2013 Schedule

2013 Speakers:

Aaron Allston: Writer Guest of Honor Aaron Allston is an Origins switch-hitter. He’s a New York Times bestselling novelist known in particular for his work in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. But before making fiction his full-time career, he was a writer of role-playing game supplements, contributing to the Dungeons & Dragons, Champions, and GURPS lines as well as many others.

Allston’s thirty-year history with Origins goes back to his attendance of the 1982 convention in Baltimore, MD, and he has attended many times since. At the 1983 event he won an Origins Award for editing. He put together the program book for the 1984 Origins in Dallas, TX. And at the 2006 convention he won the ultimate Origins Award, induction into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design Hall of Fame.

Recent and upcoming fiction work from Allston includes a short story, “Replay Value,” in this year’s Origins fiction anthology; Mercy Kill, a new Star Wars: X-Wing novel on sale August 7; and Growing Up Dead, an upcoming humorous vampire novel. With Michael A. Stackpole and Timothy Zahn, Allston also teaches an Origins seminar course on writing.

Please visit him at his table in the Library section of the exhibition hall, and visit his web sites at www.aaronallston.com and www.archerrat.com.

Michael A. Stackpole: Michael A. Stackpole is an award-winning game designer, computer game designer, graphic novelist, novelist, editor, screenwriter and podcaster. He’s best known for his New York Times bestselling novels I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron, both set in the Star Wars ® universe. His most recent novels are At The Queen’s Command from Night Shade Books and his superhero noir novel, In Hero Years… I’m Dead, which he released as a Digital-Original novel through his website, Stormwolf.com; Amazon, the iBookstore and Barnes & Noble. He lives in Arizona and spends his spare time dancing and playing indoor soccer, both of which can be tough on the feet.

Timothy Zahn: Timothy Zahn has been writing science fiction for over thirty years. In that time he has published forty-two novels, nearly ninety short stories and novelettes, and four collections of short fiction. Best known for hisnine  Star Wars novels, he is also the author of the Quadrail series, the Cobra series, the Conquerors Trilogy, and the young-adult Dragonback series. Recent books include Cobra Guardian and Cobra Gamble, the second and third books of the Cobra War Trilogy; Star Wars: Choices of One, and the 20th Anniversary edition of his first Star Wars Novel, Heir to the Empire. Upcoming books include Judgment at Proteus, the final book of the Quadrail series and Pawn, the first of the Sibyl's War series. You can contact him at facebook.com/TimothyZahn.

Bradley P. Beaulieu: Bradley P. Beaulieu is the author of The Winds of Khalakovo, the book Pat's Fantasy Hotlist named the Debut of the Year for 2011. The follow-up, The Straits of Galahesh, was set for a spring release. In addition to being an L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Award winner, Brad's stories have appeared in various other publications, including Realms of Fantasy Magazine, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Writers of the Future 20, and several anthologies from DAW Books. His story, "In the Eyes of the Empress's Cat," was voted a Notable Story of 2006 in the Million Writers Award. Visit his website at www.quillings.com.

Donald J. Bingle: Donald J. Bingle is an oft-published author in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, romance, steampunk, and comedy genres. His novels include: Net Impact (spy thriller), GREENSWORD (darkly comedic eco-thriller), and Forced Conversion (near-future military scifi). Many of his three dozen short stories are available in hard copy and for Kindle and Nook, including my Writer on Demand short story collections: Tales of Gamers and Gaming; Tales of Humorous Horror; Tales Out of Time; and Grim, Fair e-Tales. Find out more at www.donaldjbingle.com or look for me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Peroozal, or Shelfari.

Dylan Birtolo: Dylan Birtolo has always been a storyteller. No matter how much other things have changed, that aspect has not. He currently resides in the Pacific Northwest where he spends his time as a writer, a gamer, and a professional sword-swinger. He has published a couple of fantasy novels and several short stories in multiple anthologies. He has also written pieces for game companies set in their worlds and co-authored a gaming manual. He trains with the Seattle Knights, an acting troop that focuses on stage combat. Endeavoring to be a a true jack of all trades, he has worked as a software engineer, a veterinary technician in an emergency hospital, a martial arts instructor, a rock climbing guide, and a lab tech. He's had the honor of jousting, and yes, the armor is real—it weighs more than a hundred and twenty pounds. You can read more about him and his works at www.dylanbirtolo.com.

Jennifer Brozek: Jennifer Brozek of Bothell, WA, is an award winning author and editor. She has been writing role-playing games and professionally publishing fiction since 2004. She has won awards for both game design and editing. With the number of edited anthologies, fiction sales, RPG books and the non-fiction articles and book under her belt, Jennifer is often considered a Renaissance Woman, but she prefers to be known as a wordslinger and optimist. Read more about her at her blog:

http://jennifer-brozek.livejournal.com/.

Tracy Chowdhury: Tracy Chowdhury spent much of her childhood in imaginary play, fascinated by the possibility of magic and intrigued by dragons, fairies, unicorns, and other mystical beings. She holds a degree in zoology and is the author of Shadow Over Shandahar—Child of Prophecy, and War of Destiny, and is the co-author of Dark Mists of Ansalar—Blood of Dragons. She's also been published in Missing Pieces Volume 1 and Volume 2. Tracy lives in Cincinnati with her husband, four children, and a cat. Visit her website at worldofshandahar.com.

Maxwell Alexander Drake: Maxwell Alexander Drake is an award-winning SF/Fantasy author and graphic novelist. Among his works: The Genesis of Oblivion Saga. Drake teaches creative writing around the country as well as for the library district in Las Vegas, NV. Find out more about him at his website: www.maxwellalexanderdrake.com.

Sarah Hans: Sarah Hans was a strange child obsessed with dragons, vampires, and werewolves. Now she's a strange adult obsessed with steampunk, elder gods, and...well, still werewolves. You can read about her airship adventures or check out more of her fiction at www.sarahhans.com.

R.T. Kaelin: is a loving husband, father of two wonderful children, and a lifelong resident of Ohio, currently living in Columbus. After graduating from college, for the first twelve years of his career he has worked as a software engineer. While writing for a local Columbus gaming group, it was suggested he try his hand at writing something more prodigious. Encouraged, he committed to the undertaking, and wrote, Progeny, the first volume in the Children of the White Lions series. The book has garnered critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to the giants of the genre, and has fostered an ever-growing fan base. As he edits the second in the series, he also is working on the Terrene Chronicles, a number of short stories that take place prior to the events in Progeny.

Daniel "Doc" Myers: Daniel "Doc" Myers writes cookbooks and short stories, a combination that has his characters well-fed. He started cooking at a young age and has spent the past dozen years seriously studying medieval cooking. He is a member of the SCA (Middle Kingdom, Barony of the Flaming Gryphon), a medieval re-creation organization, and practices his craft by cooking feasts, researching, and giving occasional lectures to those who don't run away fast enough. Daniel lives in Loveland, Ohio, with his wife and two children. He is currently employed as a database programmer, and would be happy to accept large grants of cash to start a medieval themed restaurant. His co-workers in the IT department are still quite baffled by the whole thing.

Steven Saus: Steven Saus, a member of the Ohio SF/F Cabal, injects people with radioactivity as his day job, but only to serve the forces of good. His work appears in print in the anthologies Westward Weird, Mages & Magic, Timeshares, and Hungry For Your Love, and in several magazines both online and off, including On Spec, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, the Drabblecast, and the SFWA Bulletin. He also provides publishing services and publishes books such as The Crimson Pact series of dark fantasy anthologies and Donald J. Bingle's spy Thriller Net Impact as Alliteration Ink. you can find him at stevensaus.com and alliterationink.com.

Kelly Swails: According to family legend, Kelly Swails learned to read by Perusing Archie comics at the age of three. (She loved Jughead the most.) As a child she would read anything with words — magazines, books, comics, cereal boxes. She wrote her first bona-fide short story in sixth grade, about a feminist and a misogynist watching the destruction of Earth from their spaceship. After that foray into SF, she tried her hand at mystery, horror, and teen romance. Her medical mind pulled her into clinical laboratory science, but she continues to write short stories and YA novels. She has been published in numerous anthologies. Visit her website at www. kellyswails.com.

Addie J. King: Addie J. King spends her days as an attorney in Urbana, Ohio, and writes paranormal mystery and contemporary fantasy whenever she can. Her blog can be found at www.addiejking.wordpress.com. Her short story, "Poltergeist on Aisle Fourteen" was published in the anthology, Mystery Times Ten 2011, and her novel, The Grimm Legacy, was set for release this spring from Musa Publishing.

Gregory A. Wilson: Gregory A. Wilson is an associate professor of English at St. John's University in New York City, where he teaches creative writing and fantasy fiction along with various other courses in literature. His first academic book was published by Clemson University Press in 2007; on the creative side, he has won an award for a national playwriting contest, and his first novel, a work of fantasy entitled The Third Sign, was published by Gale Cengage in the summer of 2009. He is a regular panelist at conferences across the country and is a member of Codex, the Writers' Symposium, Backspace, and several other author groups on and offline. He is in the process of submitting his second and third novels to publishers, represented in this effort by Roger Williams of New England Publishing Associates. On other related fronts, he did character work and flavor text for the hit fantasy card game Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, and along with fellow speculative fiction author Brad Beaulieu is the co-host of the podcast Speculate! The Podcast for Writers, Readers and Fans, a show which discusses (and interviews the creators and illustrators of) speculative fiction of all sorts and types—find out more at www.speculatesf.com. He lives with his wife Clea, daughter Senavene—named at his wife's urging for a character in The Third Sign, for which he hopes his daughter will forgive him—and dog Lilo in Riverdale, NY; online, his virtual home is www.gregoryawilson.com.

Bryan Young: Bryan is the author of Lost at the Con and is an award winning documentary film producer. He's also the editor-in-chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot! He calls Salt Lake City his home, and you can read more about his work at www.bryanyoungfiction.com.

Patrick Rothfuss: Patrick Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin to awesome parents. After nine years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, he accidentally had enough credits to graduate with an English degree. Patrick then went to grad school. He’d rather not talk about it.

 

In April 2007, The Name of the Wind was published and met with surprising success. In the years since, it has been translated into 30 languages, won all manner of awards, and become a bestseller in several countries.

After a great deal of work and a few raised eyebrows from his patient editor, Wise Man’s Fear came out in March 2011, immediately hitting #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list.

When not working on the third book of the series, Pat plays with his baby, makes mead, and runs Worldbuilders, a geek-centered charity that has raised more than a million dollars for Heifer International.

Patrick S. Tomlinson: Patrick S. Tomlinson is the offspring of an ex-hippie psychologist and an ex-cowboy electrician. A lifelong sci-fi fan, he discovered quite by accident that the best stories were not to be found on the silver screen, but on the gleaming white pages of books. An eclectic group of bards from Herbert to Prachett propelled him into dozens of new worlds.
 

Patrick lives in Milwaukee, where the winters offer a wonderful opportunity to disappear into his writing cave for five months at a stretch, emerging only briefly each week to watch the Packer game. Time not spent writing is split between a paying job, training for half-marathons, and undoing all the training on brewery tours.
 

            His work has appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Everyday Fiction, the Crimson Pact Anthology series, The SFWA Bulletin, and his first book was recently released by New Babel Books.

Aaron Rosenberg: Aaron Rosenberg is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, children’s book author, and game designer. His novels include No Small Bills and For This Is Hell, the Dread Remora space-opera series, and the O.C.L.T. supernatural thriller series, plus novels for Star Trek, Warhammer, WarCraft, and Eureka. His children’s books include Bandslam: The Novel, books for iCarly, PowerPuff Girls, and Transformers Animated, and the original series Pete and Penny's Pizza Puzzles. His RPG work includes Asylum, Spookshow, the Origins Award-winning Gamemastering Secrets, The Supernatural Roleplaying Game, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and The Deryni Roleplaying Game. You can visit him online at gryphonrose.com or follow him on Twitter @gryphonrose.

 

Jaym Gates: Jaym started out as an intern at Fantasy Magazine. Since then, she's gone into the dodgy world of publicity.

Her editorial projects include Rigor Amortis, an anthology of zombie erotica. Yes, really. She also edited Crossed Genres Magazine, the 1920's-themed SF anthology, Broken Time Blues, and worked on the Kickstarter phenomenon, Geek Love. Four more anthologies are in the works now.

As an author, she has been published in Aether Age, Triumph Over Tragedy, Goldfish Grimm, and M-Brane SF. Her nonfiction can be found more places than she cares to list.

Jaym is a manager for the entertainment group Single Cell Productions. She can therefore can write off corsets as a business expense, proving that not all her life choices have been awful. In her copious spare time, she games, trains horses, and plays in the wilder parts of the West Coast.

She can be found on Twitter as @JaymGates.

2013 Seminar Descriptions

Thursday:

Friday:

Saturday:
 

Sunday: