Scott R Padget
Dan Robb @ December 1, 2007 # Comments Off
Like many aerospace engineers, Scott is a frustrated astronaut wanna-be (unlike some, he freely admits this). Scott has held the world’s third-best job, and once received an award for making a planeload of scientists ill. He has worked for both the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs, and when talking to non-techie types he describes his current job as “making sure the shuttle gets into space with no gigantic kabooms”.
Off the job, Scott is a polyamorous vegetarian single parent (just like everyone else in fandom). Past hobbies have included SCA rapier combat and tall-ship sailing, but these days his primary evening activities seem to be cook and chauffeur (see “single parent” earlier).
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R. Cat Conrad
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Cat arrives from Arlington – that’s Texas, not the national cemetery, although his puns can be deadly and have reportedly jeopardized his allotted nine lives. (Actually, he’s recently moved to Fort Worth, but close enough … wherever he’s from, just pretend he’s a famous dead artist and purchase his paintings accordingly.) His background includes a degree in fine arts from the University of Science and Arts in Oklahoma. From there, Cat leaned just how far an art degree would take him … across town and into a 10-year stint with an UnFortunate 500 company … as an industrial chemist. He often wonders if there isn’t some frustrated chemist out there sweating over a drawing board and muttering, “What the hell happened to my resume?” Prolonged exposure to hazardous materials did little to improve Cat’s humor, but it did convince him that he wasn’t making a better living through chemistry. In 1991 he moved on to greener pastures – in preference to becoming a permanent part of the “underground” movement! Currently, in addition to being an award-winning painter and cunning linguist, Cat is making broad brushstrokes as a popular speaker and auctioneer, and continues to gain prominence as a fan entertainer. He has been a featured auctioneer at numerous conventions throughout the Southwest, including the famed five and a half hour marathon auction of WorldCon 51.
Cat Conrad’s website can be found at http://www.ArtistsInResidence.com/Cat.
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Lee Killough
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At age eleven Lee Killough discovered and fell in love with SF/fantasy and Mysteries. Afraid of exhausting her favorite genres’ supply in her small hometown library, she began writing her own stories…and rather than chose between the genres, she combined them as much as possible. The habit has stuck. Approximately half of her sixteen novels are SF or supernatural mysteries or urban fantasies. Her first short story appeared in Analog in 1970, and she published her first novel in 1979. Her most recent books, published by Yard Dog Press, are an African fantasy, The Leopard’s Daughter, and a revised edition of Checking On Culture, an aid to building story backgrounds. Currently in progress is an urban fantasy.
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J M McDermott
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J M McDermott’s first novel, LAST DRAGON, is the first trade paperback of
Wizards of the Coast’s new Discoveries imprint. Jeff VanderMeer’s review,
appearing in the April 2008 issue of “Realms of Fantasy” says of the novel,
“Relentless, dark, and dangerous…A rare kind of clarity inhabits
McDermott’s prose through the character of Zhan and the entire novel is a
breath of fresh air in the sometimes moldy room that is traditional fantasy
fiction. I’m not prepared to say that this novel is a work of genius, but
comparisons to Gene Wolfe, in particular, are well-earned and I would not be
surprised to see this novel on finalist lists come awards time.”
His short fiction has appeared in “Atomjack Magazine”, “Coyote Wild
Magazine”, “New Myths”, “Dark Recesses Press”, “Pseudopod”, and other
places.
He blogs at jmmcdermott.blogspot.com
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Jerry Davis
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The son of an inventor, Jerry is a Dallas area author whose writing credits include a SF novel (Travels, published by Grand Central Publishing) and dozens of short stories found in such magazines as Aboriginal Science Fiction. He also runs GroovyMojo Media, which publishes Dark Energy SF as well as Quantum Kiss.
Jerry Davis’ website can be found at http://www.jjdavis.net.
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Frances May
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Frances A. May is a librarian at UNT who teaches a library school course about fiction genres. She reveled in the extensive research she did for her class. She has always particularly loved the Literatures of the Imagination, especially Science Fiction and Fantasy, and is delighted with the proliferation of books with a paranormal twist.
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Chris Roberson
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Chris Roberson’s novels include Here, There & Everywhere, The Voyage of Night Shining White, Paragaea: A Planetary Romance, X-Men: The Return, Set the Seas on Fire, The Dragon’s Nine Sons, and the forthcoming End of the Century, Iron Jaw and Hummingbird, and Three Unbroken. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as Asimov’s, Interzone, Postscripts, and Subterranean, and in anthologies such as Live Without a Net, FutureShocks, and Forbidden Planets. Along with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, he is the publisher of MonkeyBrain Books, an independent publishing house specializing in genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies, and he is the editor of anthology Adventure Vol. 1. He has been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award three times—once each for writing, publishing, and editing—twice a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and twice for the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Short Form (winning in 2004 with his story “O One”). Chris and Allison live in Austin, Texas with their daughter Georgia.
Chris Roberson’s website can be found at http://www.chrisroberson.net.
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Donato Giancola
Dan Robb @ October 14, 2007 # Comments Off
Website: http://www.donatoart.com/
Donato Giancola balances modern abstract concepts with realism in his paintings to bridge the worlds of fine and illustrative arts. He recognizes the significant cultural role played by visual art, and makes personal efforts to contribute to the expansion and appreciation of the science fiction and fantasy genre that extend beyond the commercial commissions of his clients. Since beginning his professional career in 1993 Donato list of clients has continued to grow. From the major book publishers in New York to design firms on the West Coast, his commissions include companies such as LucasArts, National Geographic, DC Comics, The Free Masons of Philadelphia, Microsoft, Amazing Stories, Bantam Books, Ballantine Books, HarperCollins Publishers, Penguin, Playboy Magazine, Scholastic, Sony, Tor Books, Warner, Random House, Danbury Mint, Discover Magazine, The Franklin Mint, Milton-Bradley, Hasbro, and Wizards of the Coast.
Donato was born and raised in Colchester, Vermont. He moved to New York City in 1992 shortly after graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University to begin his art career.
Success as a science fiction illustrator has taken Donato around the world as a guest of honor at numerous events such as Magic: The Gathering tournaments in Santiago, Chile, to the Lucca Comic Book Convention in Italy, the Essen Toy Fair in Germany, and the Lisboa Comic Book Convention in Portugal. Donato is a frequent exhibitor at the Society of Illustrators and shows at many conventions around the states, including World Science Fiction Convention. He was given a Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist in 1998, seven Chesley Awards including one for Artistic Acheivement 2002, and has been nominated five times for the Artist Hugo Award. Donato旧 work can also be seen in Spectrum: The Best of Contemporary Fantastic Art, who’s juries have awarded him multiple medals from the recent Silver in Advertising Illustration in 2003 to a 2001 Gold in Editorial Art. He was also included in Infinite Worlds, a compendium of notable science fiction illustrators of the 20th century authored by Vincent DiFate
In addition to a lucrative freelance career he has also taught at the School of Visual Arts, and in 1999 was an instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. He has served as Guest Lecturer at Syracuse University, Pratt Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Pennsylvania School of Art and Design, and was a co-chair of the 1997 Student Scholarship Committee at the Society of Illustrators in New York.
Donato appears at various colleges, institutions, Magic tournaments and science fiction conventions, where he interacts with fans, performs demonstrations in oil paint, and displays original paintings. A comprehensive listing of his work, technique, and in depth biographical information is available on his website at www.donatoart.com.
Donato lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters. Any time away from his studio is spent in the museums, with his family, playing soccer, or attending various cultural events around the city.
More on page 99
Peter S. Beagle
Dan Robb @ October 14, 2007 # Comments Off
Website: http://www.peterbeagle.com/
Wit, depth, intelligence, true emotion, and a gift for language that would make a silver-tongued devil trade up — what more could any reader ask of a writer? With novels as richly different as TAMSIN, THE INNKEEPER’S SONG, and A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE, plus screenplays for the animated J.R.R. TOLKIEN’S THE LORD OF THE RINGS, the “Sarek” episode of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, and other films and television features, Peter has established a reputation for imagination and magic like no other living author. Not just in fiction, either — his memoir I SEE BY MY OUTFIT, which recounts a 1963 journey across America on motor scooter, is considered a classic of American travel writing.
Peter’s best-known book is THE LAST UNICORN, a fantasy novel with a worldwide following numbering in the tens of millions. At the after-Oscar party for THE RETURN OF THE KING, where Peter was an honored special guest, he was startled to find Oscar winners giddily shaking his hand, grown women singing to him in Elvish, and a flock of fans screaming and crying when he was announced from the stage. This outpouring of affection is no mystery to those of us who know THE LAST UNICORN as a true modern classic, a book which has been steadily in print for nearly four decades, as fresh today as when it was first published in 1968. (A brand-new deluxe hardcover edition will be coming out in September 2007.)
Meanwhile the 1982 animated version of THE LAST UNICORN (featuring the voices of Mia Farrow, Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, Rene Auberjenois, and Christopher Lee) is enjoying bestseller status in DVD format, with more than million copies in distribution around the world.
In 2005 Peter finally wrote a magnificent coda to THE LAST UNICORN called “Two Hearts,” and began work on a new full-length novel sequel to his classic. “Two Hearts” won the 2006 Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novelette, and was nominated for the World Fantasy Award.
2007 and 2008 are going to be banner years for Peter S. Beagle fans. Scheduled to appear are at least a dozen new short works; three new novels (the magical realist SUMMERLONG, the ‘50s baseball fantasy SWEET LIGHTNING, and the aptly-named I’M AFRAID YOU’VE GOT DRAGONS); reissues of old titles; at least five new collections and nonfiction books; and a graphic novel version of THE LAST UNICORN in manga style.
Most writers become icons only after their deaths. Peter is here with us now, a respected and self-deprecating “legend in the making” — the elder statesman of fantasy as storyteller, songwriter, and poet, with many more tales still to tell and a big bright twinkle in his eye.
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