The Rings of Mars
J. F. SMITH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William Ledbetter was born in a small Indiana town the same year humans first flew in space. He grew up watching Star Trek, Lost in Space and real moon landings, but his first introduction to written science fiction was by accident, when during a library visit at age twelve he checked out a copy of On the Beach believing it was a war story. He’s been hooked on science fiction ever since, and those wondrous and formative years instilled in him a belief that all things are possible, a belief that is still reflected in his writing.
Now living near Dallas with his family and a bunch of animals, William is a mechanical designer in the aerospace/defense industry and an avid speculative fiction writer. He’s also an unrepentant space geek and loves to travel (so far only over the Earth’s surface). His fiction has appeared in numerous publications and his winning Writers of the Future story will be his second professional sale, the first having been to Jim Baen’s Universe in 2006. He just finished the first novel in a trilogy about humanity’s next rung on the evolutionary ladder and our expansion into the cosmos.
William also runs a Dallas-area writer’s group called Future Classics, is an active member of the National Space Society of North Texas, is the Science Track coordinator for FenCon, is an editor at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and runs the annual Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest for Baen Books and the National Space Society.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
J. F. Smith was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. He took art classes in high school and college but never pursued art as a career. After spending ten years in the US Air Force, he went on to finish his bachelor’s degree and is currently working in the airline industry.
He never lost his love of art, though, and started painting again after a long hiatus. At this point James is in the process of improving old skills and developing his own unique style.