costuming at her first sci-fi convention. She opened Faerie Fingers Custom Costumes & Event Apparel in Seattle, where she spent the last 20 years creating costumes and unique event attire for clients around the country. Her current pursuits include cosplaying with her daughter and launching her YouTube channel, Faerie Fingers.

MERIS MULLALEY
Meris Mullaley is an artist, cosplayer, and erstwhile-archaeologist known online as Fabric Alchemist. She was raised on Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, and A Wrinkle in Time. Her training in archaeology means she overthinks her D&D characters’ backstories and spends too much time exploring every single room in a dungeon. Currently training to become a visual development artist, Meris is focusing on character and costume designs.

MICHAEL ORMES
Michael has a diverse and dynamic set of interests limited (largely) by time and focused (somewhat) by current projects. An avid reader of science fiction since finding the genre in his high school library, he learned to pace himself after running out of readily available SF novels later that same year. Normally describing himself as a computer programmer, a full account of his career would include four continents and involve most aspects of the software industry, with various side-trips into other areas.

MIKE BRENNAN
Mike Brennan fell into science fiction at the age of 12 and hasn’t surfaced yet. Along the way, SF led him to stints as a nuclear engineer, a naval officer on a submarine, a radiation health physicist, and a writer who dabbles in poems when no one is looking.

MIKE SCHINDLER
www.omfcares.org
Considered one of the nation’s leading subject matter experts on leadership development, government relations, and issues, Schindler, a U.S. Navy veteran transition veteran, is the founder and chief executive officer of Operation Military Family Cares –– a 501(c)(3) that provides veterans programs as well as fee for service consulting services to agencies and companies that desire to improve their veteran programs.

RANDY WESTHAUS

MIMI NOYES
Convinced that she was left on this planet by aliens and taken in by a kind lady who became her mother, Mimi has always been a bit peculiar. Drawn to the fantastic and the strange, she has “grown up” to be an artist with a focus on murals, a monster-maker and a film expert, amongst other random career choices. She is currently obsessed with Yuri on Ice, writing fan fiction, and making coloring books for adults. Mimi spends an inordinate amount of time being silly and adding sound effects to everyday life.

MINIM CALIBRE
In fandom for a quarter of a century. I pass the Turing test. Barely. If I cheat.

MUR LAFFERTY
Mur Lafferty is an author, editor, and podcaster. She is the co-editor of the Escape Pod podcast, co- host of the Hugo-nominated fancast Ditch Diggers, and the author of the novel Six Wakes. She lives in Durham with her husband and daughter.

NANCY KRESS
Nancy Kress is the author of 34 books, most recently Tomorrow’s Kin and its sequel, If Tomorrow Comes (Tor, 2018). Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. She is best known for her stories about the Sleepless, people genetically engineered to not need sleep, as well as other fiction featuring genetic engineering. Nancy frequently teaches writing at various venues, including numerous Clarions, summer writing workshops, an intensive workshop in Beijing, and a semester as a visiting professor at the University of Leipzig in Germany. She lives in Seattle with her husband, SF writer Jack Skillingstead.

NISI SHAWL
Tor published Nisi Shawl’s Nebula-nominated novel Everfair in September 2016. Her 2008 collection Filter House co-won a Tiptree Award. Shawl was guest of honor for Armadillocon 39 and WisCon 35. She co-edited Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany, and Strange Matings, a non-fiction anthology about Octavia E. Butler. She co-founded the Carl Brandon Society, a nonprofit supporting people of color in the fantastic genres and serves on Clarion West’s board of directors. Learn more at nisishawl.com.

NORMAN K. MOSS
Norman has owned Superior Machine in Snohomish County, Washington, since December of 2000. He has over 34 years of experience as a machinist and has worked on parts valued up to several million dollars. Norman is a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo and is an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where he fights heavy sword and board, combat archery and throwing (knife, axe and spear), and is a target archer. Norman is a member of the ANTIR Armorer’s guild and a U.S. Navy veteran.

ORCHID CAVETT
Orchid Cavett has been a costumer for over 24 years. She is currently a professional mermaid, occasionally moonlighting as a jellyfish. She enjoys being an extra for film and television when she can. She has participated in various Masquerades, sci-fi panels, parades, street/Ren Faires and other entertainment venues in Oregon, Washington, California and Arizona. She puts on a mermaid retreat in the summer and chairs Holidays at the Beach in Long Beach, Washington, in the fall. She is supposed to be retired! www.orchidthejellyfish. com

PAT MACEWEN
Pat MacEwen is a physical anthropologist (bone-freak) whose research is centered on genocide. She has background in forensics, war crime investigations, and marine biology. She writes sf, fantasy, horror, and mystery, and her books have been translated into three other languages. Her novel, Rough Magic, is the first in The Fallen, an urban fantasy/forensics trilogy. Her YA novel, The Dragon’s Kiss, is the first of a series about dragons, slavery, the meaning of “heart,” and the price of real freedom.

PATRICK HURLEY
Patrick Hurley was an editor for becker&mayer! books, where he worked on licensed properties for Marvel, Star Trek, and Star Wars, and as editorial project manager with Amazon Publishing’s 47North, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, and Lake Union imprints. He has had short fiction published in Galaxy’s Edge, Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores, Flame Tree Publishing, Penumbra, and The Drabblecast. He attended the 2017 Taos Toolbox Writer’s Workshop and is a member of SFWA.

PATRICK SWENSON
Patrick Swenson edited Talebones magazine for 14 years, and he still runs Fairwood Press, a book line, which began in 2000. A graduate of Clarion West, his first novel The Ultra Thin Man appeared from Tor in 2014. The sequel, The Ultra Big Sleep, appeared last summer. He has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others. He runs the Rainforest Writers Village retreat every spring at Lake Quinault, Washington.

PETER N. GLASKOWSKY
A leading innovator in computer architecture, Peter Glaskowsky helped found, fund, and build x86 microprocessor startup Montalvo Systems and most recently worked as a principal architect and silicon strategist at Microsoft. He is an inventor on 23 US patents, consults on intellectual-property matters, co-authored two books on space elevators, and has been active in science-fiction fandom for over 40 years. Will work for food.

PJ MANNEY
PJ Manney is the author of the bestselling and Philip K. Dick Award nominated (R) evolution, book one in the Phoenix Horizon series, and book two, (ID)entity. She is a former chairperson of Humanity+, author of non-fiction articles on empathy, human enhancement, and technology, and a frequent futurist speaker and guest. She wrote for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, and created numerous science fiction and fantasy pilot scripts for networks. She began her career as a movie executive.

RANDY HENDERSON
Randy Henderson is the author of the dark and quirky Finn Fancy urban fantasy trilogy from Tor. Randy is the 2014 Writers of the Future grand prize winner, a Clarion West graduate, and relapsed sarcasm addict who lives in Western Washington with audiobook narrator extraordinaire Folly Blaine, and his one-eyed tail-wagging friend Dogimus Maximus. Web: www.randy-henderson. com. Facebook: /randyhenderson. Twitter: @ randyauthor.

REI PAULSEN

RENEE STERN
Renee Stern is a former newspaper reporter turned freelance writer whose short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Gate, Evil Girlfriend Media’s Speculate!, and the anthologies Looking Landwards, Gears and Levers 3, Human Tales, and Sails & Sorcery: Tales of Nautical Fantasy. While her historical fantasy novel circulates, she’s writing the sequel.

RHIANNON HELD
Rhiannon Held is the author of the urban fantasy Silver series from Tor. The final book in the series, Death-Touched, will be out Spring 2018. She lives in Seattle, where she works as an archaeologist for an environmental compliance firm. Working in both archaeology and writing, she’s “lucky” enough to have two sexy careers that don’t make her much money. In her proverbial copious free time, she sings in a community choir, games online, and occasionally enjoys betting on the ponies.

RICHARD STEPHENS
Richard Stephens works as an actor, director and costume designer on the North Olympic Peninsula. Over the course of 30+ years in active fandom, Richard’s work in costume design has moved from mere historical recreation to the study of Fashion Anthropology. However, he is at heart still a very silly man, and loves to put random objects on his head as hats and never feels that you can put too many rhinestones, sequins or feathers on a costume.

RUSSELL ERVIN
Russell is an information technology entrepreneur, retired Navy captain, adventurer and aspiring writer. A nuclear submarine officer by training, he spent 18 years as a commanding officer. He was the deputy of submarine rescue during the 2005 rescue of Russian sailors trapped off Petropavlovsk. He has a degree in electrical engineering, speaks at macroeconomic conferences, and is an avid attendee of Clarion West writing workshops. Russell is home grown—Norwescon is his home con since 2005.

SANDRA M. ODELL
Sandra lives in Washington state with her husband, sons, and an Albanian miniature moose masquerading as a dog. Her work has appeared in such venues as Jim Baen’s Universe, Daily Science Fiction, Galaxy’s Edge, Crossed Genres, Pseudopod, Cast of Wonders, and Podcastle. Her short story collection, Broken in Beautiful Ways, will be released by Hydra House Books in early 2018.

SAR SURMICK
Sar Surmick is the director of the Consent Academy and works as a marriage and family therapist specializing in identity work and couples therapy. With offices in Redmond and Seattle, Sar works with a wide variety of clients, focusing on groups, non-monogamy, sex and gender, trans* youth, and BDSM/kink. Sar also works as sex- positive educator and organizer with the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture. In their down time, Sar is an author, gamer, GM, world builder, and seeker of interesting people.

SARAH GULDE
Sarah Gulde is the organizer of Nerd Camp, a Portland mini-con that focuses on diversity and inclusiveness with a healthy dose of fun! She has appeared on panels at Emerald City Comic Con, Rose City Comic Con, Wizard World, OryCon, and Westercon, and was the recipient of the 2014 John Andrews Memorial Scholarship to attend Worldcon in London. She’s a tiny bit of a Star Trek fan and also enjoys CrossFit, Pokemon GO, room escapes, road trips, and too many other fandoms to list here.

SCOTT JAMES MAGNER
Scott James Magner is an author, game designer, editor, and developer. His work has appeared in games such as Dungeons and Dragons, TERA Online, AEON, and Lineage II. He spends his days twisting and tuning new worlds, and is always looking for something new to learn.

SHEYE ANNE BLAZE
Sheye Anne Blaze grew up reading Roger Zelazny and Piers Anthony books that were left about by her uncle. She is a gadgetry, geeky, queer, kinky, fat, polyamorous, activist-type of Native (Lakota). She has a passion for civil liberties for everyone, including Klingons, Stormtroopers, Drow, and Cylons. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, two children, every Heroscape piece ever made, more than 15,000 Magic cards, The Box of Many Munchkins, hundreds of video games, and more computers than humans.

SHUBZILLA
Shubzilla is a rapper based out of Renton, WA. She has performed in venues such as the Lo-Fi, Substation, Nectar Lounge, and Funhouse. Shubzilla is a co-founder of The Nerdy People of Color Collective, a group of nerds of color who strive to promote diversity and inclusion in geek and nerd spaces. She is also a co-founder and a staff member for GeekGirlCon, a Seattle-based organization dedicated to celebrating the female geek.

SHWETA ADHYAM
Shweta is an sff writer, data analyst, Hindu- mythology enthusiast and martial-arts student who grew up in Madras, Tamil Nadu and lives in Seattle, WA. She has been a physics grad student, an astronomy grad student and an actuary. Opinions on all these subjects, and others besides.

SIENNA SAINT-CYR
Sienna Saint-Cyr writes about sex, BDSM, and important related topics. Along with writing erotica and romance, she speaks at conventions, workshops, and private gatherings on such sex- positive topics as a healthy body image, using sexuality to promote healing, and navigating diverse or non-traditional relationships. She also runs a local writing workshop and a small press with a focus on shifting rape culture.

SPENCER ELLSWORTH
Spencer Ellsworth wrote his first novel at seven years old and never recovered. His debut novel, A Red Peace, came out from Tor.com Publishing in 2017, followed by the sequel Shadow Sun Seven & Memory’s Blade. His short fiction is available and forthcoming at Tor.com, Lightspeed Magazine, Podcastle, and many others. He writes, teaches and edits in Bellingham, Washington, plays in local band Pawnbroker and is married to fantasy artist Chrissy Ellsworth with three children of the apocalypse.

STEVEN BARNES
Steven Barnes has published over three million words of fiction and non-fiction, as well as almost two dozen produced hours of television, including Stargate, Andromeda, Outer Limits, and Twilight Zone, and most recently the television movie The Good House for Lifetime network. Norwescon is his favorite convention of the year.

SUSAN CHANG
Susan Chang is a senior editor at Tor Books. After graduating from Vassar College with a degree in Medieval and Renaissance studies, she began her publishing career at HarperCollins Children’s Books, where she worked for nine years before moving on to shorter stints at Hyperion Books for Children and Parachute Publishing, a book packager. In January 2004, Susan got her dream job at Tor Books, where she acquires and edits books for the Starscape middle grade and Tor Teen young adult imprints.

TANYA D.
Tanya is the founder and director of I Need Diverse Games, a not-for-profit foundation based in Chicago. She’s the newest addition to the Spawn on Me podcast, the Diversity Liaison for GaymerX , the programming coordinator for OrcaCon, and often speaks on issues of diversity, feminism, race, intersectionality and other topics at conventions. Her writing appears in Uncanny Magazine, Polygon, Vice Gaming, Waypoint, Wiscon Chronicles, Paste Games and other publications.

TEGAN MOORE
Aliens, bizarre worlds, and the idea of radical difference drew Tegan Moore to speculative fiction as a child. She finds her own aliens now closer to home: in the emotional lives of animals, in humans who might not be entirely human, in the monsters we make out of our own frustrations and fears. Tegan is a graduate of Clarion West and has been published in Asimov’s Science Fiction and Strange Horizons. She is a professional dog trainer, is allergic to chocolate and only has eight toenails.

THERESA HALBERT
Theresa Halbert is a textile artist with a focus on costumes, art quilts, and art bags. She has worked professionally in theater for over 20 years in Chicago and Los Angeles and received her MFA from the University of Southern California. She has received awards at Worldcon and Norwescon for her costumes, and won for her artwork at Norwescon, OryCon and other shows for her artwork.

TIM PRATT
Tim Pratt is the author of over 20 novels, most recently the space opera The Wrong Stars, first in the Axiom series, and a Philip K. Dick Award finalist! His short stories have appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Year’s Best Fantasy, and other nice places. He’s a Hugo Award winner for short fiction, and has been a finalist for World Fantasy, Sturgeon, Stoker, Mythopoeic, and Nebula Awards, among others. He’s a senior editor at Locus magazine, and lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.

TINA CONNOLLY
Tina Connolly is the author of the Ironskin trilogy from Tor Books, the Seriously Wicked series from Tor Teen, and the collection On the Eyeball Floor from Fairwood Press. Her books have been finalists for the Nebula, the Norton, and the World Fantasy awards. She frequently narrates for podcasts, runs the flash fiction podcast Toasted Cake, and is a co- host of Escape Pod. Find her at tinaconnolly.com.

TOD MCCOY
Tod McCoy is a Seattle-based writer whose work has appeared in Asimov’s, Starward Tales II, The People’s Apocalypse, Bronies: For the Love of Ponies, AntipodeanSF.com, Qarrtsiluni.com, and The Gloaming. A Clarion West graduate and current board member, he’s the publisher behind Hydra House, whose catalog includes Telling Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow, two collections by Cat Rambo: Near+Far, which generated a Nebula nomination, and Neither Here Nor There, as well as the forthcoming Godfall & Other Stories by Sandra Odell.

TOM GILSTER

TORREY STENMARK
Torrey Stenmark is an award- winning costumer and a college chemistry instructor. The same skill set that earned her a master’s degree in organic chemistry (attention to detail, record keeping, delicate physical coordination, refusal to be intimidated by new problems) enabled her to compete and win in the master’s division of several costume contests on the local and national scale. She now teaches at Shoreline Community College.

TRITON MAHTLINNIE
Mahtlinnie is a triton and life-long resident of Puget Sound. Mahtlinnie has come ashore to share their love of magic, merfolk, and the maritime world with the land-folk.

V WHITLOCK
Victoria has spoken around the world on topics of privacy, computer security and women’s history. She has written and contributed to over 13 books on highly technical topics involving Oracle. Victoria loves learning, sharing and is now working on a pairing blog for food and wine.

WENDY WASIK

YL’LURIA WATERSONG
Yl’luria WaterSong began sharing her fins with the world over four years ago as a professional mermaid entertainer. Now, she travels throughout Oregon & the PNW flipping her fins, entertaining children of ALL ages on land & in the water, while spreading the message that EVERYbody deserves to live their dreams! She also sings, makes 2D & 3D art, loves all things bellydance, fantasy, folklore, & horror, and enjoys incorporating all of these elements into her work. This is definitely one well- rounded mermaid!

Memorials

2018

ADAM WEST
SEPTEMBER 19, 1928 – JUNE 9, 2017

An American actor whose career spanned seven decades, Adam West was widely known for his role as Batman in the 1960s ABC series Batman and its 1966 theatrical feature film. He was born in Walla Walla, Washington, attended Walla Walla High School during his freshman and sophomore years, moved to Seattle when he was 15, and enrolled in Lakeside School in Seattle. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in literature and a minor in psychology from Whitman College in Walla Walla. In his youth, he told his father that after school he would go to Hollywood. He appeared in many movies and TV shows including: Robinson Crusoe on Mars, Outer Limits episode “The Invisible Enemy”, Hell Riders, Zombie Nightmare, Doin’ Time on Planet Earth, Omega Cop, Séance, Angels with Angles, and Sexina. West performed voice work on many animations, including: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Meet the Robinsons, The Secret Files of the SpyDogs, The Batman, and numerous video games.

BERNIE WRIGHTSON
OCTOBER 27, 1948 – MARCH 18, 2017

Bernie Wrightson was an American artist, co-creator of the Swamp Thing, with the writer Len Wein. He was known for his lush, intricate, otherworldly visions of horror. He devoted seven years to one of his most personal works: an adaptation of Frankenstein for Marvel Comics.

BILL PAXTON
MAY 17, 1955 – FEBRUARY 25, 2017

An American actor and director, Bill Paxton appeared in such films as The Terminator (a minor role as a punk thug), Weird Science (brother Chet), Aliens (remember “Game Over, Game Over?”), Predator 2, Apollo 13, and Twister. He was also in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Edge of Tomorrow, and lent his voice to the video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare - Exo Zombies. Paxton directed several short films, including the music video for Barnes & Barnes’ novelty song “Fish Heads.” In the early 1980s, Paxton and his friend Andrew Todd Rosenthal formed a new wave musical band called Martini Ranch. The band released its only full-length album, Holy Cow, in 1988. The music video for the single “Reach” was directed by James Cameron, produced by Devo member Bob Casale, and featured guest appearances by two other Devo members,

CHERYL FERGUSON
APRIL 3, 1952 – FEBRUARY 5, 2018

Cheryl Ferguson was a longtime volunteer with Norwescon, a mover and shaker. She found Norwescon over 30 years ago, and shortly thereafter started volunteering behind the scenes in the event tech team supporting AV needs for panels and special events, eventually taking over the management of the team. She moved up the ranks and was the Director of Convention Services, the onsite convention runner, for many years, later becoming our Vice Chair, and was a recipient of the Lifetime Membership Award for her years of dedication to the convention. She was a welcoming force to new members of the convention committee when they first joined up to volunteer, and made everyone feel supported and valued. She had the right amount of nurturing and push to get the job done, the ability to deescalate an issue quickly, and made lots of friends in the process. Her Texas roots gave her this skill.

She loved her horses, her dachshund, and Jordan Orr. Together they shared their farm on Whidbey Island with friends, and some of the ConCom members enjoyed “retreats” to help with various projects there. She will be great missed by all who knew and loved her.

CHRIS ‘RAVENWOOD’ NEFEDOW
OCTOBER 13, 1970 – AUGUST 22, 2017

Chris “Ravenwood” Nefedow was a long time staff member of RainFurrest and Vancoufur. At RainFurrest he brought all Toons for your “Cereal and Toons.” He volunteered in operations and treasury. Ravenwood also volunteered at V-Con Operations.

GORDON ERICKSON
OCTOBER 26, 1956 – JANUARY 4, 2018

Gordon “Gort” Erickson was on the committee for the first Norwescon. He ran the film program (with actual celluloid and film projectors!) in the early years of the convention and later helped with the dances and other areas of the convention. He was a valuable asset due to his ability to look at an issue and come up with a simple solution. Before Norwescon, he was a member of the Puget Sound Star Trekkers and was active in many other areas of fandom. Gort loved music, movies, and model making. He wrote one screenplay which was produced in to a short film.

HARUO NAKAJIMA
JANUARY 1, 1929 – AUGUST 7, 2017

Haruo Nakajima was a Japanese actor, best known for portraying Godzilla in twelve consecutive films, starting from the original 1954 Godzilla until 1972’s Godzilla vs. Gigan. He played various other giant monsters, and was considered to be the best suit actor. He began his career as a stunt actor in samurai films. Beginning in the late 1990s, Nakajima made a series of personal appearances at various Japanese monster- themed conventions, including Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank, California, in April 2011.

JERRY POURNELLE
AUGUST 7, 1933 – SEPTEMBER 8, 2017

Jerry Pournelle was a science fiction writer and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte (1970s through early 1990s), describing his experiences with computer hardware and software. He also published articles on military tactics and war gaming. Pournelle’s work engaged strong military themes, with several books centering on a fictional mercenary infantry force. Science fiction fans knew him as the author of novels like Janissaries and Starswarm. Pournelle also wrote with other authors; Larry Niven was a favorite collaborator. Their work included The Mote in God’s Eye, Lucifer’s Hammer, Inferno, Escape From Hell, and Footfall. He spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying the heat tolerance of astronauts in spacesuits, military tactics, and probabilities. Jerry Pournelle received a Bachelor of Science in psychology in 1955, a Master of Science in psychology in 1958, and a doctorate in political science in 1964 from the University of Washington. He is recognized as the first author to have written a published contribution to a book using a word processor on a personal computer in 1977.

JOHN DALMAS
DECEMBER 3, 1926 – JUNE 15, 2017

A science fiction author from the Northwest, and a strong, comforting presence in the NW convention scene, John Dalmas was a warm and engaging man with a good take on life and a great sense of humor. He was a good friend to MosCon and PESFA (Palouse Empire Science Fiction Association). He wrote many books based on military and governmental themes. John’s first published novel was The Yngling, serialized beginning in the October–November 1969 issue of Analog. Friends suggest that you pick up a couple of his books.

JOHN MOLLO
MARCH 18, 1931 – OCTOBER 25, 2017

John Mollo was a British costume designer most known for his Oscar-winning costume design for the Star Wars film series. He admitted he had never watched a science fiction movie before working on Star Wars. Using Ralph McQuarrie’s sketches, Mollo designed the outfits for Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers. Accepting the Oscar for best costume design in 1978, Mollo remarked, “As you see, the costumes from Star Wars are really not so much costumes as a bit of plumbing and general automobile engineering.” Other films for which he provided costume design include Alien, The Empire Strikes Back, Outland, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, The Three Musketeers, The Jungle Book, and Event Horizon.

JOHN YOUNG
SEPTEMBER 24, 1930 – JANUARY 5, 2018

John Young was an American astronaut, naval officer, aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He had the longest career of any astronaut, 42 years. He was the ninth person to walk on the moon with the Apollo 16 mission in 1972, and the first person to fly six space missions. Young was the only person to have piloted and commander of four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle. Young retired on December 31, 2004, and in 2012, published an autobiography, Forever Young.

JORDIN KARE
OCTOBER 24, 1956 – JULY 19, 2017

Jordin Kare was a physicist and aerospace engineer known for his research on laser propulsion and was active in the science fiction fan community, as a composer, performer and recording artist of filk music. He co-founded LaserMotive, Inc., a laser power-beaming entrant in the Elevator:2010 Beam Power Challenge. He was a regular attendee and program participant at science fiction conventions starting in 1975. Kare was an editor of The Westerfilk Collection: Songs of Fantasy and Science Fiction. An astrophysicist character with his name appears in War of Honor and Torch of Freedom.

KARRIE DUNNING
JUNE 11 1951 – APRIL 11, 2017

Karrie Dunning was an active fan in the early days of Norwescon and with Puget Sound Star Trekkers. She loved sci-fi, and was a lifelong Beatles fan and animal lover. Karrie was a member of the Vanguard group and was part of the unsuccessful bid to bring the Worldcon to Seattle in 1981. She was a world traveler, traveling for both work and for pleasure to the South Georgian Islands, the Bering Sea, Punta Arenas, Chile, Antarctica, Java, Bali, Indonesia, Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Alaska, Germany, and Mexico. The “Six Foot Amazonian Jug Band” will be missed.

LEN WEIN
JUNE 12, 1948 – SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

An American comic book writer and editor, Len Wein is best known for co-creating DC Comics’ Swamp Thing, Marvel Comics’ Wolverine, and for helping revive the X-Men in 1975, including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. Wein was very sick as a child. While in the hospital at age seven, his father brought him a stack of comic books, and he was hooked. An eighth grade art teacher told him that he had talent. Wein was aiming to become an artist when someone at DC suggested his art wasn’t quite there, but they liked his writing. Wein had writing credits on numerous television shows. He was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons’ influential DC miniseries, Watchmen.

MARTIN LANDAU
JUNE 20, 1928 – JULY 15, 2017

Martin Landau was an American actor, acting coach, and producer. His career began in the 1950s with an early film appearance in a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest. He played a regular role as a master of disguise in the television series Mission: Impossible and in Space: 1999 as the commander. His performance as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood earned him an Academy Award for best supporting actor, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Golden Globe Award. Landau researched the role of Lugosi by watching about 25 old Lugosi movies. His other films include Tucker: The Man and His Dream and The X-Files. He also appeared on television in The Twilight Zone (old and new), The Outer Limits, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

PAMELA ANN RAPINAN
JUNE 8, 1964– APRIL 2, 2017

Pamela Rapinan was a fixture at many northwest science fiction and fantasy conventions with her massage table and healing energy. Her sign said, “If you think you need a massage, then you do,” and was correct. If anyone needed a happy thought, she was there for them, being awesome and positive. Pamela loved an adventure, food, gatherings, dressing up at cons, growing spiritually, hula hoops, dancing, and overall, she loved Life.

PAUL J. WEITZ
JULY 25, 1932 – OCTOBER 23, 2017

Paul Weitz was an astronaut who went in to space aboard Skylab and the space shuttle, later serving as a NASA official. Among his many accomplishments, Weitz commanded the first flight of the space shuttle Challenger, and logged nearly 800 total hours in space.

URSULA KROEBER LE GUIN
OCTOBER 21, 1929 – JANUARY 22, 2018

Ursula K. Le Guin was an American novelist. She also wrote children’s books, short stories (mainly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction), poetry, and essays. First published in the 1960s, her work imagined alternative worlds of politics, environmentalism, gender, religion, sexuality, and ethnography. In 2016, The New York Times described her as America’s greatest living science fiction writer, although she said that she would prefer to be known as an American novelist. She won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, Locus Award, and World Fantasy Award, each more than once. In 2003, she was made a Grandmaster of Science Fiction, one of a few women writers to take this top honor.

In her youth, Le Guin was encouraged to read and was exposed to their parents’ dynamic friend group. She heard a lot of interesting, grown- up conversations. Her first fantasy story was written at age 9. Her first science fiction story was submitted for publication, in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction, at age 11. In her later days she taught writing at Clarion West, Portland State University, Reading University in England, Tulane University, Bennington College, Stanford, and San José State University.

VICKI MITCHELL GUSTAFSON
APRIL 19, 1954 – APRIL 13, 2017.

Victoria “Vicki” Estelle Mitchell Gustafson was publicly known as V.E. Mitchell, best-selling Star Trek author. Vicki joined PESFA (The Palouse Empire Science Fiction Association) in 1977, and became a core member of the group which put on the small-but-great convention, MosCon. She was a part of Writers’ Bloc writing workshop. Vicki worked as a geologist and mine historian for the Idaho Geological Survey. In 2006, her mine histories won the Esto Perpetua Award for lifetime contributions to Idaho history. Vicki’s Star Trek novels were Enemy Unseen, Imbalance, Windows on a Lost World, and the YA novel Atlantis Station. In addition, she wrote The Tale of the Bad- Tempered Ghost, Pool Party Panic, Against the Night, and the short story “Ekaterin.”

ZACK WILLHOITE
MARCH 19, 1982 – DECEMBER 18, 2017

Norwescon lost another one of our own when the Amtrak train Zack Willhoite was riding with his best friend Jim derailed south of Dupont, Washington. Zack was born, raised, and lived in the Puyallup/Tacoma area. He worked at Pierce transit in the IT department and brought that skill to Norwescon.

Zack was a fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and came to volunteer with us following the Blue Mouse Troupe live RHPS performances at Norwescon. During the convention, when not putting out IT fires, he could be found roaming the halls enjoying his passion for photography and dropping into the dance to do the Time Warp.

Zack was a superhero in the world of buses and transit, a lifelong bus enthusiast, and an internationally-known transit authority known as “Busdude” (www.busdude.com). He even owned his own bus. He was a member of All Aboard Washington, a train enthusiast and lobbying group working on making trains safer and enjoyable for all. On the side, Zack still found time to be a fan of SF/F, RHPS, the SCA, bad movies, and great puns. Zack truly cared about his family and friends and would drop everything and go help with whatever was needed (frequently their IT problems!). Zack is survived by his wife, Taylor Tomblin, and his mother Dixie.

Art Show

2018

John P. Alexander
Alan F. Beck
Belsac Lauren Blake
Bruce Brenneise
Michael Brugger
Lori Burtis Laura Cameron Rob Carlos Peri Charlifu Alan M. Clark
Sarah Clemens Liz Copeland
Christopher Creath
Katie Croonenberghs
Lizzy D. Tiffany Dae
Julie Dillon
Braden Duncan
Elizabeth Fellows
Rebecca Flaum
Josh Foreman
Christy Grandjean
John R. Gray Iii
Laura Grover
Theresa Halbert
Vandy H. Hall
Danielle Harada
Heather Hart
Trish Hedegaard
Douglas Herring
Camille High
Debbie Hoover
Eden Hopkins
Katherine Howes
Heather Hudson
Jeliza
Erika Kaumeyer
David Ketcherside
LAWilson
L. Pierce Ludke
Lynne Magie
Amanda Makepeace
Theresa Mather
Agathon Mcgeachy
Mimu
Allen Morris
Betsy Mott
Lee Moyer
Musicdove
My Treehouse Studio
Jackie Duram Nilsson
Laurie Noel
Mimi Noyes
Ginger Opal
David Lee Pancake
Personal Space
Arlin Robins
Mark Roland
Sandra Santara
Scarletrabbit
Victoria Shaffer
Siren Cove Studios
Lisa Snellings
Doc Steam
Susan Stejskal
Aimee Stewart
Jeff Sturgeon
Sandra Swan
T. M. Originals
Andy Vanoverberghe
Eric Vargas
Keith Amarak Waters
Patty A Watson
Mevima Winn
Laura Tempest Zakroff

Dealers Room

2018

Angelwear
Apocalypse Ink Productions / Jennifer Brozek
Atlas Imaging
Cargo Cult Books & Notions
Celtic Moonlighting
Chronos Games and Gifts
Clockwork Dragon Books
Clover Creek Creations by Elleveve
Collageorama
Dark Repast Publishing
D.M. Darroch
DefCon One Publishing
Doce Blant Publishing
Dragon’s Hoard Games
Dragondyne Publishing
DragonStorm Sports
Rob & June Edwards
Elysium Books
Everett Comics
Firefox Fashions (The Fur Connection)
Forever Knight Games
Geek Lolita
Geisha Moth
Gem Games & Hobbies
Elizabeth Guizzetti
Humanoid Games
Hundeliebe Press
Let’s Play! Cafe
LittleCLUUs
Miss Haley Bombshell Boutique
Mountaineer West Productions
Nemesis Gear
OffWorld Designs, Inc.
One2Charisma
Optimystical Studios
Pandora House Crafts LLC
Pegasus Publishing
Pixelosis
Quicksilver Fantasies
Quinn & Bloom
Cat Rambo
Red Muse Press
SewCherie
Sinister Metalworks
Skydragons
Steelcraft
Story Smiths
Studio Catawampus
TANSTAAFL Press
The Shrubbery
Theresa Mather Fantasy Art
Yellow Rocket Collectibles

Norwescon Staff

Eligenim

Chair................Loree Parker
Elections ...............Kevin Black
Charities Co-Lead ......... Katrina Marier
Charities Co-Lead ...........Phillip Buff
Charities Assistant.......... Willow Clark
Info Manager...........Shannon Hillinger
Historian .............Michael Citrak
WikiTeam..............Wm Salt Hale
WikiTeam...............Don Glover
WikiTeam............Michael Hanscom
WikiTeam..............Scott Surber
MoPOPLiaison.............Doug Booze
ViceChair...............Tonya Clark
Hotel Liaison..............Kathy Bond
Secretary...............Katie Haas
SecretarySecond............Pearl Young
Onions & Roses Coordinator/Designer .. Colin Davis
Onions & Roses Lead Data Analyst.. Megan Langley
BusinessDirector ................ Business Director Second........ Eric Weber
Auditor..............Scott Swanson
Auditor................Mike Orosz
Purchasing Agent ......... Cherie Playter
Registration Liaison ......... Scott Surber
Acquisitions S.S............. Don Glover
Treasurer...............Brian Haas
Member Services Director ........Pat Booze
Member Services Second .........Geoff Gill
Registration Manager........ Jeffrey Cornish
Registration Services Staff ......Sally Woehrle
Registration Services Staff ..... Veronica Davis
Art Show Manager ...........Doug Booze
Asst. Art Director ...........Jeff LaCoss
Art Show Setup Lead ......... WaltThomas
Art Show Auctioneer ..........Jeff LaCoss
Print Shop Coordinator .........Laura Penty
Art Show GoH Liaison.......... Rob Carlos
Lead ashier..............Jean Carlos
Art Show Staff............Mark Sebring
Art Show Staff...........Caroline Westra
Art Show Staff .........Alexandra Demboski
Art Show Staff........... Julie emboski
Art Show Staff........... Canyon Swartz
Art Show Staff........... Tanya Rodgers
Art Show Staff..........Marjorie Stratton
Art Show Staff........... Logan Stewart
Art Show Staff......... LouAnna Valentine
Artist Liaison.............Rob Carlos
Information Table Manager .... Jennifer Douwes
Information Table Staff......... Katie Haas
Information Table Liaison.... Erik Stringer-Lund
Club Tables .............Shawn Marier
Dealers' Room Manager ........ Amy Gembala
Art In Action Coordinator ...... Peggy Stewart Cloakroom Staff ..........Warren Redman
Cloakroom Staff............Cheryl Buck
Cloakroom Staff.............Jeff Buck
Cloakroom Staff .......... Anita Caywood
Publications Director......... Cheryl Dyson
Publications Second .......... Emily Teng
Publications Staff Writer ....... June Bordas
Daily Zine Lead........... Scott Summers
Graphic Designer...........Scott Douwes
Photography Team Lead ...... Michael Hanscom
Photographer .............Thom Walls
Photographer ............ David Moore
Photographer............Patrick White
Photographer ........... Destry Hoover
Editing Team Lead ...........Kevin Black
Editor...............Rhonda Gilliam
Editor...............Veronica Sharp
Editor.................Kieran Alho
Editor.................Steve Allen
Editor.................Emily Teng
Web Team Lead/Webmaster .... Michael Hanscom
Social Media Lead ........ Michael Hanscom
Social Media Minions ..... Mirelle Celeste Young
Guidebook Editor............Kevin Black
Convention Services Director ..... Alexis Smith
Convention Services Deputy Director . Brad Nelson
Sheriff Sergeant...........Peter Horvath
Information Technology Manager . Jeri Lynn Cornish
CM System Specialist....... Jeri Lynn Cornish
IT Ninja...............Valerie Oliver
IT Ninja...............Michael Yust
IT Ninja.............RichardK ennedy
IT Ninja..............Jamesd Ballard
Deputy Director, Facilities Elizabeth Thomas-Rodolf
Hotel Layouts Designer ....... Michael Citrak
LayoutsAssistiant.......... Caryn Meyer
Logistics Manager ......... Eric Pawtowski
Logistics Staff..........Daniel Pawtowski
Logistics Staff ..........Yvonne Pawtowski
Logistics Staff........... William Boyde
AVServices: Mentor .......... Jordan Orr
AV Services Tech Assistant ......Gereth Rodolf
AV Services Tech Assistant ...... Walt Thomas
AV Services Tech Assistant ...... Jason Emery
AV Services Sound ...........James Byrd
Grand 3 Technical Manager .... Jackie Nordquist
GR3 Lighting Director ...... Mikail Nordquist
GR3 Sound Director....... Alexander Kiwerski
Art Show setup Team Leader ..... Walt Thomas
Asst. Director, Site Operations .... Devlin Perez
Safety and Security Manager .... Will Blackwell
Security Event Support Supervisor ... Scot Oliver
Security Patrol Supervsior ...... Scott Surber
Security Patrol Supervisor ..... Ryver Hankins
Security Staff.............Dan Farley
Security Staff ...........Craig Anderson
Security Staff............Jacklyn Hine
Security Staff .......... Jamal Stevenson
Security Staff .........Greywolfe Gallagher
Security Staff............Amanda Hart
Protective Services Supervisor ... Joshua Keegan
Peacebonding Supervisor ......... CP Dalen
Peacebonding Staff.........Antonio Tarrelli
Peacebonding Staff.......... Loki Tarrelli
Dispatcher.............Christy Zellmer
Dispatcher..............Mir Plemmons
Radio Systems Lead ..........Ben Hebert
Asst. Office Manager ..... Jenn Contreras-Perez
Bunny Runner ........... Vicky Rudesill
Programming Director ...... SunnyJim Morgan
Programming Second ........ Adrienne Loska
Art Track Lead.............Bryan Syme
Artist Workshop ...........Scott Douwes
Biological Sciences Track Lead ....Jake McKinzie Comics Track Lead ......... Mickey Schulz
Costume Track Lead ......... Lori Edwards
Culture Track Lead........ Sheye Ann Blaze
Editing/Publishing Track Lead .... Alaina Ewing
Fantasy Track Lead......... Adrienne Loska
Fanfic Track Lead ............Ruth Frey
Gaming Track Lead...........Donna Prior
History Track Lead...........Bill Gruner
Horror Track Lead ........ Julie McGalliard
Military Track Lead..........Russell Ervin
Music Track Lead........... Steven Perry
Popular Media Track Lead ....... Rob Stewart
Space Track Lead............Art Bozlee
Technology Track Lead ........ Mike Brennan
Writing Track Lead......... Adrinne Loska
Young Adult Track Lead ....... Lisa Mantchev
Youth Programming Track Lead .. Danielle Gembala
Youth Programming 2nd......... Eric Snyder
Autograph Sessions ...... Autumn Santercier
Pro Check-in Staff .........Amanda D'Haem
Pro Check-in Staff...........Toni Davey
Pro Check-in Staff .......... Bernie Strub
Workshops Coordinator ..... Autumn Santercier
Asst. Workshop Coord....... Tyson Santercier
Stage Management Lead ........ Scott Paice
Stage Management Staff ........ Judith Lyen
Pro Suite Staff..........Claudia McClusky
Pro Suite Procurement .........Zoe Himmah
GoH Selection Committee ...... Katrina Marier
GoH Selection Committee .....Jacquie Nordquist
Personnel Director ........ Jeanine Swanson
Personnel Second/ConCom Mtg. Hostess Pearl Young
Year Round Engagement...... Jackie Nordquist
Pride Parade........... Jeanine Swanson
PuyallupFair........... Jeanine Swanson
Swap Meet............Jeanine Swanson
Book Club...............Kathy Bond
Meet Ups ...............Kathy Bond
Training ................ Katie Haas
Customer Service & Safety Training ... Katie Haas Convention Lounge Hosts Lead ....Sadie Franzen
Convention Lounge/Entertainment Mycheal Gheparde
Convention Suite Hosts Second . Benjamin Schreiber
Volunteer Support Host Lead .... Rebecca Paice
Volunteer Support Staff ........ Starshadow
Signs..............Jeanine Swanson
Special Events Director......... Alan Bond
Closing Ceremonies.........Rob Stewart
PK Dick Awards Coordinator.... William Sadorus
GoH Banquet Coordinator ........ Kathy Bond
Dances Moderator ......... Michaela Zielke
Scheduled Gaming Director ...... Jeffrey Sloan
Sch. Gaming Rm. Mgr Second .....Earl McDaniel
Gaming Staff........... Michael Maughan
Gaming taff........... Richard Johnson
Gaming Staff........... Amanda Wigylus
Gaming Staff............Kimberly Bright
Gaming Staff............Laura Maughan
Gaming Staff........... Yang-Yang Wang
Gaming Scheduling ......... Bryan Bateman
Hero Corps Coordinator .........Chris Knoke
Single Pattern Contest ........ Alicia Faires
Concerts Director.............Dr. Owl
Concerts PR.............Dara Korra'ti
Lazer Tag Assistant ....... Elizabeth Fellows
Nerf Arena Coordinator ..... Steven Hasenbuhler
Nerf Assistant..........Elizabeth Fellows
Nerf Herder............Jennifer Baker
Masquerade Director ....... Jackie Nordquist
Front House Manager ........ Frieda Orsborn
Rocky Horror Coordinator ....... Michael Amos
Burlesque Director.......... Amber Clark
Burlesque Stage Manager ....... Elspeth Gotz
nwcMusic Coordinator ........ Dara Korra'ti
Karaoke Coordinator ........ Morgan Herring
Karaoke Co-Coordinator......... Katie Haas
MoviePreviews............Keith Johnson

Ammo

By Emma Törzs

I wanted to go shooting on my last night in Montana, but though we drove from store to store, we couldn’t get our hands on any ammo. Was this a state full of bulletless guns? Instead we drove out of town to a bar a famous poet used to frequent, and got drunk in the dim red light with a crowd of locals, mostly men. Only it turned out lots of them weren’t locals. Lots of them were transplants, like ourselves.

“I’ve been here thirty-five years,” said one old man, bolo-tied, his white beard gone yellow around the mouth. “If that’s not local, what is?”

“But you didn’t grow up here,” I said. “Your formative years were spent elsewhere.”

“Wrong,” he said. “I didn’t start forming till forty at least.”

Then he told me the reason we couldn’t get ammo. Gun companies, he said, liked to pretend they were always on the verge of running out, so people would panic and stock up. They rationed their bullets; sold some on Friday, some on Saturday, some on Sunday. Today had been Sunday. Furthermore, he said, it was gun companies who lobbied hardest for gun control laws, again trying to froth people into believing they had to buy up fast or lose their chance forever. Then, when the moment was right, they started lobbying back in the opposite direction.

I finished my whiskey. I said, “I guess by now I should be used to the ways of the world.”

“This not the world!” he said, angrily.

Some years later it was my last night in Boston and I was telling the story of my last night in Montana, how we couldn’t find bullets, how I’d gotten so drunk my friends had slung me into the wayback of someone’s Subaru and covered me with a purple blanket that smelled like dogs and wet leaves and then forgotten me until morning. “Let’s not have a repeat performance,” I said to my Boston friends. “If you put me in a car, you have to promise to take me out of it.”

We were in a Chinese restaurant, sitting at a red vinyl booth with an enormous pile of dirty dishes in front of us, straws dangling as we slurped from communal ponds of brightly-colored liquor. It was discovered that only one of us owned a car, anyway, and his was taken up by carseats and toys and had no room for a passed-out woman; “Believe me, I’ve checked,” he said, and someone else said, “Was that a rape joke?” I tried to bring the conversation back to bullets, and wanting to shoot them; I said, “Back then, we thought all danger could be tamed just because we were alive to it!”; but the moment for my story had passed.

That night I lay insomniac in my sleeping bag on the floor of my empty room and listened to a televised wrestling match clamor through the walls of the next apartment. I ended up thinking about the neighbor boy with whom I’d used to fight, and how our full-grinned red-faced tussles had been better practice for making love than any of the one-sided caresses I’d later accepted from the boys in junior high, and what did that say about love, or them, or me? The wrestling match next door got louder, and I realized maybe it was boxing, after all, or even tennis – all sports were the same to me, people getting physical to counteract the intangibility of life. I kicked my feet against the floorboards like a kid having a tantrum, and after a moment of this the television faded quiet. When I stopped, the volume went back up again.

Many years after that it was my last night in Oaxaca, and I was drinking mezcal in my daughter’s crowded kitchen. She’d been born here but collected folk art like a tourist, and from every corner brightly-painted animals stared crazily. Again I found myself telling how we’d tried to get bullets in Montana; this in an attempt to illustrate the insane workings of American corporate politics. Our Mexican friends shrugged, laughing. Their government barely even pretended to be on their side. Yes, they liked to hear about how America was corrupt and imploding, but their enjoyment was the same useless satisfaction you’d get from seeing your prettiest friend hangover-ugly, her face wrinkled like an old towel. Maybe she could look a mess, but you knew her flaws were nothing compared to your own, and to hear it suggested otherwise would be an affront to your own lifelong wounds.

Europeans, on the other hand, took great delight in pointing out every awful thing Americans had ever done, which put me on the defense even if I agreed. Excuse me, I always wanted to say to the Germans, but is your memory so short? Do we really want to go there?

“And people told me to be cautious here in Mexico,” a German friend snorted. “Sure, there is the drugs war, but in America you might die every time you visit a movie theater.”

“Of course you feel safe here,” said my daughter. “The danger isn’t yours.”

“Is it yours?” I asked her. “Passed down,” she said.

And eventually it was my last night on earth, and I remembered being young, and walking in the lush quiet of a Montana pine forest, the sweet smell of needles breaking silently beneath my feet. I wanted one more chance to tell that story, a chance to speak aloud the words I’d disregarded all those years ago but now repeated to myself as anathema against the dark encroaching barrel of life without me:

“This,” the man had said, “is not the world!”

I wished I’d asked – then what? – but it was too late, and I exploded out.

Emma Törzs is a writer, teacher, and chronic waitress based in Minneapolis. Her short fiction has been published in journals such as Ploughshares, The Threepenny Review, and Narrative, and will be appearing soon in Uncanny and Lightspeed. Her stories have been honored with a 2015 O. Henry Prize and a 2015 Missouri Review Editors' Prize, and she is an enthusiastic and grateful graduate of the Clarion West class of 2017.