Kelly Lockhart (Kelly Lockhart) - Kelly Lockhart is a familiar face to conventions, mostly know for two things: robotic combat and just being Kelly. And in spite of having overseen the popular Robot Battles events around the country for the past 21 years (including a number of events at Stellarcon), he is still unsure of the difference between an ohm and an ouch. Though he generally makes up for a lack of technical expertise with his skills as an entertainer.

His nearly 25 year involvement with conventions led to his being awarded the Rebel Award at DeepSouthCon in 2008 for lifetime service to Southern Fandom (something he still thinks is a form of payback from the StellarCon committee who ran that DSC). And he still maintains the popular (and very long-running) Southern Fandom Resource Guide website.

But there's more to Kelly than just robotics and being Kelly. He's also been an active screenwriter for years, working primarily on adaptations of science fiction novels, as well as contributing his voice talent to dozens of independent films and thousands of radio and television commercials.

Back home in Chattanooga, he is a popular local musician and radio news anchor as well as spending his professional days as editor for the alt-weekly newspaper The Pulse. He is also rather disturbed that his cat is approaching 700 friends on Facebook.

Misty Massey (writer) - Misty Massey is the author of "Mad Kestrel" (Tor Books), a rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas. Misty is one of the featured writers on the Magical Words blog (www.magicalwords.net) She is employed as a middle school librarian. When she's not writing, she studies Middle Eastern dance and is a member of the Beledi Beat dance troupe, which performs at the Carolina Renaissance Faire. Misty's short fiction has appeared in the Rum and Runestones anthology (Dragon Moon Press) and the Dragon's Lure anthology (Dark Quest Books). A sequel to Mad Kestrel, Kestrel's Dance, is in the works.

James Maxey (writer) - James Maxey’s debut novel was the superhero tale Nobody Gets the Girl. This was followed by a fantasy trilogy, Bitterwood, Dragonforge, and Dragonseed. His short fiction has appeared in Asimov's, Intergalactic Medicine Show, and over a dozen anthologies, most recently appearing in the superhero anthology Masked. His ghost story "Silent as Dust" was reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy and Science Fiction, 2009. In 2008, James taught at the Odyssey Fantasy Writer's Workshop as a guest lecturer. In addition to fiction, James writes a book review column for Intergalactic Medicine Show, and blogs regularly at jamesmaxey.blogspot.com.

Jen McCollom (costumer/SFX artist) - Professional make-up artist Jennifer McCollom got her start in Theatre both throughout high school and college. Her first film was Taking Liberty filmed in Winston Salem, NC. Then it was on to NC local favorites Dead Inn and Last Lives as well as Samaritans for UNC school of the Arts. She then went and spent some time in LA at Westmore Make-up Academy. These smaller projects allowed Jennifer to move on to bigger projects. She has recently worked on Army Wives, Leatherheads, Talladega Nights, Oscar nominated June Bug and Emmy Award winning HBO mini series John Adams, The Box a movie remake of a twilight zone episode, coming out soon Marc Pease Experience a comedy with Jason Swartsman and Ben Stiller, and Bolden about the life of Buddy Bolden who inspired Louis Armstrong.

In addition to her professional work, Jennifer’s love of the science-fiction and fantasy genres has allowed her to experiment with costuming and make-up for herself and friends at science-fiction conventions and other similar events. After creating costumes for herself, such as Yoda and an Ewok from Star Wars, she was soon hired to create make-up and costuming for fans across NC, many of which have won awards at various conventions. Her award-winning costumes and make-up include: Hathor from StarGate SG-1 and a Gringot goblin from Harry Potter, as well as various pirate costumes and several Klingon headpieces. In her work, Jennifer concentrates on prosthetic and latex pieces and is an accomplished sculptor and airbrush artist as well.

Jennifer took more effects classes at the School of the Arts and is taking Dick Smith’s advanced make-up course, and some cosmetology classes. She believes you should never stop learning! In her free time she joins the local theatre performing on stage like last seasons Fantastiks .

Michael Pederson (editor/writer) - Mike Pederson is the publisher/editor/graphic designer responsible for the semiprozine Nth Degree and its e-zine counterpart, NthZine.com. Mike began life as a semi-pro in 1988 when his SF short story, "Dust Storm," won first place in a local writing contest. In the 1990s, he wrote and published the Raven comic book series (with artist R. Craig Enslin) and edited and published Scene, a Virginia-based entertainment magazine.

In 2001, Mike was part of the "Best in Class – Master Division" winning presentation (Pre-Emptive Strike) at the Millennium Philcon Masquerade. Shortly after that he started Nth Degree. In 2007, he wrote a chapter on "Writing for Magazines" for Dragon Moon Press' Writing Fantasy: The Author's Grimoire . In 2010, Mike began work as a book reviewer for the California Literary Review.

Mike is also the permanent con chair for RavenCon in Richmond, Virginia. Yes, Mike is an insanely busy person; if you see him around the con please feed him lots of caffeine and/or beer.

When not engaged in geekish pursuits, Mike is a professional graphic designer and lives in Charlotte, NC.

Tony Ruggiero (writer) - Tony Ruggiero has been publishing fiction since 1998. His science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories and novels have appeared in both print and electronic mediums. His published novels include:

Team of Darkness. The US military has developed a new weapon to be added to its arsenal—the creatures known as vampires. Tony uses his Naval experience to write this dark fantasy thriller about vampires being used by the Navy Seals. Ground breaking and fast paced, the novel is a characteristic mixture of the vampire lore of Anne Rice and the clandestine secrets of the military found in Tom Clancy novels. The concept has led to a series of books to be released in 2006 through 2008, the Team of Darkness declassified files. The books are: Operation Immortal Servitude, Operation Save the Innocent, Operation Face the Fear, and Operation Endgame.

Aliens and Satanic Creatures Wanted: Humans Need Not Apply. Aliens, Satanic Creatures, and other alternate life forms have gathered together to make a stand for literary fairness. Move over pesky human...a change is coming. An anthology of short stories where the center character is not human; includes the award winning story, Lucky Lucifer’s Car Emporium, as well as Electronic Bliss, Invasion or Subversion, and Going up?

Tony is also a contributing author to The Fantasy Writers’ Companion from Dragon Moon Press. The Companion picks up where The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy leaves off. The Fantasy Writers' Companion takes on more advanced topics of writing, such as incorporating horror, incorporating mystery, developing a story in your favorite RPG universe, and exploring alternative cultures for world building. Tony’s contribution is a chapter on the effective use of horror in fantasy.  Other collaborative work includes The Writers for Relief Anthology and No Longer Dreams Anthology.

Alien Revelation: Death has many meanings. For some it is an end, while for others it is a beginning. Yet, for one human/alien hybrid, it is a way to have one final chance to try and save his home, Earth, a son he has never seen, and find an enemy that just won’t stay dead.

Tony retired from the United States Navy in 2001 after twenty-three years of service. He and his family currently reside in Suffolk, Virginia. While continuing to write, Tony teaches at Old Dominion University, Saint Leo University, and Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, VA.

Edmund Schubert (editor/writer) - Edmund R. Schubert is the author of over thirty-five short stories and one novel, Dreaming Creek (Oct. 2008). He’s held a variety of editorial positions, currently serving as editor of Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show. An anthology of IGMS stories, co-edited with Card, was published by Tor (Aug. 2008). Several more books edited by Schubert are due out over the next few years. Schubert still insists, however, that his greatest accomplishment came during college, when his self-published underground newspaper made him the subject of a professor’s lecture in abnormal psychology.

Amy H. Sturgis (writer) - Amy H. Sturgis earned her Ph.D. in Intellectual History from Vanderbilt University and teaches at Belmont University. She is the author of four books and the editor of five others. In 2006, she received the Imperishable Flame Award for Tolkien Scholarship. She contributes the "History of the Genre" segment (which won the Sofanaut Award in 2009) and fiction narrations to the StarShipSofa podcast, which in 2010 became the first podcast to be nominated for a Hugo Award. Sturgis's most recent work is The Intersection of Fantasy and Native America: from H.P. Lovecraft to Leslie Marmon Silko (2009).

Her official website is www.amyhsturgis.com

Allegra Torres (model/artist) -Allegra Torres got her start in the con scene working with award winning fantasy artist Alan Welch and quickly realized she loved working at cons. She now attends conventions and events all over the East coast and Midwest as a promotional model and has won numerous costume contests. Over the past few years, she has accumulated a diverse portfolio collaborating with a variety of artists, photographers, and designers. Between conventions, she helps design and test new chainmail for Chained Elegance. She is usually preceded by the sound of jingling metal and accompanied by her faithful Pikachu bookbag.

Toni Weisskopf (publisher) - Toni Weisskopf succeeded Jim Baen as publisher of Baen Books, a leading publisher of sf, in 2006. She has worked with such authors as David Weber, David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, Eric Flint, John Ringo, Sarah A. Hoyt, Larry Corriea, and many others. Baen is also known for its innovative e-publishing program, which has expanded under Weisskopf’s leadership.

Alan Welch (artist) - A native of Florida Alan's interest in fantasy and science fiction began as soon as he learned to read. Finishing school in Dade County he entered the world of commercial art and photography in the markets of Miami, Fl; Houston; and Dallas, Tx before finally relocating to the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina. Always experimenting with image creation he has worked in cartooning, pen and ink, water color, photography before evolving his own brand of photo manipulation.

His passion for fantasy art led him into a unique expression, combining various photographs into a heroic fantasy image. The idea first surface in 1980, but it remained only a concept until the advent of digital photography and Photoshop allowed him to fully explore the possibilities of this new and unique media. Each of his works consists of multiple photographic images (up to 17) merged seamlessly into a new, original scene.

"I try to create photographs that that can't possibly exist, and yet obviously do. I will only 'paint' an element, such as magic spells or mist, if that element cannot be photographed in the real world."

His work has appeared in Heavy Metal Magazine.

Allen Wold (writer) – Allen has published nine novels, several short stories (mostly for the Elf Quest anthologies), five non-fiction books on computers, and a number of articles, columns, reviews, and so forth, also concerning computers. Currently, Allen has an epic heroic fantasy with an editor, and a bizarre haunted house story with an agent. Allen has been running his version of a writer's workshop at various conventions for more than twenty five years, and has had some success, since several people have not only finished but sold stories started in the workshop. Allen is a member of SFWA, and Toastmasters International (which gives him a captive audience).

Susan Z. (podcaster) - Susan Z is a geek, a podcaster, a recovering English major, and a real tough cookie. She's the creator, producer and co-host of the long-running Kulture Kast (spotlighted in Podcasting for Dummies) and the influential but now-defunct SteamPunk Spectacular (also mentioned in Podcasting for Dummies). Additionally, Susan Z has contributed her voice and/or writing to a number of podcasts including Nobilis Erotica, Requiem of the Outcast, Space Casey, The Cinemafreaks, Erotica a la Carte, Chasing The Bard, and Geek Radio Daily. Upcoming projects include a Dieselpunk podcast and a show about fitness and strength for women.

In her copious free time, Susan Z sleeps.

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