Generated: Tue Jan 14 18:54:40 2020
Marc Abrahams is the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony. The prizes, awarded each year since 1991, honor achievements that make people laugh, then think. He is also editor and co-founder of the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research, and the author of several books. His web site and blog are at www.improbable.com
Wendee Abramo is a life long dabbler. In 2008 she discovered belly dance and finally found her favorite thing to geek out about. As half of Ki-Ra Luna, she's performed at Arisia as an ewok, an evil clown, a chicken, and a Ghostbuster. She can also be found dancing at local faires and festivals, teaching American Tribal Style® dance, and ranting about cat cafes. She lives, and occasionally podcasts, in Brighton with her husband and their dog. Also, there is a cat. facebook.com/KiRaLunaDance
E. C. Ambrose wrote the Dark Apostle series of historical fantasy novels about medieval surgery. As Elaine Isaak, she wrote The Singer's Legacy series, and as E. Chris Ambrose, she writes the Bone Guard international thrillers. In her research, she learned to hunt with a falcon, clear a building of intruders, pull traction, and steer a pirate ship. The author is a graduate of and instructor for the Odyssey Writing workshop. She leads adventure camp and makes wearable art clothing.
Mark L Amidon first read Isaac Asimov's Nightfall in 1971 and has been heavily involved in science fiction ever since. He has been attending Arisia since 1991, and with his wife since 1992. He lives in the future, right now, and for a living tells computers what to do and how to do it. His cats remain aloof.
Thomas A. Amoroso—I’m a medical director for a regional health plan, a practicing emergency physician with disaster response experience, a polyamorous parent, and a licensed ham radio operator. I can claim to be a published author, but Arisia members don't care about my work in the Emerg. Med Clin. North Amer. or my appearance in Health Affairs. I talk too loud, rant too much, and have way too much fun for an introvert. I also make vacuum tube amplifiers and ham radio gear. Good night, and good luck.
Joseph Andelman—Boston-based social organizer and collaborator of events for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Anime fans. These have ranged from dinners and movie viewings to anime marathons and bar crawls. However, his longest running effort has been managing a local Manga Club since 2013 that is still going strong!
Bekah Anderson Maren Anderson is a fantasy writer in training, disability activist, and seminarian. By day she works to make the church more accessible; by night she writes to make speculative fiction more crip. She has published pieces about disability, queerness, and religion with the Wild Goose Festival and the New Sacred blog. Her fantasy writing, as yet unpublished, tends to be character driven and sad. She blogs irregularly at bekahmaren.blogspot.com. Follow her on Twitter @BekahMaren.
Michael Anderson is the reigning two-time champion of BAHFest, the Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses. He has presented at MIT, Seattle and London. Here are his five greatest hits: Why Middle-Aged Men Develop Abdominal Doughnuts, Why the Boston Red Sox Should Build a Particle Accelerator under Fenway Park, Why Alien Civilizations Have Not Responded to Creationist Propaganda, Why MIT Should Hire White House Aides into its Physics Department, and Why Ambient Noise Explains the Black Death.
Greek-born Athena Andreadis PhD came to the US to attend Harvard and MIT, then research molecular brain function. She’s the author of To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek and the engine behind The Other Half of the Sky and To Shape the Dark. Her poems, stories and essays are in venues like Harvard Review, Strange Horizons, Crossed Genres, Bull Spec, SF Signal, H+ Magazine, io9, and her own site, Starship Reckless. She’s the chief astrogator of swashbuckling small press Candlemark & Gleam.
Inanna Arthen (Vyrdolak) is a freelance book designer, voice actor and author of The Vampires of New England Series: Mortal Touch (2007), The Longer the Fall (2010), All the Shadows of the Rainbow (2013) and Human Services (2020). Inanna runs By Light Unseen Media and is a member of New England Horror Writers, Broad Universe, IPNE and IBPA. Their short story "The Fishman and His Wife" appears in Twice Upon an Apocalypse (Crystal Lake, 2017). Find out more at inannaarthen.com.
Lisa A Ashton is a SF/Fantasy/Historical costumer living in Harpers Ferry, WV. Arisia 2017 she was part of "3-fold Goddess" winning BIS. 2019 saw her win BIC for the "1825 Fur Trapper of the American West" at CC37 in Danvers, and BIS at Balticon for "Mystic Legacy". She is the founder of Miss Lizzy's Traveling Historical Fashion Show, collecting antique photos and tintypes as well as authentic Victorian garments and artifacts.
Julia Austein—Artist, teacher and Co-director of the Arisia Artshow. Also a long-time Arisia attendee.
Michael Bailey is a professional writer from Worcester, Massachusetts who kind of hates writing bios. After 15 years in journalism, Michael left to focus on his creative writing career. He is the author of two ongoing series, "Action Figures" and "The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot," and the urban fantasy trilogy "Well-Behaved Women." In his spare time Michael is a regular performer and stage combat director with the Connecticut Renaissance Faire.
Born in poverty, raised in mythology Marzell Barker is always curious about what people think. Having a M.A. in counseling psychology with 6 years in the field of mental health, most of it in crisis. They plan to work in sex therapy with LGBTQIA, BDSM, and Sexual assault survivors. They have many interest that stem from mythology and culture from food, music, clothing,kink, and animals (keeping some of these interest separate for basic decency of course).
E. J. Barnes is a cartoonist and comics writer, illustrator, and editor, having been published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. She exhibits at independent comic-book conventions, and her comic books, self-published under Drowned Town Press (drownedtownpress.com) are sold across the country.
Beth Barnett makes comics in Cambridge, MA. Her work focuses on heroes, health, and history. Her self published comics include the graphic memoirs Dreamers of the Day, Hallo Spaceboy, and No Rest for the Anxious. Beth’s work has been published in the anthologies Dead Beats and the PRISM-nominated Being True. She can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @TheBethBarnett. Her favorite dinosaur is the compsognathus.
Reuben Baron writes articles on pop culture for Comic Book Resources, with a particular interest in film and animation. They've directed short films and are hoping to find producers for several screenplays. This is Reuben's sixth year on panels at Arisia, and they are also a regular panelist at Anime Boston.
Liz Betts spent a decade being a custom framer, and is a member of the PPFA (Professional Picture Framers Association), although currently she only frames freelance on the side. Most of what she likes to do in her free time is art and building stuff.
Elizabeth Birdsall is a French to English translator, occasional author, and longtime fan, as well as a queer woman and a dabbler in many subjects. She has had short stories published here and there, most notably in the "Women Destroy Science Fiction!" special issue of Lightspeed Magazine, and recently returned to Boston after grad school in Montreal. Clearly she loves maple and cold winters, not to mention tea, cats, and overflowing bookshelves.
Vivian Blush is a Rhode Island based DJ spinning everything from darkwave to electro, industrial, and techno. She has a residency at Providence’s Queer Womxn’s Night spinning old school dance hits and is a regular selector for Symposium Records’ underground parties. Outside of DJing she spends her time working for a more socially humane world. soundcloud.com/vivianblush
James Bredt was one of two technical founders of Z Corporation making 3D printers from 1995 through 2012. He is one of the developers of the first full-color commercial 3D printer. He holds over 20 issued patents in 3DP technology. His present company, Viridis3D sells industrial 3D printers to the foundry industry. He also occasionally teaches materials science at MIT, and is writing a graphic novel. For the past 25 years, he has appeared as a human spotlight at the Ig Nobel Awards Ceremony.
Cyd Brezinsky—Part-time biologist, Part-time artist, full-time Dragon Lady (or so it says on my Deviantart page). Over 30 years ago, I had a car with no radio, a long commute, and an idea that dogged me about the anatomy of dragons. This ultimately resulted in the creation of creatures that sometimes fight back. The wire skeleton of my winged reptiles is the one of the inspirations for the costume wings in this year's workshops.
Kate Brick: edits books, makes costumes, herds chickens. Plays well with others. Mostly.
Laurence Raphael Brothers is a writer and a technologist with a background in AI R&D. As a SF writer, he has published over twenty-five short stories in such magazines as Nature, the New Haven Review, PodCastle, and Galaxy's Edge. Follow him on twitter at @lbrothers. His WWI-era fantasy novel "Twilight Patrol" has just been published by Alban Lake, and his urban fantasy novella "The Demons of Wall Street" will be published in the spring by Mirror World.
Terri Bruce is the author of the paranormal/contemporary fantasy “Afterlife” series and numerous short stories in various anthologies and magazines. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces hard-to-classify fantasy and science fiction stories that explore the supernatural side of everyday things from beautiful Downeast ME, where she lives with her husband and several cats. Visit her on the web at www.terribruce.net.
Nat Budin is a singer/songwriter/larper/programmer. He has written and run over a dozen larps, has served as con chair of Intercons I and P as well as the first three Festival of the LARPs conventions at Brandeis University, and writes open source software in the Ruby on Rails community.
Michael A. Burstein, winner of the 1997 Astounding Award for Best New Writer, has earned ten Hugo nominations and four Nebula nominations for his short fiction, collected in I Remember the Future. He lives with his wife Nomi and their twin daughters in the town of Brookline, Massachusetts, where he is an elected Town Meeting Member and Library Trustee. He develops science curriculum when not writing. He has two degrees in Physics and attended the Clarion Workshop. See http://www.mabfan.com.
Nomi S. Burstein is a technical writer, freelance editor, and fiction writer. Her debut novel, Flying Without a Net, was published in November 2016 under the name EM Ben Shaul. When she is not involved in professional word-nerditry, Nomi knits, sews, and performs amateur word-nerditry. She lives in Brookline, MA, with her husband, Michael A. Burstein, and their twin daughters.
Writing, cooking. fandom, costuming, history, gaming, music, kink, polyamory, paganism... a little bit of this and that all combining into a quirky package. Mildred Cady's written works have been a part of the Metamor City and Nobilis Erotica podcasts, as well as occasional appearances on other geeky podcasts.
Kevin Cafferty is a documentary filmmaker from Massachusetts. His film "It's a Bash!" (which is about punk rock) was given four stars by The Providence Journal, aired on New England PBS affiliates, and is currently available on DVD and YouTube. He has been nominated for four Emmy awards, can be followed on Twitter at @kcafferty, and was named "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine in 2006.
James L. Cambias's first novel, A Darkling Sea, was published in 2014, followed by Corsair in 2015 and Arkad's World in 2019. His new novel The Initiate will appear in early 2020. His short stories have appeared in F&SF, Shimmer, Nature, and several anthologies. Mr. Cambias has also written for Steve Jackson Games, Hero Games, and other game companies, and is a partner in Zygote Games. He blogs at www.jamescambias.com.
Kristina Carroll, this year’s Artist Guest of Honor, is an award-winning illustrator and fine artist specializing in magical realism and fantasy art. She’s also the force behind the Month of Love and Month of Fear art challenges that are entering their sixth years.
Jeffrey A Carver. Carver is the author of The Chaos Chronicles, including his recently published two-part novel, The Reefs of Time and Crucible of Time. He is also the author of the popular Star Rigger series, and the official Battlestar Galactica miniseries novelization. While his work lands somewhere between hard SF and space opera, his greatest love remains character, story, and a healthy sense of wonder. His Eternity’s End was a finalist for the Nebula Award.
Monica Castillo is a writer and critic based in New York City. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Variety, The Village Voice, RogerEbert.com, Remezcla, NPR and The Boston Globe. She completed her master's at the University of Southern California as the school's first film critic fellow.
Jeanne Cavelos is an award-winning editor, bestselling writer, and director of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust. Jeanne was a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where she ran the SF/F and horror programs and won the World Fantasy Award. Jeanne has had seven books published by major publishers, two nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. She is director of Odyssey (www.odysseyworkshop.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping writers of F/SF/H improve their work.
Emma Caywood is a Children's and Youth Librarian in Wellesley, where she recommends books, entertains babies, hosts ukulele jam sessions, and turns picture books into plays. She has previously worked as a drama teacher, storyteller, actress, environmental science teacher, playwright, literary manager for screenwriters, grammar teacher, mask maker, and once did a one day stint as the receptionist at the Jazzercise Corporate Headquarters. Geeky Songwriter. Married to Andy Hicks.
Don Chase—Author, illustrator, picture taker and hopefully one day movie maker.
Benjamin Chicka is an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion at Curry College and the co-founder of TheoNerd.com. His academic work focuses on the relationship between religion and popular culture, American pragmatism, and religious pluralism. Benjamin has published scholarly work on astronomy, neuroscience, philosophy, and theology. He writes for more popular audiences at Patheos.com and often speaks at PAX East and other gaming conventions about diversity issues.
Arthur Chu, the Fan Guest of Honor, rose to fame as a viral "villain" of Jeopardy! He became a trusted commentator on Asian-American issues and progressive politics within the geek community. He continues to advocate for inclusive diversity, even standing up to the GamerGaters and Sad Puppies.
Sara Codair is the author over fifty short stories and poems, which are packed with action, adventure, magic, and the bizarre. They partially owe their success to their faithful feline writing partner, Goose the Meowditor-In-Chief, who likes to “edit” their work by deleting entire pages. Find Sara online at https://saracodair.com/ or @shatteredsmooth.
LJ Cohen is a novelist, poet, blogger, ceramics artist, Whovian, and relentless optimist. After almost twenty-five years as a physical therapist, LJ now uses her clinical skills to injure characters in her Science Fiction and Fantasy novels. A STAR IN THE VOID (Halcyone Space book 5), her 8th novel, was published in 2018. She lives outside Boston with her family, her dogs, and the occasional international student. http://www.ljcohen.net
Nathan Comstock is a co-creator of the Fiction podcast "Solutions to Problems," in which he also plays the character of Loaf. He also performs in a number of other fiction podcasts. He was the Television editor of "The Analytical Couch Potato" from 2011 until it shut down in 2014. In his day job, he works for Ceaco Jigsaw puzzles and Gamewright games, where his duties include helping evaluate games for potential publication.
Andrea Martinez Corbin is an author and the founder of the Speculative Boston reading series. Her stories have appeared in Shimmer, Flash Fiction Online, Podcastle, and more. Her interactive fiction has appeared in Sub-Q, and more projects are available on her website, www.amcorbin.com. On Twitter, she is @rosencrantz. Raised in the Midwest, she now lives in the Boston area.
Hannah Prum (Kirkette Cosplay) (aka Kirkette Cosplay) is a cosplayer and part-time human being based out of Boston Massachusetts. She enjoys reading frankly ludicrous amounts of fanfiction and falling asleep every night in a pile of dogs. She thinks Batman Forever is the best Batman movie of all time and she WILL fight you about it.
Donald S. Crankshaw has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT, which was more useful for writing fantasy than he had expected, though less helpful for writing science fiction than he had hoped. He is a member of SFWA, and has previously published stories in Cast of Wonders, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Black Gate. He and his wife, Kristin Janz, publish the pro-paying webzine Mysterion.
Deirdre Crimmins is a Chicago-based film and literature critic. Primarily focused on horror film, she also has a place in her heart for science fiction and fantasy. You can find her writing at Birth.Movies.Death, Rue Morgue Magazine, and High Def Digest.
James Cronen is a nerd-of-all-trades who enjoys running, board and role-playing games, music, microelectronics, juggling, and making cocktails. James is currently neutral good but aspires to become chaotic good someday. James spends his days writing software and evenings communing with wife Robin, their three boys, and good friends new and old in Troy, NY.
Morgan Crooks grew up in the Finger Lakes Region of NY, a beautiful part of the country carved into being by ancient glaciers. He now lives outside of Boston, and is obsessed with wasps, cosmic horror, and ziggurats. His works have appeared in Electric Spec, Daily Science Fiction, and Theme of Absence. Find him online @raponikoff on Twitter and on ancientlogic.blogspot.com.
A life long dancer, singer, actor, and all around weirdo, Aisha L Cruse is also a full blown Church Enby (tm) and serves as chair of music and worship at First Parish Malden Unitarian Universalist. They are a non-monogamous, bi-racial, non-binary trans person. They are actively seeking to foster community, fight racism, topple the cis hetero patriarchy, and build a better, more compassionate world.
MJ Cunniff is a PhD candidate in literature at Brown University who works on contemporary poetry, queer theory, thanatology, and science fiction. MJ lives in Providence, Rhode Island with a dog statue and a haunted chandelier.
Gillian Daniels lives, writes, and creates art in Somerville, MA. After attending the 2011 Clarion Writing Workshop, she has had poetry and prose published in Apex Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fireside Fiction, The Dark, Strange Horizons, and other venues, as well as content for indie gaming company Voidspiral Entertainment. She's also a local theater critic with The New England Theatre Geek blog. She blogs and sometimes posts drawings and cartoons at www.gilliandaniels.com.
Christopher K. Davis is a long-time reader of science fiction, player of board games, and computer systems wrangler.
Brooklyn-based author Randee Dawn recently edited the spec-fic Beatles-themed anthology "Across the Universe" (available in the dealer's room) and is an author whose stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, online publications and podcasts. She has a slim volume of short stories, "Home for the Holidays" and is the co-author of "The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion." For her day job, she glams it up for Variety, the LA Times and Today.com. More: RandeeDawn.com / @RandeeDawn (Twitter)
Harrison Demchick is a developmental editor who has worked on more than seventy published novels and memoirs in numerous genres. He’s also the author of 2012 literary horror novel The Listeners and 2019 short stories “Magicland” and “The Bead,” which appear in literary magazines Phantom Drift and The Hunger, and his first film, Ape Canyon, made its festival debut in November 2019. He's currently accepting new clients in fiction and memoir at the Writer’s Ally (https://thewritersally.com/).
By day, Daniel P. Dern (www.dern.com) is still an independent technology & business writer. His science fiction stories have appeared in Analog, F&SF, and elsewhere. He's currently writing more YA Jewish urban fantasy stories, including "...And They Built A Crooked Sukkah" and "For Two Zuzim Plain," along with his Dern Grim Bedtime Tales (come hear him in FastTrack!), and more/other sf. He's also an occasional amateur magician (see him in FastTrack!), and still reads comic books.
Ray Diaz
DJ Dirge (Allure, Excess, Haven) is known for his raucous parties and genre-defying mixing. Dirge is the resident DJ at several dance nights in and around Boston and New England. Dirge's musical selections range from EBM, IDM, Electro, Dubstep, New Wave, Goth, and Rock. Never one to hold back, Dirge infuses energy and excitement into every event. Dirge is New England's only living-dead DJ, playing music to wake the dead.
Ari Donnelly is a junior entertainment executive and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. He values knowledge, concise expression, and respectful wizard fights. He is well versed in the Film & TV Industry, film formats, Youtube and new media, plus a plethora of films and shows. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film & TV Production, and previously taught classes on filmmaking with Splash MIT. Arisia 2020 is his twelfth Arisia, and his second year as a panelist.
Debra Doyle is a science fiction and fantasy writer living in northern New England. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania, and does freelance editorial and critique work when she isn't writing. Her most recent publications -- co-written with her husband James D. Macdonald -- include the short stories "One Night in Bavari" in Conspiracy!, from NESFA Press, and "Gertrude of Wyoming" in Altered States of the Union, from Crazy 8 Press.
Genevieve Iseult Eldredge—GIE writes angsty lesbian urban fantasy YA--where girls who are mortal enemies kick butt, take names, and can't figure out whether to kiss or kill each other. She enjoys woodland hikes, believing in fairies, being a self-rescuing princess, and writing diverse books about teenage girls finding love, romance, and their own inner power. She might be planning high tea at the Fae Court right now. Her enemies-to-lovers CIRCUIT FAE series is taking Amazon and Goodreads by storm!
Kevin Eldridge hosts The Flopcast, a ridiculous weekly podcast about comics, conventions, Saturday morning cartoons, 70s and 80s pop culture, and rubber chickens. He has performed at clubs, coffeehouses, and conventions throughout America, both as a podcaster and with his comedy band The Sponge Awareness Foundation, as heard on the Doctor Demento Show. Kevin has also hosted skeptic events promoting science and critical thinking, and is a published author of science fiction short stories.
Lyndsay Ely is the author of GUNSLINGER GIRL, a YA genre-bent dystopian Western that published in 2018. She spent her teenage years wanting to be a comic book artist but, as it turned out, she couldn’t draw very well, so she began writing instead. She is a geek, a foodie, and has never met an antique shop or flea market she didn’t like. Boston is the place she currently calls home, though she wouldn’t mind giving Paris a try someday.
Griffin Ess—Professional illustrator and all about Slasher, Griffin has made it his life's drive to create and facilitate art and entertainment that uplifts, informs, and includes. Check out the art at GriffinEss.com
etana is an assistive technology specialist, social justice worker and poet. They like glitter, universal design, sewing (poorly) and cruising around like a blind cyborg in C.A.R., the trusty power chair. First fandom was Buffy (the film), first poetic love was Shel Silverstein, and Ms. Frizzle is still their favorite teacher/inspiration (for everything).
Kelly Fabijanic is the Arisia 2020 Convention Treasurer.
Wonder Wendy Farrell is an award winning costume designer with Wonder Wendy & Friends. She is a member of the Northern Lights Costumers Guild (NOEL). Her fabric hoard is both a source of inspiration and frustration. Her nerd family enjoys travelling to Cons for fun and adventures.
Alder Fehler—Alder is a cosplayer, reenactor, theatrical costumer, costume historian, historical seamstress, and holds an MA in historic textile conservation. Their special interests are Spanish traditional costume, 19th century costume, and early female physicians, especially those who served in the military. They have won awards for their costumes at Arisia, Anime Boston, and New York Comic Con. Find her on Instagram @albinoshadowfire or at daughtersofaesclepius.blogspot.com
Alex Feinman hacks hackers for a living: he's helped design a programming language used by millions worldwide, and currently helps the government get your money's worth when building software. His sci-fi thriller Duplicate, and cyberpunk series We Were Gods, are available online.
Feklar42—I am a fan of crushing the patriarchy and fighting the spread of banality. Otherwise, I enjoy science fiction and fantasy pro- and fanworks – TV, movies, books, comics, anime, cartoons, costuming, games, fanfiction, fanvids, you name it, I will check it out. I would happily spend hours a day in coffee shops fancasting books and comics, or debating who's boinking whom, who's doing shots with whom, and, of course, who would beat whom in karaoke. FTR, the answer to all three is Xena.
Lisa Batya Feld writes SFF and is currently at work on multiple novels. She is a rabbinical school student at Hebrew College in Boston, and uses her rabbinic training to influence her world-building and vice versa.
Mr. Ferguson is a math teacher at a school for students with above average intelligence and emotional differences. He is also a youth sword instructor, so please ask him if you want your children to learn the knightly art of the sword. AND he is a storyteller with over 25 years' experience, although some would say the first ten years don't count because he wasn't over 18 yet.
Max Impakt / Ask Kaylee Frye Impakt is a Chicago-based, experienced sex educator, panelist, & performer. Their work has appeared at conventions around the United States like New York Comic Con, C2E2, & Emerald City Comic Con; and adult stores like Good Vibration, The Pleasure Chest, Early to Bed, & Mister Sister. Max's forray into cosplaying started because of a strong resemblance to a certain sex-positive mechanic traveling aboard a Firefly class spaceship. They can be found at AskKayleeFrye.com and TwixtMyNethers.com
Lena G. is thrilled to be attending Arisia again even though she isn't local to New England anymore. She is science nerd, bookworm, video gamer. She loves anything involving pirates, Harry Potter, Assassin's Creed, and Once Upon a Time.
Ken Gale's first published story, Swords in the World Series, was recently reprinted by Dark Horse & he also had sales to DC Comics. He had an eco-horror story in Psychosis #2. He's editor and co-publisher of Dangerous Times and New Frontiers for Evolution Comics, a producer and host for two radio shows on WBAI-FM in NYC: one on ecology and one on comic books. He was on the Board of the Celtic League American Branch and a former math textbook writer. www.comicbookradioshow.com & ecoradio.org.
Jaime Garmendia was the Convention Chair of Arisia 2018. He is also a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable where he writes, produces, publicizes, and markets independent comics of all genres. His first published game is the Wuxing Empire expansion for Your Move Games' Battleground tactical tabletop wargame. Jaime is also the Chair of TransportationCamp New England 2020. In his secret identity, he is a lifelong public servant.
Paul Geromini—Spectacularly average software engineer, fan of video games, scifi tv, history, anime, and firearms. Creator of AMVs when the mood strikes.
Tiptree, World Fantasy, Greer Gilman, of the Gilman kind, Writes—and has written of Jonson and Cloud; Gives airy nothing a Life and a larynx, in Mythopoetical Ink, and aloud. Her mythic fantasies are Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter's Tales and Moonwise. Her metaphysical mysteries set in 1600 London are Cry Murder! In a Small Voice (Shirley Jackson Award) and Exit, Pursued by a Bear. She likes to say she does everything James Joyce ever did, only backward and in high heels.
Julia Gilstein is a fantasy writer, editor, medievalist, tea addict, and cosplayer. She is the lead organizer for New England Aces, as well as a member of the Boston Speculative Fiction Writing Group (B-Spec), Boston Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup, Boston Shakespeare Lovers, and Dress Up Boston. When her nose isn’t buried in a book, Julia can often be found procrastinating on Etsy, perusing the NaNoWriMo forums, and petting all the good doggos. Keep up with Julia on Twitter @JGilstein.
Tanya Gold is a book editor, writing coach, translator, and literary omnivore with a thing for plastic dinosaurs. She's worked on all kinds of cool books over her past 20 years in publishing. These days, she edits fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. It has been suggested that she reads too much for her own good. www.TanyaGold.com
Timothy Goyette O. Goyette was born, raised, and lives in New Hampshire. He is the Editor of Quantum Muse, and online webzine. He runs the online writing groups at Quantum Muse. He is also the editor of Quantum Muse Books. He has a collection of short stories titled: Digital Voodoo and a far future science fiction Novel: Lockdown.
Lore Graham (ze/zir or they/them) is an agender author of speculative fiction and poetry. Zir work has been published in Strange Horizons, Vulture Bones, and Liminality, among other venues. Lore lives in Malden with zir partners and zir cat. You can find out more about Lore and zir publications at grahamlore.com or on twitter (@grahamlore).
Sid Hackney is a software engineer (read: professional nerd) and an admin for the occasionally-rabid fan group The Boston Whovians! Though largely composed of cat hair, Sid is indeed human and a long-time fan of all things geek. One-time artists alley artist and avid cosplayer, they have played through the entirety of Resident Evil 5 - twice.
James Hailer
Andrea Hairston is author of Will Do Magic For Small Change, a New York Times Editor’s pick and finalist for the Mythopoeic, Lambda, and Tiptree Awards. Other novels: Redwood and Wildfire, Tiptree and Carl Brandon Award winner, and Mindscape, Carl Brandon Award winner. She has published essays, plays, and short fiction and received grants from the NEA, Rockefeller and Ford Foundation. Andrea is a Professor of Theatre at Smith College. Tor.com will publish Master of Poisons in Sept 2020.
A member of the CERN team that developed the World Wide Web, Dr Phillip Hallam-Baker is a leading designer of cryptographic protocols. In his spare time he builds daleks, Tardises and is trying to finish a Han in Carbonite.
Basil El Halwagy creates Fine Art Superheroes; wearable art-characters that perform intuitive, site responsive performances. He also uses these characters to create photographs exploring body’s relationship with natural and man made environments. Growing up in a cultural nexus like Cairo, Egypt, explains why El Halwagy’s characters are tightly wrapped in cultural patterns and motifs. Each costume bestows a unique visual identity upon the character.
Forest Handford is an author from Fitchburg, MA. While not at work, she's bringing her family on wacky adventures. Her website is EastCoastGames.com where she publishes video and writings about various topics. Forest also founded VoteSquared.org, the site for rating politicians. Forest has published a novel called Cyber Revolution about gender equity in tech and how tech companies can fight against bad governments. She's currently finishing an LGBT sci-fi romance novel.
Named 1 of “5 Boston Comedians to Watch” by The Boston Globe & seen on ABC & HBO Wes Hazard is a 3x Jeopardy! champion & his humor book Questions For Terrible People is available now.
Jeff Hecht writes about science and technology for magazines including New Scientist, Laser Focus World, IEEE Spectrum, Nature, and Sky & Telescope on topics from planetary science and lasers to dinosaurs. His latest book, Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon, is from Prometheus Books. His short fiction has appeared in Nature Futures, Little Blue Marble, Analog, Asimov's, Daily Science Fiction, Twilight Zone, Interzone, Odyssey and several anthologies.
Lisa Hertel is an artist who works in clay and watercolors, but also uses alcohol inks, encaustics (painting with wax), and more. In her spare time, she helps run science fiction conventions, including being the chair of Arisia 2014. Before becoming an artist, Lisa was a pharmacist for over 25 years. Visit her at her studio, The Cogitation Zone, in Haverhill, where she offers art classes for children and adults, or find her online.
Andy Hicks is a public broadcasting producer at that one station you've heard of. He has a YouTube channel where he talks about Doctor Who and sings silly songs about Doctor Who. He's a Geeks Who Drink quizmaster, a musician, a writer, an actor, a voice actor, a sound designer, an occasional podcaster and - every now and then - a panda. His wife had a kid this year. The kid is pretty nifty.
Lee C. Hillman (Gwendolyn Grace)—Since dying at the age of 13 months, "Gwenly" has amassed a number of vocations, including author, editor, actor, singer, songwriter, conference planner, administrator, role-player, fanfic writer, SCA Laurel, and big damn geek. A native of western New York and proud Bostonian for many years, she was most recently spotted as an independent contractor in Pittsburgh, where she hopes her genderfluid, atheist, bisexual liberal vote will make more of a difference. She finds pronoun choice stressful.
Naomi Hinchen is a video game developer who lives in Cambridge. She co-writes and acts in the podcast Crime and Space, about a pair of space thieves getting in trouble. In her spare time (ha!) she plays the ukulele and is working on a novel. She also occasionally blogs at https://asinclinationleadsme.wordpress.com/, usually about various bits of pop culture.
James Hinsey is a life-long lover of science fiction and fantasy in various media forms. He is a Potterhead, Trekker, Browncoat, Costumer, book-collector, RISFC member, Sci-Fi Journal co-host, Psi Upsilon brother, RPI alum, former naval officer, brother, son, uncle, husband, and father. He is currently Arisia '20 Masquerade Director and has been for the past 5 years, and has worked as Masquerade staff since 2010. SamuraiX47 on social media.
Steven Hirsch has a doctorate in Physical Therapy and B.S. in Exercise & Health Sciences. He has been training with swords since 2006 and unarmed martial arts since 1998, first with the Higgins and now teaching at his own school, Athena School of Arms. Steven is also a professional strength coach focusing on performance for combat sports and martial artists; his business is Fight with All Your Strength.
Anastasia Holt—I have been sewing for 18 years, I have been competing and costuming for about 12 years. I have learned many techniques from the many mentors and friends I possess. I am constantly learning about different things like armor and beading. I am still honing my skills as a costumer and am always eager to teach others what I know. I have recently been getting more and more interested in historical costuming as well as more interested in original designs.
Melissa Honig is the lead organizer for the Watch City Steampunk Festival in Waltham, MA, and also for the 2020 Browncoat Ball in Salem, MA. She likes to hang out with the New England Browncoats and the Boston SciFi/Fantasy Meetup Group. She enjoys steampunk, costuming, weird crafts, and playing with the stuff she finds while trying to clean up the craft room so she doesn't have to finish cleaning up.
Sol Eidan Houser is 17 disabilities in a glittery rainbow trench coat attending their second Arisia as staff/program participant & sixth overall. They are an art historian & classicist from California who works as an executive assistant for money & as Arisia, Inc's clerk for free. Sol prefers the worldbuilding, character development, & plot parts of writing over actually making sentences and paragraphs do the thing. Describe them in four words? Chaotic neutral double Taurus.
Diana Hsu has been involved with conventions of one sort or another since 2005, and has been speaking about issues around race, feminism, and social justice in fan spaces since 2011. She is also the Convention Chair for Arisia 2020. Maybe you saw her on TV that one time.
Walter H. Hunt is a Massachusetts SF and historical fiction writer. He was author GOH in 2009. His novels in the "Dark Wing" Universe are available in the Baen e-book library; a Templar novel (A Song In Stone), two about mesmerism (Elements of Mind and Harmony In Light, both from Wordfire Press), and a novel in the Ring of Fire universe with Eric Flint (1636: The Cardinal Virtues). His latest novel with Eric is Council of Fire. He is librarian for the Masonic Grand Lodge in Boston.
Aran P. Ink—I'm a queer, trans (genderqueer!) nerd with a variety of skills and interests. I'm a professional software engineer (currently working on Android at Google), but I spent my free time making music, video games, movies, and art, many of which reflect my experiences with gender and identity.
Alexander Jablokov's most recent published story was "How Sere Picked Up Her Laundry", the first of a series of novellas. The next one is coming out in tje Jan/Feb Asimov's. His most recent novel is Brain Thief, a fast-paced AI-hunting adventure.. He is the author of five other novels, including Carve the Sky, Nimbus, and Deepdrive, and a number of short stories. His website is www.ajablokov.com. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Victoria Janssen reviews for Publishers Weekly. Her last novel, The Duke and the Pirate Queen, is fantasy erotica from Harlequin (2010). "Still Marching," her most recent short story appears in Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year, Volume 3. For a full publications list, visit victoriajanssen.com. Other interests include fanfiction, fan studies, comics, classic Dr. Who, World War One, choral singing, and fighting the patriarchy. She’s on Twitter @victoriajanssen.
Kristin Janz was born in Vancouver, Canada, and has since moved across the continent three times, most recently to the Boston area in 1998. She is a Clarion West graduate whose fiction has appeared in Escape Pod, Daily Science Fiction, and On Spec. Along with her husband, Donald S. Crankshaw, she is a co-editor/publisher of online magazine Mysterion--featuring stories that engage meaningfully with Christianity from a variety of perspectives.
(she/her) - Renie Jesanis writes, draws, and edits sci-fi and urban fantasy comics, including her Magical Girl webcomic Kate Blast. She is also the prism-award-nominated editor of the Comics Anthology "Being True: An LGBT Comics Anthology" and is an active member of the Boston Comics Roundtable
Emperor Emperor Joey-1 the First is a writer, cartoonist, beauty contest champion, organizer, A.N.T.I.F.A. super supersoldier, evil wizard and the officially ratified and Emperor of Anti-Imperialism
A. L. Kaplan’s love of books started as a child in scenic northern New Jersey, and sparked a creative imagination. Her most recent publications are her debut novel, Star Touched, and Wolf Dawn, a short story. She is the Maryland Writers’ Association’s Vice President and holds an MFA in sculpture. When not writing or indulging in her fascination with wolves, A. L. is the props manager for a local theatre. Visit: ALKaplanAuthor.com
Kate Kaynak—KATE KAYNAK was born and raised in New Jersey, but she managed to escape. After serving a 5-year sentence in grad school, she taught psychology around the world for University of Maryland. While in Turkey, she started a conversation with a handsome stranger in an airport… and ended up marrying him. They now live in New Hampshire with their three kids, where she founded Spencer Hill Press in 2010 and wrote the Ganzfield series. She now facilitates leadership programs with The Jennings Group.
Megan Kearns is a film critic, the Managing Editor of Bitch Flicks, and the co-host of the podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre. Her work has also appeared at Women and Hollywood, Bitch Media, Silver Century Foundation, and Everyday Feminism, among other sites and publications. She's also a queer feminist vegan and a life-long sci-fi fan.
Abigail Keenan is a big ol’ nerd and a connoisseur of all things geeky and or kinky. They are the owner of Untamed Undies, a feminist and geeky company that provides undies, pasties and toys for folks across the gender spectrum. They write a blog about sex ed which can be found at www.untamedundies.com.
Rachel Kenley is the author of seven novels as well as several shorts and novellas. She started reading romances at fourteen and credits them with her lifelong fascination with relationships and how they influence our lives. She desperately needs her morning coffee, never misses the chance to watch The Wizard of Oz, and believes in the joy and importance of retail therapy. She is currently the President of writers organization Broad Universe and can be found online at www.rachelkenley.net.
Paul Kenworthy is a military historian and re-enactor with special expertise in late medieval and renaissance polearm combat including armored combat. He was one of the co-founders of the Higgins Armory Sword Guild, a group that interprets historical fencing texts, In the summer he is a National Park Service Ranger at a 17th century historical site and in the winter he teaches at Worcester State University. He relaxes by practicing kyudo, traditional Japanese archery.
In an effort to make all the things, Angela Kessler has so far tried sewing, crochet, knitting, needle felting, embroidery, bookbinding, rugbraiding, woodburning, cheesemaking, canning, glass etching, lucet cord, and tablet weaving (varying from a single completed project through decades of experience). She also enjoys morris dance, Kalevala storytelling, and singing. She has studied but has not yet gotten around to actually trying shoemaking, soapmaking, wet felting, and dyeing.
David Kessler—Co-Producer and Stage Manger of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony. Writer, Logistician, and professional Generalist, studying odd ideas and skills, from calligraphy to juggling, sailing to fire eating, tai chi to Lewis Carroll, and whisky to singing. (www.ouphrontis.com)
Jeremy H. Kessler H Kessler lives in Greater Boston where he is an instigator, singer, morris dancer, musician, cheesemaker, drinker, and co-developer of the only known kosher boar's head. He co-runs local traditional sings like pub and chantey sings. He is the squire of the only Greater Boston morris team to dance the AntiMorris. He danced the AntiMorris for Terry Pratchett himself, and is quite proud that said author described it--in Wintersmith's author's note--as "a bit creepy".
Dr. Roy Kilgard is an astrophysicist who researches black holes in nearby galaxies with an emphasis on intermediate-mass black holes: an enigmatic class of objects whose origins are unclear, but which may help explain the supermassive black holes observed at the centers of galaxies. His lectures cover a wide variety of astronomical topics, including black holes and galaxies, X-ray astronomy, historical astronomy, and astrostatistics. He is also an incurable nit-picker of sci-fi minutiae.
Ken Kingsgrave-Ernstein is by day is a Systems Engineer with a strong problem solving background. At night, on the weekends, a especially at conventions he is a photographer, costumer, crafter, kinkster, and occasional stage technician.
Ellen Kranzer has been attending science fiction conventions for over 30 years and making music even longer. Filk lets her mix the two hobbies. Ellen is a founding member of MASSFILC and the club's current treasurer. She has been involved in planning numerous conventions both in and out of fandom.
Sioban Krzywicki—I've had my first short story published in the Hidden Youth anthology. I've been helping run Readercon in various roles for about 7 years and am entering my third year as Readercon conchair.
Better known as a ukulele-slinging singer-songwriter and bandleader, Amy Kucharik has been a sought-after DJ for swing and blues dance events on the local and national scene since around 2010. She can be found frequently at Blues Union on Thursday nights, behind the DJ booth or on the dance floor, and has DJed for dancers from Burlington, VT to Dallas, TX. She obsesses over collecting early 20th Century blues & jazz, along with musical instruments, art supplies, books, and cosplay pieces.
Alisa Kwitney is a freelance editor and the author of the DC Comics Prestige Miniseries Mystik U, which features Zatanna and other magical folks in their first year at a college for magic. Alisa has also written the YA novels Cadaver & Queen and Corpse & Crown and a new Poe-inspired story for Ahoy Comics' Snifter of Terror. A former editor at Vertigo/DC Comics, Alisa teaches graphic novel writing at Manhattanville College and performs with Hudson Valley Improv.
Marnen Laibow-Koser is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, performing actively at concerts, theater productions, and folk dances in the Boston and New York areas; he is currently in the process of setting the Mueller Report to music. He can also be found developing software, reading about the dark corners of linguistics, engaging in corpus analysis on the Voynich Manuscript, knitting fun lacy stuff, or doing weird kinky things with consenting partners. For more information, check out http://www.marnen.org!
Cassandra Lease is a Boston native and lifelong geek who writes on AO3 as Themiscyra, cosplays as Amazon Pink, and sculpts handmade clay charms and oddments. Her favorite fandoms include Star Trek, Power Rangers, Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, Wonder Woman, and Disney (especially The Little Mermaid). In her spare time, she enjoys playing tabletop RPGs and first-person shooters, visiting theme parks, devouring horror stories and films, and hanging with her cats.
LB Lee is a multivarious entity who was raised by imaginary wolves in a subconscious barn. They make mental health comics, draw pretty pictures, and write stories about reality melting. You should talk to them.
Scott Lefton makes and sells artwork in media including metal, wood, glass, and Photoshop, is occasionally serious about photography, and works as a freelance mechanical designer and patent agent. He lives in a big old Victorian house in Melrose, MA with his wife Rachel.
David Leung—Dave is the president of Boston Lightsaber Stage Combat Club, a lightsaber stage combat troupe. Dave draws on his background in competitive ballroom dancing and teaching karate to motivate and refine choreography.
Brian Liberge is Brian. Other Brian descriptors include but are not limited to Dad, Genderqueer, Queer, Game Designer, and Theatre "kid".
Gordon Linzner is founder of Space and Time Magazine, author of three published novels and dozens of short stories in F&SF, Twilight Zone, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, and numerous other magazines and anthologies, most recently Footprints in the Stars, The Mountains of Madness Revealed and the forthcoming Across the Universe.
Jesi Lipp has been in fandom their entire life - they attended their first convention before they were born. Their geeky interests include Harry Potter, theatre, D&D, and conrunning. Jesi works as a grants accountant at the rape crisis center in Kansas City, engaging their love of data and numbers, as well as their passion for social justice and intersectional feminism.
Kyri Lorenz is an award-winning cartoonist with deep roots in fandom. Chronic physical and mental illness, gender and sexuality, and Old World spiritual longing are all intrinsic themes in their work. If it involves creation and inspiration, Kyri is there, getting their mitts all over it and learning how best to make it serve their whims. Their greatest wish is to be adopted by Batman and become the new Robin. You can see their illustrative portfolio at kyrianne.com.
Bhadrika Love—What I am: A psych nurse. A psych NP, even. Short, pink, bi, cis. What I do: Knit. And write. Teach. Play games. But mostly knit. And bake bread. What I have: Too many pets. Multiple calendars. Lots of boots. Issues. Way too much yarn. A plan. What I want: Happy, strong offspring. Cinnamon. Hugs. Silliness. What I need: To look forward, not back. Also noticing here & now would be helpful.
phillip andrew bennett low—Chinese-American playwright, storyteller, and libertarian activist. Solo shows have won acclaim from Minneapolis to Atlanta, New York to LA -- even as far as Melbourne, Australia. Co-founder of the Rockstar Storytellers, founder and producer of the touring theatre troupe Maximum Verbosity, and founder and host of the country's only recurring open-mic dedicated to speculative fiction, "The Not-So-Silent Planet." Published two humor collections, "Indecision Now!" and "Get Thee Behind Me, Santa."
Mike Luoma writes and publishes science fiction and comic books, produces the "Glow-in-the-Dark Radio" podcast, and can be found daily on internet radio WBKM.org - "Burlington's Kinda Music". Since his Vatican Assassin Trilogy, Mike has been chronicling The Adventures of Alibi Jones, including "Alibi Jones and The Star Seeds Of Earth" - coming in May 2020. Mike's Graphic Novels include "Good Samaritan:Unto Dust", "Introducing... RED Hot!" and more. Info at MikeLuoma.com / glowinthedarkradio.com.
Corinne Luz is an artist, writer, and film podcaster living in Salem, MA. She is Co-Host of the film podcast ‘CinemaSpection’ (www.CinemaSpection.com) and has been a guest on other media podcasts including The Projection Booth. As a writer, judge, and moderator she has contributed to Salem Horror Fest. Under the pseudonym Quill Shiv, her fiction has appeared in several anthologies. She can be contacted on Twitter: @TheLadyLatte, or by email: corinnemluz@gmail.com.
From countless hours spent working in video stores to long nights at the theater surviving movie marathons, Tim Timothy Luz has spent his life surrounded by movies. A former film critic and occasional short filmmaker, he possesses a mind full of useless film trivia and a tendency to talk movies with anyone in earshot, qualities that led him to create CinemaSpection, a film discussion podcast he co-hosts with his lovely and very patient wife Corinne.
melissa macintyre—I am a product of an unlikely match between a Hungarian holocaust survivor and a Depression-era Iowan. I've had my struggles; writing and talking about them helps me learn and cope. I love doing anything with friends, my family, nature, political activism, cooking and baking, music and dance of most kinds, and crafting of many kinds. My son and many of his contemporaries, along with therapy practices and physical activity give me hope for the future of the world.
In his day job, Aaron Marks works in the energy sector, most recently in data analytics. In his free time, though, Aaron is an avid gamer, publishing advice, reviews, and opinions about tabletop roleplaying games under the nom de plume "Level One Wonk" for Cannibal Halfling Gaming. Aaron has been roleplaying for nearly 18 years, and dabbles in video games, board games, and LARP as well. Aaron's other hobbies include writing, bicycling, and auto and bicycle repair.
Dan "Grim" Marsh is a member of the Society of Creative Anarchism as Grim the Skald; at this point pretty much just his family and co-workers call him “Dan.” He considers himself knowledgeable in the following things, in order of how much he knows: Norse Poetry, Norse Culture, Alliterative Poetry in general (particularly Old English and 14th Century), Medieval (particularly English) poetry in general, Medieval costuming, and Medieval/Renaissance combat. Yes, he likes to fight, but he likes poetry a lot.
B. Diane Martin began reading science fiction at age nine and never stopped. She has a law degree and advises start-ups in various technologies. She admits to experience as a parent, a gamer, a baker, and a heavy metal backup singer. She is included in the Hugo nominated The Bakery That Men Don’t See and was a World Fantasy Award nominee for her work with Readercon. Diane lives in a Somerville, MA, Victorian home filled with books, games, music, anime, and cookware.
A PhD in Cinema and Media studies and founder of Genretastic.com, Marianna Martin PhD's lifelong fascination with the structures of genre storytelling led to an abiding love of everything pertaining to Marvel--and a dissertation on framing genre theory in contexts like Marvel! After an interlude working in Development in the US film and television industry, she left to pursue her own projects. She now splits her time amongst her editorial duties at Genretastic, cons, and completing her debut SF novel.
Donna Martinez is a freelance cartoonist originally from New Mexico and has been a resident of Boston for almost 20 years. Donna is also a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable, contributing stories to Inbound, Hellbound, The Greatest Comics Anthology of All Time, and issues #1 and #3 of In A Single Bound. She is presently happily married to fellow Round Table writer/cartoonist Joey Peters. She dreams of houses and places yet unseen but are waiting to be revealed.
Milo Martinez is a semi-professional costumer living in Cambridge. His interests include leather working, costuming technology, craftwork (armor, casting, etc), and villainy. An avid maker since childhood, he uses mixed media and unconventional approaches to solve costuming challenges.
Rebecca Maxfield is a fantasy fan, theatre director, and coder living in Providence, RI. She's interested in how media/narrative form serves or affects the stories we tell (and especially in liveness in theatre), in the ways real-life history was more diverse than you think, and in stories about women crossdressing to do epic stuff (and possibly become involved with other women).
John G. McDaid is a short story writer and folk/filk musician. His fiction has appeared in Asimov's and F&SF. A Clarion '93 grad, he won the Sturgeon Award for his 1995 story "Jigoku no mokushiroku." In 2017, he won both the topical and "Iron Filker" songwriting contests at OVFF, with songs featured on his new album "Proverbs of Hell" (http://bit.ly/proverbsofhell). His latest interactive fiction, "We Knew The Glass Man," appeared in Cream City Review in June. http://harddeadlines.com @jmcdaid
Kevin McLaughlin is a USA Today bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy novels, with over thirty books published. He has been a speaker at Boskone, Dragon Con, the Nebula Conference, 20Books, and other events. He believes in giving back to the writing community that helped him out during the early days of his career, so he uses his experience and success to boost others that the chain of writers helping writers continues unbroken.
Caroline Meeks has training in Journey Dance and Core Shamanism and is excited to be offering her first program at Arisia. Caroline has been a fan since her parents yelled “down in front” during the original run of Star Trek and learned to love reading when her uncle gave her the Narnia series. Her grandfather was a huge fan of Lensman series and lent them all to her as a kid. Caroline’s professional interests include educational technology and computer programming for children and teens.
Michael Meissner—Professionally, I am a computer programmer and I work on enhancing the Gnu compiler collection. I do digital photography and video as a hobby. I've been the official photographer/videographer for some of the small renaissance faires in the area. My big hobby project is creating various steampunk shells around my modern cameras. I also tinker with programming micro-controllers (particularly Teensys).
Samara Metzler—Local teacher, performer and event producer.
Dale Meyer-Curley(she/her/hers) has been an active volunteer with Arisia for over a decade, and a panelist for half as many years. Her geeky interests span many genres including comics, fantasy novels, sci-fi shows, and board games. Dale credits her mother as her main geeky influence, including her making her watch the "scary man in the vacuum cleaner," that she realized was Davros 30 years later in a cinema screening of the Fourth Doctor's "Genesis of the Daleks."
Danny Miller is a local attorney and all-around SF/F fan since high school who has always seen Arisia as his home convention. He used to have several pieces printed in the local Jewish paper, some even relating to SF/F, and some even paying; he is currently in grad school for a perpendicular change in his career. He once turned the tap dance into his crusade, and enjoys (gently) converting the uninitiated into the worlds of assorted geekery. (Or, at least inviting them to a pub trivia event.)
Mark Millman is a member of the Salem Zouaves/Salem Trayned Band military re-enactment unit, which portrays citizen militias of the 1630s and the early 1860s, and of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, New England's premier vintage-dance company, which performs dances of the Federal, Civil War, Gilded Age, Ragtime, and Roaring Twenties eras. Both groups make their own historically accurate clothing and perform period movement disciplines. He is also a long-time HEMA student and teacher.
Troy Minkowsky is a Boston based filmmaker and avid comicbook reader since 1993. His production company Rhinocrate has produced the short films "SuperLife", "The Garden 1910" and "Boxed In". RhinoCrate is finishing the horror short "The Leaves" and are starting production on their first feature "Destructor"
James Mobius is the creator of the comic book Punk rock alien space girl adventures. He holds degrees in music and electronics so he fixes houses for a living. He has attended Every Arisia, builds musical instruments, paints, draws, did theatrical lighting for the Teseracte players of Boston for 20 odd years but has retired, has lived in Japan, is a former Chocolatier, and built his own Tardis which is actually bigger on the inside. his favourite colour is purple and his religion is Kate Bush.
Richard Moore—Presently, I am an instructor teaching data science, cloud computing and Hadoop courses. Previously I have held a number of different technology jobs. More importantly, I have volunteered at every Arisia, and a few other conventions too.
Sarah "Tashari" Morrison is a fantasy and children's book illustrator. In her "spare time" she sews gowns with hoop skirts. Find her work at Tashari.Org.
Amy J. Murphy is not a Jedi. (But she's married to a guy that claims to be one.) She is, however, a fantastic liar -- a power she uses to write kick-butt space opera. This Amazon Bestseller is also a two-time Dragon Award Finalist, a Kindle Book Award Finalist and SFWA member. Amy holds the enviable title of "slush reader" with award-winning Apex Magazine. She's been a featured speaker on several podcasts on writing craft and marketing for indie authors. Learn more at www.amyjmurphy.com.
Daniel Neff—I am a museum curator, historian, and genealogist, currently working for the Fairbanks House Museum in Dedham, MA. I specialize in colonial American history, the history of medicine, and the history of marginalization. When I'm not working I like X-men comics, table-top role playing games, Harry Potter, and Pokemon Go.
Benjamin Newman has been filking since his college friends dragged him to his first convention his freshman year at Swarthmore. Since then, he has written over 200 songs on a wide range of topics, including SF and fantasy, science, computers, and religion, both singly and in various whimsical juxtapositions. Ben has also organized filk programming for Philcon, ConCertino, and Pi-con.
Essentially self-taught artist making mostly relief block prints, primarily self-published author writing mostly juvenile mostly fantasy, former middle school teacher still making classroom guest visits whenever possible, current stay-at-home mother, and negligent housekeeper, Anne E.G. Nydam has been creating fantasy worlds since childhood and continues to bring wide-ranging curiosity and imagination to the work of art, writing, and teaching.
A.J. Odasso has been widely published in fandom and non-fandom contexts since 2005. Their début poetry collection, Lost Books, was a finalist for the 2010/2011 People's Book Prize. Their second collection, The Dishonesty of Dreams, followed in 2014. Their third collection, The Sting of It, was shortlisted for the 2017 Sexton Prize and was published in 2019 by Tolsun Books—and won Best LGBT Book at the 2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards. They serve as Senior Poetry Editor at Strange Horizons.
Kat Tanaka Okopnik—KTO is working on The Dictionary of Social Justice, an Etiquette for Social Justice, a gourmet marshmallow business, a novel, a dozen short stories, raising two kids, every sort of editing, and occasionally blogging at ShadesBetween.com. On Patreon & social media as @KTOkopnik
David Olsen is an all-around geek who will happily talk your ear off about stories and games. Since he first received the D&D Redbox at age nine, he's played in dozens of worlds and systems, including GMing a few LARPs over the years. He's done game testing for various independent companies, including Firehose Games and Choice of Games and even voice acting work for Reactive Studios. You can catch him as a background actor in various feature films or as the fourth season winner of "Beauty and the Geek."
Kevin Osborn—Maker, Inventor and lover of the creative!
Lisa Padol is a second generation SF fan, a filker, a gamer, and a player and writer of LARPS. She sings adequately and consistently fails to identify harp tunes when her spouse, Joshua Kronengold, is noodling around on the harp.
Mark Painter has worked as an engineer and has practiced law in the field of disability rights. He served in elected office for 17 years, culminating in a stint in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. After retiring from politics, he returned to his first love, writing fantasy and science fiction, and sometimes nonfiction. He also produces and hosts The History of the Twentieth Century podcast.
Jennifer Pelland is a science fiction author turned bellydancer. For more, visit www.jenniferpelland.com or www.tassellations.com
Fat and louder than necessary, Melissa Perreira-Andrews is a blogger that hails from a fishing town north of Boston. As a brassy and sassy, sorted into Ravenclaw but drawn to Slytherin, intersectional feminist, Melissa writes about her rabid response to pop culture as well as the reality of being fat in our world. When not dreaming of world domination and body liberation or being a cog in the corporate machine, she is the Creative Director for the Teseracte Players of Boston.
Israel Peskowitz (Izzy) is a professional photographer, proficient plumber, a skilled community activist, and amateur fan.
BH Pierce is a new author with a trilogy of novellas, The Atelva Chronicles, as well as a stand-alone novel, The Rozeen Rising. As a perpetual and compulsive worldbuilder he serves on the staff of Worldbuilding Magazine and is working on a series of culture-building guides for other people crafting their own worlds.
Monique "Moniquill" Poirier is a councilwoman of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe and a lineal descendant of Ousamequin Massasoit. She is an avid costumer, and active member of the steampunk community. Her work in steampunk has been featured at Beyond Victoriana, Silver Goggles, and in the books Anatomy of Steampunk: The Fashion of Victorian Futurism, Steampunk III: Steampunk Revolution, Speculative Imperialisms: Monstrosity and Masquerade in Postracial Times, and Steaming Into a Victorian Future: A Steampunk Anthology. She has blogged, essayed, and discussed extensively across many platforms the depictions of NDN and NDN-coded characters in sci-fi and fantasy, and would like to help other authors better understand how to produce respectful and well thought out indigenous characters and what the common pitfalls are in doing so.
Steve Popkes, his wife, son, dog and cat breed turtles on two acres in Massachusetts. He has been publishing science fiction and fantasy since 1986. He has three novels to his name: Caliban Landing, Slow Lightning and Welcome to Witchlandia. When he's disguised as a normal person, he is an aerospace software engineer.
Dr. Jim Prego is an adjunct professor of Biology at Long Island University, Molloy College, and Nassau Community College. He is a recipient of NYANP’s Physician of the Year award. He enjoys science fiction, biological topics, and many other topics both science and non-science related. He spent 10 years as the NY Delegate to the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and 6 years as a board member of the NYANP. He is involved in acting/shadowcasting, EMS, alt-lifestyles, gaming, and more.
Antonia Pugliese a graduate student in Microbiology. She teaches historical dancing, and performs with the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. When she isn't sewing historical garments, she might be making superhero costumes.
Barbara M Puglieseenard Pugliese is a historian of both clothing and dance. She has been Artistic Director of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers since 2007. Barbara teaches historical dance in the Boston area and has been invited to teach in England, Austria, Denmark and Germany.
Julia Pugliese is a barista by day and a magical girl by night.
Tori Queeno, 26, is the founder and President of the Boston Whovians, a Boston-based Doctor Who fangroup. Tori is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the Solstice Program at Pine Manor College and was awarded the 2018 Kurt Brown Fellowship for Diverse Voices. They can be regularly seen performing with The Post Meridian Radio Players. Tori spends the rest of their time trying to be a "real adult" and/or a professional nerd, with their cat, Persephone, and hedgehog, Sylvia Plath.
Richard Ralston has been a fan of science fiction and anime since the late 60's. Rick has been staffing conventions the past 18 years on the local and regional level. Rick is also the organizer of the local anime group in Albany, NY. Rick brings a unique point of view to the fandom community.
Suzanne Reynolds-Alpert writes horror, scifi, dark fantasy, and the occasional poem. Her short fiction had been published in the anthologies The Final Summons and Killing It Softly (Vol. 1). Her poetry has appeared in the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. VI, the anthologies Beneath Strange Skies and Wicked Witches, The Wayfarer, and Eternal Haunted Summer. Suzanne is a freelance editor and writer, a technical services librarian, cat owner, and has degrees in Communication and Sociology.
Mark W. Richards—Fan, SMOF, & kinkster, starting as an SF reader as soon as I could reach the bookshelf. Found fandom as a teen, kink as an adult. Involved on committees & staff for events & served on club boards, both fannish & kink. My latest is a new convention, HELIOsphere, now in its 4th year. Equally comfortable discussing literary SF & fantasy, fanzines, kink, & sexual politics, preferably over a couple of pints, but I've enjoyed the experience of doing so in front of an audience at Arisia.
Santiago Rivas is celebrating over 40 years as a sci-fi enthusiast. It was his time at MIT that he became an avid film, theater, poly, and gamer geek. He has been involved with Theatre@First for fifteen years and the Heinlein Society Naughty Nurses for over ten years, writing, directing, and starring in skits for the annual Blood Drive. In his copious spare time, he's blogging, acting, updating tropes pages, spending time with redheads, and raising an advanced prototype.
Lee Clever Roberts is a Salem, MA based artist and cosplayer. They are best known for their Mr. Clever cosplay, which has been featured in The Nerdist, The Mary Sue, multiple BBC sites and in Doctor Who magazine. Lee is actively involved in the Cosplay is Not Consent movement, having recently become an admin for an Anti-Bullying group, The Blue Box Alliance. In their spare time, they volunteer as a foster home for cats and trains horses.
Phoebe Roberts is the theater artist and dramatic writer who created the Mrs. Hawking shows, a dramatic series of steampunk superhero stories that answer the question, "What if Sherlock Holmes were a lady Batman?" More information can be found on the project website, www.mrshawking.com. Roberts's other work in theater and writing can be found at her personal site, www.phoeberoberts.com.
My name is Shaheen Rogers/Multiverse, Brooklyn born, now living in Jersey City. Staff writer and facilitator for Entropic Endeavors' Velvet Noir Larp. And frequent facilitator for Sinking Ship Creations in New York. Avowed nerd as long as I can remember. From Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman) to My hero Academia, I've been an anime head. From EE Doc Smith"s Lensmen series to the Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives I've been a lover Sci/Fi/Fantasy novels. A black geek and proud of it
Mink Rose has been a part of the Arisia community for years, even before she began regularly attending in 2007. Mink served as the first Chair of the Diversity Committee for Arisia 2016, and helped with diversity work in the Programming division through Arisia 2019. She does her best to support intersectional feminist work everywhere possible. She remains an imperfect human being who is doing her best to get everyone to save the world. (ask me how!)
Andy Rosequist generally tries to make the world a better place. He's been involved with Arisia at various staff responsibilities for a number of years. He works in tech, plays games, and is a facial hair enthusiast.
A Joseph Ross has been in fandom since the 1960's. In 1964, he founded the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) Science Fiction Society, then later became a member of MITSFS and NESFA, serving as Vice President of NESFA from 1970-72. He edited Volume I of the NESFA Hymnal in the late 1970's. He was Clerk of Arisia, Incorporated from 1990-92 and President from 1992-94. He is a practicing attorney and an expert in landlord-tenant law.
Karen S.—Part-time voice actor, podcaster, and writer of ridiculous fannish fictions,. Full-time geek and fanboy dork with a particular fondness for cartoons, blooper reels, turtles of the ninja variety, and the Technical Director of the Post Meridian Radio Players. She can be seen reprising her role as Captain Jane T. Kirk in the Post Meridian Radio Players' production of Gender Swapped Star Trek.
Eyal Sagi is a professor of Psychology at a liberal arts college. His research deals with how language and text color our perspective. Recently, this research has focused on the expression of moral values in political and legal texts. His other interests include how the structure of a story reflects its genre, and how language can be used to promote character development. He also has extensive background in computing and computer science from both the software and hardware perspectives.
Liz Salazar is a playwright, director, GM, chainmailler, a podcaster between podcasts, and overall opinion-haver. At Arisia, she is usually seen among the Post-Meridian Radio Players or otherwise getting in someone's way.
Carol Salemi is a master Costumer who has worked over 40 years in many aspects of costuming including designing, fabricating, teaching, judging and masquerade directing. Her more recent work can be seen on TLC's "My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding". She's a medical massage therapist(30years), works for Regal Cinemas, Sondra Celli Designs, has jobs in the Haunt Industry and likes making Steampunk items...check out her jewelry in the Art Show!
Sharon Sbarsky was Fan Guest of Honor at Arisia 2000, chaired Smofcon 15, Boskone 40 & 49, ran the Masquerade at Arisias and Sasquan, ran the Hugo Ceremony at Renovation, was Events Division Head at Worldcon 76 and co-chaired Costume-Con 37 in 2019 in Danvers, MA. She creates web sites for fun and work.
Micah Schneider is a long-time veteran of Arisia, both on programming and staff. Micah completed his Masters in history and public history from UMass Amherst, but somehow became a math teacher. In his free time, Micah enjoys running, highpointing, hiking, all kinds of gaming (especially cards games like Magic and Pokemon), and being polyamorous as often as possible. He lives in Western Massachusetts with his family of choice, their three children, and a small coterie of animal companions.
Cate Schneiderman enjoys consuming lots of media in the form of books, podcasts, television shows, and movies. She will happily go on at length about a number of topics including GoT, Outlander, Shakespeare, superheroes, and the future of libraries. She also enjoys games and costuming. In her professional capacity she promotes the use of the college library by hanging posters and giving away candy. She is also the host of the Shakesplaining podcast.
Sam Schreiber is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn, New York. His work has appeared in Vastarien: A Literary Journal, Tales to Terrify, Occult Detective Quarterly, Martian Migraine Press, PodCastle and Analog Science Fiction and Fact. He is one of the editors and co-hosts of the speculative fiction audio magazine the Kaleidocast (currently in its second season!). He also teaches Science Fiction and Fantasy at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering.
Meredith Schwartz is executive editor and editor of science fiction and fantasy reviews for Library Journal, but unless she explicitly says otherwise, she is only speaking for herself, not the magazine. Her short fiction appeared in Strange Horizons, Reflection's Edge, and Sleeping Beauty, Indeed. She edited Alleys & Doorways, an anthology of homoerotic urban fantasy. She has committed fanfiction, screenwriting, and conrunning, but is much better now.
Jude Shabry (aka peacefrog) found Arisia in 1994 and hasn't been able to stay away since. Jude has attended as an artist, vendor, party host, techie, panelist, yoga teacher, climbing guide, wedding principle, mama, food truck wrangler, and more.
Daniela Sharma—Life science buff with expertise in animal sciences, loves learning new information about life on earth or off it. Avid proponent of science fiction and fantasy providing moral guidance and philosophical foundations for living.
David G David G. Shaw is, in no particular order: Aspie, Atheist, Blogger, Cook, Curmudgeon, Foodie, Geek, Musician, Parent, Partner, Reader, Scientist, Skeptic.
Nicholas "phi" Shectman is President of Arisia, Inc.
Rachel Silber—Rachel is always happy to talk about complex systems including safety of software-intensive sociotechnical systems (the day job)and convention management (a strange but rewarding hobby). Sometimes she notes down these ideas at https://voluntarycomplexity.com.
Ben Silver is a singer, musician, teaching artist and poly and bi activist. As a performer, Ben’s music slides through folk, R&B, funk, jazz and more. Ben sings about personal and social issues, and has been immersed in the creation of live improvised music--finding that those same improvisational skills can be a vital asset in navigating the flow of loving relationships. Ben runs a monthly CircleSing in NYC and has been performing and teaching Vocal Improvisation and ensemble skills for over 25 years.
Jamila Sisco is an award-winning costumer with a specialization in anime, video game, and original costumes. She has worked on costumes for over 15 years, usually working on making the big and elaborate come to life. She is the former President of the Northern Lights chapter of the International Costumers' Guild. She is one of the presentation judges in the Arisia Masquerade for this year.
Rebecca Slitt is the author of Psy High and Psy High 2, and an editor for Choice of Games, LLC, a company that produces text-based interactive fiction. Before that, she was a professor of medieval history. She's played tabletop RPGs for more than 25 years, LARPed for more than 20, and read mountains of SF and fantasy books. She's currently at work on Dark College Years, a Lovecraftian RPG about privilege and power at Yale.
Sarah Smith writes books. (Published in 14 languages, NY Times Notable, prizewinning, all that.) Her TITANIC book, CRIMES & SURVIVORS, IS FINALLY COMING OUT APRIL 15. There will be a party April 19--sign up at www.sarahsmith.com for invitations. She is working on a 19C Brazilian fantasy, with pirates and talking eagles. sarahwriter on FB and Twitter; she/her
Kris "Nchanter" Snyder—Nchanter stumbled sideways into fandom in their early 20’s for lack of anything else to keep them out of trouble. With a background in theater, the visual arts, and a love for SFF fostered by their father from a young age, it soon became obvious that this was where they, and their colorful curls, belonged. Nchanter now helps make fandom go by volunteering for several conventions including Worldcons and Arisia, and focuses on addressing harassment and creating more inclusive spaces within fandom.
Charity Southworth—I am an art student turned astrophysicist! I currently work at the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Science and just finished my Master's Degree science communication. I also run my own business where I make science themed jewelry, accessories and clothing! I love communicating science in a humorous, entertaining fashion - why should science seem dry and boring!?
Lisa J Steele—Lisa Steele is an attorney, writer, and game designer. As a lawyer, she has been involved in litigation, teaching, and legislation about issues of science and the criminal law. As a game-designer, she is a co-author of the ENnie award winning Bubblegumshoe, and has written for Steve Jackson Games, White Wolf, and Evil Hat. She has been attending Arisia since its inception.
Raven Stern—Raven is always up for adventures, whether that's around a game board or in a rural palace in Europe. Whatever the adventure, she'll be dressed for the occasion! You can find her dancing with the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers throughout the Boston area, and see her photos on her blog at plaidpetticoats.blogspot.com.
Ian Randal Strock (www.IanRandalStrock.com) is the editor and publisher of Fantastic Books (www.FantasticBooks.biz) and an author of science fiction and non-fiction. He has published three books on the presidency of the US (with Random House and Carrel Books) and had stories in Analog, Nature, and several anthologies. He was previously an editor with Artemis, Asimov’s, Analog, The Daily Free Press, and Science Fiction Chronicle. He is also the Northeast Regional Vice Chairman of American Mensa.
Dr. Kit Stubbs is a non-binary/queer/femme maker & entrepreneur who's more interested in people than in tech. Kit is Founder and Executive Director of the Effing Foundation for Sex-Positivity (effing.org), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to foster sex-positive art & education. They blog about technological empowerment for sexuality & pleasure (toymakerproject.com) and co-organize teasecraft, a meetup group for sex/kink-positive crafters (teasecraft.com).
John Sundman is the author of the novels Acts of the Apostles, Biodigital, and Mountain of Devils, and of the novellas Cheap Complex Devices and The Pains. His newsletter "Technopotheosis" concerns art, ethics, synthetic biology, literary criticism and his glamorous life as unsung literary genius and underpaid construction laborer, among other things. The Technopotheosis Youtube channel features long-form conversations with prominent scientists, novelists, philosophers and activists.
Sonya Taaffe reads dead languages and tells living stories. Her short fiction and poetry have been collected most recently in Forget the Sleepless Shores (Lethe Press) and previously in Singing Innocence and Experience, Postcards from the Province of Hyphens, A Mayse-Bikhl, and Ghost Signs. She lives with her husband and two cats in Somerville, Massachusetts, where she writes about film for Patreon and remains proud of naming a Kuiper belt object.
Cecilia Tan is the multi-award winning author of The Prince's Boy, Telepaths Don't Need Safewords, and the Magic University series and the founder of Circlet Press. Her award shelf includes the RT Reviewers Choice Award, the Maggie Award for Excellence, and induction into the Saints & Sinners LGBT Writers Hall of Fame. Her upcoming urban fantasy series from Tor Books will be known as The Vanished Chronicles and should appear Real Soon.
Ilene Tatroe has decided to get over her imposter syndrome and share her thoughts on the various things she enjoys (geeky and non) at Arisia. She loves Supernatural and The Good Place (and will cry when both are gone), enjoys reading a variety of things, and has become a bit more involved in local politics, as of late. She's the parent of a teenager and, as of now, mostly writes up conference and webinar summaries for a living.
Gail Terman is a huge nerd who loves sports, coding, singing, and spending all of her vacation time helping to run conventions.
Timothy J Tero has been attending Arisia cons for about 17 years now. He's a painter and photographer, and has traveled extensively; he have been to Europe about a dozen times and Japan 3 times. He's an assistant organizer for an international arthouse film meetup group in the Boston area. He would say his special interest would be the culture of Japan (old and new)--Japanese Sci-fi/horror films and some anime (especially old Anime). Also, he has a keen interest in European Sci-fi films.
Tikva (raycho) (aka raycho) is attending her bazillionth Arisia, and her fifth? sixth? what even are numbers anyway? as a panelist. She is kind of like a very sweary golden retriever. She's a public health geek, disability activist, baseball addict, and member of a poly family/household. She is fond of pie. You may recognize her via her trusty guide dog, who is small in size but large in swagger. Please do not pet either her or the dog without a whole lot of permission.
Matthew Timmins A.J. Timmins lives in Massachusetts with his wife and like most writers, has far too many cats. His debut novel, The Miseries of Mr. Sparrows, was published in November of 2015. His short stories have appeared in the magazines Betwixt?, Stupefying Stories and Unlikely Story as well as multiple anthologies. When not writing he enjoys roleplaying games, watching Formula 1 racing, and writing about himself in the third person.
Dan Toland is a writer and podcaster responsible for getting his fingerprints all over Arisia's Media track this year. He lives in Boston with a woman of nearly limitless patience (Reader, she married him), a dog who tries REALLY HARD you guys, and also there is a cat. Hear him give voice to strongly-held opinions about inexpensively made British sci-fi, Reagan-era cartoons, and Bronze Age team-up comics at Earth-2.net, and endure his Twitter nonsense @UrbanSpaceman61.
Thomas Traina is a former lawyer turned computer forensics consultant and legal technology specialist. Academically, he focuses on civil liberties, constitutional law, speculative bioethics, and comparative law and government in science fiction. Tom got into science fiction through Star Wars, then Star Trek TNG, and snowballed from there. He is also an avid roleplayer and theatre-style LARP writer. When he can afford it, he also enjoys wargames.
Kevin Turausky—I'm primarily a science fiction nerd but am gradually branching into fantasy. Star Trek is my favorite franchise, but am quite fond of Stargate, Star Wars, Babylon 5, or pretty much any show or film with cool spaceships. My professional background is much more down to earth: I used to be a park ranger and worked at sites across the US, teaching nature and history to visitors, and now I work in utilities.
Cadwell Turnbull is the author of the science fiction novel The Lesson. His short fiction has appeared in The Verge, Lightspeed, Nightmare, and Asimov’s Science Fiction. His short story “Loneliness is in Your Blood” was selected for The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018. His novelette “Other Worlds and This One” was also selected as notable story for the anthology. His short story “Jump” was selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019.
Heather Urbanski holds a Master of Arts in Writing and a Ph.D. in English. Her published works, Plagues, Apocalypses, and Bug-Eyed Monsters: How Speculative Fiction Shows Us Our Nightmares, the edited collection Writing and the Digital Generation: Essays on New Media Rhetoric, and The Science Fiction Reboot, all combine her fandom interests in science fiction and scholarly focus on rhetoric in pop culture. She is currently an Associate Professor of English Studies at Fitchburg State University.
Gabriel Valdez finds himself at the strange intersection of political organizing and media criticism, which were supposed to be two completely different occupations before the sky fell in the last three years. He's worked as a campaign manager, investigative reporter, and garnered national honors for his work as a film critic. He doesn't always know which one he is on a given day, and he's not so sure it's a good thing to be in the reality where that somehow ends up working out.
Mercy Van Vlack has been a comics pro since 1980, including writing Richie Rich; artist on Green Ghost & Lotus (set in Boston) and Miranda; inker for DC, Malibu, and others; illustrator for numerous fanzines, APAs, anthropomorphics and SF cons; and artist of many Celtic Calendars and the Celtic Coloring Book. She also draws for private collections and makes Celtic jewelry. She sings political satire with the Raging Grannies and is a long-time fan of Dr. Dimento & Tom Lehrer.
Drew Van Zandt is an engineer, maker, and general geek. He's also on the Board of Directors of the Firefly Arts Collective, a group of a few thousand artists who make big and interactive art. Drew is happiest when he's teaching you to make something or making things himself.
Pablo Vazquez considers themselves many things, including performer, poet, fan, sometimes scholar/always student, agitator, bard-magus, and whatever else they come up with. They're a cinephile, DC Comics enthusiast, voracious reader, and avid gamer (tabletop/video). They traverse various subcultural communities, from magical lodges and mystic circles, unsanctioned parties and kink events to Underground Rap and radical bookstores to, of course, Science-Fiction and Fantasy fandom.
Julie Vinomano—Can usually be found procrastinating on her current sewing project with the latest sci-fi/fantasy series and fanfiction.
Mark "Justin du Coeur" Waks is a rapidly moving particle. If one pins down his position enough (and doesn't worry about his velocity), one finds him focusing on programming, SCA, fandom, LARP, and Freemasonry.
Cosplay, Prop Builder, a Maker from before it was cool and well rounded sci-fi geek. For a time ran the largest Farscape website, KarlS Websweb Farscape E-zine and currently runs a successful family friendly Haunted House in a 200 year old church, the First Parish Haunted House in Bedford, MA -check it out! A fan of Trek, Farscape, Babylon 5, Space 1999, Firefly, GOT and now THE EXPANSE! I am proud to say my wife and I have managed to raise three kids in fandom. have attended Arisia since 1990
Brent Weichsel is a filmmaker, role-player, union ENBY, proud bisexual and secret robot. They work in film and television in the camera department as a proud Local 600 camera person. Some projects he has worked on are; Pose, Tales of the city, Person of Interest, Jessica Jones, Amazing Spiderman 2,, Madam Secretary, Someone Great, & Irreplaceable You. He is also a writer and director of short films, music videos and commericals. They/them Pronouns
Susan Weiner has been writing and running LARPs for 15 years, primarily as part of Alleged Entertainment. She has also played music with Stranger Ways, Cheshire Moon and her new band, Trinary. On the side, she teaches physiology, dates a bunch of people, studies social insect behavior, cooks weird, overly complicated meals, and does a variety of other things in not nearly enough time.
Jesse Wertheimer is a dad, a dancer, a geek, an avid boardgammer and a programmer.
Morven Westfield first became fascinated by the unseen in her childhood, delighting in superstitions and ghost stories. Her interests are reflected in her writing. Her supernatural-themed short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, and she regularly contributes articles on folklore and the supernatural to The Witches Almanac. Morven lives in Central Massachusetts with her husband. Like many writers, she keeps a messy office and drinks way too much coffee. www.morvenwestfield.com
Alan Wexelblat (he/him) is a poly parent of two trans teens, an amateur photographer, a long-time tabletop RPG and online MMO gamer, and a writer on intellectual property issues. He has been at every Arisia since #2 and worked most of them. This year he is Division Head of Team Arisia Services and is most likely to be found in the HQ or at the volunteer table. Ask him about helping with the convention!
Besides attending cons, being on panels, moderating panels, and working as staff, Michelle Wexelblat is a mother, wife, friend, extrovert, self employed clinical social worker, and dabbler in many hobbies. Magic powers include working through many layers of red tape, sorting through insurance and other financial issues and explaining complex things in simple ways. Many of these magic powers help in her profession of working with marginalized individuals and helping people heal from trauma.
H. M. White—A writer, editor, and storyteller. Recently finished an MFA in Writing for Children at Simmons College. Writes for and works with The Wayfinder Experience (a trans- and queer-friendly LARP camp in New York's Hudson River Valley), edited the indie horror RPG Sleepaway, has written for Posthuman Studios, and is querying a middle grade space adventure as well as several illustrated books.
Nightwing Whitehead was born in 1958. The Barbie doll was "born" in 1959; so for a year she had nothing to do. Since then, she's been making up for lost time by dressing anyone and anything that comes within her reach. She's worked for several theaters, dressed some stars, done some teaching, and has her own business designing and creating costumes for life.
Alison Wilgus is a writer, freelance editor and cartoonist who's worked in comics for over a decade. Her most recent work is Chronin, a queer historical SF duology from Tor, and she's written two works of graphic non-fiction for First Second Books about human spaceflight and aviation history. In her spare time, she co-hosts a podcast about comics publishing called “Graphic Novel TK” with Gina Gagliano. She tweets as @AliWilgus and you can find many of her comics and stories at alisonwilgus.com
Scott Wilhelm is a licensed biology, physics, math, and general science teacher with more than 10 years of experience, mostly with high-school-aged learners with learning disabilities and severe behavioral problems. He combines deeply analytical lessons with fun activities to meet high expectations with no tears for a very wide range of ages and abilities.
Although he now regrets buying Charles Augustus Ward a subscription to Ancestry.com, Stephen R. Wilk continues to be an Optical Engineer and an editor for the OSA. In his copious spare time he writes. His short story "George Washington and the Dragon has finally(!) been published, and "Yamadori" is coming out in Analog. His YA Time Travel novel "The Traveler" has been published by Rogue Phoenix Press, and he has two nonfiction books coming out next year, "Backstage at Wonderland" and "Zap II".
Connie Wilkins (also writing as Sacchi Green) has published scores of short stories and edited 18 anthologies, most in the lesbian erotica genre, two of them Lambda Literary Award winners. She especially loves to combine lesbian erotica and classical fantasy, as in her anthology Witches, Princesses and Women at Arms. Her recent collection, Wild Rides, also has its share of specfic, from Old West vampires to ghosts to a shape-shifting dragon aiding pirates in the South China Sea.
W. B. J. W. B.J. Williams, the author of THE GARDEN AT THE ROOF OF THE WORLD, and "The InfoCoup" holds advanced degrees in anthropology and archeology. He is an avid historian, mystic, poet, and author who manages an information security program at a prominent New England firm. He is noted for his bad puns, and willingness to argue from any perspective. He is endured by his beloved wife and two daughters, and lives in Sharon Massachusetts.
Bey belongs to the geek, kink, and polyamorous communities. She is married to gaming book author, Jonathan L. Bey Woodward, and runs a one-woman business, Tasks@Bey Events. Check her out on Facebook or at www.tasksatbey.com. She gets your geek wedding!
Jonathan Woodward is the author or co-author of over a dozen role-playing game books, including the Hellboy RPG, Trinity, and GURPS Banestorm. He has been an Arisia panelist for over 20 years. He lives near Boston with his wonderfully complicated family.
Keith Yatsuhashi is the author of Kojiki and Kokoro two Japanese/anime themed fantasy novels from Angry Robot Books. Keith is represented by Laura Zats, Headwater Literary Management. In his professional life, Keith is a consultant with the U.S. Department of Commerce and helps American companies sell products internationally.
Dr. Willie Yee is an amateur astronomer and magician. He is a Solar System Ambassador--a volunteer supporter of NASA supported by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is past President of the Mid-Hudson Astronomical Association and presently serves on its board. He has received numerous awards for observing projects and for astronomical outreach and education.
A child of the space race, Guillermo Zeballos has always been fascinated by fantastic vehicles and stories of space, real and fictional. He is active in designing and building spaceships out of paper and researching their designs. He is also a great fan of spaceship and futuristic art and illustration, as well as those of the more familiar hero ships of film and television. His professional background is in teaching, computer-human interaction, collaborative systems, and interface design.
Eric "in the Elevator" Zuckerman was not a real talk show host, but he did play one on TV. He was Arisia 2008 Fan Performer Guest of Honor and Lunacon 2011 Special Guest. Not only is he still associated with his former fan-participation video comedy project, "Eric in the Elevator", but he also traveled back in time to host the 1943 Hugo Awards ceremony. He lives in Berkeley, California with his wife of over a quarter-century (Beth); and their two cats (Patience and Fortitude).