< 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

< Back John Robison Literary Fan A Native of Maryland, John is a lifelong fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy. He loves Star Wars, both versions of Battlestar Galactica, and anime. He holds degrees in History, and Philosophical Theology, with a particular interest in the history of ideas, and paradigm shifts in thought. He is sarcastic, opinionated, and has a deep dislike of a particular long running television program. He is also a Priest in the Old Catholic Church, Provence of the United States a Progressive denomination, with roots in the Netherlands. No, he doesn't say Mass in Latin. Unless you ask really nicely and promise not to make fun of his pronunciation. Other Socials

< Back Galen Dara Artist Artist Galen Dara has created art for Uncanny Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, Fireside Fiction Magazine, Fantasy Flight Games, Subterranean Press, Tyche Books and Strange Horizons. She broke into the industry with an early Hugo Award win for Best Fan Artist in 2013, followed by nominations in 2014, 2017 and 2018 for Best Professional Artist. She won the 2016 World Fantasy award, a 2017 Spectrum Award, a 2017 Chesley Award and and has been nominated for the Locus Award. When Galen is not working on a project you can find her on the edge of the Sonoran Desert, climbing mountains and hanging out with a friendly conglomeration of human and animal companions. She’s on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @galendara. www.galendara.com Other Socials http://www.galendara.com

< Back Marie Vibbert Literary Author Hugo and Nebula nominee Marie Vibbert has over 90 works in print, including multiple appearances in Analog, F&SF, and Lightspeed. Her work has been translated into Vietnamese and Chinese and called "Everything science fiction should be" by the Oxford Culture Review. Her debut novel Galactic Hellcats, about a female biker gang in outer space rescuing a gay prince, was long-listed for the BSFA award. Publisher's Weekly called it "A rip-roaring space heist." The sequel comes out July 2025. Other Socials

< Back Morgan Stallard Operations LGBT+ and Disability Programming Morgan Stallard is an autistic trans man, local convention regular and LGBT+/Disability activist. He's been involved in running LGBT+ and disability programming at Maryland conventions for the last 10 years. Other Socials

< Back Jana S. Brown Literary Author Jana S. Brown entered the world of publishing in the mid-90s and has never looked back. She’s worked as a fiction writer, technical writer, editor, presenter, author coach, and a host of other positions. In the last several years, she’s assisted in the creation of bestselling and award-winning novels in the self-publishing space as well as working as an editor with small presses and as an acceptance editor for Book Cave, a book promotion company. She has twenty books published across three pennames, as well as a host of articles and award-winning anthology tales, and adores helping other creators reach their goals. Her amazing family and fuzzy sidekicks provide her with support, inspiration, and amusement, sometimes not in that order. Other Socials

< Back Chris Oakley Literary Book Seller Chris Oakley owned and operated Oakley’s Gently Used Books, a bricks & mortar used bookshop with a specialty in Sci Fi/Fantasy, for more than 20 years (1995-2016) in Charlottesville, VA and a bookseller at Madicon, MarsCon, MystiCon, RavenCon, Libertycon, DSC50, DSC60 and Omegacon. She has edited and published “undergound" newspapers as well as literary magazines. (Chris Oakley collection of alternative press, Special Collections, University of Delaware). As a GCIU Journeyman, she worked in small commercial print shops before opening her bookshop in 1995. She was the organizer and moderator for the VA Festival of the Book Sci Fi/ Fantasy programs with Katherine Kurtz, Hugh Howey, Stephen Hickman, Toni Weisskopf, Kim Harrison, Colleen Doran, David Coe, Jack Campbell (John Hemry) and others. She does volunteer work to raise money for her local Friends of the Library (Jefferson-Madison Regional) book sales. (Our team raised over $160,000 for the library system at our October 2024 sale.) Other Socials

< Back Brick Barrientos Operations Quizmaster Brick Barrientos hosts the movie trivia game show Silver Screen Test. He won a national championship in College Bowl and was a one-day champion on Jeopardy. Brick has been regularly hosting the Balticon trivia contest and can be found all over Maryland winning pub quiz trivia cash. The pandemic enabled him to host academic and trivia contests with participants from elementary school to adult, who were competing in Central America, Europe, East Asia, and Australia. He is the proud father of a daughter who is also a science fiction fan and may also have a cat. Other Socials

< Back Valerie Estelle Frankel Literary Author Valerie Estelle Frankel has won a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her Henry Potty parodies. She's the author of over 90 books on pop culture, including Hunting for Meaning in The Mandalorian; Inside the Captain Marvel Film; Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism; and Who Tells Your Story? History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton. Many of her books focus on women's roles in fiction, from her heroine's journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey to books like Superheroines and the Epic Journey and The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she now teaches at Mission College and San Jose City College and speaks often at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com Other Socials

< Back Naomi S. Literary Author Naomi S. is a writer, crafter, and mother of twins (one of which is a self-proclaimed dragon). She resides in Maryland where she fills her crazy life with work, and her non-existent spare time with too many crafting projects, collecting random crafting items and tools (a totally different hobby than crafting), reading, and writing. Other Socials