Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side… or maybe it’s the other way around. He told stories to imaginary friends and learned to type on his brother's manual typewriter even though he couldn't reach the keys. (He types with the keyboard in his lap still today.) He couldn't imagine any career but writing fiction... until his algebra teacher said, "This is a program. You should write one of these."

Fast forward 30 years of programming, writing, and teaching. He was named an MVP by Microsoft for his work with the developer community. He is an avid role-playing gamemaster, but that didn't satisfy his storytelling urge. He wrote, but he never submitted until his brother-in-law read a chapter and said, "That's not a chapter. That's a story. Send it in." It won second place in the Baen Memorial Writing Contest and earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that!

Martin hasn't stopped writing (or programming) since. His work has appeared in Analog, Galaxy's Edge, Digital Science Fiction, and select service garages worldwide. His novella "Murder on the Aldrin Express" was reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection and in Year's Top Short SF Novels 4. Learn more at http://Shoemaker.Space.

SCIENCE FICTION AUTHOR

As an author, Martin has sold stories to the following markets:

"Not Close Enough", in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May 2013.

"Murder on the Aldrin Express", in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, September 2013.

"Brigas Nunca Mais", in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 2015.

"Il Gran Cavallo", in Galaxy's Edge #5, November 2013.

"Pallbearers", in Galaxy's Edge #7, March 2014.

"Murder on the Aldrin Express", in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois.

"Murder on the Aldrin Express", in The Year's Top Short SF Novels 4.

"The Night We Flushed the Old Town" in Therefore I Am: Digital Science Fiction Volume 2.

"Father-Daughter Outing", the cover story for Heir Apparent: Digital Science Fiction Volume 4.

"Gruff Riders" in The Gruff Variations: Writing for Charity Anthology, Vol. 1

His writing has also won the following awards:

Writers of the Future, Quarter 1, 2011: Finalist, "The Mother Anthony"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 2, 2011: Honorable Mention, "Father-Daughter Outing"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 3, 2011: Honorable Mention, "Scramble"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 4, 2011: Semi-Finalist, "A Most Auspicious Star"

The 2012 Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest: Second Place, "Scramble"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 1, 2012: Finalist, "One Last Chore for Grandpa"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 2, 2012: Honorable Mention, "Incoming"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 3, 2012: Honorable Mention, "Fog Traffic"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 4, 2012: Honorable Mention, "Mama's Little Angel"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 1, 2013: Honorable Mention, "The Books of Cheswick"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 2, 2013: Honorable Mention, "Killing Buddy"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 3, 2013: Honorable Mention, "In Its Shadow"

Writers of the Future, Quarter 1, 2014: THIRD PLACE, "Unrefined"

In addition, he has self-published seven stories and a collection, and has more in the works.

SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE ANALYST

Martin is a software developer with 29 years experience in the industry. He has worked in the fields of color science, on-line shopping, databases, material handling, medical imaging, and customer relations management.

His most popular presentations are his UML courses, which he wrote and presents. As a side effort in his UML work, Martin has written two books on UML:

UML Applied: A .NET Perspective from Apress.

Ulterior Motive Lounge: UML, 80s Flicks, and Bunny Slippers, the world's first UML comic strip. Originally published online in 2009, this successful comic strip let Martin use humor and simple examples to teach UML to a wide audience. It is now collected in a version for Kindle.

N.V. Haskell is an award winning writer of speculative fiction. Her works have appeared in multiple magazines and anthologies.

N.V. can be found in her favorite costumes at Comic Cons or Renaissance Fairs, reading multiple books at a time, running badly, or traveling. She lives between haunted creeks and suburbia surrounded by old souls, a rescue dog with a large personality, and too many squirrels that she continues to feed. After many years in healthcare, N.V. continues to be stubbornly optimistic, believing that there is goodness in this world if we dare to look for it.

Mike Jack Stoumbos is a spec-fic author, disguised as a believably normal high school teacher, living with his wife and their parrot. He won 1st place in the 2021 Writers of the Future Contest, and his stories have appeared in several Scifi and Fantasy anthologies. His space opera series, THIS FINE CREW, is published by Chris Kennedy Publishing and Theogony Books. In addition to writing fiction, Mike Jack has published academic/informational articles, stageplays, and lovably geeky parody lyrics. Find him online at MikeJackStoumbos.com or @MJStoumbos on Twitter.

My characters feel and sound like real people in my head. I think one of the best things is to live other lives inside of them. To see how their magical world lies in peril. Feel their divisions of mind. Divisions of heart. Understand how their choices can save or destroy what they cherish most deeply. When their shadow sides are locked away, those shades will find a way out, no matter the cost.

The best stories make me feel hypnotized when I step back out. I want readers to feel that too.

In real life I’ve been a trauma therapist. That’s where I learned how the secrets people hide will always fight their way out. Those stories struggle to find their voice. I have no doubt symbolic meaning lurks in all my stories, even when I can’t see it.

I’ve lived and traveled in Europe. Divided life between two coasts sometimes, when I had to. I can be found more often in mountains than plains, and more ruins than condos. If I thought a list of destinations and jobs would say everything I want to say, I’d add them. As it is, I’d rather meet people inside the stories.

I see you, you see me. Pretty amazing.

AJ has written Quest for the King (a devotional written as a fantasy novella), as well as a number of fantasy and gamelit short stories, including "Time to Play" in the Grifty Shades of Fey anthology, and One Turn Deserves Another in the Vampire Survival Guide. She has a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from The George Washington University and has been writing and editing as an analyst for over 28 years. She is currently a member of both the Maryland Writers Association and the career strategist for Apex Writers.

She reads non-fiction books on a range of topics to include writing craft and health-related works and enjoys the whimsy of fantasy and romance across sub-genres, the depth of ancient myth and lore, and the excitement of magic wherever it can be found. She loves the epic struggle between good and evil. #EmbraceTheDragon

AJ lives in Maryland with her two sons, a dog, and two cats. She loves games (board, card, and RPG), hiking, and working out.

Mia Dalia is an internationally published, award-nominated author of all things fantastic, thrilling, scary, and strange. Her short stories of horror, noir, science fiction, mystery, crime, humor, and more have been featured in a variety of anthologies, magazines, literary journals, online, and adapted for narrative podcasts.

Her stories have been voted top ten of Tales to Terrify 2023 and shortlisted for the CWA's Daggers Awards 2024.

Featured publications include the novels Estate Sale and Haven (CamCat Books); novellas Tell Me a Story and Discordant (Anuci Press); science fiction debut, Arrokoth (Spaceboy Books); darly comedic neonoir murder mystery, Do You Know The Muffin Man? (Spaceboy Books) and the collection, Smile So Red and Other Tales of Madness (Anuci Press)

Mia Dalia is represented by Curtis Brown.

Find her online at:

X: @ Dalia_Verse

FB: DaliaVerse

Instagram: daliaverse

As an architect, Julia V. Ashley finds inspiration delving into the crumbling buildings of the Gothic South where she grew up. She seeks to find the beauty in broken things, people, and places through her fantasy and speculative fiction. Her debut short story collection Jazz by Faelight reflects her lifelong love of New Orleans a city that enchants all who enter, human and fae alike. Allow her to share the magic of this city of mystery and music, as she weaves tales of creatures hidden in the shadows of the Big Easy.

Jennifer is a full-time editor and writer located in Cape Coral, Florida. Her first chapbook of poetry was published in 2016, and her poetry and short stories have been published in dozens of journals, magazines, and anthologies. When she's not writing or editing, she's spending time with her husband and their five rescues--three quirky cats and two adorable, oversized mutts.

Jentina Grey is a Fantasy and Science Fiction author, as well as being an artist and curator. She lives in Los Angeles County, California.