ABOUT THE AUTHORS

The late REGINALD BRETNOR (1911-1992) was never a prolific writer—he wrote only a handful of books and about 100 short stories (and more than 120 short-short “Feghoots” under his GRENDEL BRIARTON pseudonym)—over a 45-year writing career. In addition to wars, weaponry, and science fiction, Bretnor’s broad interests included cats. (And puns. Did we mention the horrible puns?)

DR. MARK E. BURGESS is a veterinarian with a special interest in exotic pets. He has practiced in the Portland, Oregon area for nearly 25 years, and is a long time reader of science fiction and fantasy. His other works include Dog Daze & Cat Naps: A Vet Student’s Odyssey, a novel providing a humorous look at four years in veterinary school; and the combat sci-fi novella The Battle for Eden, part of a series about the Human-Knacker war. Dr. Burgess currently lives with his loving wife, Denise; two beautiful daughters, Anna and Sarah; and Molly the cat, plus Claire the rat.

ALGIS BUDRYS (1931–2008) was a Lithuanian-American science fiction author, editor, and critic. His first published science fiction story was “The High Purpose”, which appeared in Astounding Science Fiction in 1952. Beginning in 1952, Budrys worked as editor and manager for such science fiction publishers as Gnome Press and Galaxy Science Fiction. Budrys’s 1960 novella “Rogue Moon” was nominated for a Hugo Award, and was later anthologized in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two (1973). His Cold War science fiction novel was adapted for the screen in 1973. In addition to numerous Hugo Award and Nebula Award nominations, Budrys won the Science Fiction Research Association’s 2007 Pilgrim Award for lifetime contributions to speculative fiction scholarship. In 2009, he was the recipient of one of the first three Solstice Awards presented by the SFWA in recognition of his contributions to the field of science fiction.

BRENDA W. CLOUGH (who also writes as B.W. Clough) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her Novella “May Be Some Time” was nominated for a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in 2002. She currently teaches writing workshops at the Writers Center in Bethesda, MD.

CHARLES V. DE VET (1911-1997) was an American science fiction author. His Kalin Trobt series includes Second Game (written with Katherine MacLean) and Third Game. His other SF novels include Cosmic Checkout (also written with Katherine MacLean) and Special Feature. He remains best known for his science fiction from Astounding.

PHILIP K. DICK (1928–1982) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered states. In his later works Dick’s thematic focus strongly reflected his personal interest in metaphysics and theology. He often drew upon his own life experiences in addressing the nature of drug abuse, paranoia and schizophrenia, and transcendental experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and VALIS.

We know nothing about JACK DOUGLAS, sorry. If you know/knew/are related to him, drop us a line with more info!

This is embarassing! We know nothing about WILLIAM GERKEN, either. If you know/knew/are related to him, drop us a line with more info!

TOM GODWIN (1915–1980) was an American science fiction author. Godwin published three novels and twenty-seven short stories in his career. His controversial hard SF short story “The Cold Equations” is a notable example of the mid-1950s science fiction genre.

MICHAEL HEMMINGSON is a novelist, short story writer, literary critic, cultural anthropologist, qualitative researcher, playwright, and screenwriter. Hemmingson won the San Diego Book Awards Association’s first Novel-in-Progress grant for The Rose of Heaven and SDBAA’s Best Published novel for Wild Turkey. His media study monograph, Star Trek: A Post-Structural Critique of the Original Series, was a 2010 finalist nominee for General Non-fiction Book. Look for many of his books from Wildside Press.

C.J. HENDERSON is the creator of the Jack Hagee hardboiled detective series, both the Teddy London and Piers Knight supernatural investigator series and many more. With 75 books and hundreds upon hundreds of short stories and comics on the shelf, it’s no wonder he’s so well-known. But, what prompted New Mystery Magazine to say “If, as some argue, the hardboiled private eye mystery story is a literary form on a par with the Japanese haiku or the Irish ballad, then Mr. Henderson deserves the mantle of literary master” can only be tied to his remarkable talent. For more of his relentless self-aggrandizement, please feel free to visit him at www.cjhenderson.com.

JAY LAKE is a science fiction and fantasy writer. In 2003 he was a quarterly first place winner in the Writers of the Future contest. In 2004 he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction. He lives in Portland, Oregon and works as a product manager for a voice services company. Lake’s writings have appeared in numerous publications, including Postscripts, Realms of Fantasy, Interzone, Strange Horizons, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Nemonymous, and the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. He is an editor for the “Polyphony” anthology series from Wheatland Press, and was also a contributor to the Internet Review of Science Fiction.

LONNI LEES publishes in magazines such as Hardboiled, Yellow Mama, A Shot of Ink, Shotgun Honey, Black Petals, and All Due Respect, and in the anthologies Deadly Dames, More Whodunits, Battling Boxing Stories, and Felons, Flames and Ambulance Rides. Her books include The Mosaic Murder, Deranged (PSWA 2012 Award for Best Published Novel), and her short story collection Crawlspace.

FRITZ LEIBER is one of the greats of the fantasy and science fiction fields. If you aren’t familiary with his work, do yourself a favor and look him up. If you like fantasy, start with the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series. If you like science fiction, start with The Big Time.

Alas! We don’t know anything about IRWIN LEWIS, beyond that he wrote at least one great story. If you have more info, please share it with us!

WINSTON K. MARKS has at least one claim to fame—Barry Malzberg mentioned him as an example of a forgotten author who will live on thanks to the internet—so we can to go check him out. You know what? He’s a really good writer who doesn’t deserve to be forgotten!

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN is one of the best-selling fantasy authors of all time, thanks to his Game of Thrones series (which we highly recommend, if you’re one of the half-dozen people on the planet who haven’t read it yet).

ANDREW J. OFFUTT (the “J” stands for Jefferson) (1934-2013) was an important figture in the fantasy and science fiction field. He wrote and published numerous novels and short stories, including several in the “Thieves World” series, which feature his best known character, the thief, Hanse, also known as Shadowspawn (and, later, Chance). His “Iron Lords” series was also quite popular. He wrote two series of books based on characters by Robert E. Howard, one featuring Howard’s best known character, Conan, and one featuring Cormac mac Art. He also wrote the 19-book science fiction “Spaceways” series, over half of which were collaborations. The great 5-volume sword & sorcery anthology series, Swords Against Darkness, that Offutt edited in the mid 1970s introduced a new generation of readers to classic fantasy adventure. We hope to have more of his stories in future Megapacks.

ROBERT REGINALD, an American writer, has edited some 2,000 books in his career, has written13,000 short pieces, and is the author of 144 volumes of history, criticism, and popular fiction, including these recent Wildside Press and Borgo Press titles: The Phantom’s Phantom (Phantom Detective #1, 2007), The Nasty Gnomes (Phantom Detective #2, 2008), Choice Words: The Borgo Press Book of Writers Writing About Writing (Editor, 2010), Knack’ Attack: A Tale of the Human-Knacker Wars (2010). Check out the rest of his titles at any online bookstore!

MIKE RESNICK is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short fiction. He has 5 Hugos, plus other major awards from the USA, France, Poland, Spain, Croatia, Catalonia, and Japan. Mike is the auhot or 84 novels, over 260 stories, and 3 screenplays., and has edited 41 anthologies.

PAMELA SARGENT has won the Nebula and Locus Awards and is the author of the novels Cloned Lives, The Sudden Star, Watchstar, The Golden Space, The Alien Upstairs, Eye of the Comet, Homesmind, Alien Child, The Shore of Women, Venus of Dreams, Venus of Shadows, Child of Venus, and Climb the Wind. Ruler of the Sky, her 1993 historical novel about Genghis Khan, was a bestseller in Germany and in Spain, where she was invited to speak at the Institute of American Studies, the University of Barcelona, and the Complutense University of Madrid. She also edited the Women of Wonder anthologies, the first collections of science fiction by women, published in the 1970s by Vintage/Random House and in updated editions during the 1990s by Harcourt Brace. A short story, “The Shrine,” was produced for the syndicated TV anthology series Tales from the Darkside.

Tor Books reissued her 1983 young adult novel Earthseed, selected as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association, and a sequel, Farseed, in early 2007. Farseed was chosen by the New York Public Library for their 2008 Books for the Teen Age list of best books for young adults. A third novel, Seedship, was published in 2010. Earthseed has been optioned by Paramount Pictures, with Melissa Rosenberg, scriptwriter for all five Twilight films, set to write and produce through her Tall Girls Productions.

DARRELL SCHWEITZER is an American writer, editor, and essayist in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy. Schweitzer is also a prolific writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various writers within his preferred genres, many of which are available from Wildside Press. His most recent print book is a collection of sword & Sorcery stories, Echoes of the Goddess, and he has an ebook collection, The Darrell Schweitzer Megapack, due out any day now.

TIM SULLIVAN, is an American science fiction novelist, screenwriter, actor, film director and short story writer. Many of his stories have been critically acknowledged and reprinted; his short story “Zeke,” a tragedy about an extraterrestrial stranded on Earth, has been translated into German and was a finalist for the 1982 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. “Under Glass” (2011), a well-reviewed semi-autobiographical short story with occult hints, has been translated into Chinese and is the basis for a screenplay by director/actor Ron Ford. Sullivan edited a horror anthology for Avon Books, Tropical Chills, in 1988. He also published his first novel, Destiny’s End, in 1988. This science fiction novel was followed by The Parasite War in 1989, The Martian Viking in 1991, and Lords of Creation in 1992, and another horror anthology, Cold Shocks (Avon, 1991), among other books.

MARY A. TURZILLO is an American science fiction writer noted primarily for short stories. She won the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 2000 for her story “Mars is No Place for Children,” and her story “Pride” was a Nebula award finalist for best short story of 2007. Her first novel, An Old Fashioned Martian Girl was serialized in Analog magazine in 2004. She was formerly a professor of English at Kent State University, where she wrote articles and several books of science fiction criticism under the name Mary T. Brizzi, including Reader’s Guide to Anne McCaffrey and Reader’s Guide to Philip Jose Farmer. She attended the Clarion Workshop in 1985, and she founded the Cajun Sushi Hamsters writing workshop in Cleveland, OH.

CYNTHIA WARD was born in Oklahoma and lived in Maine, Spain, Germany, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Tucson before moving to the Los Angeles area. A 1992 graduate of the Clarion West Writers Workshop, she has sold stories to Asimov’s Science Fiction, and other anthologies and magazines. Cynthia’s reviews appear regularly on Amazon.com and SciFiWire.com and irregularly in other websites and publications. She is working on her first novel, a futuristic mystery tentatively titled Stone Rain.

LAWRENCE WATT-EVANS is the author of about fifty novels and over a hundred short stories, mostly in the SF, fantasy, and horror fields. He won the Hugo award in 1988 for his short story, “Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers,” and was president of the Horror Writers Association for two years. His most recent book is Tales of Ethshar, a collection of short stories set in the same universe as The Misenchanted Sword and many of his finest fantasy novels.