Guests of Honor

Forbeck first became interested in role-playing games at age 13 when he started playing Dungeons & Dragons. He graduated in 1989 from the Residential College at the University of Michigan with a degree in creative writing. Forbeck has worked full-time on games and fiction since graduating from college. He was the editor on an adventure by Gary Gygax for New Infinities called Epic of Yarth: Necropolis. He wrote Outlaw (1991) and Western Hero (1991) for the ICE/Hero Games consortium. Forbeck and Shane Hensley formed Pinnacle Entertainment Group to publish Deadlands. Forbeck spent four years as the president of Pinnacle and two years as the director of the adventure games division at Human Head Studios. Shortly before Pinnacle and AEG dissolved their relationship, Forbeck left his company and came over to AEG, simultaneously selling his RPG Brave New World to AEG. Forbeck has designed collectible card games, roleplaying games, miniatures games, and board games, and he has written short fiction, comic books, and novels for the companies Wizards of the Coast, Games Workshop, TSR, Decipher, White Wolf, Pinnacle, Green Ronin, AEG, Reaper Miniatures, Image Comics, WildStorm Productions, Idea + Design Works, and many others. http://www.forbeck.com/

Alexander James Adams (born November 8, 1962) is an American singer, musician and songwriter in the Celtic and World music genres. He blends mythical, fantasy, and traditional themes in performances, switching between instrumental fiddle and songs accompanied by guitar, bodhrán, and fiddle playing. He has also been a popular and influential artist in the field of filk music.  http://www.faerietaleminstrel.com/inside/ and http://alexanderjamesadams1.bandcamp.com/

Now calling the city of Minneapolis home John Bivens’ current project is the sci-fi/fantasy epic, Dark Engine, written by Ryan Burton from Image Comics. In the past his work has appeared in the Eisner and Harvey award winning Comic Book Tattoo, the Harvey award winning Popgun volume 4, and the Harvey nominated Reading With Pictures anthology. He has done work for the creators of the hit phone app Battle Bears, DC comics ZUDA initiative, and Pop Goes the Icon’s quarterly anthology Omega Comics Presents. John has taught as an adjunct professor at Northern Illinois University and is now attending Minneapolis College of Art & Design in pursuit of his MFA in comic books. http://fishbones-illustrations.blogspot.com/

John Anealio writes songs about science fiction and fantasy. Alternate-tuned acoustic guitar picking, soaring synthesizers, and catchy pop hooks power his odes to androids, princesses, and vampires. He posts said songs, along with remixes and podcasts, as free MP3 downloads to his blog, http://scifisongs.blogspot.com/ every week (or so). Anealio’s ascent to Sci-Fi music super-stardom began on that fateful day when he composed a catchy tune to John DeNardo’s (SF Signal’s poet laureate) lyrical tribute to Summer Glau. The sheet music to his song “The Ballad of Wilson Cole” appears in the appendix of Mike Resnick’s novel: Starship: Flagship published by Pyr. http://johnanealio.com/

Patrick Hester is an author, blogger, podcaster and functional nerd who hangs out and publishes his stuff at his blog, ‘All things from my brain’ over at atfmb.com and on his twitter feed @atfmb. Patrick’s goal is to be a published author someday. He currently publishes a serialized science fiction story called Evermist on his website while toiling away with the usual submission process for unrepresented authors. His professional life is often odd and chaotic; having had so many different responsibilities and positions throughout the years, from tech/IT to marketing to sales, he can pretty much do whatever needs to get done – this, and the fact that he loves science fiction and fantasy, has led his bosses past and present to christen him as a ‘functional nerd’…  http://www.atfmb.com/

Elizabeth “Dr. Evil” Huffman Esq. has been involved in Fandom for over 25 years; and a part of the Dorsai Irregulars for over 20. Elizabeth has worked in the art show and was one of the founders of G.O.D. (Gophers On Demand) at Capricon. She recently passed the bar making her officially an Evil lawyer. Ask her how one of her gaming sessions caused Tom Smith to write one of his popular songs.

Margaret Weis was born and raised in Independence, Missouri. She attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, graduating in 1970 with a BA degree in Literature and Creative Writing. In 1983, she moved to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to take a job as book editor at TSR, Inc., producers of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® role-playing game.At TSR, Weis became part of the DRAGONLANCE® design team. Created by Tracy Hickman, the Dragonlance world has continued to intrigue fans of both the novel and the game for generations. Hickman and Weis wrote the first of many fantasty novels, the DRAGONLANCE CHRONICLES, which are still in print after almost thirty years. The books have sold over twenty million copies world wide.

Weis is the author/co-author of several other New York Times best-selling series, including DARKSWORD, ROSE OF THE PROHET, STAR OF THE GUARDIANS, THE DEATHGATE CYCLE, DRAGONSHIPS. Her new series, with author, Robert Krammes, THE DRAGON BRIGADE, is being published by Tor Books.

Weis and Tracy Hickman are currently working on the fourth book in the DRAGONSHIPS series, Doom of the Dragon, published by Tor in 2015.

Weis and her daughter, Lizz, have written two paranormal romance novels, WARRIOR ANGLE and REBEL ANGEL, published by Daw.

Weis is the owner of MARGARET WEIS PRODUCTIONS, LTD, a publishing company specializing in licensed RPGs. Their newest product is the FIREFLY role-playing game, based on the critically acclaimed and wildly popular TV series by Joss Whedon.

Weis lives in Wisconsin with four dogs, Max, Dixie, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan. Weis and her dogs, Dixie and Joey and Clancy, enjoy competing in flyball tournaments with their team, the BC Boomerangs. http://margaretweis.com/