< Back Nicole Glover Literary Author Nicole Glover is the author of the historical fantasy series, Murder and Magic, which begins with The Conductors. When she's not writing, she's working as a UX researcher where her knowledge about murder and other mysteries is surprisingly useful. Other Socials

< Back Misha Gaming Gamer Born in the 70s, raised in the 80s, and trying hard to recover from both of those traumas, I crawled into my first RPG before I became a teenager and never looked back; around the same time, I took a trip to Quag Keep and never entirely returned. Like most long-time Eternal GMs, I'm an unpublished game developer and have any number of my own worlds in various stages of building at any given moment. Other Socials

< Back Rigel Ailur Literary Author Rigel Ailur wrote her first novel—all of seven pages!—at the age of seven and hasn't stopped since. Now with twenty-four novels and ninety short stories published, including for Star Trek and Shadowrun, she writes mostly science fiction and fantasy. Her series include: otherworldly adventures and intrigue in Tales of Mimion; Gods and magic in Sorcery & Steel; an intergalactic worldship with the most diverse crew in history in A Little Piece of Home; enigmatic aliens threatening millions of lives in Curai'Nal; and interstellar exiles working together in Escapes. Her non-genre work includes The Vagabonds' Adventures, about two millionaires living in a luxury double-decker RV; the historical Last Abbot of Lin Duachaill; the romance Masquerade; and the hockey novel Breakaway. She's contributed essays to the Outside In series. Most importantly, she dotes on her astronomically adorable feline kids. For more information including a bibliography and cover gallery, visit her website. Other Socials http://BluetrixBooks.com

< Back Melissa Scott Literary Author Melissa Scott was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, and studied history at Harvard College. She earned her PhD from Brandeis University in the comparative history program. Since then, she has published more than thirty original novels and a handful of short stories, most with queer themes and characters, as well as authorized tie-in work for Star Trek: DS9, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Star Wars: Rebels, and Overwatch. She has won four Lambda Literary Awards, four Spectrum Awards, the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and been shortlisted for the Otherwise (Tiptree) Award. She is also the new owner/publisher of the well-respected SF/F press Candlemark & Gleam. Her most recent novel, Point of Hearts, was published in March 2025. Other Socials

< Back Merrily Wolf Costuming Cosplay Merrily Wolf is a creative crafter who was raised in family with an appreciation of arts and a desire to try them all. She has tried to pass on her love of crafts with her own kids, Girl Scouts, and children con programming. She is a member of the Maryland Costumers and Cosplayers guild and International Costumers Guild. Other Socials

< Back Dr. Neil Ottenstein Science Physicist Neil Ottenstein obtained a PhD in theoretical nuclear physics in 1990 and since then has been working in flight dynamics for one of two NASA Goddard Space Flight Center contractors. He is currently the contractor flight dynamics lead for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. He has been reading science fiction and fantasy most of his life, and going to science fiction conventions since 1980 (and a couple of comic book conventions before that). Babylon 5 is his favorite television program. Other Socials

< Back Jack Carroll Literary Author Jack Carroll is a long-time fan and author in the 1632 / Ring of Fire series, with 22 published stories, one published novel, and one freshly completed. His filk songs are in various fan hymnals. Professionally, he is a retired electronics engineer. Jack lives in New Hampshire, accompanied by two ever-inquisitive cats. Other Socials

< Back Perrianne Lurie Gaming Gamer Perrianne Lurie is a long time fan who ran the Green Room for Balticon for many years. She was the Hugo Ceremony director for Torcon 3 and the Email Liaison and Deputy Program Division Director for BucCONeer. She is active in strategy (Euro) board gaming and has GMed at Euroquest, Prezcon and other gaming conventions. She watches way too much television and (mostly art house) movies. She retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Health in 2020, where she was a public health physician and infectious disease epidemiologist. She now lives in suburban Maryland. Other Socials

< Back Brent Warner Science Researcher Brent Warner recently retired from the aerospace industry, where he worked as a thermal engineer. He is interested in writing systems (ancient and modern, including calligraphy), barbarian interlace, and the standard sorts of SF related topics, such as space and astronomy. Other Socials

< Back Ann Pollack Science Engineer Ann Pollack, Principal Professional Staff member at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab (APL), brings 35+ years of engineering, supervisory, and project management experience. Her work spans from the Tomahawk missile to ballistic missile defense to the Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon. Ann's passion for both science and speculative fiction has led her to actively engage with the science fiction community. At Balticon, she has presented on topics ranging from utilizing lasers for communications to an exploration of a Century of Missiles. APL sponsored her attendance at Helsinki Worldcon where she spoke on Tomorrow’s Cool SciFi Physics. Furthermore, Ann has been instrumental in fostering connections between science and science fiction. She has spearheaded initiatives to bring SciFi writers into the engineering workplace for tours, colloquiums, and panel discussions, all aimed at bridging the gap between imaginative storytelling and cutting-edge scientific innovation. Other Socials

< Back Mike Luoma Literary Author Mike Luoma writes and publishes science fiction and comics, narrates audiobooks, creates the long-running "Glow-in-the-Dark Radio" podcast, and curates the Adult Alternative music mix on WBKM.org radio out of Burlington, Vermont. His Vatican Assassin introduced BC, a killer for the New catholic Church whose story unfolds in Vatican Ambassador and Vatican Abdicator. He recently released a 15th Anniversary Edition of the novel, with an audiobook featuring voice cameos from podcasting luminaries. Info at MikeLuoma.com / glowinthedarkradio.com. Other Socials

< Back Ruthanna Emrys Literary Author Ruthanna Emrys is the author of the Innsmouth Legacy series, including Winter Tide and Deep Roots, and A Half-Built Garden. She writes radically hopeful short stories about religion and aliens and psycholinguistics. She lives in a mysterious manor house on the outskirts of Washington, DC with her wife and their large, strange family. She creates real versions of imaginary foods in her crowded kitchen, gives unsolicited advice, and occasionally attempts to save the world. https://www.patreon.com/ruthannaemrys Other Socials https://www.ruthannaemrys.com