NWC47 Program Book

Norwescon 47

The souvenir program book for Norwescon 47.

Kat Marier, Shelley George

Norwescon

April 17-20, 2025

English

Norwescon 47

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a James Bond-like man leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, one hand holding a blaster gun, the other dangling a sluglike alien by its tail.]

Through the Cosmic Telescope

The 47th Annual Pacific Northwest Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention

April 17–20, 2025
- SeaTac, WA •

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a velociraptor standing on a rocky slope.]

Front Cover: The Return of Retief © Wayne Barlowe
Page 2: Twilight Vigil - Velociraptor © Wayne Barlowe

Norwescon acknowledges that we conduct our meetings and hold our annual convention on the traditional land of the Salish and Coastal Salish peoples, including the Duwamish People - the first peoples of what is now called Washington State. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Duwamish Tribe: past, present, and future. This acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with indigenous communities but serves as a first step in honoring the land we are on.

Contents

• Letter From the Chair, 5
• Guests of Honor, 6
• Philip K. Dick Award, 16
• Professional Panelists and Performers, 21
• Artist GOH Wayne Barlowe Art Gallery, 42
• Comedy Showcase, 66
• Memorials, 71
• Artists & Dealers, 76
• Norwescon Staff Photos, 78
• Norwescon Staff Organization, 79
• Charitable Giving, 82

[Art by Douglas Herring of a humanoid brontosaurus wearing a classic Buck Rogers style red and gold singlet and carrying a ray gun in one hand.]

Letter From the Chair

Welcome to Norwescon, my name is Rob Stewart, and I will be your guide as we look Through the Cosmic Telescope. First, I would like to welcome you to Norwescon. If this is your first time attending or your 47th, welcome home. Let's first zoom in on our all-volunteer staff—without them, we wouldn't have a convention. They truly put the cosmic twinkle in Norwescon. Please take a moment to thank a staff member, if you can. I am truly in awe of the dedication, effort, and long hours the staff and executive team put in to create one heck of a stellar convention.

As we journey through the galaxy, I'd like to thank our guests of honor—Catherynne M. Valente, Wayne Barlowe, Tracy Drain, Isis Asare, and Paizo who all took the time to travel to our place in the universe to be with us. Like you, I'm excited to meet them, check out their panels, and get their autographs. I'd also like to thank the panelists, gamemasters, art show artists, and dealers. All of them are bright stars and have great things to offer and show you. There are so many stars that make up Norwescon that it's impossible to list them all, but I see you sparkle, and you have my deepest thanks.

Each year, Norwescon chooses a charity to support, and this year I am excited to announce our partnership with Page Ahead. Their mission is to provide new books and develop reading activi-ties that empower at-risk children in the greater Seattle area and throughout Washington State. Please check them out as reading is at the core of Norwescon.

One of my favorite things about looking through the cosmic telescope is seeing you, our at-tendees. You all bring such joy to the convention and, without you, there would not be a Nor-wescon. If you see me wandering the halls, please come up and say "hi." With that, I'll be drift-ing into the cosmic unknown. I truly hope you have an astronomically good time—that you meet new friends, reconnect with old friends, and enjoy Norwescon 47.

Godspeed, and see you next year!
Rob Stewart
Norwescon 47 Chair

Writer Guest of Honor Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente is the NYT bestselling author of over forty books of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, including Deathless, Space Opera, The Past Is Red, and the Fairyland novels. She is the winner of the Hugo, Locus, Nebula, Sturgeon, and Lambda awards, among others, and has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy and Ursula K LeGuin awards. She lives on a small island off the coast of Maine with her child and several troublingly large cats.

[Art by Raymond Van Tilburg of a castle and a futuristic city on either side of a platform in space in front of planets, with a dragon flying beind the castle and rockets behind the city.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a dark demonic figure with glowing sigitls floating above its head and inscribed on a weapon it is holding, riding an elephantine beast.]

Artist Guest of Honor Wayne Barlowe

Wayne Barlowe is a science fiction and fantasy author and artist who has created images for books, film, video games and galleries and written and illustrated a number of art books including Expedition, Barlowe's Guide To Extraterrestrials, Barlowe's Guide To Fantasy, Barlowe's Inferno, Brushfire, The Alien Life of Wayne Barlowe and An Alphabet Of Dinosaurs. Expedition aired as the Discovery Channel special, Alien Planet. A board game based on Expedition will be released in 2025. His video game concept work includes Dante's Inferno, Shadow Of Mordor and Shadow Of War. His film designs can be seen in Blade2, Galaxy Quest, HELLBOY 1 and 2, Harry Potter 3 and 4, Avatar and Pacific Rim. He has written two novels, God's Demon and its sequel The Heart Of Hell and is at work on the third and final novel, Lucifer's Soul. His artbook, Psychopomp, accumulating 30 years of his Hell paintings and drawings, was published in 2021. Psychopomp II is in the works as is The Wildlife Of Hell.

Science Guest of Honor Tracy Drain Flight Systems Engineer

Tracy Drain is a Systems Engineer with a career steeped in deep space exploration.

She received a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Kentucky in 1998 and a Master's Degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000, both in Mechanical Engineering. As an undergrad at UofK, she interned at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. After graduating from Georgia Tech in 2000, she officially joined the NASA family as a full-time employee at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.

In her 20+ years at the JPL, Tracy been involved in the development, testing and/or operation of five missions: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (a science and relay orbiter at Mars), Kepler (a space-based Exoplanet hunter), Juno (Jupiter orbiter), Psyche (currently on its way to study an asteroid) and now Europa Clipper (a mission to one of the icy moons of Jupiter, slated to launch in October 2024).

Her roles on these missions have included: Transition Phase Lead and Lead Systems Engineer in operations for MRO, the Mission Readiness Lead for Kepler, Deputy Chief Engineer in operations for Juno, Deputy Project Systems Engineer for Psyche and until recently the Lead Flight Systems Engineer for Europa Clipper. She has now taken on the role of "Launch to Mars" Mission Manager for Clipper – in that capacity, she will lead the operations team in preparing for and executing the first 4 months of checkouts and the Mars flyby gravity assist (a key milestone in the spacecraft's 5.5 year journey to the Jovian system).

Drain has received NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals for her work on Kepler and MRO. She has also been honored with the JPL Bruce Murray Award for exceptional support for the education of minority and female STEM students through community programs, distance learning and public events.

A life-long learner, Tracy loves encouraging people to nurture their curiosity and explore the wonders that surround us. She serves on the planning committee for the National Academy of Science's Science and Entertainment Exchange and on the advisory board of Arizona State University's Interplanetary Initiative. In her spare time, she enjoys mentoring, reading (sci-fi, psychology, sociology and history), watching shows/movies (sci-fi, documentaries and K-dramas), and studying languages (Spanish and Korean).

Spotlight Publisher Paizo

Washington based Paizo Inc. is the publisher of the award-winning Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Pathfinder Tales novels, Starfinder science-fantasy roleplaying game, as well as numerous board games and accessories. In the 15+ years since its founding, Paizo has received more than 100 major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry. You can find them online at: https://paizo.com.

Jenny Jarzabski (she/her; all pronouns) is Creative Manager of Starfinder at Paizo Publishing. Jenny’s works in tabletop gaming include dozens of published credits ranging from rule books to epic adventure campaigns. After a successful open playtest in 2024, Jenny and the Starfinder team are excited to launch Second Edition this year and have many exciting announcements coming up! Jenny’s passionate about collaborative science fantasy world building, tabletop RPGs as an industry and hobby, and big stompy robots–also known as mechs! Jenny believes playing games can help everyone to sparkle and shine their brightest.

As a developer at Paizo, Mike Kimmel is one of the creators of the upcoming Starfinder 2nd Edition Roleplaying Game. Mike has over 15 years of freelance writing experience in the tabletop games industry and seven years of experience running a community for aspiring freelancers. He spent nearly a decade as a teacher and literacy specialist before transitioning to a full-time career in game writing. Mike passionately believes in fostering diverse, welcoming communities of gamers and game creators; that’s how meaningful, lasting stories and friendships are made. Mike lives in the Pacific Northwest with his spouse, two children, two dogs named after authors, and a cat named after a Star Trek character.

Special Guest of Honor Isis Asare

Isis Asare is a queer Afrofuturist and lover of all things Black culture. A citizen of the world, Isis was born to Ghanaian immigrants in Harlem and resides concurrently in Seattle, WA and Oakland, CA.

Isis is an alum of Stanford University, Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and Columbia Business School where they earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Master's in Public Policy, and MBA, respectively. Isis is the CEO/Founder of Sistah SciFi, the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the United States as validated by the American Booksellers Association.

[Art by Jeff Sturgeon of planets floating in space before pink and purple nebula with a spiral galaxy in the distance.]

Philip K. Dick Award 2025

The judges of the 2025 Philip K. Dick Award and the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, along with the Philip K. Dick Trust, are pleased to present the six nominated works that comprise the final ballot for the award.

First prize and any special citations will be announced on Friday, April 18, 2025 at Norwescon 47 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Seattle Airport, SeaTac, Washington.

The Philip K. Dick Award is presented annually with the support of the Philip K. Dick Trust for distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States during the previous calendar year. The award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust; and the award ceremony is sponsored by Norwescon. Norwescon has had the honor of hosting the Philip K. Dick Awards since 1984.

This year's judges are: Maurice Broaddus, C. S. Friedman, Rajan Khanna, Carol McGuirk, and Carrie Vaughn (chair).

Norwescon honors the award administrators:
Gordon Van Gelder
John Silbersack
Pat LoBrutto

For more information contact:
the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society:
http://www.psfs.org/

[Sculputre by Lynne Fahnestalk of a gold and silver colored cylindrical robot.]

As as announced on January 10, 2025, the nominees for the 2025 Philip K. Dick Award are:

City of Dancing Gargoyles
Tara Campbell
(Santa Fe Writers Project)

The Practice, The Horizon, and The Chain
Sofia Samatar
(Tordotcom)

Time’s Agent
Brenda Peynado
(Tordotcom)

Triangulum
Subodhana Wijeyeratne
(Rosarium Publishing)

Your Utopia: Stories
Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur
(Algonquin Books)

Alien Clay
Adrian Tchaikovsky
(Orbit)

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

Presentation Year / Eligibility Year - W: Winner - SC: Special Citation

2024 / 2023
W: These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs
SC: The Museum Of Human History, Rebekah Bergman

2023 / 2022
W: The Extractionist, by Kimberly Unger
SC: The Legacy of Molly Southbourne, Tade Thompson

2022 / 2021
W: Dead Space, Kali Wallace
SC: The Escapement, Lavie Tidhar

2021 / 2020
W: Road Out of Winter, Alison Stine
SC: The Book of Koli, M.R. Carey

2020 / 2019
W: Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea: Stories, Sarah Pinsker
SC: The Little Animals, Sarah Tolmie

2019 / 2018
W: Theory of Bastards, Audrey Schulman
SC: 84K, Claire North

2018 / 2017
W: Bannerless, Carrie Vaughn
SC: After the Flare, Deji Bryce Olukotun

2017 / 2016
W: The Mercy Journals, Claudia Casper
SC: Unpronounceable, Susan diRende

2016 / 2015
W: Apex, Ramez Naam
SC: Archangel, Marguerite Reed

2015 / 2014
W: The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, Meg Elison
SC: Elysium, Jennifer Marie Brissett

2014 / 2013
W: Countdown City, Ben H. Winters
SC: Self-Reference Engine, Toh EnJoe

2013 / 2012
W: Lost Everything, Brian Francis Slattery
SC: LoveStar, Andri Snær Magnason

2012 / 2011
W: The Samuil Petrovitch Trilogy, Simon Morden
SC: The Company Man, Robert Jackson Bennett

2011 / 2010
W: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack, Mark Hodder
SC: Harmony, Project Itoh, translated by Alexander O. Smith

2010 / 2009
W: Bitter Angels, C.L. Anderson
SC: Cyberabad Days, Ian McDonald

2009 / 2008
W (tie): Emissaries from the Dead, Adam-Troy Castro
Terminal Mind, David Walton

2008 / 2007
W: Nova Swing, M. John Harrison
SC: From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, Minister Faust

2007 / 2006
W: Spin Control, Chris Moriarty
SC: Carnival, Elizabeth Bear

2006 / 2005
W: War Surf, M.M. Buckner
SC: Natural History, Justina Robson

2005 / 2004
W: Life, Gwyneth Jones
SC: Apocalypse Array, Lyda Morehouse

2004 / 2003
W: Altered Carbon, Richard K. Morgan
SC: Dante's Equation, Jane Jensen

2003 / 2002
W: The Mount, Carol Emshwiller
SC: The Scar, China Miéville

2002 / 2001
W: Ship of Fools, Richard Paul Russo
SC: Divine Intervention, Ken Wharton

2001 / 2000
W: Only Forward, Michael Marshall Smith
SC: Evolution's Darling, Scott Westerfeld

2000 / 1999
W: Vacuum Diagrams, Stephen Baxter
SC: Tower of Dreams, Jamil Nasir

1999 / 1998
W: 253: The Print Remix, Geoff Ryman
SC: Lost Pages, Paul Di Filippo

1998 / 1997
W: The Troika, Stefan Chapman
SC: Acts of Conscience, William Barton

1997 / 1996
W: The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter
SC: At the City Limits of Fate, Michael Bishop

1996 / 1995
W: Headcrash, Brush Bethke
SC: Carlucci's Edge, Richard Paul Russo

1995 / 1994
W: Mysterium, Robert Charles Wilson
SC: Inagehi, Jack Lady

1994 / 1993
W (tie): Growing Up Weightless, John M. Ford Elvissey, Jack Womack

[Art by Alan M Clark of a ghoulish figure in old top hat and tails, with visual echoes of his figure receding into the distance behind him.]

Professional Panelists and Performers

A. W. Prihandita

A. W. Prihandita (she/her) is an Indonesian speculative fiction writer, college writing instructor, and Ph.D. candidate in rhetoric and composition, with scholarly and personal interests in decolonial and transnational writing. She attended the Odyssey workshop in 2023 on their Fresh Voices Scholarship and the Clarion workshop in 2024 on their Octavia Butler Scholarship. Her stories are published in Clarkesworld, Cast of Wonders, kh.ré., Ghoulish Tales, and Fusion Fragment, among others.

Aaron Ryan

Award-winning and bestselling author Aaron Ryan lives in Washington with his wife and two sons, along with Macy the dog, Winston the cat, and Merry and Pippin, the finches. He is the author of the bestselling Dissonance saga, the sci-fi thriller Forecast, the business reference business books How to Successfully Self-Publish & Promote Your Self-Published Book and The Superhero Anomaly, and several business books on voiceovers penned under his former stage name, Joshua Alexander.

Agathon McGeachy

Going by the name Manfred Kriegstreiber, Agathon McGeachy built armor and mastered personal combat in the Society for Creative Anachronism from the 1970s through early 1990s. As a sand sculptor, he participated several times as a soloist at the prestigious world championship in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. Best known in fandom for ceramics and mixed-media figure sculpture, he won Best 3D Art in Show at Sasquan. Agathon started studying the craft of writing in 2015 and sold his first fantasy story, "Shiplah's Eyes," in 2021.

Aigner Loren Wilson

Aigner Loren Wilson (she/her) is a queer Black writer and a double Ignyte Finalist for best novelette and best critic. She serves as a senior fiction editor at Strange Horizons and has guest-edited issues of Fireside Fiction and Apparition Literary Magazine. Her work has appeared in FIYAH, F&SF, Monstrous Futures, and more. When she's not writing or editing for others, she's trying to figure out how to grow extra hands and mouths for all the words.

AJ

AJ is the co-creator and co-host of In Love with Horror. He is a film critic, horror content creator, and podcaster. With all of that, his favorite titles are husband and father. You can find AJ playing video games or watching his favorite films. You can connect with AJ on Instagram @inlovewithhorror.

Alan Andrist

Alan has 20 years' experience in Nordic studies, a master's degree in English literature and history, and a bachelor's degree with certification in multiple science disciplines. He has taught veterinary nursing and published papers on animal science research and geriatric rehabilitation. He has participated in Nordic archeology, biomechanics of seating, and mobility design and manufacturing. Alan has an MBA in international trade, project management, and business process management.

Alan M. Clark

Alan M. Clark hails from Tennessee. In his 39 years in illustration, he has provided artwork for hundreds of works in fiction, nonfiction, textbooks, young adult, and children's books. In his 29 years as a writer, he has authored 16 novels, a lavishly illustrated novella and novelette, four collections of fiction, and a nonfiction full-color book of his artwork. His awards include the World Fantasy Award and four Chesley Awards. Alan M. Clark lives in Oregon.

Alexander Pereira

Alexander Pereira is a chronic weaver of tales and a geek by all reckonings. By day, he gets paid to bring the joy and magic of video games to hospitalized children. By night, day, or whenever he can squeeze it in, he spends time as an amateur living historian, an eternal DM, a ballroom dancer, and a sci-fi/fantasy writer.

Amanda Cherry

Amanda Cherry is a writer and actor from the Seattle suburbs who still can't believe people pay her to write. Her credits include six novels and one short story collection in the urban fantasy and steampunk genres. You can find her short fiction in multiple anthologies, Augment (the Shadowrun magazine), and the TTRPG Acute Paranoia. Her nonfiction has appeared in online outlets including Journey Planet, ToscheStation.net & StarTrek.com. Keep up with Amanda on BlueSky & TikTok @MandaTheGinger

Amy Sundberg

Amy Sundberg is the author of the recently released YA science fiction novel Stars, Hide Your Fires, the second in the Satori Chronicles. She's also written the Gothic horror novel Gold Diggers and To Travel the Stars, a YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in space. Her novels feature intrepid heroines and questions of agency, power, and possibility. She also reports on local news with an emphasis on public safety and the criminal legal system at The Urbanist and Notes from the Emerald City.

Anastasia Wilde

Anastasia Wilde has created a successful career in indie publishing, with over 30 books published on Amazon and an annual six-figure revenue for her publishing company, mainly in paranormal/fantasy romance. Prior to that she was a full-time freelance editor and writer, specializing in fiction and business writing. She holds a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Andrew Penn Romine

Andrew Penn Romine is a writer, animator, and educator. His first novel, The Mosquito Fleet, is available now. His stories have appeared in Lightspeed magazine, Paizo, and in several collections, including Fungi and Help Fund My Robot Army. When he's not wrangling words, robots, or dragons, Andy also dabbles in craft cocktails and baking. He lives in Seattle with a cheesemonger and two cats who have never, ever, EVER been fed. You can find him at www.andrewpennromine.com and on Twitter @inkgorilla.

Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams has been a professional and hobbyist photographer for over 10 years, working with cosplayers at conventions and photoshoots. He has photographed events ranging from burlesque shows to professional conferences to gaming tournaments. He has also worked on many projects as a body painter and makeup artist. His work can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms as @journeysincolor.

Andy Quinn

Andy is a professional structural engineer with 28 years' experience in building design, with a primary interest in seismic design. In addition to his professional career, Andy is a longtime fan of science fiction, fantasy, and anime and has been attending Norwescon since the early 1990s. A martial arts enthusiast, Andy has trained in a variety of styles but has focused on Japanese karate for much of his life.

Ann Shilling

Ann Shilling has spent several years riding, jousting, and swinging swords with the Seattle Knights; logging 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's ridden in the Tournament of the Phoenix in Poway, California, and the Hackaland tournament in Liege, Belgium. Ann enjoys organizing and squiring for other knights 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.

[AD: Majestic Adventures: Summer camps, after school, day quests, birthdays, custom events. Dueling, storytelling, role play. 360–836–0386, info@majesticadventures.net, <questnorthwest.com>.

Ava Thorne

Ava Thorne is an author of science fiction and fantasy who creates immersive worlds and characters that linger in the hearts of readers long after the final page. A former FAANG engineer, Ava transitioned from the structured realm of tech to the boundless creativity of storytelling, blending her analytical background with a lifelong passion for speculative fiction. When not writing, Ava can be found reading, spending time with her family, or enjoying the outdoors in her southwestern desert home.

B. Zelkovich

B. Zelkovich writes speculative fiction, anything from dragon hunting and space whales to demon-dealing and ghost tales. She likes to explore human emotions in very inhuman situations. When she isn't escaping through her imagination, she escapes into the wonders of the Pacific Northwest with her spouse and their four-legged son, Simon. Connect with her at bzelkovich.com.

Banana Chan

Banana Chan is a Cantonese Canadian game designer and screenwriter living in Seattle. She is also the owner of the publishing company Read/Write Memory. Her most notable work has been on Forgery, Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Betrayal at House on the Hill: 3rd Edition, and Chucky: The Board Game. She won Dicebreaker Awards' Game Designer of the Year 2022 and two Silver ENNIE Awards in 2022.

Belsac

Brian Grinnell has been carving leather under the name Belsac Leather Art for almost 30 years. His primary focus is Viking, Celtic, medieval, and fantasy art. His art can be found in the art show and on Facebook.

Ben Honeycutt

Ben Honeycutt is a retired navy chief who spent 20 years watching the oceans of the world, mostly from ashore. He now lives on Whidbey Island fixing broken things in people's homes and swearing at people who cut corners. In his off time he is a community theater actor, director, and builder. He has worked as the lead cryptid for Haunted Fort Casey for several years, building, recruiting, frightening grown men, and otherwise herding cats. He is an avid reader of science and science fiction.

Ben Thompson

Ben Thompson is the bestselling author of 13 books, including the award-winning Badass, Guts & Glory, and Epic Fails series. Writer and creator of the popular history blog Badass of the Week, Ben has been fringe internet famous for over 20 years and has appeared on television programs for the History Channel, Discovery, AMC, and the American Heroes Channel. He currently hosts the Badass of the Week podcast and writes RPG adventure modules for 99 Cent Adventures.

Berlynn Wohl

Berlynn Wohl is an octopus in a Russian fur hat who sometimes writes science fiction and Sherlock Holmes pastiches. No one knows why this is. Berlynn's anthologies include Oh, Doctor Watson!and Mad Scientists Need Love Too.

Bill Gruner

An armorer/weaponsmith, Bill Gruner travels worldwide to historical sites. He has a Master of Science in education, has been an EMT, taught science, and led an SF OPDETA. Bill studies metallurgy, Roman tech, Latin, geology, blacksmithing, military history, historical reenactment, and Euro-martial arts. He is a member of the Senior Classical League, SCA (a Peer), SASS, and fights in Cohorts II Legion VI. He operates a 12' traction treb and teaches classes in Roman and Norse combat. He teaches wood and metal crafts out of his atelier. He is an NRA firearms instructor with seven NRA certifications. He is the founder and war chief of the Northwest Shield Wall Norse combat mobile training team.

Birdie

Birdie is a content creator on TikTok and YouTube. They have a passion for history and how it leads to the pop culture people love today. They studied critical theory in school and now enjoy creating content that dissects media using theory in an approachable way for beginners. Anime is their bread and butter and what they spend their time watching and discussing. Birdie is also a cosplayer, aspiring writer, and definitely not a cook.

Bora Chung

Bora Chung is the author of Cursed Bunny and Your Utopia. Cursed Bunny, a collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022 and was a finalist for the National Book Awards in 2023. Bora has an M.A. in Russian and East European area studies from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Slavic literature from Indiana University. She translates modern literary works from Russian and Polish into Korean and writes generally unrealistic stories.

[Art by Tyler Clark of a heavily armored figure flying by a building with a jetpack while firing a large beam weapon.]

[Art by Douglas Herring of a person with long wavy bronw hair, wearing a hooded purple coat with green dragons printed on it, and with a green dragon perched on their shoulders.]

Brenda Carre

Brenda Carre is a multi-published author of pro and semi-pro short fiction. She also writes epic adventure fantasy novels. Her stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Fiction River Anthologies, Pulp Literature Magazine, Heart's Kiss Romance Magazine, and many others. Join her to find out about her adventure fantasy duology at https://brendacarre.com/

Brenda Cooper

Brenda Cooper writes science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. See her website at <www.brenda-cooper.com>. Brenda lives in the Pacific Northwest in a household with two people, five dogs, more than three computers, and only one TV.

Brian D. Oberquell

Brian Oberquell is a SPFX technician/pyrotechnician who works with, and is certified to teach courses for, SPFX pyrotechnics and display fireworks. His pyrotechnic credits include 23 years of experience in setting up world-class pyro-musical displays as well as working with Rammstein, KISS, Motley Crue, and the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. His recent SPFX screen credits include Henry Danger: The Movie, Happy Face, and The Wedding Banquet.

Brian U. Garrison

Brian Garrison briefly studied computer science and artificial intelligence until neuroscience and human intelligence turned out to be much more interesting. His poetry books include New Yesterdays, New Tomorrows (self-published) and Micropoetry for Microplanets (Space Cowboy Books). He is the managing editor for Eye to the Telescope, an online quarterly poetry journal. Find him in Portland, Oregon or online at <www.bugthewriter.com>.

Brianna Malotke

Brianna Malotke is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the co-chair of the Seattle chapter. In fall of 2023 her debut horror poetry collection, Fashion Trends, Deadly Ends, was released, and she was a writer in residence at the Chateau d'Orquevaux in France. In 2024 Malotke's latest poetry collection, Lost Cherry, was published with January Ember Press, and she contributed to the second season of Hallow Ian Horror Hour, a TV show with Tapped House.

Brianna Tibbets

Raised on a diet of fiction, novelist Brianna Tibbetts has been writing speculative worlds as long as she can remember. Currently based in the Pacific Northwest, she reads voraciously and writes extensively. From short stories to novels, Brianna demonstrates her passion for lively stories infused with hope. In addition to writing, her other superpowers include being ginger and yarn crafting. When she isn't spending time in her own creations, she loves indulging in the fictional worlds of others.

Brittany Torres

Brittany Torres is an award-winning digital fantasy artist whose artwork evokes the magic, mystery, and the power of women through the female gaze. Armed with a medieval studies degree, an obsessive love for the fantasy genre, and a talent for being self-taught, Brittany developed her unique style of digital painting using Photoshop that focuses on luminous, fantastical female portraits. She also runs her own marketing and branding business for creatives. Brittany is based in the Seattle area.

Brooks Peck

As a pop culture museum curator, Brooks draws on his strong knowledge of science fiction, fantasy, and horror to create exhibitions as diverse as space-themed record album covers, Battlestar Galactica, SETI, and Avatar among others. Recent exhibitions include The Art of James Cameron, Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds, Marvel: Universe of Superheroes, and Minecraft: The Exhibition. Brooks is also a fiction writer and screenwriter of two low-budget, direct-to-cable monster movies.

Bryana Bean

Bryana Cross Bean is an attorney whose primary practice areas are estate planning, long-term care planning, elder law, and probate. She has been a practicing attorney in Washington state since 2013 and has had her own practice since 2014. She centers her practice around helping clients plan for the future by anticipating problems before they occur. She enjoys hiking and spending time with family, and loves sci-fi, especially The Expanse and Dr. Who.

C Hawthorne

C Hawthorne (E/Em) has taken a very unconventional path in life. E started eir career in the biological sciences, focusing on bioinformatics and genetics. However, living life as a Black, agender, mentally and physically disabled, queer, polyamorous parent changed eir trajectory. Nowadays, E spends eir time advocating, educating, and writing fiction stories on the topics of accessibility, ADHD, anxiety, autism, Black identity, BPD, depression, gender, polyamory, and sexuality.

CA McDonald

CA McDonald is a writer and all-around weirdo from the suburbs of Portland, OR. She lives with her husband, daughter, and potato dog Frankie. She enjoys running, cooking, gaming, and miscellaneous witchcraft. She has a B.A. in Comparative Literature and Spanish from the University of CA, Davis.

Cailon

Cailon Cailon is an old-school weeb who’s been passionate about tabletop gaming since childhood. Professionally, he's been involved in rapid prototyping, the development of miniatures, and the collectible statue industries for over seven years, and has been working as a 3D artist for twice as long. In addition to his professional experience, he's also a former instructor of art and 3D design. He recently started his own mini company called the Nailon Realm.

Caitlin Starling

Caitlin Starling is the nationally bestselling author of The Death of Jane Lawrence, the Bram Stoker-nominated The Luminous Dead, and Last to Leave the Room. Her upcoming novels The Starving Saints and The Graceview Patient epitomize her love of genre-hopping horror; her bibliography spans besieged castles, alien caves, and haunted hospitals. Caitlin also works in narrative design, and has been paid to invent body parts.

Camden Rose

Camden Rose is a queer author who loves seeking out magic beneath the everyday world. Her works have appeared with Inner Worlds, From Beyond Press, and Heartlines Spec. She is a member of Codex. Camden lives in the Pacific Northwest with her spouse, black cats, and collection of books and board games. You can find her online at <www.camdenscorner.com>.

Caren GS

Caren Gussoff Sumption lives in a nest of books, knitting, and rescue cats south of Seattle, WA. The author of six books (most recently, her postcolonial deep-space far-future comedy of manners So Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion) and more than 100 short stories. She is Romani and autistic, and works as a program manager for a domestic violence hotline. Find her online at <www.spitkitten.com>.

Carl Engle-Laird

Carl Engle-Laird (he/him) is a senior editor for the Tor Publishing Group, where he edits science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and novellas. He has worked on books that have won the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, among many others, and have graced the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Selected titles include Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera, and Even Though I Knew the End by C. L. Polk. Carl lives and works in New York City.

Carl Strand

Carl Strand has been a fan of sci-fi fiction and fantasy medieval fiction all his life. He's spent a great deal of his 20 plus-year career as a craftsman working in many different materials attempting to recreate many common and/or popular equipment, instruments, weapons, etc. found in the genres, using both traditional and modified adapted modern means. He's planning to bring this expertise to a hands-on workshop teaching participants how to make a traditional stave bow.

Carlos Cabrera

Carlos Cabrera is the founder of Something Clever Games in Seattle and an award-winning game designer, developer, and voice actor. Their work can be found in both editions of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, the Essence20 Roleplaying Game, and video games like State of Decay 2. Their latest work is as developer for the Welcome to Night Vale roleplaying game and for Coronation, a coin-flipping push-your-luck game his daughter designed at 5 years old.

Catherine Cooke Montrose

Catherine Cooke Montrose works in theater in the Denver, Colorado area. Her fantasy trilogies Mask of the Wizard and The Winged Assassin came out in the 1980s, and her horror novel The Wendigo Border appeared in 1995. She’s currently writing a long epic fantasy and a contemporary young adult fantasy series. Her website is <catmontrose.com>, and the above books are all available as e-books in the usual places.

Cathy McManamon

Cathy has been playing music since age 5 and writing original music nearly as long. She is primarily a guitarist and vocalist but also plays drums, hand percussion, wind instruments, and keyboard. Cathy has three Pegasus Awards for songwriting and performance. She performs solo, with her band Random Fractions, and as a studio musician/arranger for Canticles Productions. Her other interests include Doctor Who, Buffy, and runes.

Celeste Conowitch

Celeste Conowitch is an author and game designer based out of Seattle. She is the producer, GM, and editor of the actual play podcast Venture Maidens. When not plotting behind the screen, she works as a senior game designer at Kobold Press and is currently lead designer on the Tales of the Valiant RPG. She has credits in over 50 products published by companies like Kobold Press, Wizards of the Coast, and MCDM Productions. To keep up with Celeste, follow her on social media platforms @cconowitch.

Celeste Wakefield

Celeste Wakefield's genre-bending horror appears in Penumbric, Short and Twisted, and on Patreon, where she publishes serial fiction and reviews. Celeste grew up watching David Lynch and reading Anne McCaffrey in a sleepy California suburb, then earned an MFA in the shadow of the Chugach Mountains. Her corruption continued at the Viable Paradise and Odyssey Workshops. Her work took a turn toward obstetric horror when she experienced childbirth and postpartum anxiety during the pandemic.

Charlie Hunts

Charlie Hunts (he/him) began his career at book publishers in San Francisco before going on to craft brands in the sports, government, and finance industries. Now, in the face of a record number of book bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation, he has returned to the book world to open Charlie’s, Seattle’s first queer bookstore in nearly 20 years.

[AD: Tordotcom Publishing congratulates our nominees! 2025 Philip K. Dick Award finalists Sofia Samatar and Brenda Peynado, and writer guest of honor Catherynne M. Valente.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a vaguely humanoid alien creature wearing loose clothing and a carrying hand-cranked musical instrument that has a smaller alien creature perched on top of it.]

Charlotte Lewis Brown

Charlotte Lewis Brown is a vertebrate paleontologist, a science writer, and a college professor. She 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.

Cheryl Dyson

Novelist, dungeon master, editor, wine lover, and obsessed fangirl, Cheryl can be found tormenting her players online during several weekly D&D games, with occasional breaks to anger dudebros on Reddit.

Cindy Fangour

Cindy Fangour has been going to science fiction conventions for 30-plus years. She loves costuming, belly dance, animals, and children. Her day job is a fingerprint examiner for the sheriff’s department, a position she’s held for 32 years. In the past, she has processed, collected, and analyzed fingerprint evidence. She hopes to see you around!

Colette Breshears

Colette Breshears is an academically trained geologist (the very-applicable, definitely-many-job-openings field of plate tectonics). She worked with the U.S.F.S., conducting climate change research before becoming corrupted by the evils of supporting oil and gas industry research. She has a B.S. in Geology from Pacific Lutheran University and an M.S. in earth science from Boise State University. Her hobbies include D&D, aquariums, gardening … and lasers. Let’s talk lasers.

Crystal Lloyd

Crystal Lloyd is a lifelong lover of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. Armed with degrees in literature and sustainability/public policy, she strives to understand our collective history as humans and how we can better ourselves in the near future.

Crystal Taggart

Crystal has been interested in fashion and clothing since her Barbies needed nicer wardrobes. She paid for her degree in biology with her sewing skills, working at a ballroom dance costume company. She has been the owner, designer, and head manufacturer for Crystal’s Idyll, the place for unique, historically inspired fantasy fashions and hats, since 2008. Crystal’s primary form of entertainment is reading, and she credits Madeleine L’Engle and David Eddings for her love of fantasy.

Curtis C. Chen

Once a Silicon Valley software engineer, Curtis C. Chen (…) now writes stories near Portland, Oregon. He’s the author of the KANGAROO series of funny science fiction spy thrillers and has written for the Realm original podcasts Echo Park, Ninth Step Murders, and Machina. Curtis' shorter works have appeared in Playboy magazine; the ENNIE Award-winning Kobold Guide to Roleplaying; The Year’s Best Fantasy, Volume 2; Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey; and elsewhere.

D.L. Solum

D.L. Solum is a recently published author of the four-volume dark urban fantasy series Persephone – A Tale of Darker Seattle. He lives in Seattle, Washington but will always be from Butte, Montana. He’s a collector of odd friends and even odder hobbies, including medieval combat, armor and weapon collection, fishing, hunting, and computer games. His latest obsession of writing speculative fiction is only made possible via the mostly gentle encouragement and tolerance of his partner, Kate.

Dan Dubrick

Known to many in the Northwest U.S. fandom, Kahboi (pronounced Cowboy) has for many years been the editor for the H.R. McMillan Planetarium’s affiliated space and astronomy educational BBS SpaceBase™. Dan has witnessed space launches, including the U.S. Space Shuttle, as an accredited journalist.

Daniel H. Wilson

Daniel H. Wilson is a Cherokee citizen and author of the New York Times bestselling Robopocalypse and its sequel Robogenesis, as well as How to Survive a Robot Uprising, The Clockwork Dynasty, and Amped. He earned a Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as Master's Degrees in Machine Learning and Robotics. His latest novel is an authorized stand-alone sequel to Michael Crichton's classic The Andromeda Strain, called The Andromeda Evolution. Wilson lives in Portland, Oregon.

Darren McKinty, RVT

Born and raised in Victoria, B.C., Darren McKinty developed an interest in animal health and welfare early in life. He has been working in the veterinary industry since 1988 and been a registered veterinary technician for 33 years. His career has allowed him experiences like raising baby black bears, helping with service dogs for the blind and support dogs for Wounded Warriors, and snuggling countless new puppies. His hobbies include sport fishing, home brewing, woodwork, knife smithing, and 3D printing.

Darrin Drader

Darrin Drader has worked in the tabletop roleplaying game industry for 25 years. He started with his role as co-owner of Dark Portal Games and has designed for companies including Wizards of the Coast, Paizo Publishing, Legendary Games, Bastion Press, and many, many others. He currently freelances for various publishers and runs Darrin Drader Designs (DDD), an indie RPG publishing company. He also worked as a narrative designer for 38 Studios, the studio behind the Kingdoms of Amalur.

Daryl Gregory

Daryl Gregory's novels and short stories have been translated into a dozen languages and have won multiple awards, including the World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Crawford awards, and have been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar, Locus, Lambda, and Sturgeon awards. His latest novel, When We Were Real, is out April 1, 2025 from Saga/Simon & Schuster. He’s also worked in TV, comics, and video games, and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.

David D. Levine

David D. Levine is the author of space opera caper novel The Kuiper Belt Job, Andre Norton Nebula Award winning novel Arabella of Mars and two sequels, and over 50 science fiction and fantasy stories. His story "Tk'Tk'Tk" won the Hugo, and he has been shortlisted for awards including the Hugo, Nebula, Campbell, and Sturgeon. Stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, F&SF, Tor.com, numerous Year’s Best anthologies, and his award-winning collection Space Magic.

Dawn Shaw

Dawn Shaw is one of the founders of BritCon and has been its only Chair. Outside of volunteering at fan conventions, she is a professional motivational speaker, has Icelandic horses, and collects and restores model horses.

Dean Wells

Dean Wells is an author, educator, and workshop leader. His published work has appeared in Queer Sci Fi, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 10Flash Quarterly, Ideomancer, and other venues of speculative fiction, including the fantasy anthologies Ceaseless Steam and The Best of BCS, and flash anthologies Rise and Ink from QSF. Dean is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.

Douglas Herring

Although he had been drawing and reading SF and comics all of his young life, Douglas Herring didn't discover fandom until 1972, and at that point he was hooked. Ink, watercolors, sculpting, Photoshop, and now crazy things like Zbrush are his favorite mediums. He has been working on a number of high definition (HD) video short subjects of late, both in front of and behind the camera. Learn more at <www.douglasherring.com> and <www.youtube.com/user/douglasherring07>.

[Art by Joan Bennet of a kitten wearing a bubble hemet and backpack riding a rocketship through space.]

Dr. Mark Rounds

Mark was an Air Force officer flying B-52's, a bouncer in Spokane, a consultant in information technology, a geek in a cube in dot-coms, a folk singer, and is currently faculty at the University of Idaho teaching Management Information Systems. He has published in the computer security and geographical information systems fields. Mark has a BS and MS in Computer Science, an MBA, and a Ph.D. focusing on Cyber Security. Mark's hobbies include reenacting, playing guitar, and cooking. He recently published his fourth novel, Commonality Games.

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. His new endeavor is crafting and digital making, with a current focus on plotters and lasers. Read more at http://padcrafting.com.

Dr. Sean Robinson

Dr. Sean Robinson is a data scientist and astrophysicist by training, and a nerd, gamer and athlete by avocation. With 25 years' experience in applied statistics and research, he helped pioneer autoencoder-driven generalized anomaly detection. He is a tech lead and business analyst for pre-seed and early-stage startups across the AI/ML sector, and a long time live action role playing gamer (LARPer).

Dustin Campbell

Dustin Campbell is a lifelong fan of pop culture with a special interest in horror. He holds a jazz guitar degree, and has written console emulators, studied theology, run tabletop role playing games (RPGs), sung at Westminster Abbey, moshed at European metal festivals, and been snooty about coffee, beer, and wine. Currently, Dustin works as a software architect on the C# language design team at Microsoft. He lives in the Seattle area with his geek wife and two geek daughters, where they live everyday as Halloween.

Ed Buchan

Ed Buchan has been writing SF&F since 1969. He is interested in history and his own cliodynamics. If he can get a third alternate history, he's got a couple of turning-points to fiddle with. Since 2016, he's been cranking out multiple books a year, sometimes multi-volume stories like Bight of the Lamprey, the story of the first asteroid miner, and sometimes intensely character-driven stories like A Bard's Tale set in 2075. His lifetime novel count is 26 plus a moral philosophy, Das Nerdal, all at revision 1.0.

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Edward Martin III

Edward Martin III is a writer and an award-winning filmmaker from Portland, OR. He's made four feature films, half a dozen web series totaling over 400 episodes, and dozens of independent short films. He's published four books and sold two novels (both recently published). An additional book series, Terror Stories from the Territories, is in production, due to start publishing early summer 2024.

Elise Stephens

Elise Stephens writes stories that often focus on family, memory, and finding hope after a devastating loss. She is a first-place winner of Writers of the Future (2019) and was a finalist for the Baen Fantasy Adventure Award (2021). Her fiction has appeared in Analog, Galaxy's Edge, Escape Pod, and FIYAH, among others. Elise lives in a house with huge windows to supply the vast quantities of light she requires to stay happy. <www.EliseStephens.com>

Elizabeth Guizzetti

Elizabeth Guizzetti, an illustrator and author, is best known for her demon-poodle-based comedy, Out for Souls & Cookies, and her historical family dramas in the Vampires of the Paper Flower Consortium. She enjoys collaborating with other authors, as seen in her work on Dear Penpal, Belgium 1980, written by Jennifer Brozek. Elizabeth resides in Seattle with her husband and their dog, Walnut.

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.

Ellis Bray

Ellis Bray is a PNW-based SFFH author-poet-artist who will use any open soapbox to promote transgender rights and mental illness awareness. His fiction can be found in Soul Jar: 31 Fantastical Tales from Disabled Authors (Forest Avenue Press), The NonProfit Quarterly (Fall 2023), and The Back Forty (JayHenge Publishing); his poetry in The Cozy Cosmic series (Underland Press), F&SF, and Eye to the Telescope; and his art in The Future Fire, on Instagram @idreamofvikings, and at his website.

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a horned, somewhat fish-like, demonic creature.]

Emily C. Skaftun

Emily C. Skaftun is a speculative fiction writer, editor, graphic designer, and irony enthusiast. Her short story collection, Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas, was published in November 2020. Emily lives in Seattle with a furry house monster named Basilisk. In her spare time, she plays roller derby as V. Lucy Raptor, dabbles with taxidermy, and writes postcards to the void.

Eric L Vargas

Eric L Vargas is a freelance comic artist and illustrator with eight years of experience in the industry. Based out of Washington state, he is currently working on a minicomic called Pirates of the Starry Seas as well as a webcomic called Traveling Echoes.

Erik Grove

Erik Grove is a short fiction writer and novelist with stories published in places like Escape Pod and Nightmare Magazine. He is a graduate of Viable Paradise, a member of the HWA and SFWA, was the assistant producer for the 2023 Nebula Awards, social media manager for Willamette Writers, and assistant faculty at writing workshops run by best-selling authors Chuck Palahniuk and Chelsea Cain. He lives in Portland, OR and always says hello to dogs.

Erin Roberts

Erin Roberts' short fiction has appeared in publications including Asimov's, Clarkesworld, Pathfinder: The Godsrain Prophecies, and The Dark. Her TTRPG writing and design can be found in books including Pathfinder Lost Omens: Rival Academies, Starfinder Interstellar Species, Daggerheart, Journeys through the Radiant Citadel, and Triangle Agency. She teaches creative writing at UT Austin, co-hosts the Writing Excuses podcast, and was named a Diana Jones Award Emerging Game Designer in 2023.

Eva L. Elasigue

Eva L. Elasigue combines an honor-awarded imagination with scientific and empirical backgrounds to create the fantasy space opera trilogy Bones of Starlight, as well as works from poetic to humorous for internet and stage. She lives on San Juan Island here in Washington state, in the Pacific Northwest Cascadia bioregion. There, she manages Primal Spiral, her imprint/events collective/studio. A mixed-media artist and renaissance womyn, she loves music and the wilderness.

Evan J. Peterson

Evan J. Peterson is the author of Better Living Through Alchemy (Broken Eye Books) and METAFLESH: Poems in the Voices of the Monster (ARUS). As a game writer, he created Drag Star! (Choice of Games), the world's first drag performer role-playing game (RPG), and co-wrote The Road to Innsmouth: Arkham Horror. His work has appeared in Weird Tales, PseudoPod, Queers Destroy Horror, and Nightmare Magazine. He also runs the Deep Cuts horror series podcast with Morgue Anne. <www.evanjpeterson.com> can tell you more.

Felicity Harley

Felicity is a published writer and poet. She recently completed a five book science fiction series, Until This Last. The first book in the series, The Burning Years and the second book Homo Deus, were published by APS Books in 2024 and 2025, and are currently available on Amazon. She blogs regularly on Medium https://medium.com/me/stories/public. Her website is <theburningyears.squarespace.com>.

[Art by Douglas Herring of a horned dragon’s head.]

Frances Lu Pai Ippolita

Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito is a Chinese American judge, mom, writer, and publisher in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in many venues including Flame Tree's Asian Ghost Stories, Chromophobia, Death's Garden Revisited, and Unquiet Spirits. She is the founder of game and book publisher Demagogue Press and the nonprofit, Qilin Press, which focuses on diverse, marginalized voices. Learn more at <www.qilinpress.org> and Instagram @francespaippolito.

G. David Nordley

G. David Nordley is the pen name of Gerald David Nordley, an author and astronautical engineer. A retired Air Force officer, he has extensive experience in spacecraft systems operations, engineering, and advanced propulsion. As an author, he has about a hundred fiction and non-fiction sales and is a past Hugo and Nebula Award nominee as well as a four-time winner of the Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact annual "AnLab" readers' poll. His latest novel is To Climb a Flat Mountain and his latest collection is Among the Stars, both from <Variationspublishing.com>. He lives in Sunnyvale, CA, with his wife, a retired Apple computer programmer. His website is <www.gdnordley.com>.

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.

Gabrielle de Cuir

Gabrielle de Cuir is a Grammy and Audie Award-winning audiobook producer and narrator and podcast host. She is a stage actress, director and playwright with hundreds of audiobook credits, including three Grammy nominations. She successfully funded two Kickstarters. Her film The Delivery won first place at Dragon Con. She has co-narrated Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game audiobooks. Known for her command of language, she grew up in Rome with her wildly creative four-time Oscar-winning father, John de Cuir.

Gareth Davis

Gareth Davis has been performing for audiences since 1968. He has been playing drums since he was 10, and guitar since he was 17, and has always been singing. He has been in numerous bands playing rock, folk, country, and marching tunes. He has been in local productions of popular musicals, as well as several different Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. He has performed at the Northwest Folklife festival, the Scottish Highland Games, Ren Faires, and, of course, Norwescon.

Gary Bennett

Gary Bennett is an award-winning SAG-AFTRA audiobook narrator of over 230 audiobooks (so far!) for nearly all major publishers. He has trained with top coaches for narration and accents and records in his professional home studio. He loves thrillers, mysteries, sci-fi, and fantasy. Raised in Montana, Gary now calls the greater Seattle area home. He's an avid outdoor enthusiast, a private pilot, an aspiring author, a musician, and a huge sports fan! He also narrates under the name Liam Sanderson.

Gina Saucier

Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti

Gloria Jackson-Nefertiti is a Seattle-based published author and recently diagnosed autistic adult (2019, six months before turning 63). Her upcoming memoir is called A Different Drum: A Black, Autistic, Polyamorous, Mentally Ill, Former Fundamentalist Christian/Cult Member and Breast Cancer Survivor WHO JUST WANTS TO FIT IN.

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 and, in the years since, has remained the magazine's publisher. 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, Go Forth and Multiply, and Welcome to Dystopia. He lives in New Jersey.

Greenbook Agency

GregRobin Smith

GregRobin teaches Shakespeare for continuing education departments at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Seattle Central College, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He is a musician with the Celtic punk rock group The Blarneytones and a professional Renaissance fair performer as a member of the trio Soccs & Buskin. GregRobin runs the Washington Shakespearean Festival and does fundraisers for non-profits as Benjamin Franklin. His wife is operatic soprano Eleanor Stallcop-Horrox and together they prove music is the food of love.

Gwen Callahan

Gwen Callahan is the co-director of the H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival® and Portland Horror Film Festival™. Gwen has degrees in creative writing and studio art and worked in community marketing for many years before starting Sigh Co. Graphics and Arkham Bazaar with her husband Brian, creating Lovecraft- and horror-themed apparel, film collections, and accessories. She also co-hosts the film podcast, Gwen and Gretchen Watch Movies.

Gwendolyn N. Nix

Gwendolyn N. Nix is the author of the Celestial Scripts fantasy series, Sharks of the Wasteland, I Have Asked to Be Where No Storms Come, and the forthcoming urban fantasy horror, Bone Knuckles & the Rose Scavenger. An active member of HWA, SFWA, and IAMTW, and an editor with Aconyte Books, she lives in Montana with her husband, young son, and wild silver Labrador. Follow her online at <gwendolynnix.com>, or on Instagram, BlueSky, and Threads at @gwendolyn.nix.

Howard Davidson

Howard Davidson was captured by a Heinlein book in second grade, and hasn't been seen much since. Inspired to do science fiction by reading it, he went off and got a Ph.D. in Physics, the best training available for becoming a crackpot inventor. He is currently a senior physicist in the computer industry. He gets to write science fiction for the annual budget cycle.

[Art by Chelsea Santamaria of a horned skeletal horse-like creature near a gnarled tree against a nebula-like sky, done all in dark violet and black.]

Hugh S. Gregory

A cancer survivor, professionally Hugh is an avid spaceflight historian from British Columbia, Canada. His research includes the conceptual theory for the ELDSRR space reactor, Project MOSS for the Musk Observatory, and co-authoring a paper in Cartographica about mapping on Mars. Hugh's slide/video shows have been appearing at conventions for more than 34 years, including 11 Worldcons and eight Dragon Cons. This will be Hugh's third appearance at Norwescon.

Ian Shaw

Ian Shaw is a retired electrical engineer and long-time old-school AV nerd. When not paneling (or being paneled) you will find him handling the nuts-and-bolts AV requirements in Norwescon's panel rooms.

Ieva Ohaks

Ieva Ohaks' background in theatrical costume includes construction and alteration of costume accessories, costume design, and design support roles. She gained her special expertise in costume maintenance, storage, and packing during her 23-year tenure as costume stock and rental coordinator at Seattle Opera. Current costume interests include designing specialized clothing for imaginary professions in fictional locations.

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of the heads of two Martians, with large eyes set to the sides of the head, small ears just above the eyes, large curved horns projecting from above the mouth, and decorative jewelry hanging beneath their jaws.]

J.T. Greathouse

J.T. Greathouse is the BFA nominated author of the Pact & Pattern trilogy: The Hand of the Sun King, The Garden of Empire, and The Pattern of The World. In addition to writing, he has been a student in Beijing, an ESL instructor in Taipei, a bookseller, and a high school English teacher. His short fiction has appeared, often as Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis, in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, PodCastle, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and elsewhere.

Jack Samm

Jack Samm is a filmmaker, writer, and reformed podcaster.

Jake McKinzie

Jake McKinzie, science teacher since 1999, is now teaching astronomy, chemistry, and physics. His favorite authors are Moorcock, Feist, Niven, Bova, Howard, and deGrasse Tyson. Beginning in 1980, with Car Wars and Red Box D&D, he is currently playing various Savage Worlds settings and D&D 5th Edition. His daughter, Cait, is a former panelist and art show participant, but is currently away attending Colorado State University. Travelling where his jeep, ShadowWalker, takes him, is one of his favorite things.

Jake Yorgason

Jake Yorgason is a member of Fantology, a podcast of five lifelong friends dedicated to all things science fiction and fantasy.

Jane Campbell

Jane Campbell is a technology wonk and chemical engineer with experience in an array of industries: 60-plus years of following the space program, including 12 years working ground operations at Kennedy Space Center; 30-plus years of space development activism in the L5 Society/National Space Society; and 10-ish years of design/construction of SF/F and historical costuming and accessories as Seams Like Magik. She is currently retired and enjoying every minute of reading, especially Nebula and Hugo nominees. Crafting is her happy place.

Janna Silverstein

Janna Silverstein has worked for more than two decades in publishing and related fields, first as an acquisitions editor for Bantam Spectra, followed by stints at Wizards of the Coast and Microsoft, among others. She has edited books on a freelance basis for Night Shade Books, Pocketbooks, and Kobold Press. Editorial credits include the ENnie Award-winning books The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design and The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding. Her own writing has appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, and in several anthologies. Though she'll always be a New Yorker, she lives in Seattle with two spoiled cats and many, many books.

Jason Nelson

Jason Nelson has been an award-winning role-playing game (RPG) author and game designer for more than 20 years (and a player for more than 40 years), primarily with D&D, Pathfinder, and similar RPGs through multiple editions. He has worked with both Wizards of the Coast and Paizo and left a career in education and research to pursue game publishing full time with his own company, Legendary Games, managing a team of authors and artists around the world with regular releases and more than 25 successful crowdfunded projects.

Jason Tondro

Jason Tondro is a senior designer for Wizards of the Coast and a project lead on the D&D team. Before that, he was a professor teaching writing, literature, film, and comics. He's also been a senior developer and editor at Paizo, writing for both Pathfinder and Starfinder.

Jay Donnaway

After growing up in the overseas oil industry, Jay has enjoyed a career in recycling and energy conservation, having experienced a lot of "firsts." He drives Ford's first electric truck, a 1999 Ranger EV as featured in Who Killed the Electric Car and built an electric dragster, electric farm tractors, an RV, a refrigerated van, and a classic VW Bus for pandemic grocery deliveries! Jay lives in Graham, WA, with his veterinarian wife, two teenagers, too many animals, and too many electric vehicles.

Jeff Sturgeon

Jeff is a Northwest artist known for his beautiful award-winning metal paintings. He is considered one of the top astronomical and science fiction artists working in the field today, with guest of honor appearances at exhibitions and conventions around the country. His newest works are highly sought after by collectors. Jeff paints primarily with acrylics on textured aluminum and over the years has had an impressive client list from book, music, and magazine publishers to JPL NASA. Jeff was an art director and game designer in computer games for many years, most notably at Electronic Arts, before turning to illustrating and painting full time. Jeff created the anthology of The Last Cities of Earth, which was brought to life by his paintings and stories and also featured tales written by many leading science fiction writers.

Jenny Shafer

Jenny Shafer is a long-time congoer, mom, and Girl Scout leader. She loves books, writing, crafts, and kids.

Jessica Rae Bergamino

Jessica Rae Bergamino is the author of Girlhood x A Haunting (Driftwood Press, 2025) and Unmanned (Noemi Press, 2018), as well as speculative poetry chapbooks from dancing girl press and Sundress Publications. She holds a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Utah.

Jessica Redekop

Jessica Redekop is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and game designer working on roleplaying games. Most of her work is for Paizo Publishing, and she is a frequent contributor to the Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs.

[Art by Douglas Herring of Cthulhu against a blue sky.]

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Jessie Kwak

Jessie Kwak has always lived in imaginary lands, from Arrakis and Ankh-Morpork, to Earthsea, Tatooine, and now Portland, Oregon. When she's not writing, Jessie can be found sewing, mountain biking, or out exploring new worlds both at home and abroad. She is the author of a supernatural thriller, two series of space pirate and space mafia novels, and productivity guides From Chaos to Creativity and From Big Idea to Book.

Jim Kling

Jim Kling is a science and medical writer. He has also published short fiction in Nature and serves as the chair of the Endeavour Award for SF&F novels or short story collections published by Pacific Northwest authors.

John Lovett

John has more than 20 years of experience as a producer, writer, and military technical adviser for television and film productions, as well as writer and co-writer of two produced movies and more than 100 television and motion picture scripts. He teaches screenwriting at Bellevue College and has taught screenwriting and motion picture production at national writers' conferences.

Jonathan JD Davenport

Released back into the wild 10 years ago, JD finally sorted through his story notes, picked one, and followed it through an epic period in the Metaerie book series' history. Three decades (then) of traveling the world's hidden byways also created impressions, feelings if you will, that needed capturing — thus Tainted Patriot Poetry was born. Occasionally the two overlap … from in-the-moment combat in fantasy fiction to melancholy awareness in combat, the storyteller crossover has sprung.

Jon Lasser

Jon Lasser lives in Seattle, WA, with his wife and two children. His stories have appeared (or are forthcoming) in Lightspeed, Analog, Interzone, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the Clarion West writers' workshop. Find him online at <twoideas.org> and on Mastodon as @disappearinjon@wandering.shop.

Joseph Brassey

Joseph Brassey lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, children, and three 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 frame shop of a crafts store to the smoke-belching interior of a house-siding factory with questionable safety policies.

Joseph Malik

Joseph Malik is the bestselling author of Dragon's Trail and The New Magic. His forthcoming novel, Stonelands (2025), has been acquired for a film option by VFX Studios (Exodus: Gods and Kings, Prey, Mayday). A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, he has worked as a stuntman, a high-rise window cleaner, a touring rock musician, and a soldier in the United States Special Operations Command. He is represented by Sarah Hershman of Hershman Rights Management, NY.

Judy R. Johnson

During her career, Judy was at the World Health Organization in Geneva, then later worked on analyst contracts. She currently has a contract with the Census Bureau. Judy has been an avid SF&F fan for about 60 years and now travels to SF&F cons in her RV. She is also reviving her work in progress, having spent a couple of decades accreting sufficient "oomph" to complete it.

Julie McGalliard

Julie McGalliard is a writer and occasional cartoonist. Her most recent novel is Traveling With the Wolf, the fifth book in her Tales of the Rogarou series. Her short stories have appeared in Talebones magazine and in the Witches, Stitches & Bitches: A Three Little Words Anthology (Volume 1) and Space Grunts: Full-Throttle Space Tales #3 anthologies. She lives in Seattle with her husband Paul, a fellow lover of books and New Orleans native.

K.G. Anderson

A journalist and speculative fiction author/editor, K.G. Anderson interviewed Muddy Waters and Harlan Ellison, worked on the launch of the iTunes Music Store, and served on the boards of Clarion West and Northwest Folklife. Her short fiction appears in magazines, anthologies, and podcasts including Alternative Liberties, Dragon's Gems, Galaxy's Edge, Time and Space Magazine, and Runs Like Clockwork. She edited the B Cubed Press anthology Southern Truths. Find out more at <writerway.com/fiction>.

Karen Eisenbrey

Karen Eisenbrey (she/her) lives in Seattle, WA, where she leads a quiet, orderly life and invents stories to make up for it. Karen writes fantasy and science fiction novels, as well as short fiction and the occasional poem or song if it insists.

Kat Richardson

Freelance writer, editor, and former journalist, Kat Richardson is a lifelong fan of crime and mystery fiction, and noir film. When not writing or researching, she may be found loafing about with dogs, playing video games, shooting, or dabbling with paper automata and tragic sewing projects. Richardson is also an award-winning author of weird SF&F detective and crime novels when she isn't doing any of the previously mentioned.

continued Page 52

The Art of Wayne Barlowe Artist Guest of Honor

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a gargantuan creature with widely flared head and body, with two trunk-like legs and a rudder-like tail dragging from the body, with trees growing from the creature’s back.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a young dark-skinned boy with short dark hair standing by a table with a red multilegged creature on it; the boy has a large clean hole through his torso with large red blobs of blood floating through in a line.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a grey demonic creature with skeletal wings, draped in a brown cloth, with flames coming from the back of its skull and golden script floating around its head like a crown, sitting on a stone wall and holding a gleaming feather.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of Hellboy, a large red demon with stubs on his forehead where his horns have been cut off, standing in a pool of water over the vanquished body of a winged demon.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of an all-white mostly human figure with bird-like legs, holding a large curved sword with runes inscribed on the blade, before an orange and black landscape with a large fragmented floating black tower.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a red, winged, human-like demon standing at a table looking out a window.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a small, birdlike dinosaur with a red crest and small beak, standing on a rocky beach holding a crab in its clawed forefeet.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a line of demonic warriors riding large, somewhat humanoid demonic beasts walking on all fours, led by a demon in all black.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a somewhat jellyfish-like alien flaoting in the sky, with two arm-like limbs at its underside holding a large stone club.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a Black woman whose head morphs into a series of creatures, including a lion, zebra, and bird.]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of the Knifehead kaiju from Pacific Rim, a gargantuan creature with four arms and a large, knife-like protuberance on its head, striding through the ocean.]

Professional Panelists and Performers (continued)

Kate Ristau

Kate Ristau is the president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and the executive director of Willamette Writers. She is the author of three middle grade series, Clockbreakers, Mythwakers, and Wylde Wings, and the young adult series, Shadow Girl. You can read her essays in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Kate is the chair of the Tigard Public Library board of directors, and she loves libraries. Meet her online at <kateristau.com>.

Kathy

Kathy has been watching Doctor Who since she was in the womb. While technically Colin Baker should be her Doctor, she loved Peter Davison the best. Never missing an episode, Kathy enjoys discussing the finer points of wibbley-wobbley, timey-wimey stuff with anyone who will sit still long enough. Ask her about Seattle Worldcon 2025: Building Yesterday's Future – For Everyone.

Kaylea Champion

Dr. Kaylea Champion does research on how people work together to build information-related public goods and digital infrastructure, including knowledge bases like Wikipedia and software like Linux. She uses forensic, datamining, and machine learning techniques to examine what gets built and maintained (and what doesn't), who takes part (and who is excluded), and how teams form (and fall apart).

Kel

King County Library System (KCLS)

King County Library System (KCLS) is a library system serving most residents of King County, Washington, United States.

Kris ‘Pepper’ Hambrick

Kris "Pepper" Hambrick has been in fandom since she discovered Prodigy in 1994. They used to put on plays for her parents, as Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Who. Now she is the co-founder/producer of Hello Earth Productions' outdoor Star Trek and Star Wars series, so life has not changed much. Last year they launched Re:Adapted, the podcast about why we retell the same stories in film, starting with The Phantom of the Opera. In her spare time she writes and obsesses about the Beatles.

Kristie Felice

Kristie is the co-creator and co-host of In Love with Horror along with her husband AJ. She is a writer and film critic and is committed to being an advocate for Black creatives in the horror community. When she's not writing, you can find her nose in a good book or watching a horror movie. She is the mom of four human children and a pup named Auggie.

L.J. Melvin

L.J. Melvin is a mom, teacher, and healer who finally figured out that it's all about stories. She lives in Washington state.

Larry Lewis

Larry Lewis is a cartoonist, illustrator, writer, and teacher whose degree is in architecture. He lives with his girlfriend and adoptive family near Tacoma, and his son is from Shoreline. Lately he has done 40-plus autobiographical minicomics and is working on much larger fantasy, sci -fi, and urban planning projects.

Laura Anne Gilman

Laura Anne Gilman has established a reputation for herself with darker-edged fantasy, both urban and epic. Her work has been praised for deft plotting and first-class characters by Publishers Weekly, hailed as a true American myth being found by NPR, and won an Endeavor Award, as well as being shortlisted for a Nebula, another Endeavor, and the Washington State Book Awards. More information can be found at: <www.lauraannegilman.net>.

[AD: Seattle Worldcon 2025: Building Yesterday’s Future - For Everyone. August 13–17, 2025, Seattle Convention Center. Your Hosts: K. Tempest Bradford, Nisi Shawl. Poet Laureate: Brandon O’Brien. Guests of Honor: Martha Wells, Donato Giancola, Bridget Landry, Alexander James Adams. <SeattleIn2025.org>.]

[Sculpture by Lynne Fahnestalk of a teal and silver robot with eyeglasses.]

Laura Cranehill

Laura lives in the Pacific Northwest with her spouse and three sons, who she's raised to be amazing video game players. She is a Pushcart-nominated writer, and her short stories and poems have been published in Strange Horizons, Vastarien, ergot, [PANK], and others.

Lawrence Watt-Evans

Lawrence Watt-Evans is the author of approximately 50 books and more than 150 short stories — fantasy, science fiction, horror, humor, etc. — including the Hugo Award — winning story "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" and the Legends of Ethshar fantasy series. He was president of the Horror Writers Association from 1994 to 1996, has scripted comic books for Marvel, Dark Horse, and Tekno*Comix, and has meddled in various other things best left alone.

Lee Harris

Lee is an executive editor with Tor, and a multiple Hugo loser (though books he has edited have been nominated for — and won — more Hugo and Nebula Awards over the last 10 years than any other editor, so he'll take that as a win). He's a former actor and theater director (he directed and coadapted the first ever professional live action production of a Terry Pratchett book) and loves musicals. If you ever invite him to karaoke, you'd better be prepared to fight for that mic! He lives in York, U.K.

Leigh Harlen

Leigh Harlen is a queer, non-binary writer of dark-leaning speculative fiction who lives and works in Seattle alongside their partner and dogs. They are the author of Queens of Noise, Blood Like Garnets, A Feast for Flies, and several short stories. Their non-writing hobbies include petting strangers' dogs, crocheting, and enthusing about how awesome bats are. Follow them on Bluesky @leighharlen for updates on future publications and general nonsense.

Leslie Jordan

Leslie Jordan has been a longtime participant in folk singing, having collected songs since a child and started writing lyrics and music. She naturally loved filk when she discovered it. She has been a fan, filker, gamer, and casual writer since the 80s. In addition, she has tutored English and worked with adults with disabilities. She currently assists artist and musician Anne Prather with art shows and miscellany.

Leslie Lutz

Leslie Lutz's poetry and prose have appeared in various journals, including Kaaterskill Basin Literary Journal, Typishly, Orca Literary Journal, The Lyric, and Raintown Review. Her debut young adult sci-fi thriller Fractured Tide was voted best of 2020 by Suspense Magazine, and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard pick. Her second young adult novel Sweetest Darkness follows a teenage psychic who comes into a possession of a haunted safe that he absolutely should not open.

Lish McBride

Lish McBride is the author of funny and creepy young adult books such as Hold Me Closer, Necromancer; Necromancing the Stone; Firebug; Pyromantic; Curses; and Red in Tooth & Claw. For adults, she has her Uncanny romance series as well as The Suitcase Swap, a contemporary rom-com. Lish is also a former bookseller and event host at Third Place Books, a giant thriving indie bookstore just outside of Seattle. While she has no long-term goals for world domination, she would like her own castle.

Liz Argall

Liz writes SFF and creates the all-ages webcomic, Things Without Arms and Without Legs, a comic about creatures who are kind. Her fiction can be found in places like Uncanny Magazine; Antipodes; This Is How You Die: Stories of the Inscrutable, Infallible, Inescapable Machine of Death; and the Escape Artist podcast. She doesn't remember her first D&D game, because she was four. She lives in Seattle, but her heart misses the big silly birds of Australia. She has a website: http://lizargall.com

Liz Coleman

Liz Coleman is a mental health counselor specializing in trauma. Her writing has appeared in Lightspeed and Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and she is a graduate of Viable Paradise Workshop. She has previously been on the board of Cascade Writers, and enjoys being a part of the SF&F community.

Lizzy D. Hill

Lizzy D. Hill grew up on a farm in Southern Idaho where she was free to explore the world around her and the enchanting things in it. She enjoys fantasy books, researching fashion, exploring nature, and listening to music. To pursue these inspirations, Lizzy D. got an Associates of Fine Arts at BYU-Idaho and has been displaying her whimsical art at science fiction and fantasy conventions and various stores and shops for the last couple of years. She is happily married to her best friend and living in Washington state with their son and noisy blue-eyed kitty.

Logan Bonner

Logan Bonner is the Pathfinder lead designer at Paizo Inc. He was instrumental in the creation of Pathfinder 2nd Edition and oversees the rules of the game. He has contributed to many other RPGs as a designer on Dungeons & Dragons, line developer for the Mistborn Adventure Game, and a contributor to Spectaculars, Fiasco, and more. Logan has a background in fine art, editing, and games, and is passionate about getting every detail right to make RPG play engaging, enriching, and self-affirming.

Luke Elliott

Luke Elliott's fiction has appeared in Reckoning, Metaphorosis, and the Even Cozier Cosmic anthology, among other magazines and podcasts. He is the co-host of the Ink to Film podcast where he discusses books and their film adaptations from a writing craft perspective. He has an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and is a graduate of the Viable Paradise Workshop. His creative work spans science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

Lydia K. Valentine

Lydia K. Valentine is an artist, dramaturg, editor, educator, playwright, and the 2021–2023 Tacoma Poet Laureate. She believes in the power of kindness, the lifesaving ability of dogs, and the necessity of the Oxford comma. Her poetry collection, Brief Black Candles, dropped in 2020 (Not a Pipe Publishing) and her work is in We Need a Reckoning, an anthology from Blue Cactus Press. Two of Lydia's paintings are on exhibit at Gallery Onyx (Seattle, WA) through June. She looks forward to creating each and every day.

Maquel A. Jacob

Maquel A. Jacob is an author of gender shifter social science fiction with a bit of romance and a touch of gore. She originally hails from Chicago, Il, and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. She has more than 15 titles that span three different series. You can find her short stories in various anthologies and magazines. She holds degrees in accounting and business administration and was the head of programming for Orycon 41 and 42, and an instructor at the 2022 Cascade Writers Critique Workshop.

Mark Allen

Mark Allen is a horror writer and literacy advocate and the author of Nocturnal, Blood Red Moon, Just Before Dawn, and Alpha Male. He is the screenwriter of Restitution (2024), Early Grave (2013), and Delirium (2007). Mark is a member of the Horror Writers Association.

Marlow Weaver

Marlow "Dragonmar" Weaver always read science fiction and fantasy. While working as a live-in nanny in NYC during the late 80s, she became a regular convention-goer and continued when she moved to the Northwest. Marlow is a collector of Star Wars, LoTR, Doctor Who, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and other memorabilia. She is a member of Emerald City Androgums, NWSFS, Mos Everett Cantina, SARLACC (Seattle ARea Lucasfilm Artifact Collectors Club), and other Star Wars clubs. Marlow is currently the table promotor for Britcon at events and looks forward to being on panels sponsored by them.

[Art by Douglas Herring of a dragon’s skull.]

Marta Murvosh

Marta is a teen librarian and writer living 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. Find her at http://murvosh.weebly.com/

Matt Youngmark

Matt Youngmark is the author of the Chooseomatic Books, Arabella Grimsbro, and Spellmonkeys book series. His latest story is "The Pilot Episode," a near-future sci-fi novella about late-stage capitalism and what happens when your hopes and dreams come face to face with reality.

Meagan Maricle

Meagan Maricle is an editor and senior game developer at Kobold Press, working on books such as Vault of Magic, Tome of Heroes, the Tome of Beasts series, and Tales of the Valiant: Monster Vault. When not saving kobolds from their own word traps, she spends her time enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the comfort of a good book. She has been playing TTRPGs since the early 90s when her parents turned her into an emerald wyrmling.

Melissa Quinn

Melissa Quinn's life took a sharp turn when she discovered costuming at her first sci-fi convention. She spent 15 years running Faerie Fingers Custom Costumes & Event Apparel, creating costumes and unique event attire for clients around the country. Her current pursuits include cosplaying with her daughter and finding new opportunities for cosplay competition.

Michael Brugger

Michael Brugger is a self-taught artist residing in Oregon. He is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy and enjoys every aspect of it. Michael has won several Best Science Fiction and People's Choice Awards at conventions around the Upper Left Coast.

Michael Citrak

Michael is a long-time fan and convention volunteer since 1975. He loves watching his friends volunteer and grow in fandom, whether it's someone writing fanfic who becomes a published author, an artist who starts selling their art, a costumer who grows from creating simple to complex costumes, or somebody who just wanted to volunteer and the next thing you know they're chairing the convention. Enjoy. Network. Have fun!

Michael Hanscom

Michael Hanscom has been attending Norwescon since NWC29 and volunteering in various roles since NWC33, currently as web admin and Philip K. Dick award ceremony coordinator. In the outside world, he is the accessible technology program manager for Highline College, assisting students and staff with digital accessibility. His alter ego, DJ Wüdi, got started in alternative clubs of the '90s, and is excited to be back for another Thursday night dance. Star Trek is his home fandom (IDIC/LLAP).

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.

Michelle Morrell

Michelle Morrell Michelle has held numerous positions at Norwescon including member services director and secretary. Her special passion project is the Norwescon Little Free Library book exchange, where thousands of books get rehomed each year. She reviews contracts by day, prowls the Seattle goth scene by night, looks for any excuse to wear elf ears, and lives by the creed, "I read, therefore, I am."

Mike Brennan

Mike Brennan fell into science fiction at the age of 12, and hasn't surfaced yet. Along the way it helped lead him to become a nuclear engineer, a naval officer (submarines), and a radiation health physicist, as well as dabbling in writing. He also writes poems, when no one is looking.

Mir Plemmons

Mir Plemmons' most recent publications have been in queer and trans theology. Mir is an interfaith chaplain who does community and disaster volunteering and a disabled special education teacher and advocate. He also does other freelance/contract editing and writing.

Miranda Levi

Miranda Levi's writing explores life, love, and loss, seeking insights into the human soul. Formerly president of a Pacific Northwest writers group, she has guided aspiring authors, led writing courses, and spent over a decade as a content editor. Levi has also authored the middle-grade Mythiverse series under the pen name Isla Watts. A former middle and high school English teacher, she's dedicated to inspiring future storytellers and supporting writers with accessible industry guidance.

[Art by Joan Bennet of a kitten wearing wizard’s robes and holding a staff.]

Mona West

Mona West lives in the Pacific Northwest and writes about empathy, illness, climate change, and the ends of all things. Her work has been rejected by the most prestigious names in speculative fiction. She is a Viable Paradise alum, lapsed Codexian, music snob, critter enthusiast, and korok seed aficionado.

Morgan Smathers

Morgan spent six years in the military before finding her calling in the field of health physics. Since then, she has been joyfully nerding out about radiation detection, safely working with radiation, and emergency response.

Ms Purple Pearl

Purple Pearl started sewing her own costumes at the tender age of six, and hasn't stopped creating since. She approaches costume design with a project manager attitude — defining scope, schedule, and budget is the key to success. She can be found gleefully handing out hall costume ribbons with her friends, dubbed "Skittles" for their signature color-centric group costumes. She's had the honor and joy of judging costume contests for multiple businesses, Emerald City Comicon, Tolcon, and Norwescon.

Natalie Leif

What is there to say about the mysterious Natalie Leif? A Wisconsin graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Technical Writing, Leif is an author, illustrator, and library page. By day, they shelve books and talk to patrons. By night, they write stories about undead kids and draw illustrations about magic.

Nick Fraser

Nick Fraser is a librarian, traveler, reader, and film buff. He is the co-programmer and co-host of Seattle Movie Geeks.

Norman K. Moss

Norman K. Moss has owned Superior Machine in Snohomish since December 2000. He has 41-plus years of experience as a machinist, working on parts valued up to several million dollars. He has a third-degree black belt In taekwondo and is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where he uses heavy sword and broadsword, combat archery, and throws (knife, ax and spear). He is a target archer, a member of the ANTIR Armorer’s Guild, and a Navy veteran serving from 1972–78. He is the Gnarly Conservative Machinist.

Oliver/Castra Ferrata

Castra Ferrata is an educational group that focuses on history through living history. Its focused civilization is Rome. The group has an affiliation with other living history organizations in Washington, such as Sea Wolf Voyages, the Northwest Viking Shield Wall Alliance, and others. They do three events a year, including Norwescon, Enumclaw Highland Games, and Realms Unknown, with dreams to expand. Semper ad meliora.

Pat Reed

Pat Reed is a professional geologist and a Viking reenactor and researcher. Her areas of expertise in Viking studies are food, clothing, textile arts, shipbuilding, and navigation. She is also interested in how geology affects culture (i.e. Vikings cooked with soapstone bowls). She is part of the Glamfolk and the NW Viking Alliance, re-creating a Viking village at events in Poulsbo and the Nordic Heritage Museum for 20 years.

Patrick Swenson

Patrick Swenson runs Fairwood Press, a book line that began in 2000, and the Rainforest Writers retreat that began in 2007. A graduate of Clarion West, his first novel, The Ultra Thin Man, was published by Tor. His most recent novel is The Ultra Long Goodbye, completing his Union of Worlds trilogy. He is the author of Rain Music, a standalone dark fantasy set in the Olympic rainforest. He has sold stories to the anthologies Unbound II, Crooked V.2, Unfettered III, Gunfight at Europa Station A, Seasons Between Us, and others. He lives in Bonney Lake.

Paul Pedersen

Paul Pedersen is a member of Northwest Shieldwall, a group of Viking reenactors and educators who seek to share knowledge and passion for the ancient Viking world. He founded Sea Wolf Voyages, a nonprofit Viking-age living history museum whose goals are to build, maintain, promote and sail Viking longships and to build a historical Viking village complete with moorage for the ships.

Phil L. Swan

[AD: B-Rated! You pick the genre, we improvise the movie…complete with live commentary and jokes! It’s two shows in one! First friday of every month, 9:30 p.m., 21+ only. <CSZSeattle.com>]

Rand the Vampire

RAND the vampire has been active in backstage theater for decades, while also working on burlesque costumes and performances. Feathers and balloons are RAND's specialties.

Randy Henderson

Randy Henderson is the author of the quirky Finn Fancy urban fantasy trilogy from Tor. He is also a Writers of the Future grand prize winner, Clarion West grad, and relapsed sarcasm addict. Don't hesitate to say hi or ask questions, he is happy to chat and be of help where he can. Web: <www.randy-henderson.com>. Facebook: /randyhenderson. Bluesky/Mastodon/Instagram: @randyauthor.

Rebecca H. Lee

Rebecca H. Lee, who has been narrating audiobooks since 2014, works out of her home studio in Seattle. Her background includes degrees in drama and music from the University of Washington, 15-plus years of improv acting, and a lifetime of stage performing. She has lived on three continents and 10 cruise ships, where she picked up multiple languages and accents while working in various forms of entertainment. She loves bunnies, cats, coffee, tea, board games, and other sources of coziness.

Remy Nakamura

Remy Nakamura is a writer of dark, weird, and hopeful fiction. Find his stories in Escape Pod, Pseudopod, and a number of anthologies. He works as a data professional in the funeral industry. Nakamura has a master’s degree in genre writing, and is a grad of Clarion West. He is currently working on a cozy fungal apocalypse novel, lives in Portland with his partner, and spends his free time getting cold, wet, and muddy in PNW forests.

Rhiannon/R.Z. Held

Rhiannon Held is the author of the Silver series of urban fantasy novels published by Tor. As R. Z. Held, she wrote the Amsterdam Institute series of space opera novellas. Her award-nominated short fiction, also under R. Z. Held, has appeared in such markets as Beneath Ceaseless Skies. She lives near Portland, where she works as an archaeologist and technical editor for an environmental compliance firm.

Richard Flores IV

Richard Flores IV is a writer and publisher of speculative fiction. He is the editor in chief for Factor Four Magazine, a monthly publication of speculative flash fiction. He has six novels published in the science fiction and fantasy genres, including The Serenity Saga space opera series, and the new fantasy series, Influence of Water and Weather. He is a huge hockey fan, loves Tomb Raider, and streams live on Twitch. https://floresfactor.com/

Richard Sparks

Richard has written plays, opera libretti, TV and comedy. Rowan Atkinson performed Richard’s “Schoolmaster” sketch in John Cleese’s The Secret Policeman’s Ball. TV credits include Not the Nine O’Clock News, The Famous Five, The Flying Kiwi, The Optimist, The Worst of Hollywood, and a lot of script editing. Inspired by his love of online role-playing games, New Rock New Role is the first book in the New Rock fantasy series. The first sequel, New Rock New Realm, was published in November 2024.

Richard Stephens

Richard Stephens works as an actor, director and costume designer. During his 30-plus years in fandom, his costume journey has gone from media re-creation to fashion anthropology. At 59, he is branching out into burlesque and other camp forms of entertainment because "You are never too old to have fun!"

Rigby Bendele

Rigby Bendele is a trans author and TTRPG designer from the American South. Their work is often deeply interested in embodying the strange and fantastic, while considering the way that history haunts us all. You can find their work in many Pathfinder and Starfinder products, including Starfinder Adventure Path: Mechageddon!

Rob Carlos

Rob Carlos started his art career around 1998 selling prints on his website when he was asked to do paintings for the Robert Jordan Wheel of Time TCG. In 2007, Carlos started showing his work at Norwescon and other sci-fi/fantasy conventions and, in 2021, he was thrilled to be chosen as Norwescon's Artist GoH, which he says felt like an amazing bookend to a story! This year, he has been doing art and art directing for the Start Here introductory RPG by Tim Beach, a new project coming soon.

Robert King

Robert King is president of Doxacon Seattle, a small fan convention at the intersection of faith and fandom. He also is a freelance editor and writing coach, a podcaster with Secrets of Star Wars, and a writer. He holds a master's degree in philosophy, concentrating on Neoplatonic and Thomistic thought. In a former life, he was a friar with the Dominican Order in the Roman Catholic Church.

Rogue Bonaventura

Rogue Bonaventura is a creator of art and enjoyer of cinema history.

Ron Lundeen

Ron Lundeen multiclassed into RPG design after earning several levels as a corporate attorney. He is now a game designer working on Dungeons & Dragons for Wizards of the Coast. Lundeen previously created monstrous threats and fabulous adventures for many other companies, including Paizo Publishing, Petersen Games, and Ulisses Spiele. He loves helping people create exciting stories with their friends.

Rosemary Jones

Rosemary Jones has four books out in the Arkham Horror series published by Aconyte. The Fitzmaurice Legacy can be read in this order: Mask of Silver, The Deadly Grimoire, and The Bootlegger's Dancer. Available in early 2025, The Nightmare Journey of April May kicks off new adventures. Her novels for WOTC's Forgotten Realms include City of the Dead, and Crypt of the Moaning Diamond. Her collected short stories for the Cobalt City Universe appear in Wrecker of Engines. For more, see <rosemaryjones.com>.

Russell Ervin

Russell Ervin 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 writers workshops. Russell is home-grown. Norwescon has been his home con since 2005.

Ryan K. Johnson

Ryan K. Johnson is an independent cameraman and video editor living in Seattle who has produced two dozen shorts ranging from parodies to thrillers. He has shot every year of the Let's Make a Movie workshop, which started in 2000 at Norwescon, as well as three feature-length films. His work has been shown on the BBC, TLC, and at the Seattle International Film Festival. He is married to Kate Waterous.

[Art by Raven Oak of a grey skinned humanoid alien wearing a blue turtleneck and sunglasses.]

Sam Stark

Sam Stark is a nonbinary transmasc voice actor, audiobook narrator, author, podcaster, and sound designer living in Everett. They have voiced many characters in animation and podcasts, but are most recognized as the voice of Solomon in BloodyFM's Shelterwood: A Suburban Gothic, and Leon in Rusty Quill's The Gentleman From Hell. Their book, Break My Curse, is the first in a series about friendship, found family, and queer werewolves.

Sarah Grey

Sarah Grey's short fiction has appeared in Lightspeed, Flash Fiction Online, and elsewhere. Her Rhysling-nominated poetry has appeared in many publications, including Nightmare, Strange Horizons, Fantasy Magazine, Uncanny, Liminality, and Dreams & Nightmares. She has degrees in art history, medieval studies, and law, speaks multiple languages poorly, and enjoys world travel and roller skating. She lives in California with her family and an excessive quantity of cats.

Scotty McIntosh

Scotty McIntosh is a queer author and actor who is a PNW native. He studied acting and creative writing at Arts and Communications Magnet Academy. He has appeared in movies, TV shows, and video games; including Chad on TBS and Metal Lords on Netflix. He is a published author whose writing focuses on character dynamics and development. McIntosh has been writing fanfiction since he was 13 years old. He has a great appreciation and insight into how the world of fanfiction has developed.

Seth Tufteland

Seth Tufteland (Olaf) is the Jarl of Hrafngardr Vikings in Bothell. He is also an elder in the NW Viking Alliance. Jarl Olaf is a past law-speaker for the NW Viking Alliance. He is one of the steel combat instructors for the NW Viking Alliance.

Shanna Germain

Shanna Germain is the award-winning author and editor of myriad games and books, including Predation, No Thank You, Evil!, The Devil's Dandy Dogs, As Kinky as You Wanna Be, The Lure of Dangerous Women, and The Poison Eater. Her short fiction has appeared in places such as Apex Magazine, Best American Erotica, Best Lesbian Erotica, The Deadlands, Fantasy Magazine, and Lightspeed. Follow her down the rabbit hole at <shannagermain.com>.

Shawn Marier

Shawn Marier has been active in running conventions for more than 35 years, including chairing five previous Norwescons. For 30 years, he was a software engineer for Fortune 500 companies. His recent passion has been running film festivals, including Norwescon's Speculative Film Festival.

Shiv Ramdas

Shiv Ramdas is an Indian writer of science fiction, fantasy, horror and humor. His short fiction has appeared in publications such as Strange Horizons, Slate, Lightspeed, and others, and has been nominated for the Nebula, Hugo and Ignyte awards. He currently lives and works in Seattle with his spouse, three cats and several highly demanding trees. You can find out more about him at https://shivramdas.net/ or find him on Bluesky as @nameshiv.

[Art by Camille Meehan of three unicorns fighting.]

[Art by Douglas Herring of an elf with long white hair wearing tree-like armor.]

Shoshana “Sho” Glick

Shoshana Glick (they them) has worked as an editor for EDGE Publishing, a Canadian small press that releases works of horror, fantasy, and science fiction into the wild world. They were a coder on the University of Michigan's Genre Evolution Project and project managed the research project that used empirical research from the Genre Evo database to refute the assertion that the golden age of science fiction is dead. They have three cats and enjoy poetry, performing, crafting, and travel.

Sierra Cross

Sierra Cross writes captivating modern magic. She is the author of cozy mystery series Blue Moon Bay Witches and the upcoming romance spin-off series Blue Moon Bay Supernatural Dating Agency. Under her real name, she has written award-winning YA fiction. Her works have been traditionally published, translated, and optioned for TV. When not driving readers crazy with her glacially slow burns, you can find her cuddled up with her cat familiar drinking coffee or hunting Pokemon with her witchling.

Siouxsie Q Media

Siouxsie Q is a writer, director/producer, activist, author of Truth, Justice, and the American Whore, and was named 2024 Xbiz Gay Director of the Year.

Stefan Rudnicki

Stefan Rudnicki has produced/directed over 3,000 audiobooks for Skyboat Media and multiple major publishers. He is best known for SF, fantasy, and thriller fiction. Honors include a Bram Stoker, a Ray Bradbury, two Grammys, and two Hugos for Lightspeed magazine's podcast. He's a Golden Voice for AudioFile magazine. He was educated at Columbia University and Yale School of Drama and has taught performance disciplines at institutions of higher learning. He voices Entrati in Warframe video games.

Stephen Merrill

Stephen hosts Fantology Podcast, a chat about all things SFF. He loves all things nerd culture but has also branched out to sports of all kinds, adaptive skiing and disability representation.

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, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone. He was also a staff writer on the Crystal Lake series for Peacock and A24 Studios. Norwescon is his favorite convention of the year.

Subodhana Wijeyeratne

Subodhana Wijeyeratne is a historian of technology specializing in East Asia, with his first book, The Islands and the Stars: A History of Japan's Space Program, set for release by Stanford UP in late 2025. As an author, he has published over 20 short stories in venues like Welkin and Mythaxis. His second novel, Triangulum: An Epic of the Nine Worlds of Surya, is a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award. He lives in the USA with his wife and two dogs, Lord Nibbler and Lady Leela.

Sven Red Beard

Sven Red Beard is a retired Boeing worker with interests in the history of flight. He has been an active member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) for over thirty years and was a past Baron of Blatha An Oir. He is a member of the Order of the Laurel with his area of study being Viking Age and pre-Viking Age history and culture. Blacksmithing and armor making are among his hobbies.

Talulah J. Sullivan

Talulah J. Sullivan has been a pro equestrian, dancer, actor, and teacher, yet she's never managed to not be a storyteller. Ever. Her newest works Blood Indigo and Raven Mocker draw inspiration from her Choctaw and Chickasaw grandmothers. As J Tullos Hennig, she was awarded the SLF Older Writers Grant and wrote the historical fantasy series The Books of the Wode, reimagining Robin Hood as a queer, chaotic-neutral druid. Her books offer up an immersive, subversive experience.

Tara Campbell

Tara Campbell is a writer, teacher, Kimbilio Fellow, and fiction co-editor at Barrelhouse. She teaches writing at venues such as Johns Hopkins University, Clarion West, Hugo House, and The Writer's Center. She's the author of two novels, two hybrid collections of poetry and prose, and two short story collections. Her sixth book, City of Dancing Gargoyles, is a finalist for the 2025 Philip K. Dick Award and was one of Reactor magazine's Best Books of 2024. Find her online at <www.taracampbell.com>.

Taylor Tomblin

Taylor is a historical costumer and cosplayer from Spanaway, WA. She's played in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) for more than a quarter century; it's what began her costuming journey. As a cosplayer, she focuses on animated characters, giving them an authentic real-life makeover. She's honored to be a pro at this convention!

[Art by Jeff Sturgeon of a large oak tree in a foggy wood.]

Tegan Moore

Tegan is an aspirational farmer living on twenty muddy acres about an hour outside of Seattle, Washington. She's been published in magazines including Asimov's Science Fiction, Reactor (formerly Tor.com), Clarkesworld, and others. She is a dog agility instructor, can't not look at crustaceans, and has a biologically improbable entirely separate second stomach for containing dumplings.

Teresa Drag

T Drag grew up in Maine, attended college, and worked in Washington, D.C. before joining the US Marine Corps. She retired after 20 full years, having served all around the globe. She found time to get her pilot's license and participate in Renaissance festivals as a squire to several jousting knights. T Drag stays busy in retirement; some of her pursuits include editing books, studying martial arts, and quilting.

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 at Norwescon, OryCon and other shows for her artwork.

Thomas Theron

Thomas Theron is a native of the Pacific Northwest and lifelong follower of fantasy and gothic fiction. As an author, he searches for ways to blend the genres together in his novels and short stories. In his free time, he enjoys a friendly game of darts, online gaming, and spending hours discussing genre fiction and film.

Thursday

R. Thursday (they/them) is a writer, educator, historian, and all-around nerd. When not subverting middle school language arts and social studies curricula, they can be found watching cartoons, playing video games, reading, or writing about vampires, mutants, queerness, space wizards, and, sometimes, all of the above. Their poetry and short fiction have been featured in numerous journals, and they've been wandering the halls of Norwescon since they could toddle.

Timothy W. Long

When not sitting around watching Rick and Morty reruns in a bathrobe, Timothy W. Long writes stuff. He has a predilection for weird literature and sometimes drinks Coke for breakfast. (Don't tell his mom.) Tim is the author of over 30 novels in genres ranging from cozy/Isekai to all manner of post-apocalyptic because no one has managed to take away his word processor. Tim is a member of SFWA and recently signed a three-book deal with Aethon Books for his Dark Lord Reborn series.

Tom D Wright

Tom D Wright lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, a small pack of dogs and a cat. He also writes paranormal romance under a pseudonym (Mika Kosey) and is open about his neurodivergence — ADD, ASD and childhood PTSD — a potent combination. When not writing, he likes camping and stargazing with his 12" telescope. He graduated with an master's degree in Psychology from Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland, served on the board for Cascade Writers and is a full member of SFWA.

Tom Whitmore

Tom Whitmore was one of the founders of the Other Change of Hobbit bookstore in Berkeley in 1977, was a Locus reviewer for decades, and co-chaired Worldcon in 2002. He lives in Seattle with his partner K. G. Anderson, several cats, many thousands of books, and a wealth of stories. Ask him about data analysis, The Book of the Law, his collection of etchings, or odd books. He is also a licensed massage therapist.

Torrey Stenmark

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, and refusal to be intimidated by new problems) enabled her to compete and win in the masters division of several costume contests at both the local and national levels. She now teaches at Shoreline Community College.

Travis Partington

After attending college, Travis joined the Marine Corps and served as a radar operator for the HAWK Missile System. Travis is the host of the military and veterans podcast, Oscar Mike Radio, which has over 380 episodes and is now in its seventh year of production. In addition to using his voice for veterans, Travis has also done voice-over work and writing. Being a father is the most rewarding aspect of his life. You can visit <www.oscarmikeradio.com> to learn more.

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 and sharing and is now working on a pairing blog for food and wine.

V. Franklin

V. Franklin lives in a double-wide in the Pacific Northwest. Also present are two horses, four sheep, two goats, two cats, several thousand bees and two humans. The carpet is filthy, there are plastic skeletons all over the yard, and somebody keeps drinking all the gin.

Virginia Black

Virginia Black (she/her) is the author of No Shelter But the Stars (sci-fi romance, 2024) and two-time Goldie winner Consecrated Ground (paranormal romance, 2023) — both from Bywater Books — and several short stories and works of fan fiction. She enjoys strong whiskey, loud music, and writing about angsty protagonists, though not necessarily in that order. When not penning speculative sapphic fiction, she is almost always reading or lurking on RPG sites. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her wife of 21 years (and counting) and their savagely witty teenage daughter. Email her at vblack517@gmail.com or find her at http://www.virginiablackwrites.com.

Wm Salt Hale

Salt is a Seattle local involved with a wide variety of free/libre/open (FLO) communities. He attended graduate school at the University of Washington, studying the intersection of communication, computer science, and law. Salt participates, organizes, and speaks worldwide at various conferences, conventions, events, festivals, and faires. He tries to be very approachable and will always be found wearing a kilt.

Wren Handman

Wren Handman is a queer novelist, screenwriter, and video game writer. She has published eight speculative fiction novels for both adult and teen audiences. Her latest novel is a cozy paranormal thriller called A Midnight So Deadly. Wren was the lead writer for the award-winning sitcom The Switch, and is a co-founder of Ludic Lemur Entertainment, where she serves as creative director.

Ylluria WaterSong

A darkly sparkly merformer for 10-plus years, Ylluria's appeared at festivals, cons, parades and other events both above and below the waves. A National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) 1 mermaid and Portland Parks & Recreation certified water aerobics and swim instructor, she's also a singer, belly dancer and well-rounded artist, who loves fantasy, horror, makeup, folklore and more. Regardless of the medium, her goal is always to uplift, educate, inspire, and entertain. And as an advocate for disabled, LGBTQ, and plus-size folks, she feels "EVERYbody deserves to DREAM BIG!"

Zamesta Cosplay

Zamesta Cosplay is an army veteran who uses her cosplay to combat her MST-related PTSD symptoms. Her favorite thing about making costumes is incorporating her mobility aids as props!!

Comedy Showcase

Unexpected Productions: Impossible Loves

Shannon Bass, Ari, Elijah Harrison, Tristan Morris, Eliza Furmansky, and Tim Harahan

Shannon Bass

Shannon grew up a theatre kid in Northern California. While in college in 2010, she began improvising because all her friends were doing it. She has never looked back. Shannon has been an ensemble member and teacher at Unexpected Productions since 2021. You can catch her there on literally any night of the week. You can also find her around town performing with her two duos, Fat Cats and Closer to Clarity.

Ari

Love is all around us. For some, it jumps out when you least expect it. For others it quietly blooms. Ari has loved performing for as long as they can remember. From living room productions for family members to stage and streaming, they thoroughly enjoy bringing new stories to life. In addition to Impossible Loves, some of their favorite shows include Time's Arrow, An Improvised Man, and Where No Man Has Gone Before. They have 16 years of improv experience and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre arts.

Elijah Harrison

Elijah Harrison has been performing improv around Seattle for the last 15 years. He became interested in doing tech for improv three years ago and has been doing lights and sound at the Market Theater when not playing on stage ever since. When not doing improv, he trains in martial arts, plays guitar, and runs Dungeons & Dragons games. He currently can be seen in No Strings Attached, an improvised puppet musical, playing the second Saturday of every month at the Market Theater next to the gum wall.

Tristan Morris

Tristan is an improviser and ensemble member at Unexpected Productions (UP) in Seattle. He's been making it up as he went along his whole life, but he's been improvising for just under four years. Outside UP, he's one half of the improv duo Morris & Morris: Attorneys at Law and a founder of the improvised Shakespeare troupe The Brothers Falstaff. When he's not on stage, you can find him longingly staring at his TTRPG and board game collections or trying to make his way into the gaming industry.

Eliza Furmansky

Eliza Furmansky has been climbing through imaginary worlds, creating fantastic characters, painting and fabricating surreal landscapes and playing pretend with her friends since childhood. She's now a grown up UW drama alum and Unexpected Productions company member, and can't wait to find out what sexy and compelling paranormal love story is going to unfold this weekend in Norwescon's Impossible Loves. You can find Eliza on social media, through her website <elizafurmansky.com>, or performing improvised mime at the Market Theater on the fourth Saturday of every month.

Tim Harahan

Tim started Impossible Loves to bring the fast, deep world-building of Horror Unexpected and Stories Grimm into happier situations. He's been performing around Seattle since 2010, starting with Jet City's Twisted Flicks. Highlights include building UPTV and playing a 6'4" Tiny Tim in Improvised Christmas Carol. These days, when not climbing hills or goofing around with nephews, he's performing and directing at Unexpected Productions.

Bonus Entertainers

Russell D. Campbell/Santa Russ

Russell is a highly creative individual, a software engineer, and a professional Santa Claus. Artistically he has worked 2D, dabbled in 3D, and is attempting some digital work. His work has been fanciful, often humorous, and mostly fantasy-oriented. He's interested in green technologies, alternate energy sources, movies, books, woodworking, and other things techies often enjoy.

Ryan Fudge/Krampus

Ryan is known for fun and unique costumes, including Krampus 253, a Victorian postcard-inspired yuletide beast that offers family photography shoots as a Santa alternative around Washington state's Pierce County since 2014. When not embodying Krampus, he can often be found in the company of Alfred the Skeleton, a proud member of Crypticon Seattle.

A Gaggle of Geeks: A Geeky Comedy Showcase

Valerie Benti, Theresa Flores, Javann Jones, Marie Elizabeth, Chris Talbott, and Kyle Bob.

Valerie Benti

Valerie takes their day job as a scientist very seriously, except when they're doing science comedy, which is most of the time. After moving to Seattle in 2018, they founded Geeky Comedy Seattle and you can now find them performing, singing, and producing geeky content wherever they're allowed to.

Theresa Flores

Theresa Flores is a formally trained science educator and an informally untrained stand-up comedian. She has presented at cons for math teachers, science communicators, and geeks and nerds in general. If you ask her about either the fantasy series she loved where three sisters are brought together to vie for a crown, or the queer romance graphic novel she loved where the characters bond over food and magic, you will have to be more specific.

Javann Jones

Javann Jones is a Seattle-based writer and stand-up comedian. Born and raised in Alabama, he has been called uncomfortably funny.

Marie Elizabeth

Marie Elizabeth is an openly autistic, polyamorous, and pansexual Seattle-based comedian and producer who can be seen at a variety of venues, comic-cons, and festivals. Marie uses their experience as a therapist and rabble-rouser to incorporate principles of community psychology in creating experiences of authentic healing and connection. Marie is most proud of producing Hotties and Bodies which brings us back to Victorian-era variety shows featuring burlesque, comedy, and pole dancing.

Chris Talbott

Comedian Chris Talbott nearly died a few years ago. That's not really funny, but lots of laughs have followed nonetheless. An all-in kind of guy, he had a heart attack, caught the cancer, and had back surgery in a two-year span, all by age 45. He quickly decided he'd had enough of that shit. He now lives and laughs with cancer because it's kind of funny sometimes. Go figure. Leaning on interests in pop culture, history, science and human nature, he hopes to make you laugh and think. Or whatever.

Kyle Bob

Kyle Bob is a Wisconsin-born comedian who likes to talk about animals, food, science, and language. He also makes choose-your-own-adventure stories that let the audience vote on which direction to go, whether through mountains, pyramids, or outer space.

Jet City Improv - DnD

Kendall Uyeji, Grace Lindsley, Raynee Morris, Philip Geurin, Aaron Lussier, and Josh Howard

Kendall Uyeji

A native-born Seattleite, Kendall Uyeji (he/him) has been performing and producing in his home city for over eight years now. He graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in theatre and has acted and written for various local plays. He has worked in many fields of education from administration to teaching to performance. Kendall loves running Dungeons & Dragons games and writing novels in his free time. He also produces theatre with an Asian American theatre company called Pork Filled Productions.

Grace Lindsley

Grace has been performing improv with Jet City for three years. She is a Washington native and lifelong nerd.

Raynee Morris

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Philip Geurin

A theatrical improviser and trainer, Philip has toured nationally, teaching thousands of people across the country at medical schools, universities, anime conventions, and more. He has played and workshopped with world-famous improvisers including Keith Jonstone (Impro), Jill Bernard, Matt Hill ("Badger" from Breaking Bad), Jimmy Carrane (Improv Nerd), Craig Cackowski (30 Rock), and the Second City West Touring Company.

Aaron Lussier

Aaron is a member of the Jet City Improv (JCI) Ensemble and has been improvising around Seattle since late 2022. His JCI credits include Journey of the Wind and the 2024 run of The Emerald City Slasher. He has also been seen in CSz Seattle Tales of the Weird and was a fixture of Unexpected Productions' Duos Improv Showcase for much of 2023. In his free time he enjoys cooking new dishes and trying to perfect the deviled egg.

Josh Howard

B-Rated CSz Seattle

Sara Jo, Drew Simchik, Alex Jerabek, Phoebe, Rachel Meyer, Megan May Chang, David Gordon, and Daniel Kinamon

Sara Jo

Sara Jo is an improv/sketch comedian with 18+ years of experience. She works with Seattle improv theaters like CSz, Bandit, JCI, and UP, and serves as staff for SketchFest Seattle. She's written and performed sketches at NYC, Denver, and Seattle sketch festivals. TV credits include Netflix's American Vandal and Hulu's The Sex Lives of College Girls. Book a team-building event or 1:1 intuitive coaching at <www.sarajogeiger.com>.

Drew Simchik

Drew started his improv career with CSz San Jose in 2002 and was traded to CSz Seattle in 2017. In addition to directing and performing in B-Rated!, he is a regular player in ComedySportz, Full Disclosure, Dubious Advice, The Blue Show, and other monthly shows at CSz Seattle. Over the years he has also appeared in limited-run shows such as Vision Euro and Something Great. This fall he will be returning to direct season two of CSz Seattle's improvised spooky anthology show Tales of the Weird.

Alex Jerabek

Alex is a jack-of-all-trades who draws upon his life of variety for his improv inspiration. He's been a writer, chef, programmer, tour guide, bartender, and groundskeeper, as well as a cast member at ComedySportz Seattle for the last eight years. Alex also makes board games under the moniker Cherry Picked Games.

Phoebe

Phoebe has been doing improv stuff since she was a snot-nosed teenager and has been performing with CSz Seattle since it started 12 years ago. She is very funny and very humble.

Rachel Meyer

Rachel fell in love with improv the moment she saw her first show in Seattle at age 16, but it took another decade before she realized she could take classes. Now she has learned from some of the world's best improvisers at CSz, Unexpected Productions, Jet City, Second City, the Annoyance Theater, and Upright Citizens Brigade. She also knows that most people don't read the bios all the way through so if you're still reading, she'd like to tell you about the time she ate sugar ants in Australia on purpose. They tasted like sour patch kids!

Megan May Chang

Megan is a Bachelor of Arts musical theatre graduate who is honored to have the opportunity to make others laugh. She is a cast member at ComedySportz Seattle and has performed at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Spring Awakening. Endless love to her friends and family for their support. Enjoy the show!

David Gordon

Daniel Kinamon

Daniel is an engineer, nerd, father to beasts, and, most importantly, one of the original bad boys of improv.

[Art by Camille Meehan of a unicorn decked in flowers walking through a sunlit forest.]

Memorials

We will be missing members of our community and significant figures in our genre and Pacific Northwest fandom who have left us since the last time we were together.

Shaylee Bell

November 8, 1975–July 3, 2024

Shaylee passed away on July 3, 2024 after a long struggle with multiple cancers. The loss of her loving and generous spirit is a blow to all who knew her. For over 10 years Shaylee was a familiar and welcome sight at science fiction, fantasy, and horror conventions in the Pacific Northwest, bringing life to her iconic Doctor Who Daleks Clara and Dale through movement and music, creating many photos ops for fans. Shaylee built the Daleks in her small apartment, spending countless hours to provide entertainment and education about Doctor Who and UK shows and movies. She was active with https://www.projectdalek.co.uk. She gave generously and lovingly of herself and her creations, not only at conventions but also to Seattle LBGTQ+ communities by participating in Pride Day parades with her Daleks. Whereas her Daleks were transported mostly by friends with vans or trucks, Clara did ride light rail around the Seattle/King County area from time to time. Shaylee said that sometimes they were charged fares while other times they were categorized as "luggage."

Lynne Magie

February 20, 1945–October 14, 2024

Lynne Magie was a fan and creative spirit. For at least 28 years, she attended Norwescon and, as a master jewelry artist, sold her work for 10 of those years at the art shows. Every year she created and wore hall costumes for the enjoyment of all. In addition to Norwescon, Lynne also attended Anglicon, Emerald City Comic Con, GeekGirlCon and two Worldcons—Sasquan and San Jose. Lynne was a member of Quilters Anonymous, sci-fi book clubs and president of the Northwest Bead Society in 2013. She was a creative inspiration to everyone who knew her and freely shared her talents with all who met her.

Vernor Vinge

October 2, 1944–March 20, 2024

Science fiction author and Norwescon 33 guest of honor. Vernor was among the first authors to present "cyberspace." He won Hugo awards for his novels A Fire Upon the Deep (1993), A Deepness in the Sky (2000), Rainbows End (2006), and novellas Fast Times at Fairmont High (2002) and The Cookie Monster (2004). He taught mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University, retiring in 2000 in order to write full-time. He was writer guest of honor at ConJosé, the 60th World Science Fiction Convention in 2002. Additionally, Vinge served on the Free Software Foundation’s selection committee for their Award for the Advancement of Free Software for several years.

Greg Hildebrandt

January 23, 1939–October 31, 2024

Greg was an artist who frequently collaborated with his identical twin brother Tim (1939- 2006) as "The Brothers Hildebrandt." The brothers worked collaboratively as fantasy and science fiction artists for many years, producing illustrations for comic books, movie posters, children’s books, posters, novels, calendars, advertisements, and trading cards. Their best-known work was connected with book covers and illustrations for The Lord of the Rings.

Marc Wells

July 10, 1952–October 25, 2024

Marc Wells was a long-time Portland fan. Throughout his life, Marc was an active techie at conventions and served as president of the Portland Science Fiction Society and president of the board of directors of OSFCI for many years. As many knew, Marc was a talented musician who loved supporting young musicians and all sorts of music, especially Friends of Noise, a non-profit dedicated to supporting diversity among young musicians.

Wally Weber

June 26, 1929–January 23, 2025

Wally was the chair of Seacon (1961), the first Seattle Worldcon. He was co-editor of the Hugo-winning fanzine, Cry of the Nameless, and a leader in Seattle fandom.

Dame Maggie Smith

December 28, 1934–September 27, 2024

Dame Smith was a British actor and one of the few actors to win "The Triple Crown of Acting," winning an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. She had a very extensive acting career, including portraying Professor Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series (2001–2011). She also played Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey (2010–2015). The role earned her three Primetime Emmy Awards. Please read her wiki and IMDB pages.

Teri Garr

December 11, 1944–October 29, 2024

Teri Garr was an American TV and movie actor who starred in many memorable films, including Young Frankenstein (1974), Oh, God! (1977), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Mr. Mom (1983), After Hours (1985) and her Academy Award-nominated performance for best supporting actress in Tootsie (1982). Many remember her appearance in one Star Trek TOS episode, "Assignment: Earth," which was a pilot for another series.

John Maddox Roberts

June 25, 1947–May 23, 2024

John was an American author of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction. He wrote for a variety of series including Conan, Falcon, SPQR, and Stormlands. With Eric Kotani, they wrote the Island Worlds series. He also wrote individual novels and short stories and, under the pen name of Mark Ramsay, a historical series of four novels.

Douglas Overton

1955–March 22, 2024

Doug was an active costumer and Civil War re-enactor. He won Best Novice in the Norwescon 11 (1989) masquerade for his Klingon Instructor costume. He was a tremendous help to a lot of local people with various convention/costume productions/projects. Doug will always be remembered as a generous man, talented with mechanical things, and generous with his time and energy to the larger community of friends.

James Earl Jones

January 17, 1931–September 9, 2024

James was an American actor known for his film roles and for his work in theater. While he's famous as being the voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, his credits literally fill pages. Please read his wiki and IMDB pages.

Frances Skene

December 18, 1937–June 17, 2024

A Canadian fan, author and a librarian at the Greater Vancouver Public Library, Fran was very active in the fannish community since the 1970s, including the BC Science Fiction Association and VCON. She was editor of her fanzine, Love Makes the World Go Awry, from 1979 to 1983 and edited BCSFAzine from 1975 to 1976. She chaired Rain Cinq in 1983, Westercon 30 in 1977, VCON VI in 1978, VCON 9 in 1981, Rain Finale in 1984, and VCON 14 in 1986. Fran was a guest of honour at MileHiCon 10, 1978 in Denver, CO; Westercon 35, 1982 in Phoenix, AZ; Ad Astra 8, 1988 in Toronto; and Keycon 5, 1988 in Winnipeg.

William Anders

October 17, 1933–7 June 2024

William Anders was a NASA astronaut who was part of the 1968 Apollo 8 crew, who were the first three people to orbit the moon. He took the iconic "Earthrise" photo. "We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth," Anders famously said. He was selected in 1964 as an astronaut by NASA and served as backup pilot for the Gemini 11 mission in 1966 and the Apollo 11 flight in 1969.

Roger William Corman

April 5, 1926–May 9, 2024

Roger was an American film director, producer, and actor. Among the many features directed by Corman were The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Intruder (1962), X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), and House of Usher (1960). He also acted in films, including The Godfather Part II (1974), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Apollo 13 (1995), and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). In his early years, Roger proved himself a master of quick, inexpensive productions, turning out numerous movies as director and/or producer: nine movies in 1957 and nine again in 1958. His personal speed record was set with The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), which he shot in two days and a night. In 1990, after the publication of his biography How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime, he returned to directing, but only for a single film, Frankenstein Unbound (1990), though he continued as producer through 2021. In 2009, he was honored with an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Please read his wiki and IMDB pages

[Art by Douglas Herring of a young boy faerie holding a raspberry.]

[AD: Oregon’s Oldest Literary and Creative Convention: Orycon 45: October 17–19, 2025. Don’t fear the reaper. Guests of honor: Alan M. Clark, R.R. Virdi, and Dr. J.S. Fields. Held at the Portland DoubleTree, 1000 NE Multnoma St., Portland, OR, 97232. Orycon is a product of Orecon Science Fiction Conventions, Inc. (OSFCI), a non-profit, tax exempt corporation. <OryCon.org>]

Mary Jane Engh (MJ Engh)

January 26, 1933–July 11, 2024

Mary was an American science fiction author and Roman scholar. She was a science librarian at Oklahoma State University, then a biology librarian at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. She is best known for her 1976 novel Arslan, about an invasion of the United States. (The British edition title is A Wind from Bukhara.) She was also an active participant in the science fiction community and a long-time supporter of MosCon in Moscow, Idaho. In 2009, Engh was named author emerita by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Linda Bushyager

September 8, 1947–November 27, 2024

A longtime Philadelphia fan who moved to Las Vegas, Linda was particularly known for publishing the genzine Granfalloon (1968–76) and the newszine Karass (1974–78). She was also the author of three SF/F novels.

John Trimble

November 17, 1936–April 19, 2024

A Los Angeles fan, John was very active in fandom and related areas, helping to create/run chapters, fanzines, and conventions, sharing his joy of the genres with others. When John learned that Star Trek was going to be cancelled after only two seasons, he said to his wife Bjo, "Gee, it's a shame a good science fiction show like Star Trek is going to be canceled. We should do something about that!" And the Save Star Trek campaign was born.

Robyn Q Burnout Esq, AKA Steven Michael Towler

April 26, 1974 –January 11, 2025

On Saturday January 11, 2025 Clan Burnouts founder and figurehead Robyn Q Burnout Esq, a.k.a. Steven Michael Towler, ascended to the Celestial Convention. He had rung in the new year with a bottle of the Elixer of Eternity. Unfortunately, he did not see the warning label regarding heavy or repeated use. IRL: He is survived by four half sons (Tristan, Adam, Robert, and Leon) as well as a stepmother and four sisters. In the '90s, he started Clan Burnout, which grew into a volunteer organization for "the misfits," the ones who didn't really fit in anywhere else. It gave them a sense of purpose and responsibility that some of them flourished under. In death he donated his organs to help others, because that is who he was. All who knew and loved him will understand the depths to which he will be missed. Til we see you again, my friend.

[Art by Joan Bennet of a woman in ornate dress pouring water into a bowl as a cat watches, with a planet setting over a distant ocean.]

Artists

• Abby Williams Studio
• Agathon McGeachy
• Alan F. Beck
• Alan M. Clark
• andyvanoverberghe
• Anna
• Arlin Robins
• Ashley J Harper
• Asstarte
• Belsac Leather Art
• Blane Bellerud
• Braden Duncan
• Brett Bullion
• Brittany Torres
• Camille Meehan
• Chelsea Santamaria
• Chronic Baubles Origami Jewelry
• Corey Labrie
• Douglas Herring
• Ellis Bray
• Eric L Vargas
• Goldenwolf
• Ivy Gilliam
• Jeff Sturgeon
• Jessica Evans
• Joan Bennett
• John Gray III
• Katie Croonenberghs
• Kayla Klassy
• Keith Amarak Waters
• Krister Eide
• L. Pierce Ludke
• L.A. Wildsun Bradley
• Liz Argall
• Lizzy D.
• Lynne Taylor Fahnestalk
• Michael Brugger
• Monkey House Studios
• my treehouse studio
• Peri Charlifu
• Raven Oak
• Raymond VanTilburg
• Rob Carlos
• Sandra SanTara
• Sarah Clemens
• The Tarot of Brass and Steam
• TheCreepingMoon
• Theresa Halbert
• Theresa Mather
• Tyler Clark
• Wayne Barlowe
• Wrought & Bound
• Zain

Dealers

• Alchemical Press LLC
• Angelwear Creations
• Art by Erika Rae Heins
• Author Lindsey Sparks
• Bardhwood Press LLC
• Bird brain dice
• Broken Eye Books
• Celestial Peryton
• Cobyfrog Art
• Constellation Designs
• Cross Genre Books
• Crystal’s Idyll
• Curious Nature Studio
• Diantimony Designs
• DragonstormSports
• Dread Pirate Bri
• Emma LaRae
• Felicity Harley
• Firefox Fashions (The Fur Connection)
• Forest Path Books
• Found Family Adventurecrafts
• Friday Afternoon Tea
• Geek Girl Stuff
• Geek Lolita Ink and Paint Tattoo Gallery
• JayPalmerBooks
• Kcie Monk
• Lemonfish Atelier
• lotopauanka
• M.T. Zimny
• Majestic Adventures
• Matt Youngmark
• Monkey House Studio
• Morgan Vayle
• Nemesis Gear
• Neverwas Comics
• OddPetz Emporium
• Optimystical Studios
• Part-Time Cryptid
• Persistent Tiger Design Studio
• Pie Slice Dice
• Quinn & Bloom
• Rainbow Quartz Publishing
• Robin Hobb
• SewCherie
• Shiromi Arserio
• Sigh Co. Graphics / Arkham Bazaar
• Springtime Creations
• Stacy Bair Ogden
• Stephanie K Clemens
• Underbridge Books
• Unicorn Empire
• Varida P&R
• Warrior Children
• Wild Magic Bags
• Zhengyi Wang

[Art by Jeff Sturgeon of a psychedelic storefront at the corner of San Francisco’s Haight and Ashbury streets.]

Norwescon 2025 Concom

[Photo: Norwescon’s convention committee gathered on stairs at the DoubleTree hotel.]

[Photo: Norwescon convention committee members visible in a Zoom grid screenshot.]

Norwescon 47 Convention Committee

Chair Rob Stewart

• Elections Kevin Black
• Historian Michael Citrak
• Assistant Historian Michael Hanscom
• Community Partnerships Doug Booze

Vice Chair Shawna Batty

• Hotel Liaison Pat Booze
• GOH Selection Committee Scot Oliver
• GOH Selection Committee JD Demboski

Secretary Michelle Morrell

Secretary Second Crystal Lloyd

Business Director Tim Ketron

• Purchasing Manager Cherie Playter
• Purchasing Agent Caryn Meyer

Treasurer Jenn Baker

Treasurer Staff Steven Hasenbuhler

Publications Director Katrina Marier

• Newsletter Editors Omaha Sternberg, Valari Westeren
• Daily Zine Editor Caitlin Cormier
• Graphic Designers Vanessa Arevalo, Juniper Foy
• Souvenir Book Editor Shelley George
• Pocket Program Editor Cheryl Dyson
• Lead Photographer Thom Walls
  • David Moore Photography Team Second
  • Photographers John Jinneman, Patrick White, Opal Campbell, Tan Boleware
• Lead Editor Keith Waters
  • Editorial Consultant Kevin Black
  • Editors Emily Teng, Anne Cagle, Mark Sebring, Kate Waterous, Randy Hayes, Maxx Ravin, Juniper Foy
• Web Team Lead/Webmaster Michael Hanscom
  • Website Assistant Chris Radcliffe
  • Social Media Team Sarah Goldberg, Alex Demboski, Sam Wilson
• Signage Tammy Cox (Tabby)
• Guidebook Editor Teya Viola

Member Services Director Alex Demboski

• Registration Manager JD Demboski
  • Registration Leads Jeffrey Cornish, Jazi Adkins
  • Registration Team Ed Beecher, Annabel de Braganca, Carla D Viltz, Dorothy Meyer, Ciaran McKelvy, Jaeta Forest-Rivers, Ryan Forest-Rivers
• Art Show Manager - Pre Event Doug Booze
• Art Show Managers - On Site Moe LaCoss, Jeff LaCoss
  • Art Show GoH Liaison Rob Carlos
  • Lead Cashier Jean Carlos
  • Art Show Team Members Chris Hill, Marjorie Stratton, Eileen Gray, Krister Eide, Joan Bennett, Eric Weber, Caroline Westra, Peter Damien, Fred Oakley, Rose Westwood
• Cloakroom Lead Tory Poling
• Information Table Manager Julie Demboski
• Club Tables Manager Jerry Johnson
• Little Free Library Michelle Morrell
  • Little Free Library Team Patsyann Jones Coburn, Seth Taylor
• Dealers' Room Manager Amy Gembala
• Art In Action Manager Doug Booze
• Accessibility Team Lead Karen Radcliff
  • Accessibility Team Member Ted hart
  • BIPOC & AAPI Lounge Lydia Valentine
• Teen Engagement Lead Jenn Baker
  • Shire Elders Caryn Meyer, Steven Hasenbuhler, Donna Poling
  • Teen Lounge Steven Hasenbuhler

Convention Services Director Felice Nightengale

• Deputy Convention Services Director - Safety & Ops Brad Nelson
• IT Manager Keith Jewell
  • IT Staff Scott Surber, John Montgomery
• A/V Tech & Facilities
• A/V Services Manager Ian Shaw
  • Assist. A/V Services Manager John Kono
  • A/V Services Techs Mark Kerrigan, Robert Johns, Dawn Shaw, Jason Emery, Ben Schreiber
  • Video Streaming (Cascades) Assistant Rowan Hover
• Layouts Lead Michael Citrak
  • Layouts Assistants Ben Schreiber, Carla Moore
• Logistics Manager Eric Pawtowski
  • Logistics Staff Daniel Pawtowski, Yvonne Pawtowski, Bill Boyde, Brennan Batty
• Main Stage Manager Matthew Ravenmoore
• Peacebonding Loki
• Safety—Safety Manager Dave Ashcroft
  • Office Staff Deb Schierbaum, Kathy Parkhurst
  • Dispatch Logan Ashcroft-Lynge, Mir Plemmons, Res
  • Safety Ambassador Supervisor Guy
  • Safety Ambassador Grey Wolfe
• Discord Supervisor Wm Salt Hale
  • Discord Admin Kyle Hall

Programming Director Peggy Stewart

• Art Track Lead Lizzy Hill
• Biological Sciences Track Lead Jake McKinzie
• Community Track Lead Liz Coleman
• Costume Track Lead Melissa Quinn
• Editing Track Lead Erin Wilcox
• Fanfic Track Lead Ruth Frey
• Fantasy Track Lead Grant Riddell
• Gaming Track Lead Tim Nightengale
• History Track Lead Bill Gruner
• Horror Track Lead Julie McGalliard
• Military Track Lead Teresa Drag
• Music Track Lead Leslie Jordan
• Poetry Track Lead R. Thursday
• Pop Culture/Media Track Lead Jack Buren
• Science Fiction Track Lead James Hay
• Space Track Lead Dan Dubrick
• Technology Track Lead Mike Brennan
• Writing Track Lead Grant Riddell
• YA Writing Track Lead Camden Rose
• Youth (12 & under) Track Lead Jenny Shafer
• GOH Liaison Lead Joe Waddington
• Hands-on Workshop Coor. Autumn Santercier
• Norwescon Writers Workshop Director Barth Anderson
• Norwescon Writers Workshop Coordinator Adrienne Loska
• Autograph Sessions Coordinator Autumn Santercier
• Programming Service Co-Leads Scot Oliver, Bernie Strub
• Programming Service Staff Joe Waddington, Meghan Lancaster, Crystal Lloyd, Bri Saucedo, Hazel Leetham, Rebekah Postupak, Deborah Strub, June Sevier, Tim Sorensen, Bob Newgard
• Pro Suite Co-Leads Kathy Bond, SunnyJim Morgan

Personnel Director Wm Salt Hale

• Holiday Party Host SunnyJim Morgan
• Book Club Coordinator Jon Lavinder
• Book Club Second Crystal Lloyd
• Gaming Group Coordinator James Hay
• Meetups Coordinator Kathy Bond
• Campout Coordinator Todd Clark
• Refreshments Lead Jeff Wheeler
  • Refreshments Assistants Blane Bellerud, Sam Jorgensen
• Convention Lounge Lead Czarcasm
  • Convention Lounge Host Cora, Genevieve Faye
• Volunteer and Staff Support Lead Jackie Gray
  • Minion Maximum Minion
• Minions Second Drovi
• Volunteer Table Lead John Granacki

Special Events Director Tonya Clark

• Special Events Director Second Sam Demboski
• Artemis Bridge Lead Dave Thaler
  • Artemis Staff Mark S. Alexander, Kaylene Thaler, Ryan Thaler, Cas Alexander, Emery Alexander, John Spinosa, Jessica Wallace, Jeff Wallace, Genie Ankoudinova, Mel Garton, Tamara Painter-Smith, Leroy Painter-Smith, Robin Purtee
• Games Manager Amy Gembala
  • Games Manager Second Thomas Smith
• Speed Friending Host Tabby Rose
• Lazer Tag Lead Scott Edward Perrin
  • Lazer Tag Assistant Elizabeth (Beth) Fellows
• Nerf Lead Scott Edward Perrin
• Pub Trivia Coordinator Dave O’Neill
• Single Pattern Contest Coordinator Julie Zetterberg Sardo
  • Single Pattern Contest Judge Seaboe
• Dances Coordinator Tabby Rose
  • Dances Assistant Shoshana Malfatto
  • DJ (Thursday) DJ Wudi
  • DJ (Friday) DJ MC3000Baud
  • DJ Saturday DJ #CSharp
• Masquerade Director Jazmine (Doll) Herrington
  • Masquerade Assistant Donde Groovily
  • Masquerade Emcee Donde Groovily
  • Masquerade Head Stagehand Nels Satterlund
  • Masquerade Judge Gavin Moore
  • Masquerade Stagehand Aryana Bill
• Philip K Dick Award Coordinator Michael Hanscom
• Speculative Film Festival Coordinator Shawn Marier
  • Speculative Film Festival Judges Sarah Scrivano, Mark Sebring, Chris Cook-Sussan, Matt Allex, Tam Rosearrow, Peggy Stewart, KK Ferate
• Charity Photo Coordinator Cindy Greene

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a humanoid figure riding a creature shaped vaguely like a flying motorcycle.]

[AD: Photo of a white man with short hair, holding costume armor. Text says: My name is Colin, and I am a costumer and cosplayer. My dad, a retired prop maker, and I worked on this using our respective skills to make a comfortably wearable ODST costume so I can cosplay as a member of UNSC from HALO. I will be wearing my costume in Montreal at Worldcon 2027 (should we win). If you want to know more, vote for Montreal in the Site Selection election. My name is Colin and I am fandom. <www.montreal2027.ca> info@montreal2027.ca]

Page Ahead

This year Norwescon is proud to be working with: Page Ahead Children's Literacy Program.

Page Ahead provides new books and develops reading activities that empower at-risk children. Founded in 1990, Page Ahead Children's Literacy Program has given more than four million new books to over one million children through collaborations with schools, social service agencies, preschools, and early childhood programs across Washington.

There are two significant periods in a young child's reading development where gaps can occur: before they begin school and during summer vacations. Page Ahead is committed to helping the state's most vulnerable children avoid those reading gaps before they become insurmountable. By providing reading interventions that support children and families during pre-kindergarten and the summer months, Page Ahead helps break down barriers to achievement for children furthest from educational justice and is committed to helping all Washington Children become successful readers. Page Ahead is a top-ranked early childhood education program on Charity Navigator and was recognized with a State Literacy Award by the Library of Congress in 2021. This year, the organization will give more than 300,000 new books to children for their own home libraries.

Please check out the art show for items you can bid on in the charity auction that benefits Page Ahead. For more information about Page Ahead please, check out their webpage <pageahead.org>

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a large book with eyes and tentacles, tied closed with its own tentacles.]

Our thanks to NASA: Circle and rectangle incidental art objects were created using NASA Photos and images of Helix, Tarantula, Carina Nebulas, the stellar nursery called NGC 3324, our Sun, the Milky Way Galaxy and Kepler-16b. https://www.nasa.gov/

[AD: The galaxy needs you! Starfinder Second Edition Player Core available August 2025. <paizo.com/starfinder>]

[Art by Wayne Barlowe of a reddish orange alien creature with a skull-like head, two rear legs, and forelegs that become giant spikes, resting on a tree branch.]

Through The Cosmic Telescope

April 17–20, 2025
SeaTac, WA