Participants – Balticon 49

If you would like to become a Balticon program participant, contact the department head in your area of interest or send your inquiry to our Programming mailbox. See the Contact Us page for some email links.

Check back frequently. This page may change daily.

What is expected of program participants?

If you have already received your Balticon 48 Participant Invitation, you can find information about submitting program suggestions here.

We ask Balticon program participants to:

You can look at the official B49_Participant_Membership_Policy Balticon Participant Membership Policy here if you want to, or the following includes the basic points.

Participate in a minimum of 5 program hours (4 hours if you have a dealers or artist alley table, are an Art Show exhibitor or are a Masquerade judge or contestant). Please note that we are a four-day convention and would like to keep our programming strong on Friday and Monday, so please be with us all four days if at all possible. Our goal is to have participants and attendees anxious to get in and get started Friday afternoon and putting off leaving until the last minute on Monday!;

To further clarify the above the program hours requirement:

If you will be at Balticon for only one day to deliver a presentation, we will provide you a one-day participant membership. You will, of course, be offered a chance to participate in other programming in addition to your presentation, but are not required to do so.

Let us know — no later than March 15th, please! — if there are technical requirements for your presentation such as a projection screen, DVD player, computer monitor, ELMO, or sound system;

Let us know — no later than April 15th, please! — if there are display requirements for your presentation such as a a white board with markers and eraser, or an easel pad and crayons or colored markers;

Show up a few minutes early where scheduled to appear, and be ready to start on time when the door closes;

End appearances at scheduled times to facilitate getting attendees and other participants into and out of the rooms with a minimum of chaos;

If you are moderating a panel, treat all panelists equally and try to give them all equal time to be heard;

Bear in mind that everyone (including all staff and BSFS officers) who works at Balticon is a volunteer and be kind — they are working hard to make this event a success for everyone!

What’s in it for me?

As a Balticon Program participant, you:

Receive a membership to Balticon in exchange for your program participantion;

Can purchase a membership for one SO, life partner/companion for one half the lowest published membership rate for the Balticon to be attended.

Can purchase children’s memberships for your eligible minor children at one half the lowest published children’s membership membership rate for the Balticon to be attended, and for your children aged 13 to 25 who are students (student ID required for those over age 17) at one half the lowest published adult membership rate;

Are invited to rest, recoup, snack and meet other participants as well as our Guests of Honor in the Balticon Green Room;

Are invited to have us schedule a time for you (or someone you designate) to do a reading of your work;

Are invited to have us schedule a time for your autograph session shared with one or 2 other professionals;

Will have an opportunity to meet and greet other participants, Guests of Honor and Balticon attendees during “Friday Face Time” on Friday evening at “Meet the Artists” in the Art Show, “Meet the Guests” in Frankie and Vinnie’s (the Con Suite) and “Meet the Scientists” in Salon A (the Science Program room);

Acquire fame, adoration and undying devotion from Balticon attendees;

Participant Biographical Information

Index of Participant Biographical Information.
Biographical info is indexed alphabetically by Participant’s last name.

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Ackley-McPhail, Danielle

Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides of the publishinge industry for longer than she cares to admit. Currently, she is a project editor and promotions manager for Dark Quest Books and has recently started her own press, eSpec Books.

Her published works include five urban fantasy novels, Yesterday’s Dreams, Tomorrow’s Memories, Today’s Promiseand and two books in the Bad-Ass Faerie Tale series, The Halfling’s Court and The Redcaps’ Queen, and a young adult Steampunk novel, Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. and a young adult Steampunk novel, Baba Ali and the Clockwork Djinn, written with Day Al-Mohamed. She is also the author of the solo science fiction collection A Legacy of Stars, the non-fiction writers guide, The Literary Handyman and is the senior editor of the “Bad-Ass Faeries” anthology series, Dragons Lure, and In An Iron Cage. Her work is included in numerous other anthologies and collections.

Danielle is a member of the Garden State Speculative Fiction Writers, the New Jersey Authors Network, and Broad Universe, a writers’ organization focusing on promoting the works of women authors in the speculative genres.

Danielle lives in New Jersey with husband and fellow writer, Mike McPhail, mother-in-law Teresa, and three extremely spoiled cats. She can be found on Facebook (Danielle Ackley-McPhail) and Twitter (@DAckley-McPhail). To learn more, follow the links in this bio to visit www.sidhenadaire.com, www.darkquestbooks.com, or www.badassfaeries.com!

Addams, Jhada

Winner of the much coveted Iron Chef: Erotica A La Carte Golden Artichoke award at Balticon 45, Jhada Addams writes erotic horror and erotica, as well as working as a medium consultant for Pennsylvania-based paranormal investigative group Cressona Paranormal. She eulogizes those who have crossed over, challenges popular notions and is a kinked, socially marginal, anarcho-shamanic Santeria Priestess.

Check out Jhada’s website to learn more!

Adler-Golden, Lisa

Lisa Adler-Golden has been distracted by many things, but is really a scientist at heart. She is a biologist, costumer, and fan of all things fandom.

Aire, D. H.

D.H. Aire has walked the ramparts of the Old City of Jerusalem and through an escape tunnel out of a Crusader fortress that Richard the Lion Heart called home. He’s toured archeological sites that were hundreds, if not thousands of years old… experiences that have found expression in his debut novel Highmage’s Plight and Human Mage (Dec. 2013). His short stories appear in anthologies, and the next novel of his series, Highmage, is being serialized in the ezine Separate Worlds. Sample chapters of his forthcoming YA urban fantasy novel, Dare2Believe, are available on Wattpad. The author is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and currently resides in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. To learn more, visit the author’s website linked above and his Twitter at @dare2believe1.

Al-Mohamed, Day

Day Al-Mohamed is co-editor for the upcoming anthology, Trust & Treachery and hosts the multi-author blog Unleaded: Fuel for Writers (www.unleadedwriting.com). Her recent publications are available in Daily Science Fiction, Crossed Genres anthology Oomph–A Little Super Goes a Long Way, and GrayHaven Comics’ anti-bullying issue You Are Not Alone. She is an active member of the Cat Vacuuming Society of Northern Virginia Writing Group, and Women in Film and Video. When not working on fiction, Day is Senior Policy Advisor with the U.S. Department of Labor. She has also worked as a lobbyist and political analyst on issues relating to health care, education, employment, and international development. She loves action movies and drinks far too much tea. She lives in Washington, DC, with her wife, N.R. Brown, in a house with too many swords, comic books, and political treatises. She tweets at @DayAlMohamed.

Alexander, Tristan

I am a profesional freelance artist, I live with my husband Don and our 6 cats. You can see my work here and on my website. I have done cover art for Circlet Press and other small press companies and have done work for the SCA.

Ashmead, John

John Ashmead has BA in physics from Harvard, summa cum laude, and a masters in physics from Princeton. He is working on a physics dissertation, Time & Quantum Mechanics, on how to quantize time using the same rules as we use for space. Experimentally testable, which is always nice!

He got his start as an assistant editor at Isaac Asimov’s SF Magazine, and has been a regular speaker at Balticon and Philcon for many years now. He is currently working with Darrell Schweitzer on an anthology: Tales From the Miskatonic University Library.

By day, he is a database admin & developer at Nistica, which produces the optical switches used to control the Internet; and does a bit of database & web consulting on the side.

But his life’s ambition is to develop a practical and cost-effective time machine.

Ashton, Lisa

Lisa Ashton is a master-level costumer. Her Balticon presentation last year was “Dance of Destruction,” the image of the blue six-armed goddess Kali. She loves beadwork and quilting, and in her spare time, fishing and hunting. Her new project is “Miss Lizzy’s Traveling Historical Fashion Show,” which preserves and exhibits Victorian era clothing and photos. She spends most of her spring and summer at flea markets.

Aspinwall, Allen

Sarah Avery

Sarah Avery is an escaped academic who writes contemporary and epic fantasy. Tales from Rugosa Coven (Dark Quest Books, 2014) is a trio of linked novellas about very real Pagans in a New Jersey even weirder than the one you think you know. This weekend Fantastic Books is celebrating the release of Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic, a themed anthology Avery coedited with David Sklar, which features stories by James Enge, Elizabeth Bear, and Darrell Schweitzer. Her short fiction has appeared in Jim Baen’s Universe, and in Black Gate, where she also contributes a regular column. You can follow her adventures in writing, teaching, and parenting at her website.

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Baiman, Sue

Banks, Jason

Jason Banks spent six yreas in the army as a cook paratrooper, aka a “flying spoon”. While in the army he started towards becoming a published on active duty, he developed a love for podcasting, podiobooks, and new media. He created his blog and podcast and first attended Balticon in 2012.

Barrientos, Brick

Brick Barrientos captained his high school "It’s Academic" team to the Washington, DC, finals and the University of Maryland to the College Bowl national championship. Although he only won one day on Jeopardy, he did beat all-time Jeopardy winnings leader Brad Rutter in a pickup Host Your Own Jeopardy game. Brick moderates, judges, writes and edits for the National Academic Championship and reads for high school and college tournaments in the Washington and Baltimore area. He has run science fiction trivia contests at local cons as well as Mythcon and the Bucconeer Worldcon when they came to the area. Brick currently hosts a movie trivia games show called Silver Screen Test that can be seen at bit.ly/7wP48S. Contact him if you consider yourself a movie buff and would like to be a contestant. Brick worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission and has since worked for investment advisers in compliance and proxy recommendations. He is married, with a daughter who attended conventions as an infant and now drags her parents to anime cons. Brick admits to having at least one cat.

Berman-Gorvine, Martin

Martin Berman-Gorvine is the author of five science fiction/fantasy novels: The Severed Wing (Livingston Press, 2002); 36 (Livingston Press, 2012); SeveZiona: A Novel of Alternate History (Amazon/CreateSpace, 2014). Wildside Press is publishing a sixth novel, Heroes of Earth, in the spring of 2015.n Against Mars (Wildside Press, 2013); Save the Dragons! (Wildside Press, 2013), which was a finalist for the Prometheus Award; and Ziona: A Novel of Alternate History (Amazon/CreateSpace, 2014). Wildside Press is publishing a sixth novel, Heroes of Earth, in the spring of
2015. You can find him on blogspot, Twitter (@MeshuggeWriter) and Tumblr (mgorvine).

Biernesser, Deja and Steve

Steve and Deja Biernesser are from Alexandria, Virginia. They’re Dorsai Irregulars (yes, both of them), retired US Air Force Officers (yes, both of them), currently working in the Pentagon (yes, both of them), martial artists (yes, both of them), tree farmers (she’s not so sure about this one…)
As far as their music. It all began with a guitar… She surprised him with it as a Christmas present in 1994. When he realized how much she’d spent, he decided he’d better learn how to play it – since at that point he had no clue. After much practice (by him) and prodding (by her) over the years, they discovered that folks liked to hear them sing. Enjoyment for all concerned ensued.

Bilmes, Joshua

Joshua Bilmes founded JABberwocky Literary Agency in 1994, and represents NY Times bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson, Charlaine Harris, Peter V. Brett, Jack Campbell, Simon R. Green and Elizabeth Moon. Moon, Myke Cole and T.C. McCarthy are among many Compton Crook winners and finalists he has represented, and Balticon was the first convention he attended as a professional agent.

Boyes, Walter H., Jr.

During the day, Walt Boyes is an award-winning journalist, analyst and consultant on manufacturing and automation, but at night, he transforms into the Bananaslug of Baen’s Bar and writes science fiction, fantasy and alternate history, He is on the editorial board of the Grantville Gazette and is working on a novel with Eric Flint and Rick Boatright, and the 1632 Companion with Joy Ward, to whom he considers himself very lucky to be married.

Brio, Alessia

Take one part Appalachian redneck, one part aging wet dream, and one part filthy-minded wordsmith. Mix well and serve with chocolate-covered cherries. There you have the one and only Alessia Brio. Alessia writes all colors and flavors of erotica, from heterosexual to menage to same sex, and from twisted to humorous to deeply touching.

Alessia now focuses the majority of her time & energy on “Coming Together”, her charity publishing label. “Coming Together” attained its 501(c)(3) exemption in 2014, making it the sexiest nonprofit on the planet.

Brown, Charlie

Charlie Brown is a writer and filmmaker from New Orleans. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he recently received his Masters in Professional Writing from the University of Southern California and also runs Lucky Mojo Press (editing the “Dirty Magick” series) and Mojotooth Productions. He has made two feature films: Angels Die Slowly and Never A Dull Moment: 20 Years of the Rebirth Brass Band. His fiction has appeared in Oddville Press, Writing Disorder, Jersey Devil Press, The Menacing Hedge, Aethlon, and what?? Magazine.

Bryski, K.T.

K. T. Bryski is a Canadian author, podcaster, and Pokémon Master. She made her podcasting and publishing debut with Hapax, an apocalyptic fantasy with Dragon Moon Press, 2012 a stories in Black Treacle orror Magazine, When the Hero Comes Home Vol. II (Dragon Moon Press, 2013), and Tales from the Archives (Imagine That! Studios).

Select playwriting credits include scripts for Black Creek Pioneer Village, “East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon” (Canadian Children’s Opera Company), and Key of D Minor (Sears Ontario Drama Festival). In 2014, her short story “Under Oak Island” was a Parsec Award finalist. She ventured into RPGs with “Yeti’s Parole Officer,” released in 2014 from Choice of Games.

When she’s not writing, KT can often be found frolicking in petticoats, educating the general public about Victorian social history. In addition, KT writes and edits the “Black Creek Growler.” the official blog of the Black Creek Historic Brewery.

And sometimes, she plays SNES.

KT still lives in Toronto with her long-suffering roommates. She is currently at work on her next novel.

Burke, Stephanie “Flash”

Have You Been Flashed?

Stephanie is a mad woman that must be stopped… or at least that’s what her editor says. She makes her home in Baltimore where she creates thousands of worlds where she manipulates her characters like puppets and abuses hot tea. Along the way she picked up a lot of awards and has written a lot of books that she won’t stop talking about, and a legion of crazed fans who think just like her.

Stephanie and links to her many works in process can be found on her website, her Facebook page as well as on tumbler and Twitter.

Burns, Laura

Laura Burns has been a contract engineer with NASA missions since 1998. She worked on the James Webb Space Telescope and Landsat 8. Currently, she is working on the Joint Polar Satellite System. She spent the summer of 2007 in Beijing at the International Space University and has returned to ISU as a Guest Lecturer. She is the head of the Parsec Awards Steering Committee, the premier award for science fiction podcasting. She enjoys speaking to the public on space-related topics at conventions and science festivals. She She tweets about space and science at @moonrangerlaura. In addition to her interest in space, she is a long-time science fiction and fantasy fan, photographer, board game player, knitter, and traveler.

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Cady, Mildred G.

Games, writing, crafting, acting, costuming, real and alternate history, historical lifestyles, and cooking are the main interests of Mildred’s life. She’s turning those into stories for herself and her friends, games to play with friends, and the Picnic Basket podcast. At Balticon this year she’ll be bringing a more in-depth view into Victorian Gambling and Parlor Games, a Whist Tournament, and stories and discussion over in the New Media track.

Campbell, Jack

Jack Campbell (John G. Hemry) is the dashing and audacious author of the New York Times best-selling “Lost Fleet” series (Dauntless, Fearless, Courageous, Valiant, Relentless and Victorious). His most recent book is Steadfast, the latest in the “Lost Fleet — Beyond the Frontier” series (which also includes Dreadnaught, Invincibleand Guardian). His next book will be Imperfect Sword , in the “Lost Stars” series. He is also the author of the “Stark’s War” and “Sinclair/JAG in space” series. His short fiction has appeared in places as varied as the last Chicks in Chainmail anthology and Analog magazine (most recently “The War of the Worlds — Chapter Eighteen” in the January/February 2013 issue). He also has stories in the anthologies Breach the Hull, So it Begins, By Other Means and Armor, as well as the essay “Liberating the Future” in Teenagers From the Future (about the Legion of Super Heroes). After retiring from the US Navy and settling in Maryland, John began writing. John lives with his wife (the indomitable S) and three great kids. His children are all on the autistic spectrum.

Chase, Christine M.

Christine Chase, daughter of author Robert R. Chase, has been an otaku (fan of anime) since she was in high school, and wrote a report for her Japanese class about anime and manga. She now spends too much time writing fanfic, pondering the theological implications of Gundam Wing, and convincing other people that anime is not "just for geeks."

Chase, Robert R.

Robert R. Chase is the author of three published novels including the Compton Cook nominated The Game of Fox and Lion and more than a two dozen shorter works, the most recent being “Pictures at an Exhibition” (Analog, November 2012). Although, his interests range from anime to theological fantasy, he is a staunch proponent of science in science fiction.

Cheshire Moon

Cheshire Moon is a fanciful melding of trickster bird Lizzie Crowe and mad hatter Eric Coleman. These two-time Pegasus Award recipients are part of the growing music genre known as MythPunk, bringing old gods and folk tales into modern day, and bringing faerie tale princesses into the light of dark magic. They weave journeys of song and story, bringing their listeners along for the ride. Care to come along? Check out their tunes at the Cheshire Moon Crowes and Consequences

Chowdhury, Debi

Debi Chowdhury is working at being a writer. She has published poetry and short stories, is a lecturer, and has run the writer’s workshop at Albacon, Pi-Con.

Chung, J. Sook

J. Sook Chung is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland’s Center for Environmental Science. Professor Chungs’s research focuses on the response of crustaceans to the neurotransmitters, neurohormones, hormones, and pheromones that regulate critical events in the life cycle of these organisms. These events include development, maturation and growth via molting, mating and the process of de- and re-calcification, reproduction, and the hormonal regulation of stress responses caused by internal and external changes in their environment. In particular, she studies the mechanism of ecdysis (adult ecdysis, adult Carcinus molting video clip, hatching). This is a fascinating and critical step in life cycle since there is no somatic growth or, in some cases, mating without shedding the old shell. Using the tools of biochemistry, physiology and molecular biology, Prof. Chung’s aim is to isolate and identify/characterize the structures and functions of these chemical mediators. Moreover, she attempts to understand how these events occur at the cellular, tissue, and organism level in order to enhance the stock of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and also regulate the growing number of foreign species such as the Atlantic green shore crab (Carcinus maenas).

Chuong, Michael

Dr. Chuong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center and Maryland Proton Treatment Center. He specializes in treating tumors of the gastrointestinal tract, head and neck, and lymphomas. While being active in the clinic, Dr. Chuong is also involved in clinical and translational research including clinical trial design.

Clement, Dave

Decadent DDDave – 60 years a country/folk musician, 50 years a F&SF reader and fan, 30 years a filker; FHOF member, Peggasus award winner, Aurora award winner, 2 solo albbbums, 3 “Dandelion WWWWine” albums.

Encouraging and spreading the fun and joy and rewards of participating innn music and the fannish family…. that’s why I do it.

Clemons, Jack

Jack Clemons has a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering. He has spent most of his professional career as an aerospace engineer, an air-and-space industry professional, and as an author. He was a lead engineer on NASA’s Apollo Moon Program, and was program manager for the development of the onboard software for NASA’s Space Shuttle. Later in his career Jack was a Senior Vice President of Engineering at Lockheed Martin.

He is a published author and a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). His non-fiction, short fiction and science fiction have appeared in numerous magazines, books and anthologies. He writes a bi-weekly science and technology blog for Amazing Stories Magazine Online. Jack appeared as himself in the Command Module episode of the Discovery Science Channel six-part documentary Moon Machines. He has written and made numerous presentations about the space program, on the importance of systems engineering (for non-engineering audiences), and on why science matters.

He is currently writing a memoir about his time on the Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs.

Cmar, John

John Cmar, MD, has been long enthralled with horrible infections that could spell doom for humankind, as well as sanity and skepticism in the practice of medicine. He is currently the Assistant Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, and an Instructor of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is the lead physician in Sinai’s Ryan White initiative, which provides medical care and social assistance to patients with HIV infection who are without medical insurance. In his role as Program Director for the Internal Medicine residency program at Sinai, he teaches an annual course series in Evidence-Based Medicine, among many other duties. He also does Infectious Diseases outreach in Baltimore television and print media, and is the guest-in-residence on the monthly Midday on Health show with Dan Rodricks on 88.1 WYPR radio in Baltimore. John is a science fiction and fantasy fan, avid gamer, craft beer aficionado, and podcast enthusiast. He currently blogs and podcasts on skeptical, medical, and geeky topics at http://johncmar.com.

Coleman, Doc

Doc Coleman is a blogger, podcaster, voice actor, and writer. He started off writing tech reviews and short stories in 2010, and soon branched out to podcasting and voice acting. He was the stowaway crew member on Galley Table, and is still producing his own podcast, The Shrinking Man Project. His voice acting credits include "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" from Pirate’s Cove, "Absolution" from Scrivener’s Circle, the YA novel Ginny Dare, and live performances of Metamor City at Balticon 45 and 47, and Stargazers at Balticon 46. He is part of the newly formed League of Extraordinary Vocalists. His stories have appeared in the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences‘ Tales from the Archives, the Way of the Gun anthology, and the Steampunk Special Edition of Flagship magazine. In 2014 he will publish his first novel, The Perils of Prague, the first novel in the series The Adventures of Crackle and Bang. Find out about all of Doc’s projects at Swimming Cat Studios SwimmingCatStudios.com. When he isn’t juggling projects, making a living, or mainlining podcasts, Doc is a gamer, an avid reader, a motorcyclist, a home brewer and beer lover, a fan of renaissance festivals, and frequently a smart-ass. He lives with his lovely wife and two Maine Coon cats in Germantown, MD.

Coleman, TieDyeEric
I play music in Cheshire Moon. I have a thing about good pizza and ice cream. There are a lot more things, but I’m too lazy to type them in right now.

Cooley, Paul

A writer, podcaster, and software architect from Houston, Texas, Paul Elard Cooley has been writing since the age of 12. In 2009, he began producing free psychological thriller and horror podcasts, essays, and reviews available from Shadowpublications.com and iTunes.

His stories have been listened to by thousands and he has been a guest on such notable podcasts as Podioracket, John Mierau’s Podcast Teardown, Geek Out with Mainframe, Shadowcast Audio, and Vertigo Radio Live. In 2010, his short story “Canvas” and novella Tattoo were nominated for Parsec Awards. Tattoo became a Parsec Award finalist. He has collaborated with New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler on the series The Crypt and co-wrote the novella “The Rider” (projected to release in 2015).

In addition to his writing, Paul has contributed his voice talents to a number of podiofiction productions.

His best-selling novel, The Black, was released in 2014. The sequel is slated for release in the 2nd quarter of 2015 along with several other titles.

He is a co-host on the renowned Dead Robots’ Society writing podcast and enjoys interacting with readers and other writers.

Cooper, Iver
Iver Cooper has been an active contributor to Eric Flint’s “1632” shared universe, with 20 short stories and over 40 articles published so far. Iver’s 1632 universe braided story anthology1636: Seas of Fortune was published by Baen as a trade paperback in January 2014 and as a mass market paperback in February 2015. He is working with Eric Flint on a novel set in Ming China.

Iver is an intellectual property law attorney with Browdy & Neimark, Washington, DC. He has received legal writing awards from the American Patent Law Association, the U.S. Trademark Association, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, and is the sole author of Biotechnology and the Law, now in its twenty-something edition. In his spare time, such as may exist, he teaches swing and folk dancing, and participates in local photo club competitions. Iver is married, with a son who is a public policy analyst, and a daughter working at Universal Orlando as a copywriter.

Crist, Vonnie Winslow

Vonnie Winslow Crist, B.S. Art-Ed, M.S. Professional Writing, Towson University, is author-illustrator of an epic fantasy novel, The Enchanted Skean, two collections of speculative fiction: The Greener Forest and Owl Light, two speculative ebooks: For the Good of the Settlement (sf/f eBooks). Published in Canada, Australia, Finland, Spain, Italy, UK, and the United States, she’s a Pushcart Nominee who’s received awards from L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future, the Maryland State Arts Council, and Pen Women. She’s had over 1,000 illustrations published; her sf/f art has been featured on the covers of Spaceports & Spidersilk, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Illumen, Aoife’s Kiss, Scifaikuest, and FrostFire Worlds; and Alban Lake Publishing printed a 2014 calendar featuring her speculative paintings. Vonnie enjoys celebrating the power of myth in her writing and art: www.vonniewinslowcrist.com and vonniewinslowcrist.wordpress.com.

Crowe, Lizzie

Lizzie Crowe has been doing stage work off and on since the age of 6. She wrote her first song at the age of 14, but branched out to abstract prose. She did not return to songwriting until she began performing in Cheshire Moon with Eric Coleman in 2010.

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D’Ambrosio, Michael Andrew

Michael is well-known for his Fractured Time trilogy and his Space Frontiers series. Recently, his new novel Princess Pain, book one of the new Pain series, was published and released by Blackwyrm Publishing. Michael also writes screenplays, some adapted from his novels. He participates in more than 10 conventions a year around the country. Look for more news and appearances on Michael’s projects at www.fracturedtime.com.

Davis, Rebecca K.

Becca is an avid steampunk prop maker, and all around fan. She has flirted with indie film (the relationship does not appear serious just yet, but there is hope) and is working in a number of projects that aren’t ready to be announced as of this writing.

Current Projects: Live Action Performances with Guardians Performance Group, Production on “Blood / Clan”, writing what she hopes will be able to be a Steampunk Indie Film.

Davroe, A. L.

A.L. Davroe writes speculative fiction for teens and adults. She is the author of City Steam, Salvation Station, and For Your Heart. Her upcoming YA Cyberpunk novel, Nexis, is due for publication in August.

Dearborn, Donna

Donna, a BSFS member and long-time recording secretary of BSFS, is the manager of Balticon’s Hal Haag Memorial Game Room. She is also the host of Games Club of Maryland’s (GCOM’s) Alphabet Soup gaming sessions at BSFS headquarters. A retired Nurse Practitioner, Donna believe that interest in games encourages a healthy brain as you age. Not to mention being great just for fun!

DeCandido, Keith

Keith R.A. DeCandido is launching his short story collection Without a License at Balticon. He has a catapult and everything. Other recent work includes Star Trek: The Klingon Art of War, Sleepy Hollow: Children of the Revolution, Gryphon Precinct, stories in Stargate: Far Horizons, Out of Tune, Bad-Ass Faeries: It’s Elemental, With Great Power, The X-Files: Trust No One, and Buzzy Mag Online, an adventure for the Firefly: Echoes of War RPG, and rewatches of various bits of the Star Trek and Stargate franchises for Tor.com. Find out less at his cheerfully retro web site at DeCandido.net.

Diaz, Ming “Cookie”

Ming has been perpetually interested in storytelling, clowning, facepainting, and costuming for the past 40-some years while actually making an income/playing at being an electronics tech. He has never worked a day in his life. When allowed free rein, he will teach basic communication skills to teens, turning them into presentation critics. You can usually find him in the Fast Track area or follow the tracks of bread crumbs to a panel area during the day.

Dr. SETI®

Dr. SETI® is the stage name of the blatant exhibitionist who inhabits the body of noted author and educator Dr. H. Paul Shuch (rhymes with luck). A cross between Tom Lehrer and Carl Sagan, it is said that Dr. SETI sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer. Armed with a laptop computer and an acoustical guitar, Dr. SETI travels the world making the search for life in space accessible to audiences as diverse as humanity itself.

Since the formation of the nonprofit, membership-supported SETI League in 1994, H. Paul Shuch has served as its Executive Director (now emeritus), coordinating its science mission and delivering hundreds of Dr. SETI® presentations to thousands of enthusiasts, in dozens of countries on six continents.
At college campuses, science centers, public lecture halls, and on television and radio, Dr. SETI’s unique mix of science and song seeks to educate as well as entertain. He compels the listener to contemplate a fundamental question, which has haunted humankind since first we realized that the points of light in the night sky are other suns: Are We Alone?>

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Ehrlich, Gary
Gary Ehrlich stalks the hallways of Northeast conventions and assorted filk conventions. In mundania he is a mild-mannered structural engineer for a major trade association, representing them on material design standards committees and at building code hearings. At cons he can be found on a stage or in the filk room, offering songs of space flight, lunar colonies and hyperspace hotels. Gary is a three-time chair of Conterpoint, the DC area’s incarnation of NEFilk, the Floating Northeast Filk Con, has filled other roles for Conterpoint and for 1997’s Second Concerto, and is currently Balticon’s Director of Filk and Other Musical Mayhem. In April 2012 Gary was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame for his contributions to the filk community. Gary appears on five collections of convention recordings: “How Many of them Can We Make Die?” (Conterpoint ’96), “The Filk Was Great…” (Conterpoint ’00), and “Millennium Pandemonium, Volume 1” (MilPhil ’01) by Kludge Audio, and USB Productions’ “Triskaidekafilkia” (FilKONtario 13) and “Filk Heroes” (FilKONtario 14).

Peter was first introduced to Euro-style boardgames by Hal Haag at a long-ago Balticon, and has been playing them regularly ever since. He was the first Euro-games champion at the Congress of Gamers event in Rockville, MD, and regularly competes at the Games Club of Maryland’s EuroQuest event. His favorite strategy game is Twixt, and he earned a second place finish in the first (and only) Twixt tournament ever held at BPA’s World Boardgaming Championships. But mostly he plays games for fun, and especially railroad-type board games, having been a train buff since almost his earliest memories. A graduate of MIT, his technical career has focused on software and systems analysis.

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Fleischer, Eric “Dr. Gandalf”

Along with his wife Halla (Balticon 35’s Artist Guest of Honor), Dr G. has been attending Balticon well over 25 years. After winning first place master costumer at Balticon 16 in 1982, he decided to quit costuming while he was ahead and moved into other aspects of the convention. He has been the art show auctioneer for many years, and more recently has also been the BSFS Books for Kids auctioneer.
Dr G. also works on the technical side of Balticon, recording the Masquerade, Parody Plays, Guest of Honor speeches and other events in the convention’s main tent, doing the post production on the videos, and creating DVDs of the events. The DVDs are available for purchase. The proceeds from the sales help support Balticon and BSFS.

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Flynnstress

Flynnstress (@flynnstress on Twitter) a sultry, feminine voice to GRD’s Weekly and occasionally the Geek Radio Daily. She is originally from Maryland, and went to school at George Mason University and University of Phoenix. The Richmond, Virginia area is now her home. She helps teachers integrate 21st century skills in the classroom with inspiring ed tech. Flynnstress was not always a geek; husband, Billy Flynn, got her hooked on favorites like “Star Trek,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Doctor Who,” and “Firefly.” You can most likely find her playing roller derby with the River City Rollergirls or snuggled up with a book. Flynnstress also loves to travel, watches too much TV, admits to being addicted to Facebook, and is trying to save the earth, one recycled can of Coke at a time. She might also have her baby geek, “Wonder Baby,” in tow.

French, John L.

John L. French is a crime scene supervisor with a major East Coast crime laboratory. As a break from the realities of his job he writes science fiction, pulp, horror, fantasy and, of course, crime fiction. His books include The Devil of Harbor City, Souls on Fire, Past Sins, Here There be Monsters, Paradise Denied and (with Patrick Thomas) The Assassins’ Ball. He is the editor of Mermaids 13: Tales from the Sea; Bad Cop, No Donut (which features tales of police behaving badly) and To Hell in a Fast Car (which features stories of everyone else behaving badly).

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Gannon, Charles E.

Dr. Charles E. Gannon’s novel Nebula-nominated novel, Fire With Fire, won the 2014 Compton Crook Award and was a national bestseller. The next volume in this hard sf interstellar epic, Trial By Fire, was a summer 2014 title, as iwas Gannon’s next Ring of Fire collaboration with Eric Flint, 1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies. Their 1635: The Papal Stakes, was a Wall Street Journal Best Seller, and their 2014 The Aethers of Mars—a short novel comprised of two braided novellas, one by each author—is the first book in the Steam, Aether, Empire steampunk universe. Gannon’s other work includes the Starfire novel Extremis (w/ Steve White), stories in various shared universes (Honorverse, Man-Kzin, War-World), and novellas in anthologies such as Going Interstellar and magazines such as Analog. His forthcoming novels include Raising Caine (the third book in the Caine Riordan/Fire With Fire series), Imperative (the next Starfire novel with Steve White) and 1636: The Vatican Sanction (with Eric Flint).

Along with approximately 45 other SF writers (including Niven, Pournelle, Benford, Bova and Balticon regulars Catherine Asaro, John Hemry, Ed Lerner, and Bud Sparhawk), Dr. Gannon is a member of SIGMA, the “SF think-tank.” In that role, he has advised various intelligence and defense organizations since 2008, including The Department of Homeland Security, Pentagon, Air Force, Army, NATO, NRO, NASA, DARPA, and several agencies which may not be disclosed. Occasionally, an agency’s interest is centered directly on his fiction: the first public reading from the final manuscript of Fire With Fire was as part of his presentation to the annual Tech Forum conference held by the National Reconnaissance Office.

During his time as a Distinguished Professor at St. Bonaventure University and a Senior Fulbright Specialist (2004-2009), Dr. Gannon was a Fulbright Fellow at Liverpool University, Palacky University [Czech Republic], and the University of Dundee. He also received Fulbright and Embassy Travel grants to these countries as well as to The Netherlands, Slovakia, England, and Italy. He published extensively on the interaction of fiction, technology (particularly military and space), and political influence. His work of non-fiction, Rumors of War and Infernal Machines: Technomilitary Agenda Setting in American and British Speculative Fiction, won the 2006 American Library Association Choice Award for Outstanding Book.

is earlier credits include routine writing and editing for several award winning games from Game Designers Workshop (Traveller, 2300 AD), as well as film/TV writing and production in NYC for clients as diverse as the UN, WHO, PBS, others. More recently, he has been on the other side of the camera and microphone, appearing in a number of national radio and TV venues, including The Discover Channel’s “Curiosity” and NPR.

Gay, Dr. Pamela L.

Dr. Pamela L. Gay is an astronomer, writer, and podcaster focused on using new media to engage people in science and technology. Through “CosmoQuest Virtual Research Facility,”, she works to engage people in both learning and doing science. Join her project, CosmoQuest, to map our solar system in unprecedented detail through citizen science projects, and to learn astronomy through media productions such as Astronomy Cast. Through this weekly podcast, Fraser Cain and Dr. Gay take you on a facts-based journey through our cosmos, exploring not only what we know, but how we know it. In addition to podcasting, she also works to communicate astronomy to the public through her blog StarStryder.com, and through frequent public talks, and mass media. Her writing has appeared in Astronomy, Sky and Telescope, and Lightspeed magazines, and she has appeared in episodes of “The Universe” and “National Geographic’s Top Secrets”.

Gigiere, Veronica R.

Veronica “V.” Giguere is a narrator, author, and educator. In love with her microphone for nearly nine years, she has voiced spoiled supervillains, tempting demons, Communist metahumans, fierce pirates, anxious technomancers, secret agent archaeologists, suspicious journalists, foxling pirates, enchanted princesses, and a young woman facing an odd spider infestation. She is a coauthor of the Secret World Chronicles podcast novel series and her other writings include inner-city cyberpunk, psychological thrillers, and zombies. When she isn’t telling you your favorite stories, Veronica masquerades as a mild-mannered academic whose specialties include time management and academic resource instruction.

Gossard, James L.

James L Gossard is a Maryland screenwriter, playwright, and fiction writer. He has received multiple awards in the humanities and for writing. StoryPros named his screenplay, “White Dust,” in its Top Ten Action-Thrillers for 2014. Gossard’s other screenplays have also placed in the Final Draft Screenwriters competitions, among others. His stage plays have been produced and have received multiple awards, including the Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award for “September Moon.”

He is currently working with his co-writer, Gabe Fremuth, to develop the five issue “Mobtown” graphic novel series. Other current projects include his new sci-fi screenplay, “Greenskin,” and a new stage play, “Oysters.”

James earned his M.A. in Writing from Johns Hopkins University.

Follow James on Twitter @jamesLgossard

Granade, Stephen
Stephen Granade is a physicist who specializes in sensors for robotic vehicles. He has worked on devices that can read your fingerprint from 10 feet away, systems that let unpiloted helicopters land automatically, and a video-based sensor that helped guide the Space Shuttle to the Hubble Space Telescope. If you’re afraid of the robot revolution, Dr. Granade is probably someone to watch out for. He also worked with NASA on the Advanced Video Guidance Sensor (AVGS), which measures the distance from a spacecraft to a target satellite so that the spacecraft can dock gently with the satellite. When AVGS was first tested on orbit as part of the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology mission, the sensor guided the spacecraft right to the satellite, where the two promptly collided. This worried NASA but made the Department of Defense very interested. He is a podcaster and can currently be heard on the “Disasterpiece Theatre” podcast, where he and his co-host Alex White pitch terrible movie ideas that Hollywood might still make. He is involved with DragonCon TV, and his scientific commentary has appeared on “Jalopnik,” “FoxNews.com,” and CBS “Marketwatch.”

Granoff, Matthew

Matt is a member of Sassafrass!<

Grant, April
April Grant lives in Western Massachusetts, where she writes poetry and short fiction. Her humorous writing has appeared in The Living Tradition, and her poetry in Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, and Rose Lemberg’s anthology The Moment of Change. One of her ambitions is to fill the empty pages of her new passport. Her literary influences include Christina Rossetti, Henry Austin Dobson, Freddy the Pig, Edith Nesbit, archy the cockroach and Phyllis McGinley.

Bob Greenberger has worked for Starlog Press, DC

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Eta Hack

Eta, a mild-mannered home daycare mother, currently works with the Shore Leave, Farpoint and Balticon conventions as the Children’s, Teen, and/or Youth tracks coordinator. She acknowledges that she may have some issues, but she loves what she is doing. Feel free to contact her if you want to be part of Children’s or Teen programming!

Halpern, Paul H.
Paul Halpern is Professor of Physics at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. A prolific author, he has written more than a dozen science books and numerous articles. His interests range from space, time and higher dimensions to cultural aspects of science. He has appeared on the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, the PBS series “Future Quest,” and “The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special.”

Halpern’s books include Time Journeys, Cosmic Wormholes, The Cyclical Serpent, Faraway Worlds, The Great Beyond, Brave New Universe, What’s Science Ever Done for Us?, Collider, What’s the Matter with Pluto?, Edge of the Universe and: “Einstein’s Dice and Schrödinger’s Cat: How Two Great Minds Battled Quantum Randomness to Create a Unified Theory of Physics.

Dr. Halpern was the recipient of a prestigious 2002 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Award. He was among 184 artists, scholars and scientists nationally selected to receive a fellowship from more than 2,800 applicants for awards totaling $6,750,000. Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment. He used the fellowship award to examine the history of the notion of higher dimensions in science, as well as the impact of this idea upon popular culture. His research, “The Concept of Dimensionality in Science,” covered the period from the mid-19th century, when the idea of the fourth dimension was first introduced, until the late 20th century, when scientists developed 10 and 11 dimensional models of the universe.

A recipient of the Athenaeum Society Literary Award, he has published numerous research articles in the fields of general relativity, cosmology, chaos theory and complexity. In 1996, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, where he studied evolutionary algorithms.

Eric freely admits that he creates because it is cheaper and more effective than therapy, or shock treatment. He resides in central Pennsylvania with his wife and daughter, but was born and raised in New England. After many years in commercial architectural firms, he shifted his focus and is now an application engineer with a software company that works with architecture and engineering firms. He is a fan, author and artist—usually in that order. He has been part of the team running the Watch The Skies science fiction and fantasy group and publishing the Watch The Skies fanzine for the past 14 years. When not working on a project, he enjoys board games, the occasional video game, and is an old school role player. Find him at The Pretend Blog (www.ehardenbrook.com).

Haring, P. C.

Award winning author and podcaster P.C. Haring made his debut on 01/01/10 with Cybrosis. This Cyberpunk adventure propelled to number four on the Podiobooks.com top ten list when it was re-launched there that October. He has written stories for several anthologiesk including “Hamzah Haring” (The Crypt: Book 1 — The Crew, edited by Scott Sigler), “The First Day” (Chronicles of the Order edited by Philippa Ballantine), and “The Seven” (Tales from the Archives co-edited by Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine) the latter of which earned him the 2012 Parsec Award in the best large cast category. When he’s not writing, podcasting, driving himself mad with CPA studies, or preparing for the day his robot army takes over the world, P.C. puts his Degree in Accounting and his MBA to good use as an accountant for a company in suburban Chicago. He also works as both the Accountant and Publisher for Escape Artists Incorporated where he helps to oversee the weekly podcast publications of Escape Pod, as well as its sister magazines Pseudopod and Pod Castle.

Harmon, Kelly A.

Kelly A. Harmon used to be a newspaper reporter. She found reporting to be by turns exciting (for example, covering a murder trial) and excruciatingly boring (for example, covering itty-bitty town council meetings). Most other stories managed to fall between those extremes on a sliding scale of interesting. Eventually, she moved away from full-time reporting and editing owing to the extreme boredom of the routine. Stories were still interesting, but the rote mechanics of the job became anathema. Nonetheless, she still writes non-fiction…because she can’t seem to leave it alone. When not crazed with the need to freelance, she writes fantasy and dark fantasy with the occasional science fiction piece. Her story “Lies” was short-listed for the 2008 Aeon Award. Her novella Blood Soup won the July 2008 Fantasy Gazetteers Novella Contest and was published in 2009. It’s been reissued electronically by Pole to Pole Publishing as both an ebook and audio book. The print version will be available soon. Ms. Harmon’s new novel, Stoned in Charm City, is available now.

Harris, Lauren

Lauren “Scribe” Harris is a fantasy writer, voice actress, and the fantasy review columnist for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show magazine. She is the co-creator of 2012 Parsec Award Finalist, Pendragon Variety Podcast for aspiring writers of genre fiction, where she is known as “Scribe.” Her voice acting can be heard on Audible.com as well as fiction podcasts such as EscapePod, The Guild of the Cowry Catchers, The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine, and The Drabblecast. Though she spent three years living in Tokyo, she currently resides in a renovated tobacco shed in rural North Carolina, where she is pleased to have running water, wifi, and all her teeth.

Hartlove, Katie

Katie Hartlove (MS Professional Writing) has been actively involved in many aspects of the writing and publication process. Her poems and short stories have appeared magazines and anthologies; most recently, they’ve appeared in The Gunpowder Review and Dia de los Muertos. She has been editing for about seven years, including co-editing the 2011 release, Potters Field 4. In 2009, she began Book Mark It Promotions and provides marketing solutions to authors around the country. In 2010, she opened Cold Moon Press, which recently released Vonnie Winslow Crist’s collection, Owl Light. Visit Cold Moon Press online.

Harvey, J.P .

J.P. is a husband, father and career military officer. He’s a life-long science fiction fan and geek, and is doing his best to raise his son to be the same.

Melissa Hayden

Melissa is a fantasy reader and blogger working through the mundane life undercover as a bookkeeper during the day. By night, she enjoys journeying through fantasy worlds created by others and herself. She reviews and posts at her blog, My World, in words and pages.

Hemry, John G.

John G. Hemry is the author, under the pen name Jack Campbell, of the New York Times national best-selling “Lost Fleet” series (Dauntless, Fearless, Courageous, Valiant, Relentless and Victorious). His most recent book is Guardian, the latest in the “Lost Fleet — Beyond the Frontier” series (which also includes Dreadnaught and Invincible). His next book will be Perilous Shield, the sequel to Tarnished Knight in the “Lost Stars” series. He is also the author of the “Stark’s War” and “Sinclair/JAG in space” series. His short fiction has appeared in places as varied as the last Chicks in Chainmail anthology and Analog magazine (most recently “The War of the Worlds — Chapter Eighteen” in the January/February 2013 issue). His alternate American Civil War novella The Last Full Measure is being published by Subterranean. He also has stories in the anthologies Breach the Hull, So it Begins, By Other Means and Armor, as well as the essay “Liberating the Future” in Teenagers From the Future (about the Legion of Super Heroes). After retiring from the US Navy and settling in Maryland, John began writing. John lives with his wife (the indomitable S) and three great kids. His children are all on the autistic spectrum.

Henderson, C. J.

CJ Henderson is the creator of creator of the first supernatural detective, author of some 70 books/and or novels, plus hundreds and hundreds of short stories and comics. This witty, charming, cancer-surviving man-about-village is one of the most beloved rascals of our age. We know this is true because he told us so himself.

Herberth, Reesa

Reesa Herberth grew up in Hawaii, and had passing acquaintance with Nevada, California, and Arizona before settling in northern Virginia. She spends her days solving problems at a non-profit, and her nights and weekends making trouble in alternate realities. With her partner, Michelle Moore, she is the author of the award-winning Ylendrian Empire series, the most recent of which is In Discretion, a charming romp through a dying space station filled with not!zombies. Her next book, Peripheral People, a sci-fi thriller about psychic cops, serial killers, and squishy feelings, will be released in June of 2014. You can find Reesa on Twitter as @reesah, and read about her ongoing adventures with art and writing at: www.michelleandreesawrite.com.

Heyer,Inge

Inge Heyer was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. She completed her secondary education there, after which she accepted a scholarship to study martial arts and the Japanese language at Tenri University in Tenri, Japan. She then decided to follow her interest in astronomy (fueled by watching way too much Star Trek) and came to the U.S. to pursue a B.A. in physics and astronomy at Smith College in Massachusetts. Following this, Inge obtained a master’s degree in astronomy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, after which she accepted a job as data analyst for the Hubble Space Telescope. Fourteen years later Inge moved back to Hawaii to lead the science education and outreach efforts for the Joint Astronomy Centre in Hilo. After five years and a short stay in Wyoming to obtain her doctoral degree in Science Education, she moved back to Baltimore to be a visiting assistant professor in the physics department of Loyola University Maryland, teaching astronomy and physics. Since 2012 she is also a guest science blogger on StarTrek.com. And in case you were wondering how the Hubble images got into episodes of Babylon-5 and Star Trek, you’re looking at the trouble-maker who instigated this…

Hill, Sharon A.

Sharon Hill is a geologist and has a Ed.M. focusing on Science and the Public. She has been an advocate for science and critical thinking for over 20 years, and has published pieces for Skeptical Inquirer, Skeptical Briefs, Skeptic, and Fortean Times. Her main effort is running the popular critical thinking news blog Doubtful News (doubtfulnews.com), but she also writes a monthly column for the Skeptical Inquirer web site called “Sounds Sciencey.” She is also a scientific consultant for the Center for Inquiry. The paranormal, cryptozoology and anomalous natural phenomena are particularly fun subject areas that Ms. Hill has researched and loves to discuss. She is currently working on a book about paranormal investigators.

Hillman, Lee C.

Lee C. Hillman died at the age of 13 months. Since her suspicious return to life, she has been busy conquering worlds too numerous to mention. She has published short stories in the Bad-Ass Faeries and Defending the Future series and in the anthology TV Gods. She also writes fanfiction under the penname Gwendolyn Grace. Lee, or her alter-egos Gwen or Gwenly, is also an actor, singer, and songwriter. She also remains on the board of HPEF, an educational non-profit that produced Harry Potter conventions. For the past six years, her major online project has been writing in and moderating the shared fanfiction-role-playing game “HP Alternity,”” found on Dreamwidth.

Hilton, Abigail

Abigail Hilton is the author of more than ten novels and short story collections, including the Guild of the Cowry Catchers series. She has produced and podcast much of her own work, including five novels with a full voice cast. She co-hosts the Parsec Award-winning Fullcast Podcast with Bryan Lincoln—a show on fullcast production. Her fiction podcasts have generated well over a million downloads.

Hodges, Larry

Larry Hodges‘ first novel, Sorcerers in Space, came out in November 2013 from Class Act Books. A resident of Germantown, MD, Larry is an active member of Science Fiction Writers of America with over 70 short story sales. He’s a graduate of the six-week 2006 Odyssey Writing Workshop and the 2008 Taos Toolbox writers’ workshop. He’s a full-time writer, with eight books and over 1500 published articles in over 140 different publications. He also writes about and coaches the Olympic sport of table tennis, is a member of the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame (Google it!), and once beat someone using an ice cube as a racket.

Holloman, Jeannette

Jeannette Holloman is a member of the Greater Columbia Fantasy Costuming Guild. Her costumes have been featured in Threads magazine and The Costume Makers Art. She has participated in several WorldCon, CostumeCon and Malice Domestic award-winning costumes. She is a voice-over artist. She is married to author, costumer and technocrat Ron Robinson.

Holtz, Dr. Thomas

Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., is a dinosaur paleontologist specializing in the origin, evolution, adaptations, and paleobiology of carnivorous dinosaurs (especially Tyrannosaurus and its kin). He is a faculty member of the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland, College Park, a research associate of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, and is on the Scientific Council of the Maryland Science Center. In addition to his technical publications, Dr. Holtz has written several books for the general audience (such as Dinosaurs: The Most Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of all Ages), and has been a consultant on numerous TV documentaries. Dr. Holtz is the Faculty Director of the College Park Scholars–Science and Global Change Program (www.geol.umd.edu/sgc/). He lives in Upper Marlboro, MD with his wife (long-time Balticon costumer Sue Shambaugh), a trio of cats, and the Inland bearded dragon Dr. Emilio Lizardo.

Holyfield, Patrick

P.G. Holyfield is the creator of SpecFicMedia.com and hosts several podcasts through the site, including Beyond the Wall: A Game of Thrones podcast, SFM.com Presents: Consumption, and SFM.com Presents: Tintin Forever. P.G. is also the author of the award-winning novel Murder at Avedon Hill, and has finally gotten around to working on a sequel. P.G. got his start in new media with the award-nominated audio drama of MaAH, and the follow-up short story anthology, Tales of the Children. P.G. lives in North Carolina with too many animals (children included) to name in the space provided here.

Huchton, Starla

A geek of all trades, Starla Huchton has been crafting stories in various genres since 2007. Her first novel, The Dreamer’s Thread, was released as a full cast audiobook podcast, becoming a double-nominee and finalist for the 2010 Parsec Awards. After releasing short fiction of steampunk, noir fantasy, and other varieties, she released the first three books of the Sci-Fi Romance Endure series in 2013. All three books of the Evolution series will be released in 2014, as well as a Steampunk Fantasy novel, Master of Myth (the Antigone’s Wrath series, Book 1), which was the first-place winner of the Crested Butte Writers’ contest, The Sandy, in 2012. When not writing, Starla trains three Minions, a black lab, and a military husband while designing book covers for independent authors and publishers at designedbystarla.com.

Michelle Hymowitz

Michelle has been playing strategy board games and card games for as long as she can remember, but really started getting into German board games in 1990.

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Nancy Janda

Rarely mistaken for a mundane, Nancy Janda has been attending science fiction conventions with her partner Larisa Van Winkle since Paracon in 1982. She has illustrated for fanzines since the 1980s, and exhibits her artwork at convention art shows. You’ll see her at conventions, usually giving workshops on such topics as Amber Polishing, Electric Origami, and whatever other creative topic has caught and held her fancy.

Johnston, Leslie

Leslie Johnston has been costuming since the 1970’s. She has made more hall and competitions costumes than she can remember and works with a variety of materials and techniques and loves to experiment. She has won awards competing at WorldCon, CostumeCon, Balticon, Westercon, and Baycon. In her professional life she works in digital preservation for cultural organizations, and can talk about that for hours at a time.

Jordan, Paula S.

Paula S. Jordan is the author of three Analog stories, including Vooorh (Jul/Aug 2014), a novellette. That story and her prior Analog entry “Two Look At Two” (April 2011), are adaptations from a present-day alien-contact novel in progress. Her first professional publication, “The Gift of Unbinding” (May, 2001), also appeared in Analog. She is now at work on more short stories as well as the novel

After degrees in history and speech and several years as a freelance writer, Paula earned a BS in physics and worked thirteen years as an orbit analyst for NASA and NOAA. She supported 30+ unmanned science and weather missions including the lunar-orbiting Clementine mission that first detected water on the moon.

Paula blogs regularly at her web site and on the collaborative sf/f book blog at Dark Cargo.

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Amy Kaplan

A. L. Kaplan’s love of books started at an early age and sparked a creative imagination. It wasn’t until late in high school that she began to write down the many stories in her head. She holds an M.F.A. in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art and spent several years teaching art in the public school system. When not writing or indulging in her fascination with wolves, she works as the props manager for a local dinner theatre. She is also the secretary of the Maryland Writers Association’s Howard County Chapter. The proud mother of two wonderful young adult daughters, she lives in Maryland with her husband and dog. To keep up with A. L.’s writing, visit her blog.

Kilfoil, Mark

Mark “The Encaffeinated ONE” Kilfoil is a podcaster, software developer, audio editor, radio host, pen-and-paper gamer, geek and nerd. Since the mid 90s, he has hosted two radio shows on campus radio, and in 2006 transformed one of them into the award-winning podcast The WEIRD Show, which captured a Parsec Award for “Best Infotainment” in 2008. As that show continues into its eighth year and nearly 300 episodes of strange news, odd ideas and weird views, he has participated in a handful of other podcasts, including being one of the principal hosts of The 9th HeroesCast. He’s worked on audio drama projects both big and small, from single-person parodies (“Brink In A Box”) to mid-cast short comedy (“Wasted Tape”) to large-cast series (audio editor/voice actor for Buffy Between the Lines and Angel Between the Lines). He’s written a handful of short stories, and his novelette, Tainted Roses, was transformed into a 2013 Parsec-nominated podiobook. He currently works as the program director of CHSR-FM, a campus/community radio station in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

Kim, Holliann Russell

Holliann R. Kim was the winner of the 2013 BSFS Amateur Writing Contest. She has an M.Phil. in Popular Literature from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and a B.A. in English from Gettysburg College, concentrating her research on folklore and young adult speculative literature. A native of Maryland, she currently resides in Columbia. Her website is www.holliannkim.com.

Koscienski, Brian

Brian Koscienski developed his love of writing from countless hours of reading comic books, losing himself in the different worlds and adventures within the colorful pages. He had minor successes early in his career by getting a few short stories published in independent ‘zines, but found more success in partnering with Chris Pisano, with whom he formed Fortress Publishing, Inc.. As a writing team, they have had stories, articles, graphic novels, and poetry published, and most recently their debut novel, The Shattered Visage LiesM, by Post Mortem Press.

Kovacs, A

A Kovacs is the Director of Døøm at Empty Set Entertainment, and a founding partner at Audacity, a San Diego-based management company that builds world class events and manages one-of-a-kind talent. She’s a movie geek, Doctor Who fan, skeptic and science nerd. She doesn’t like chocolate all that much.

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Lampi, Ruth

Ruth Lampi is a lady adventurer, writer, illustrator, sculptor and nomadic periwig purveyor. She enjoys starting small businesses, art projects and book series, serializing and socializing online, gaming with friends, and cosplaying at conventions. Her first three books can be found online and in paperback through www.worldofshandor.com. After earning her B.F.A. in Fine Art at Moore College of Art and Design, Ruth has had art and writing published in a number of small press and gaming publications. She has written several adventure modules, and co-authored Hero’s Handbook: Eladrin for Goodman Games with Jessica Van Oort, her frequent accomplice, as well as the story “Unto the Interface,” in the cyberpunk anthology Foreshadows, a collaborative project between writers and composers. Ruth publishes an ongoing web novella series of illustrated adventure novels, including The Alarna Affair, The Germhacht Episode, and The Tembelaka Voyage, coming soon in paperback and eBook formats. She can usually be found about the artist’s alley and art show, and will probably have a new hair and eye color daily to thoroughly confuse matters.

Lamplighter, Jagi

L. Jagi Lamplighter is the author of the YA fantasy The Unexpected Enlightenment of Rachel Griffin. She is also the author of the Prospero’s Daughter series: Prospero Lost, Prospero In Hell and Prospero Regained. She has published numerous articles on Japanese animation and appears in several short story anthologies, including Best of Dreams of Decadence, No Longer Dreams, Coliseum Morpheuon, Bad-Ass Faeries anthologies (where she is also an assistant editor) and the Science Fiction Book Club’s Don’t Open This Book. When not writing, she switches to her secret identity as wife and stay-home mom in Centreville, VA, where she lives with her dashing husband, author John C. Wright, and their four darling children, Orville, Ping-Ping Eve, Roland Wilbur, and Justinian Oberon.

Larson, Grig “Punkie”

Grig “Punkie” Larson (1968-present) was born in Cyprus on British soil, the only son of a pair of Swedish-American descendants. He grew up in Northern Virginia, finding fandom through D&D, FanTek, and Rocky Horror. He works as a systems administrator by day, and by night he’s an author, open source advocate, runs Katsucon, narrates the Balitcon Podcast, and works for the DC Rollergirls. A staple in VA/DC/MD science fiction and anime fandom since the 1980s, he’s been a panelist, moderator, emcee, actor, sketch writer, convention adviser, narrator, and the kind of sub-fame that keeps people from asking, “Hey, how’d HE get in here?” He’s done everything from chair a convention to being the guy who vacuums the staff suite. In no particular order.

In 1993, his first book, The Saga of Punk Walrus, became a cult classic. Since then he’s been published in Gateways, several short story anthologies, and written several sketches and spoofs for various acting venues. You can often see him at Balticon, Katsucon, Anime Mid Atlantic, and DC Rollergirl home bouts. He is a Redditor and also seen posting on the Ars Technica forums. Trolley was his first published steampunk/horror novel in 2011.

Lawrence, Marcus

Marcus started his theater career in avant-garde theater productions such as the often-controversial Cherry Red Productions Kenneth, What is the Frequency? and Cinema Verite and even appeared nude in their popular event Day Old Plays. He then moved into more classic American Theater, appearing in Arsenic and Old Lace and Harvey, as well as stretching his range with VpStart Crow Productions ranging from Steinbeck and Dickens to August Strindberg’s The Ghost Sonata. He would go on to do Greek in Richmond (Agamemnon’s Daughters), Shakespeare in Fredericksburg (Twelfth Night) and most notably Dionysus in The Bacchae at The Capitol Fringe Fest. Marcus also starred in crime noir films Violent Karma and Perspective, as well as numerous short films and commercials. He has shown a more comedic side in Old Virginia Film’s Lily’s Thorn, appearing as Lily’s buffoonish ex-husband, and then as a French bank robber in Old Dominion’s TV Show From the Files of Interpol for the Discovery Channel. He currently stars in the role of Joss Washburn on the series Shotgun Mythos.

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Larry Reclusado is a local Director, Actor and producer of independent cable access televison shows which include: The Nova Comic Book Show, Blood Clan, The series, & Swags serial showcase.. He also is considered one of the local areas most knowledgeable comic book historians.

Reed, Nobilis

A few years ago Nobilis Reed decided to start sharing the naughty little stories he scribbled out in hidden notebooks. To his surprise, people actually liked them! Now, he can’t stop. The poor man is addicted. His wife, teenage children, and even the cats just look on this wretch of a man, hunched over his computer and shake their heads. Clearly, there is no hope for him. The best that can be hoped for is to just make him as comfortable as his condition will allow. Symptoms of his condition include three novels, several novellas, numerous short stories, and “Nobilis Erotica: science fiction that doesn’t stop at the airlock door”, the longest-running erotica podcast in the history of the world.

Reisse, Mary Alice

(See MAinPA)

Reitz, Sr., Daniel J.

Daniel J. Reitz, Sr. is the President and Publisher of Mundania Press LLC and its imprints, Mundania Press, Awe-Struck Publishing, Phaze Books, New Classics Press, and Hard Shell Word Factory. Mundania currently has close to 500 authors and over 2,000 books published. Dan won the 2005 EPIC Award as Editor of the Best Anthology Beyond the Mundane: Unravelings. He has been Master of Ceremonies at EPICon for two years and has appeared as a speaker at numerous writers conferences.

Render, Angela

Anegela Render has designed and maintained web sites since 1994 and is the founder and owner of Thunderpaw Web Development. She has published a historical fiction novel, a short story in an anthology, and her marketing workbook for writes was released in January 2009. She has a column in Writers’ Journal called “Computer Business” and her work can also be found on Smithsonian Magazine‘s website. Current projects include a YA novel about renegade elephants, a fantasy adventure, and more adult science fiction and fantasy.

Angela teaches at The Writers’ Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and through the Howard County Arts Council. She teaches at-risk middle-school girls through Passion For Learning’s GRRLTech and has been a guest speaker at the Maryland Writers’ Association’s meetings and annual conference, Balticon, and the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference.

She enjoys being girls with her daughter, traveling, working out, cooking, sewing, and gardening. Find her online at her website and at Song of the Lost Clan, on Facebook/Angela-Render and on Twitter/arender.

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Sarfati, Kat A.

An amateur Anime expert, Sci-Fi geek who works in Jesuit Education. In my spare time I write fanfiction and have participated in the Balticon Art Show for a number of years mostly under the monikers of kateye and katmills. I can also be found working Anime USA and Katsucon.

(WebEditor’s Note: Kat is Balticon’s Anime Room director and Anime Program coordinator.)

Sarfati, Lee

Lee has beeen an anime fan for a looooong time. But his main claim to fame is that he is Kat’s husband! (See hwat happens when you don’t give us a bio? — The Webmasters]

Scaffido, Patrick

Patrick Scaffido is a poet, podcaster, author, and musician currently releasing his surrealistic dark fantasy novel, Storyteller Chronicles: The Horde, as a series of musical podcasts through Podiobooks. He has taught history and English literature. He wanted to major in Psychohistory like in the Foundation novels but had to settle for semiotics and the analysis of trends in popular culture. He blames whichever scapegoat happens to be convenient.

Schiller, Lauren

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Van Name, Mark L.
Mark L. Van Name is a writer, technologist, and spoken word performer. He has published five novels (One Jump Ahead, Slanted Jack, Overthrowing Heaven, Children No More, and No Going Back), as well as an omnibus collection of his first two books (Jump Gate Twist); edited or co-edited three anthologies (Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology, Transhuman, and The Wild Side), and written many short stories. Those stories have appeared in a wide variety of books and magazines, including Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, many original anthologies, and The Year’s Best Science Fiction.

As a technologist, he is a co-founder of a fact-based marketing firm, Principled Technologies, Inc., that is based in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. He has worked with computer technology for his entire professional career and has published over a thousand articles in the computer trade press, as well as a broad assortment of essays and reviews.

As a spoken word artist, he has created and performed four shows: Science Sex;” “Wake Up Horny, Wake Up Angry;” “Mr. Poor Choices;” and “Mr. Poor Choices II: I Don’t Understand” — and also frequently leads humor panels at SF conventions.

For more information, visit his Web site, http://www.marklvanname.com/, follow his blog, markvanname.blogspot.com or check out his tweets: @mvanname

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Jo Walton
Walton, Jo, our Guest of Honor for Balticon 49, shares with us this (not a) bio she wrote for WisCon: Jo Walton has run out of eggs and needs to go buy some, she has no time to write a bio as she wants to make spanakopita today. She also wants to write a new chapter and fix the last one. Oh yes, she writes stuff, when people leave her alone to get on with it and don’t demand bios and proofreading and interviews and dinner. Despite constant interruptions she has published nine novels in the last forty-eight years and started lots of others. She won the Campbell for Best New Writer in 2002 when she was 38.

She has also written half a ton of poetry which isn’t surprising as she finds poetry
considerably easier to write than short bios listing her accomplishments. She is married, with one (grown up, awesome) son who lives nearby with his girlfriend and two cats. She also has lots of friends who live all over the planet who she doesn’t see often enough. She remains confused by punctuation, “who” and “whom” and “that” and “which”. She cannot sing and has trouble with arithmetic also, despite living ten years in Montreal her French still sucks. Nevertheless her novel Among Others won a Hugo and a Nebula so she must be doing something right at least way back when she wrote it it’ll probably never work again.
She also won a World Fantasy Award in 2004 for an odd book called Tooth and Claw in which everyone is dragons.

She comes from South Wales and identifies ethnically as a Romano-Briton but she emigrated to Canada because it seemed a better place to stand to build the future. She blogs about old books on Tor.com and posts poetry and recipes and wordcount on her LJ and is trying to find something to bribe herself with as a reward for writing a bio that isn’t chocolate.

Ward, Jean Marie

Jean Marie Ward writes fiction, nonfiction and everything in between, including novels (2008 Indie Book double-finalist With Nine You Get Vanyr) and art books. Her stories appear in numerous anthologies, such as Athena’s Daughters, The Clockwork Universe: Steampunk VS. Aliens, THE Mammoth Book of Tales from the Vatican Vaults (coming in summer 2015), and the award-winning Hellebore And Rue. The former editor of Crescent Blues web magazine, she is a frequent contributor of video interviews and short subjects to Buzzy Magazine. Her website is JeanMarieWard.com and you can also follow her on Twitter: @Jean_Marie_Ward.

Waters, Robert E.

Robert E. Waters is a game designer and science fiction and fantasy author. Since 2003, he has sold over 30 stories to various online and print anthologies and magazines, including the Grantville Gazette, the online magazine dedicated to stories set in Eric Flint’s 1632 alternate universe. His first novel, The Wayward Eight: A Contract to Die For, was published in 2014 under Winged Hussar Press, and is set in the Wild West Exodus universe. He lives in Reisterstown, Maryland with his wife Beth, their son Jason, a cat named Buzz, and a tank of fresh water fish.

Watson, David Harten

David Harten Watson is the author of Magic Teacher’s Son (Book One of the Magicians’ Gold series), a young adult fantasy novel published by Pen-L Publishing on October 1, 2014. David has worked in a wide variety of jobs including U.S. Army Armor officer (tank platoon leader at Fort Knox), camp counselor (Keewaydin Camps), teacher, tax preparer, car salesman, traveling photographer, track photographer, solar energy entrepreneur, and computer programmer. Raised in Buffalo, New York, he graduated from Calasanctius School and has degrees from Princeton University, Canisius College, and Buffalo State College. David is currently an information systems analyst at NJIT in Newark, NJ. He’s the Organizer of the Woodbridge Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Meetup, which he founded in 2008. In his free time, he likes to go kayaking, and he’s an actor in a no-budget horror movie being filmed in New Jersey, playing the role of a police detective. David also participates in Cowboy Action Shooting (a type of LARP using real 1800’s-style six-shooters, lever action rifles, and coach guns) under the alias “Derringer Dave.” He lives in New Jersey with his wife (a native of Ecuador, not Eldor), their two sons, and two cats. David’s other web pages and Internet links are: Facebook.com/Pran.Gilamondson, Goodreads.com/book,
Twitter.com/Eldorean.

Whiplash, Robbie

Robbie Poetzman began making music at the age of 13, learning every instrument that was put in front of him, and teaching himself drums, keyboard, guitar and bass.bHaving belonged to many bands his most successful ventures have been with his current bands “Machines Of Living Death” (Vocals) and “The Recently Deceased” (Drums/Guitar) and “Omnislash” (Drums). Having toured the country and supporting many national acts and making connections in the industry he decided to pursue a hidden passion of his… musically scoring soundtracks.

With songs featured in such films/shows as “Ninjas Vs. Monsters” and web series “Rebels and Rejects,” Robbie brings on the full effect with “Shotgun Mythos,” fusing everything from mechanical industrial sounds to full symphonic scoring — symphonies, machines, choirs, metal/rock giving this already gritty action drama even more edge.

White, Alex

Alex White is the writer and host of the 2010 Parsec Finalist podcast The Gearheart. Alex’s production team, including lovely wife Renée White, is responsible for all of the music, voices and photos seen in association with the podcast.

Wilson, Steven H.

Steven H. Wilson has written for Starlog, DC Comics’ Star Trek and Warlord, and, most recently, served as principal writer and director for Prometheus Radio Theatree and publisher of Fire- bringer Press. His original science fiction series, “The Arbiter Chronicles”, currently boasting nineteen full-cast audio dramas and the novel Taken Liberty, has won the Mark Time Silver Award and the Parsec Award for Best Audio Drama (long form). His third novel, Unfriendly Persuasion, was released in 2012. He has contributed stories as well to the first two volumes in Crazy 8 Press’s “ReDeus” series of anthologies, and is currently working on anPrometheus Radio Theatre podcast, he has recorded Lester Del Rey’s Badge of Infamy for podiobooks.com, performed multiple roles in J. Daniel Sawyer’s production of Antithesis, and contributed narration to the audio novel Geek Love. Active in science fiction fandom since 1984, he has written, drawn, edited and published fanzines, acted and directed with a comedy troupe, and served as a gopher, a con chair or a guest at roughly a hundred conventions. Wilson, who works as an IT manager, holds degrees from the University of Maryland College of Journalism and the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. He lives in Elkridge, MD with his wife Renee and sons Ethan and Christian. His weekly blog of ramblings on various topics, plus all kinds of information about his work, past, present and future, is available at www.stevenhwilson.com.

Wiseman, Dr. Jennifer
Dr. Jennifer Wiseman is a senior astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, where she serves as the Senior Project Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. She previously headed the Laboratory for Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics. She studies star forming regions of our galaxy using radio, optical, and infrared telescopes, with a particular interest in molecular cloud cores, protostars, and outflows. Dr. Wiseman is also interested in science policy and public science outreach and engagement.

Wooldridge, Trisha J.

Trisha J. Wooldridge is the current president of Broad Universe, as well as a member of New England Horror Writers, the Horror Writers Association, and the Worcester Writers Collaborative. She is a senior editor at Spencer Hill Press and has co-produced the Spencer Hill Press UnCONventional (January 2012) and Doorways to Extra Time (August 2013) anthologies. Her writing can be found in the EPIC award-winning Bad-Ass Faeries anthologies; Journal of New England Horror Writer’s Epitaphs anthology; Corrupts Absolutely? from Damnation Press; Once Upon an Apocalypse anthology; and Poetry Locksmith. She also gets paid to review food, play with horses, and interview chefs, bands and people who make movies. Her first novel, The Kelpie, will be available December 2013 from Spencer Hill Press. She also has a very patient Husband-of-Awesome, a calico horse, a tabby cat, and two Giant Baby Bunnies.

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XYZ

Young, Jeff

Jeff Young is a bookseller first and a writer second — although he wouldn’t mind a reversal of fortune.

He received a Writers of the Future award for the short story “Written in Light” which appears in the 26th L. Ron Hubbards Writers of the Future Anthology. He’s been published in: Realms, Neuronet, Trail of Indiscretion, Cemetery Moon, Realms Beyond and Carbon14. Jeff has contributed to the anthologies Fantastic Futures 13, By Other Means, Best Laid Plans, In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk and has stories in the forthcoming Clockwork Chaos, Ministry of Extraordinary Weapons, TV Gods and Gaslight and Grimm. He also serves as an editor for the Fortress Publishing on their “Drunken Comic Book Monkey” line. Jeff has led the “Watch the Skies” SF&F Discussion Group for more than twelve years.

Young-Turner, Cindy

Cindy Young-Turner has been writing for most of her life. At age twelve, she won her first writing contest, a local contest in her small hometown in Massachusetts calling for stories written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Thus began her love of stories that are dark and fantastical. She believes genre fiction can be just as well written and valuable as literature. The universal themes of love, hate, revenge, and redemption are present regardless of whether characters live in the distant future, on other planets, or in fantastical realms.

By day she edits and does business development for international development projects. In her free time, she works on inspiring her characters to fight for change and justice in their imaginary worlds. Her published works include the fantasy novel Thief of Hope and a short prequel, Journey to Hope.

Zelkowitz, Marvin

Marvin Zelkowitz is a Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of Maryland in College Park. His research interests are in experimental software engineering and technology transfer where he has studied the introduction of new computer technology into organizations such as NASA and the Department of Defense. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), a Golden Core member of the Computer Society, and has published over 160 conference and journal papers on aspects of computer technology (none intentionally science fiction).

His interests include skepticism where he is president of the National Capital Area Skeptics, bible studies (who wrote those books and why?), and reading science fiction, which he has been doing since the Golden Age of Science Fiction (i.e. since he was 12). As an aging Geek, he used to totally understand how gadgets like the original IBM PC worked, can still set the clock on his home DVD player, but doesn’t understand who or why anyone wants an iPhone.