Guests of Honor

Phil and Kaja Foglio

Studio Foglio

Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/

Phil Foglio

(b. May 1, 1956) American artist and cartoonist Philip P. Foglio (pronounced Foh-Lee-o) grew up in New York. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where he earned a BFA in cartooning (1978). Foglio was an enthusiastic science fiction fan artist. Nominated for Best Fan Artist Hugo Awards in 1976, 1977 and 1978, winning the Award in 1977 and 1978. He was also nominated the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo along with Robert Asprin for the slide show The Capture. Foglio’s first professionally published art was for “Taking the Fifth” in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, (1978).

He married Kaja Foglio in 1993, and they founded Studio Foglio in 1995. Foglio produced card art for Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering collector card game.

In 2001 Phil & Kaja released the first issue of Girl Genius as a quarterly comic book series. In 2005, they were the first publisher to take an existing commercial comics property and put it online for free. Within a year of becoming a free webcomic, sales had tripled, and their readership had climbed over 100,000. As Phil has put it, “Giving our stuff away for free was the best business decision we ever made.”

Foglio was a professional artist Hugo nominee in 2008. In 2009, he and Kaja won the first Graphic Story Hugo Award for Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones. They won the category again in 2010 for Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm, and in 2011 for Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse. At this point, they announced that they would take a one-year hiatus from the category.

Phil and Kaja are co-writing a series the Girl Genius prose novels, as well. The first two volumes, Agatha H. and the Airship City, and Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, were published by Night Shade Books. The third novel in the series, Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle, is scheduled for Fall 2014 release from Sky Horse Press.

The Foglios continue to live in Seattle and have two children. They enjoy travel, video games and old books.

Kaja Foglio

Kaja Foglio (born 1/12/70) is a Seattle-based writer, artist and publisher. She majored in Fine Art at the University of Washington. For her final, she painted a cinder block orange, put it in a public place and refused to be embarrassed.

She met Phil Foglio in 1990, introduced by her comic book dealer, who knew she collected Phil’s comics, and thus probably wouldn’t mind having dinner with him. That all worked out remarkably well. They were married in 1993.

She and Phil founded Studio Foglio, LLC in 1993 as a venue for her Magic the Gathering art prints, but quickly expanded into publishing.

She co-writes the comic series Girl Genius, which debuted in 2001, with her husband Phil. She is the chief graphic designer and web mistress for Studio Foglio and Airship Entertainment. In 2005, she masterminded their stunningly successful and unprecedented transition from traditional periodical to free webcomic. Counter-intuitively, despite the fact that they were now “giving their product away for free”, their sales tripled within the first year.

Kaja, Phil and their two adorable children continue to live the ecotopia that is Seattle. She is interested in improbable Japanese harem romance mangas and is in the process of converting their home into an impregnable steampunk fortress. You can read Girl Genius comics online at www.girlgenius.net.

Ksenia Anske

Genre(s): Urban Fantasy

http://www.kseniaanske.com/

Ksenia was born in Moscow, Russia, and came to US in 1998 not knowing English, having studied architecture and not dreaming that one day she'd be writing. SIREN SUICIDES, an urban fantasy set in Seattle, is her first novel. She lives in Seattle with her boyfriend and their combined three kids in a house that they like to call The Loony Bin.

Richard Beckham II

Genre(s): Fantasy, Myth, Literary

http://www.richardbeckham.com

Richard Beckham II holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Antioch University Los Angeles. He is a graduate from the University of Washington with a degree in English, where he wrote articles for the school's alternative newspaper. His paintings have appeared in shops, restaurants, and galleries in and around Seattle, where he also performed original music, which has been on the radio. As an author, he has published short stories and poetry, as well as two novels through Realm Crux Books. He was the Managing Editor for Gold Man Review, a literary journal based out of Salem, Oregon. He lives in Seattle with his wife.

Johnathan Bigelow

Genre(s): Comics

http:/www.stairwellonline.com

Johnathan Bigelow is a Seattle native and comic strip enthusiast. He started running his first comic strip in his high school paper and then eventually started publishing on the web. His first foray into comics, "A Rusty Life" ran for 10 years and over 1000 comic strips. In 2012, Johnathan temporarily shelved all other projects to begin work on the daily comic strip "Stairwell" which follows Norman and his subconscious. Stairwell, still in circulation, is approaching its second full year of strips and continues to delight readers of all ages.

Raymond Bolton

Genre(s): Science Fiction

http://www.raymondbolton.com

Raymond's goal is to craft gripping stories about the human condition, whether they are set here or another world. He has written award-winning poetry and four novels. Two are explorations in science fiction: Awakening, an epic, released in January, 2014, and Thought Gazer, an adventure, the first volume of a planned prequel trilogy, expected to be released later this year.

In 2013, under its working title, Renunciation, Awakening was one of eight finalists among 950 entries from the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Europe and Australia in the Pacific Northwest Writers Associations Literary Contest. Hailed on BookViral.com as “a grand debut… [that] breathes originality into the genre”, Awakening is receiving almost all five star reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads.

Zachary Bonelli

Fuzzy Hedgehog Press

Genre(s): Science Fiction

http://www.zacharybonelli.com

Zachary loves stories. He's long been fascinated by video games as a storytelling medium, and loves exploring different cultures, discovering the different underlying stories that different groups of people tell themselves, the stories that define who we are and how we perceive the world.

He lives with his partner near Seattle, Washington, where he works as a web developer. He's also the owner and operator of Fuzzy Hedgehog Press.

Elwin Cotman

Genre(s): Fantasy

http://www.lookmanoagent.blogspot.com

Elwin Cotman is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of two fantasy story collections published by Six Gallery Press: THE JACK DANIELS SESSIONS EP (2010) and HARD TIMES BLUES (2013). He is as old as the movie Purple Rain. He is a former resident of the Cyberpunk Apocalypse Writers' Cooperative. In 2005 he received his BA in Creative Writing from the University of Pittsburgh, and received his MFA from Mills College in 2012.

Angela Darling

Genre(s): Romance, History, Gothic

http://www.angela-darling.com

Angela Darling is a novelist who lives in the Seattle area. She published her first novel, Fallen, in 2011 and is currently working on a seventh. Her novels are richly infused with history, romance, and dark gothic horror. Her biggest writing influences include Edgar Allan Poe and Shirley Jackson. In keeping aligned with her fascination for sweeping family sagas, she held her very first book signing last June in Red Hook, NY at the Elmendorph Inn, a house her family once owned that was built in the 1760s.

David A. Davies

Genre(s): Fiction, Action/Suspense/Thriller

http://www.ThePotentialaNovel.com

David A. Davies is an independent security consultant with experience in executive protection, investigations, and physical security design. He has been engaged in the security industry in both the public and private sectors for more than twenty years. David resides with his family in the greater Seattle area.

East Point West Press

Griffith H. Williams and Laurie A. Williams

Genre(s): Poetry

http://www.eastpointwestpress.com

Griffith H. Williams, owner and operator of East Point West Press has been hand producing letterpress chapbooks of original poetry for the past twenty years. Illustrated with original linoleum block cuts, these hand bound books are beautiful to look at and inspiring to read. Subject matter ranges from mythology to history, nature to science, children's poetry to philosophy. Welsh-American themes inform many, but by no means all, of these books. Written in formal verse, the poems offer a timeless perspective. Produced with archival materials on antique equipment, the books seem to come from another age. Pick one up today to enter Aristotle's "unity of time."

Mik Everett

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

Mik Everett was born in Wichita, Kansas, to an accountant and an occupational therapist. Her childhood was divided between writing voraciously and rescuing baby birds. Everett currently divides her time between Wichita, Kansas; Boulder, Colorado; and the solace of tiny mountain towns that either have names you wouldn't recognize or don't have names at all. She has published two novels and has several more in the works.

Thomas W. Everson

Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction

http://www.tweverson.com

Thomas W. Everson is a father of an autistic 8 year old boy and has been married for nearly ten years. When he is not working his day job or writing he is spending his time with them, indulging in fantasy through shows or games. He lives in the Puyallup, Washington, area and was born and raised in the Northwest, seldom straying from the overcast skies.

Though he currently works as an aircraft component repair mechanic by day, by night he moonlights as a writer. His head has always been in the clouds with grand ideas for stories and he has the drive to become a great writer.

T.M. Franklin

Genre(s): Fantasy, YA

http://www.TMFranklin.com

Two-time Emmy Award-winning TV news producer, T.M. Franklin, gave up the newsroom and now spends her time writing young adult fiction. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well-received, being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader’s Choice Awards.

Brad Gallaway

Genre(s): Fantasy, Horror

http://drinkingcoffeecola.blogspot.com/

Brad Gallaway is a happily married man and father of two, currently living in Seattle. When not parenting, he’s the editor of Gamecritics.com and has been a published video game reviewer for over 13 years. He also blogs regularly at DrinkingCoffeecola.blogspot.com, and in the few minutes of downtime he manages to find, he cooks upside-down cinnamon salmon. He also knows that Han shot first, a correctly-timed greatsword swing can knock a Rathalos out of the skies, and he still collects Transformers.

Andrew Golub (AKA "Durandy")

Genre(s): Photography Book

http://www.durandy.com/

Andrew is a Duran Duran archivist, owning/curating the largest collection of Duran posters in the world. After three decades of taking his passion to a higher plane (including a loan to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and two exhibits - one of them at the Art/Not Terminal gallery), Andrew’s new book chronicles the band’s career through selected posters from his archive. Duran Duran has called the book "magnificent."

Billie Grable

Genre(s): Fiction/Paranormal

http://theweepingwillowsings.com/

Billie Grable studied creative writing and literary journalism before being accepted into the University of Washington’s advanced commercial fiction class. Her work has been published in NW Runners Magazine and on MSN.com. Her first novel, The Weeping Willow Sings, is a blend of fantasy and fiction and provides a glimpse into the theory of life after death and the possibility for the dead to make amends with those still living. A Pacific Northwest native, she cherishes her time with her two daughters, grandson and granddaughter.

Roberta Gregory

Genre(s): Comics

http://www.robertagregory.com

Roberta Gregory has been creating her unique comics since the 1970s, with appearances in "undergrounds" like Wimmen's Comix and her own title, Dynamite Damsels. She was in almost all the issues of Gay Comix in the 1980s; during the 1990s she produced 40 issues (and many collections) of her Fantagraphics solo title, Naughty Bits. Her Bitchy Bitch character has been translated into several languages and appeared in a weekly strip, live theater productions and a cable television animated series. Roberta also created the Winging It graphic novel, Sheila and the Unicorn, and Artistic Licentiousness, among many appearances in anthologies, including Graphic Canon. She is currently working on a Bitchy graphic novel, and the Mother Mountain series, (and much more!) and recently published her Follow Your Art book of travel comics and True Cat Toons, true cat comics. To keep up with her latest work visit robertagregory.com and truecattoons.com.

Elizabeth Guizzetti

Genre(s): Fantasy, Science Fiction

http://www.elizabethguizzetti.com

Much to her chagrin, Elizabeth Guizzetti discovered she was not a cyborg and growing up to be an otter would be impractical, so she began writing stories. She is the author and illustrator of independent comics Faminelands, Lure, and Out for Souls&Cookies. Her debut science fiction novel Other Systems was released in 2013. Elizabeth currently lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs. She looks forward to a future in a robot body.

Howard Hansen

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

For much of his life, Howie has assembled the lore and language of his native people, supplementing his own copious writings (more than a million words) with tape recordings and his own drawings of the personalities he knew in the tribe, and depictions of the serene coastal village where they lived, La Push. He is a terrific artist, and for years he has been an art instructor in Seattle.

Tom Harvey

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

Tom Harvey was born in 1968 and lives in Bellevue, Washington with his wife and Shiba Inu. His second book, "Don't Fight With the Garden Hose and Other Lessons I've Learned Along the Way" was released on September 9, 2013!

David D. Horowitz

Rose Alley Press

Genre(s): Literary

http://www.rosealleypress.com

David D. Horowitz founded and manages Rose Alley Press, which published five of his poetry collections, including his most recent: Sky Above the Temple (2012). David's poems have appeared in Candelabrum, The New Formalist, The Lyric, The Smoking Poet, and many other journals and anthologies, and his essays regularly appear in Exterminating Angel. David frequently organizes readings in the Seattle area, and he maintains a website: http://www.rosealleypress.com.

John Lesage

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

This work interweaves historical essays into a personal narrative of the American road. The author drove from Seattle to the East Coast, seeking out places related to the history of racial relations. In the spirit of Howard Zinn, this work will satisfy those exasperated with common portrayals of history.

A. Ka

Fuzzy Hedgehog Press

Genre(s): Historical Fantasy

http://www.akarchy.com

Aubry Kae Andersen, also known as A. Ka (yes, she knows and embraces the absurdity of that pseudonym), currently lives in Seattle, WA. She’s an artist, an illustrator, and a writer. To make ends meet, she also pimps out her web design services through her business the AKArchy. As an artist, Aubry collaborates with Zachary Bonelli by providing cover and chapter illustrations for his Voyage series.

Her debut novel, Isaac the Fortunate, is a serialized historical fantasy set in the Renaissance, with time travel and demons and deadly plagues. The first two parts, "The Winter" and "The Spring" have already been released by Fuzzy Hedgehog Press, and the third part, "The Summer," will be released in June 2014.

Dr. Robin LaDue and Mary Kay Voss

Genre(s): History, Biography, Memoir

http://www.septembertotems.com

Dr. Robin LaDue is a retired clinical psychologist formerly in private practice. She earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from Washington State University. She was affiliated with the University of Missouri, Kansas City, the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Native American Center of Excellence and a visiting professor at Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand.

She is a member of the Taidnapam band and an enrolled member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe of Washington. She is the Emmy-nominated author of the “Journey Through the Healing Circle” books and video.

As a psychologist, Dr. LaDue focused on walking personal journeys with trauma survivors, helping turn wounds of loss and trauma into strengths of the future. She lectured worldwide on the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol, historical trauma in Native American communities, the consequences of, and treatment for, psychological trauma, including traditional Native methods of treatment.

Mary Kay Voss is a writer, financial advisor, business owner, who provided the "white culture" perspective and questions, edited and timelined.

Michael Matewauk

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

Michael Matewauk was born in San Francisco one year before the "Summer of Love" and regrets being too young to remember much of anything. Besides his unhealthy obsession with Mark Twain, Michael spends his time listening to elevator music and making paper mache puppets of fictional characters from literary classics.

Robert R. Mitchell

Genre(s): Literary

Goodreads Blog

Robert grew up mowing lawns and house-sitting for neighbors and got his first job with an actual paycheck in high school mopping floors in a nursing home with his future wife. After college, he wrote a family history for a prominent Ballard businessman and philanthropist, worked for Starbucks, threw newspapers, delivered milk in a truck painted like a cow and worked for an international telecommunications company. Robert lives in Bothell, Washington with his wife and two sons. He enjoys hunting and fishing with their oldest and watching the youngest play baseball. Only Shot At A Good Tombstone is his first novel.

Lisa Noble

Genre(s): Poetry

http://lisasstoriesblog.wordpress.com

Lisa Noble is a NW published poet, writer and illustrator. She hosts a Poets West poetry reading venue every first Thursday for the B-Town Beat Burien Art Walk at Phoenix Tea. Her writing and art work have appeared in Sage Woman Magazine, Los Cruces Literary Magazine and The Beltane Papers. Lisa has been a regular contributor to We’Moon publications since 2004. A graduate of the Institute for Children’s Literature, she is the author and illustrator of her first Young Adult novel: The Charman Chronicles: The Book of Fire; available in book or Kindle format on Amazon.com. She has created a portable art show of matted prints based on her illustrations displaying her work at: Merryweather Books, Burien Books and Fremont First Friday Art Walks. Visit Lisa’s blog posting her children’s stories and illustrations: “Stories from the Kid’s Table”

Moses Pate

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

Moses enjoys restoring and operating heavy construction equipment. Old cranes are his forte. He is an avid reader of histories and biographies. Moses and his wife Susan live in Mobile, Alabama. They have four children, and eight grandchildren.

Lala Rukh

Genre(s): Cookbook

www.lalacookspunjabi.com

Lala Rukh was a finalist in MasterChef USA cook-off. She enjoys preparing simple, nutritious and delicious meals for her family and friends. Lala Rukh is a retired high school biology teacher. She utilizes her knowledge of the life sciences and experience as a teacher for 38 years to create simple and healthful Punjabi dishes, many of which are gluten free and vegetarian. The recipes are delicious but still easy to understand and prepare. Perfect for the working parent, novice home cook and even the experienced chef looking to expand their culinary horizons!

Born and raised Lahore, Pakistan, Lala fondly details her life experiences as short stories that add even more spice to her sumptuous cookbook. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington, where she loves to explore new culinary treats and play with 2 of her beautiful granddaughters.

Bob Sluys

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

These are the memoirs of a nobody Dutch immigrant who travelled the world as a musician and then taught show business in college followed by selling real estate in Las Vegas during the epic boom and being financially ruined by the historic collapse that ensued, who in the meantime had a career as a commercial pilot derailed by a congenital heart defect resulting in four open heart surgeries over an 18 year period with a hip replacement thrown in for good measure all whilst becoming a world-renown authority on the Scrabble word game.

Bruce B. Taylor

Genre(s): Science Fiction, Fantasy

http://www.mrmagicrealism.com

Bruce Taylor, aka. "Mr. Magic Realism" is best known for writing magic realism: think of "Twilight Zone," Marquez, and Kafka, who many consider to be the father of magic realism. He has had around 200+ short stories published, written about a thousand, has had five books published ("Kafka's Uncle and Other Strange Tales" which was nominated for the &NOW Award for Innovative Writing, SUNY, "Edward: Dancing On the Edge of Infinity," "Stormworld." co-authored with Brian Herbert. "Mountains of the Night," and "Magic of Wild Places," the first two books of a "spiritual trilogy" have been published with the third book ("Majesty of the World") currently being written. A collection of novellas, "Alembical," in which his novella, "13 Miles to Paradise" appeared, received a starred review in "Publishers Weekly." Bruce's new novel, "Industrial Carpet Drag," (Bizarro Pulp Publishers) will be out soon. He has also several single author anthologies in print and appears in many multi-author anthologies. He is a life-long resident of Seattle.

Rob Zerr

Genre(s): Memoir

http://www.factoryvsacademy.com/

For the last three decades, Robb (aka Hurricane) has lived a pirate’s life, traveling the world as a performer, musician, actor and storyteller. In Memoirs of a Buccaneer: 30 Years Before the Mast, he shares his many bold adventures and legendary misadventures with you. The story begins in the early 1980s in the Pacific Northwest as the youngest member of the only known pirate entertainment troupe in the country at the time, and ends in Key West, Florida in 2011 where Robb rediscovers his love of piracy.