var program = [{"id":"1","title":"Welcome to ArmadilloCon!","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"240","name":"Jonathan Miles (moderator)"},{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn"},{"id":"312","name":"Ryan Leslie"},{"id":"61","name":"Skyler Gray"},{"id":"74","name":"Paige E. Ewing"}],"desc":"We are so happy to see you again! Learn about all the can't-miss events you should attend to get the most out of this year's con!\r\n"},{"id":"2","title":"\"Monster Melohorror\" and Othered Representation in Classic Films","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"450","name":"Randee Dawn (moderator)"},{"id":"422","name":"Max Booth III"},{"id":"49","name":"Derek Austin Johnson"},{"id":"5","name":"Jennifer Juday"},{"id":"501","name":"Eric Williams"}],"desc":"Classic films were often restrained in what they could show due to Hollywood's Hayes code and societal censorship. But there's a *lot* of subtext, hidden messages and neurodivergent representation in some of those films that many people don't necessarily realize. While many of these films don't show the \"othered\" character getting a happy ending (such was the Hollywood code), it's worth discussing representation in old films and where we can find it. "},{"id":"3","title":"Speculative Poetry: Award-Worthy?","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"184","name":"Holly Lyn Walrath (moderator)"},{"id":"29","name":"Michelle Muenzler"},{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey"},{"id":"32","name":"DRR Chang"}],"desc":"Speculative poetry is having a moment. Two major science fiction and fantasy awards are recognizing poetry in 2025-2026, with the special Hugo Award for poetry and the Nebula Award new category for poetry. While speculative poetry has always been a part of the speculative genres from their beginning, it rarely receives recognition. Join a panel of speculative poets for a discussion on the value of poetry in speculative genres. \r\n"},{"id":"4","title":"What Are the Elements of Writer's Block?","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins (moderator)"},{"id":"405","name":"Mur Lafferty"},{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba"},{"id":"540","name":"Ann Michelle Harris"},{"id":"61","name":"Skyler Gray"},{"id":"63","name":"Rhonda Eudaly"}],"desc":"Perhaps you are feeling too blocked to say anything about this topic?  "},{"id":"5","title":"Space Squid Karaoke Night","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"22:00","mins":"150","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"32","name":"DRR Chang (moderator)"}],"desc":"DRR Chang spins up the hits which _you_ sing long into the night."},{"id":"8","title":"Is Being a Writer Worth Paying the Self-employment Taxes?","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"289","name":"Clayton Hackett (moderator)"},{"id":"32","name":"DRR Chang"},{"id":"493","name":"Julia Vee"},{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins"}],"desc":"Tips, tricks, gripes and warnings from the independent business income trenches"},{"id":"10","title":"Shakespeare as a Fantasy Author","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"26","name":"Patrice Sarath (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris"},{"id":"308","name":"Elizabeth Cobbe"},{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun"},{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins"}],"desc":"Ghosts, witches, a whole fairy kingdom, prophetic visions. All of Shakespeare's work has a touch of magic, which still resonants with audiences today."},{"id":"11","title":"Writers Who Still Read 50+ Books Per Year","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"22:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"455","name":"A.E. Lanier (moderator)"},{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron"},{"id":"322","name":"Elizabeth Rubio"},{"id":"383","name":"Jessie Mihalik"}],"desc":"How do we find the time? Where do we find the good stuff? What do we read, and how have our reading habits changed over time? "},{"id":"12","title":"The Web Serial for Fun and Profit","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"424","name":"Abby Goldsmith (moderator)"}],"desc":"How would you like to interact with fans on a daily basis? Join Abby Goldsmith, whose sci-fi Torth series gained over 2000 followers on Royal Road in two months. "},{"id":"13","title":"LitRPG and Progression Fantasy","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"424","name":"Abby Goldsmith (moderator)"},{"id":"291","name":"K.D. Blade"},{"id":"312","name":"Ryan Leslie"},{"id":"32","name":"DRR Chang"},{"id":"330","name":"Amber Fisher"}],"desc":"Dungeon Crawler Carl is a best-selling hit, and he's not the only one. Is literary RPG style writing a passing fad, a rebrand of heroic fantasy, or a new subgenre? "},{"id":"14","title":"Compelling Heroes and Villains","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins (moderator)"},{"id":"306","name":"Paul Benjamin"},{"id":"348","name":"Keith Lansdale"},{"id":"442","name":"C.S. Humble"},{"id":"83","name":"Josh Rountree"}],"desc":"Character contrast, interpersonal power dynamics, and other ingredients go into creating memorable characters that keep readers turning pages."},{"id":"15","title":"Deep Research: Why We Know So Much About Medieval Peasant Mobs","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey (moderator)"},{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins"},{"id":"497","name":"Hana Lee"},{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke"}],"desc":"Let our panelists shower you with obscure historical facts they've gleaned after weeks of painstaking research. "},{"id":"18","title":"History of Pulp Magazines","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn (moderator)"},{"id":"26","name":"Patrice Sarath"},{"id":"329","name":"Jacob Weisman"},{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke"}],"desc":"The pulps play an important role in the history of speculative fiction; from the creation of canons, the defining of the genre, and the establishment of fandoms, much of this early work was accomplished in the pages of magazines like Weird Tales, Amazing Stories and more.  The origins, controversies, and material histories of these magazine provide important insights into modern literature's origins and limitations."},{"id":"19","title":"Robert E. Howard: Life, Legend, and Legacy","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"73","name":"Adrian Simmons (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn"},{"id":"501","name":"Eric Williams"},{"id":"55","name":"Christopher Brown"}],"desc":"Robert E. Howard, one of the most important pulp writers of the 20th Century, was also a Texan. Whether it's envisioning Cimmeria after a rainy trip to the Hill Country, creating the Weird Western to explore the folklore of Texas, or the profound effects of living in a west Texas oil boomtown had on his fiction, his identity as a Texan in inextricable from his writing. This includes all the bad implications of that identity, as his racism underpins his writing and demands examination."},{"id":"20","title":"Speculative Geology","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"501","name":"Eric Williams (moderator)"},{"id":"332","name":"Avery Parks"},{"id":"340","name":"Shlomi Harif"},{"id":"56","name":"Lauren C. Teffeau"}],"desc":"From those weird ass right angle mountains around Mordor to the hard-edged geologizing in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, the earth sciences are an important and tricky part of much of speculative fiction! "},{"id":"23","title":"Understanding Why GenAI Is Problematic","url":"","tags":["Science & Technology*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"22:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"450","name":"Randee Dawn (moderator)"},{"id":"312","name":"Ryan Leslie"},{"id":"74","name":"Paige E. Ewing"},{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke"}],"desc":"There's a lot of shouting about why AI is evil- stealing from creators, environmental disaster, breaking the internet- but many people also don't know why there's so much shouting. After the recent kerfuffle around large language model (LLM) usage to help with guest selection at WorldCon, it's worth starting from scratch with those who \"don't see the problem.\" "},{"id":"25","title":"Storycraft 101: Basic Storycrafting","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"130","name":"A. Lee Martinez (moderator)"},{"id":"119","name":"C. Stuart Hardwick"},{"id":"182","name":"Alexis Glynn Latner"},{"id":"343","name":"Vivien Jackson"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"Everyone asks writers, \"Where do you get your ideas?\" but the real question is, \"What do you do once you have an idea?\"  How do you take those initial elements of inspiration and hammer them into a story?  What are the basics?"},{"id":"26","title":"Storycraft 117: A Failure to Plan is a Plan to Fail","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"56","name":"Lauren C. Teffeau (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"318","name":"Marina Lostetter"},{"id":"420","name":"Lenore Alecto"},{"id":"60","name":"D.L. Young"}],"desc":"When coming up with how to put a story together, there are Planners and there are Pantsters.  This one is for the planners: How do you plan?  Do you start with an outline, a structure, and if so, how do you figure out HOW to outline.  That and more will be discussed by self-identified plotters on the panel."},{"id":"27","title":"Storycraft 119: By The Seat Of Your Pants","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"99","name":"Stina Leicht (moderator)"},{"id":"184","name":"Holly Lyn Walrath"},{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris"},{"id":"383","name":"Jessie Mihalik"},{"id":"63","name":"Rhonda Eudaly"},{"id":"83","name":"Josh Rountree"}],"desc":"When coming up with how to put a story together, there are Planners and there are Pantsters. This one is for the pantsers: If you don't know where the story is going or where it's headed, how do you navigate your way through it.  How do you tell the story to yourself in a way that it will make sense to the reader?  That and more will be discussed by self-identified pantsers on the panel."},{"id":"29","title":"Romantasy - Would you Like Some Romance With Your Fantasy","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"383","name":"Jessie Mihalik (moderator)"},{"id":"305","name":"Aparna Verma"},{"id":"399","name":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "},{"id":"444","name":"Laura Gal\u00e1n-Wells"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"}],"desc":"Romantasy has become the hot driving subgenre of the day.  Has this been good for Fantasy as a whole?  Is this a new entryway into genre, or its own audience cul-de-sac?  And is this trend going to go the distance, or will it not have the endurance?"},{"id":"31","title":"The Agent Game: Querying and R&R FAQ","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"444","name":"Laura Gal\u00e1n-Wells (moderator)"},{"id":"308","name":"Elizabeth Cobbe"},{"id":"461","name":"Rae Wilde"}],"desc":"A panel discussing querying and R&R advice by panelists who have gotten an agent in the last few years."},{"id":"34","title":"So How About that Murderbot?","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"308","name":"Elizabeth Cobbe (moderator)"},{"id":"343","name":"Vivien Jackson"},{"id":"405","name":"Mur Lafferty"},{"id":"531","name":"Lori Anderson"},{"id":"99","name":"Stina Leicht"}],"desc":"An appreciation of the Apple+ series."},{"id":"35","title":"Is Numbering Bad?","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"52","name":"David Afsharirad (moderator)"},{"id":"45","name":"Rick Klaw"},{"id":"450","name":"Randee Dawn"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"}],"desc":"Throughout the history of SFF, publishers and writers insist on numbering series even though each book in a series suffers from diminishing. Additionally if the writer has to change publishers, it makes it very impossible to do resell them. No other genre is as opposed with numbering series as SFF. Mysteries, romance, and westerns series have successfully published ongoing novels about the same characters with great success. Why do SFF writers and publishers insist on following the falied model?"},{"id":"36","title":"Tachyon Publications 30th Anniversary ","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"45","name":"Rick Klaw (moderator)"},{"id":"329","name":"Jacob Weisman"},{"id":"534","name":"Mia Tsai"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"},{"id":"83","name":"Josh Rountree"}],"desc":"Tachyon Publisher Jacob Weisman, editor Rick Klaw, and writers Samantha Mills, Josh Rountree, and Mia Tsai discuss the small press--past, present, and future.\r\n . "},{"id":"37","title":"The Joe R. Lansdale Legacy","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"45","name":"Rick Klaw (moderator)"},{"id":"291","name":"K.D. Blade"},{"id":"348","name":"Keith Lansdale"},{"id":"52","name":"David Afsharirad"},{"id":"83","name":"Josh Rountree"}],"desc":"Eleven-time Bram Stoker winner Joe R. Lansdale has influenced many popular horror writers including Joe Hill, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones, and Brian Keene. Lansdale was one of the earliest horror writers to portray horror not in the abstract. but as realistic, intimate, and impossible to ignore. Join us in an appreciation of Lansdale's work and influence."},{"id":"38","title":"Nosferatu and the Modern Vampire Story","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"353","name":"Lauren Raye Snow (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"401","name":"C.L. Irwin "},{"id":"49","name":"Derek Austin Johnson"},{"id":"541","name":"Mariana Col\u00edn"},{"id":"99","name":"Stina Leicht"}],"desc":"It's a century later and Nosferatu is back!  We keep telling the classic vampire story in new ways, but what brings us back?  What did this latest version to bring fresh blood to the story?"},{"id":"39","title":"Flash Fiction Thunderdome","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"29","name":"Michelle Muenzler (moderator)"},{"id":"184","name":"Holly Lyn Walrath"},{"id":"27","name":"William Ledbetter"},{"id":"422","name":"Max Booth III"},{"id":"542","name":"Tracy S. Morris"}],"desc":"The audience or a moderator gives a prompt and the panelists must create a flash story based on the prompt within 3 to 5 minutes etc. "},{"id":"40","title":"What is the Value of Climate Fiction?","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"182","name":"Alexis Glynn Latner (moderator)"},{"id":"289","name":"Clayton Hackett"},{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey"},{"id":"532","name":"Ellie Blackwood"},{"id":"55","name":"Christopher Brown"}],"desc":"While Kim Stanley Robinson' THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE garnered much recognition and praise, others have criticized it for being unrealistic or overly optimistic. Does climate fiction that fails to suspend the reader's disbelief do harm to the environmentalism movement or the world at large? Does unrealistic fiction give us opportunities to envision previously unconsidered options? "},{"id":"41","title":"Is \"Elevated Horror\" Over? ","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"533","name":"Kevin Anderson (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"49","name":"Derek Austin Johnson"},{"id":"541","name":"Mariana Col\u00edn"}],"desc":"There's been debate in horror-movie-corners of the Internet that the \"elevated\" horror which characterized the 2010s (GET OUT, MIDSOMMAR, etc.) is on its way out, with \"fun\" horror back in. Is this true? What do these terms even mean? Where does the hit 2025 film SINNERS fall on this continuum? Let's discuss."},{"id":"43","title":"Space Tries To Kill You With William Frank ","url":"","tags":["Science & Technology*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"453","name":"Bill Frank (moderator)"},{"id":"27","name":"William Ledbetter"},{"id":"340","name":"Shlomi Harif"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"74","name":"Paige E. Ewing"},{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke"}],"desc":"NASA Chief Training Officer WIlliam Frank's job is to make things go wrong in space simulations and make astronauts solve the problem.  Watch him now torture SF authors with narrative scenarios that they'll improvise clever solutions for."},{"id":"44","title":"2 Fighting 2 F*cking: The Sequel of Sex & Combat Scenes","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"22:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"318","name":"Marina Lostetter (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris"},{"id":"399","name":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "},{"id":"534","name":"Mia Tsai"}],"desc":"Three years ago we had the panel \"F*cking & Fighting: The Commonality of Fight and Sex Scenes\", and with the colossal rise of high-spice romantasy, it's time to strip down and wade back in to the grapple.  "},{"id":"45","title":"Surfing the Bookternet: Creating Bookish and Fandom Content Across Different Social Media Platforms","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"136","name":"Van of The Van Show (moderator)"},{"id":"305","name":"Aparna Verma"},{"id":"399","name":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "},{"id":"424","name":"Abby Goldsmith"},{"id":"532","name":"Ellie Blackwood"}],"desc":"The bookish side of the Internet encompasses many different platforms: BookTok, BookTube, Bookstagram, BookSky, BookThreads, Book-whatever-we’re-calling-Twitter-now. Each of these platforms comes with different expectations and prioritizes different styles of content. In this panel, creators across different social media channels will come together to discuss the similarities and differences between creating bookish and fandom content on their platform(s) of choice."},{"id":"48","title":"Jaws at 50","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"60","name":"D.L. Young (moderator)"},{"id":"119","name":"C. Stuart Hardwick"},{"id":"195","name":"Amber Royer"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"538","name":"Brad Bankston"}],"desc":"Fifty years ago, Jaws changed everything. It changed Hollywood, it launched Steven Spielberg into superstardom, it created the modern era blockbuster, and ushered in a slew of nature-on-rampage horror movies. This panel talks about its impact, and what made it the classic it instantly became."},{"id":"49","title":"Erotica and Horror: Bodies and Relationships","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"49","name":"Derek Austin Johnson (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"289","name":"Clayton Hackett"},{"id":"461","name":"Rae Wilde"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"},{"id":"541","name":"Mariana Col\u00edn"}],"desc":"This panel explores the intersections of desire and the monstrous. How does horror defy boundaries, transform bodies, intimacy, and connection? Join us as we discuss the grotesque, sexuality, and how monsters can subvert norms, fear, and taboo cravings.\r\n"},{"id":"51","title":"Storycraft 107: Character Building","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"144","name":"Rob Rogers (moderator)"},{"id":"442","name":"C.S. Humble"},{"id":"459","name":"Elizabeth Moon"},{"id":"540","name":"Ann Michelle Harris"},{"id":"55","name":"Christopher Brown"},{"id":"60","name":"D.L. Young"}],"desc":"As a writer, how do you reveal your character as more than a list of attributes? What are some techniques for making your characters seem authentic, for making them grow, and for allowing revelations about them to build over time?"},{"id":"52","title":"Reading Swap","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Reading - Multiple Authors"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"144","name":"Rob Rogers (moderator)"},{"id":"26","name":"Patrice Sarath"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"542","name":"Tracy S. Morris"}],"desc":"We've got a lot of talented writers and narrators at ArmadilloCon. Let's mix things up a bit. Each panelist will bring a short piece to be read at the panel. But *another* panelist will perform that actual reading. "},{"id":"53","title":"Storycraft 201: Intermediate Storycrafting","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"130","name":"A. Lee Martinez (moderator)"},{"id":"330","name":"Amber Fisher"},{"id":"348","name":"Keith Lansdale"},{"id":"405","name":"Mur Lafferty"},{"id":"420","name":"Lenore Alecto"},{"id":"61","name":"Skyler Gray"}],"desc":"Once you understand the basics of creating a story, how do you keep improving your skill level?  Once you've written a short story or a novel, how much of \"How did I do that?\" did you retain and internalize?  How DO you keep writing and using your skill in a repeatable way without making yourself into a \"content machine\"?"},{"id":"54","title":"Storycraft 311: The Structural Edit","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"342","name":"Sara A Mueller (moderator)"},{"id":"184","name":"Holly Lyn Walrath"},{"id":"26","name":"Patrice Sarath"},{"id":"343","name":"Vivien Jackson"}],"desc":"So\u2014 you have put together a draft of something resembling a story.  But you know: it\u2019s a mess.  It\u2019s got no character arc, the ending doesn\u2019t fit with the beginning, and there are five scenes that are just [NEED SCENE HERE].  How do you hammer this labor of love into something people will want to read?"},{"id":"55","title":"Storycraft 227: Worldbuilding vs. Lore","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"29","name":"Michelle Muenzler (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron"},{"id":"322","name":"Elizabeth Rubio"},{"id":"493","name":"Julia Vee"},{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba"}],"desc":"You\u2019ve got a story, be it in a secondary fantasy world, the far reaches of another galaxy, or a fae portal in your Aunt Janine\u2019s closet\u2014 how do you show your readers what this setting is like without an infodrop of lore?  But also, are there times when that infodrop of lore is what the story needs?  And if it\u2019s not the lore, what is \u201cworldbuilding\u201d, exactly?"},{"id":"56","title":"Storycraft 301: Advanced Storycraft","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"60","name":"D.L. Young (moderator)"},{"id":"318","name":"Marina Lostetter"},{"id":"342","name":"Sara A Mueller"},{"id":"420","name":"Lenore Alecto"},{"id":"61","name":"Skyler Gray"}],"desc":"Now that you\u2019ve got a handle on how to tell a story, how do you go from \u201cgood\u201d to \u201cgreat\u201d?  Can anyone reliably do that, or do we all face the spectre of the limits of our skill, the threat of burnout?  What can you do in order to tell your story in the best way that you can?"},{"id":"60","title":"Geek Pictionary!","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"136","name":"Van of The Van Show (moderator)"},{"id":"123","name":"A. T. Campbell, III"},{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix"},{"id":"191","name":"Scott Bobo"},{"id":"422","name":"Max Booth III"},{"id":"424","name":"Abby Goldsmith"},{"id":"531","name":"Lori Anderson"}],"desc":"With two large white pads of paper and a few markers, a panel of \"artists\" will see if they can get their teams to guess randomly chosen SFF-relevant concepts, titles, characters and other geek phrases and words. Needs a referee. Prizes are optional but fun."},{"id":"61","title":"Stealing the Shire: Fantasy Heists and Capers","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"318","name":"Marina Lostetter (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn"},{"id":"308","name":"Elizabeth Cobbe"},{"id":"493","name":"Julia Vee"},{"id":"534","name":"Mia Tsai"}],"desc":"There's a growing subgenre in contemporary fantasy fiction; the heist story, or its less-serious younger brother, the caper. Our panelists will discuss the ins and outs of planning and plotting, complications, and double-crosses, along with a few recommendations for further reading."},{"id":"62","title":"Swords & Larceny! ","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn (moderator)"},{"id":"130","name":"A. Lee Martinez"},{"id":"52","name":"David Afsharirad"},{"id":"542","name":"Tracy S. Morris"},{"id":"73","name":"Adrian Simmons"}],"desc":"Co-editors David Afsharirad and Mark Finn and several members of their crew talk about how this anthology came together at ArmadilloCon (!), what were the challenges, and who made off with the loot! "},{"id":"65","title":"Burn It All Down: Female Rage in SFF","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"489","name":"Linsey Miller (moderator)"},{"id":"184","name":"Holly Lyn Walrath"},{"id":"26","name":"Patrice Sarath"},{"id":"305","name":"Aparna Verma"},{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"Feminine rage is a powerful theme in SFF with strong female protagonists who utilize their rage for change or destruction. Some even have fire powers to literally burn it all down. What is it about female rage that compels us? Why is fire an external metaphor for feminine rage? From Stephen King\u2019s Firestarter, to Korra in Avatar, to  Angela Bassett walking away from a burning car, fire takes so many forms in stories, especially delivering righteous fury. We talk about what lights that spark."},{"id":"66","title":"SINNERS and the Shifting Cinema Landscape","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun (moderator)"},{"id":"399","name":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "},{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"},{"id":"540","name":"Ann Michelle Harris"},{"id":"541","name":"Mariana Col\u00edn"}],"desc":"SINNERS exploded into theaters early this year, becoming the talked-about movie of 2025, and breaking box-office records for a non-franchise movie, and deservedly so.  What made it so powerful, what did our panelists take from it, and what wrong lessons will the industry learn in trying to replicate its success?"},{"id":"67","title":"Wheel of Time","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"312","name":"Ryan Leslie (moderator)"},{"id":"29","name":"Michelle Muenzler"},{"id":"332","name":"Avery Parks"},{"id":"534","name":"Mia Tsai"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"}],"desc":"The Wheel of Time is one of the biggest, longest-running series in fantasy literature, but despite acclaim, the Amazon series was canceled after three seasons.  Our panelists discuss all iterations of the series, and what could have and should have been done."},{"id":"68","title":"Speculative Fiction in the South","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"489","name":"Linsey Miller (moderator)"},{"id":"442","name":"C.S. Humble"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"},{"id":"99","name":"Stina Leicht"}],"desc":"The South and southern culture provides fertile ground for speculative fiction stories, with its rich and deeply troubled history.  What stories take best advantage of the south as a setting, and what distinguishes stories set in different parts of the region?  What makes a story in Louisiana or Virginia or Texas distinctly its own?"},{"id":"69","title":"Heresy! In The SFF Canon  ","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"542","name":"Tracy S. Morris (moderator)"},{"id":"329","name":"Jacob Weisman"},{"id":"489","name":"Linsey Miller"},{"id":"535","name":"Amy Salley"},{"id":"73","name":"Adrian Simmons"}],"desc":"Got a SFF classic that you just can't stand?  Nay, can't understand why people think it's all that good in the first place?  Can't say anything nice about DUNE? Can't get past \"Concerning Hobbits\" in LOTR? Is Star Wars \"just fine\"? Seek forgiveness\/judgement for your speculative sins.  "},{"id":"70","title":"What You Should Have Read This Year","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"289","name":"Clayton Hackett (moderator)"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"489","name":"Linsey Miller"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"},{"id":"68","name":"Thomas Wagner"}],"desc":"So many great SFFH books and stories came out in the past year.  Our esteemed panel endeavors to curate a good list of the cream of the crop for you."},{"id":"71","title":"What You Should Have Watched This Year","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"306","name":"Paul Benjamin (moderator)"},{"id":"123","name":"A. T. Campbell, III"},{"id":"291","name":"K.D. Blade"},{"id":"402","name":"Beth Anderson"},{"id":"49","name":"Derek Austin Johnson"}],"desc":"So many genre movies and shows!  Which are worth talking about? Our panelists have opinions."},{"id":"72","title":"Horses for Writers 101 ","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"342","name":"Sara A Mueller (moderator)"}],"desc":"If you're writing anything preindustrial and European, you will at some point reference a horse. And the horse people are picky. Come learn how to stay (mostly) out of trouble. This is the raw basics, but as an example - you're not actually writing about brown horses, even if they're brown according to Crayloa. Come learn why not."},{"id":"73","title":"Horses for Writers 201 - How High, How Far, How Fast","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"342","name":"Sara A Mueller (moderator)"}],"desc":"Your preindustrial protagonist is running away from the enemy! They're going to escape! Let's... make that interesting. The best way to strand your protagonist, or for their pursuers to fail to catch them, is to put either or both of them on horses! You got the background basics right, but this is for the plot related issues. Come find out the difference between the possible, the probable, and the horse person rolling their eye and putting it down."},{"id":"74","title":"The Last of Us","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"32","name":"DRR Chang (moderator)"},{"id":"306","name":"Paul Benjamin"},{"id":"348","name":"Keith Lansdale"},{"id":"401","name":"C.L. Irwin "}],"desc":"The Last of Us has had a significant cultural impact through its powerful narrative, complex characters, and thematic exploration of love, loss, and human survival. The game's emotional depth and moral ambiguity have influenced character development and storytelling in gaming. The HBO adaptation has further expanded its reach, sparking broader conversations about morality, empathy, and humanity. Let's discuss what makes the game and show such compelling examples of immersive storytelling."},{"id":"75","title":"ANDOR and the future of Star Wars","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris (moderator)"},{"id":"322","name":"Elizabeth Rubio"},{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun"},{"id":"401","name":"C.L. Irwin "},{"id":"453","name":"Bill Frank"},{"id":"535","name":"Amy Salley"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"}],"desc":"ANDOR finished this year, and some are calling it the best piece of Star Wars media since the 80s.  What made it work so well, what separates it from other Star Wars media today, and what lessons do we hope are learned for the future?"},{"id":"76","title":"Severance, Foundation and the AppleTV Prestige SF Renaissance","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"289","name":"Clayton Hackett (moderator)"},{"id":"27","name":"William Ledbetter"},{"id":"306","name":"Paul Benjamin"},{"id":"424","name":"Abby Goldsmith"},{"id":"99","name":"Stina Leicht"}],"desc":"In the years since AppleTV has launched, it has brought a number of high-prestige, high-budget Science Fiction shows to life, possible some of the most daring, risk-taking works we've seen.  Even the failures-- like Sugar-- have been INTERESTING failures.  Let's talk about some of their best works."},{"id":"78","title":"Future of American Spaceflight","url":"","tags":["Science & Technology*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"27","name":"William Ledbetter (moderator)"},{"id":"119","name":"C. Stuart Hardwick"},{"id":"453","name":"Bill Frank"},{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke"}],"desc":"Lots of changes happening at\/to NASA. What do you think will happen? What should happen?"},{"id":"79","title":"Memory, Identity and Trauma in SFF","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"56","name":"Lauren C. Teffeau (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"452","name":"Lindsey Carmichael"},{"id":"455","name":"A.E. Lanier"},{"id":"497","name":"Hana Lee"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"Who are we when we don't remember what we've been through? Is the person we are written indelibly on our body, or soul, or is the mere erasure of memory enough to create a new person? Severance dives into this in detail, as well as movies like Blink Twice, and several show have had a 'tabula rasa' episode. What is it that makes us 'ourselves'?"},{"id":"81","title":"Hugo, Girl! LIVE","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"533","name":"Kevin Anderson (moderator)"},{"id":"531","name":"Lori Anderson"},{"id":"535","name":"Amy Salley"}],"desc":"Live recording of the award-winning Hugo, Girl! podcast discussing a famous Texas-adjacent horror movie sequel that you've probably heard of, filmed right here in Austin."},{"id":"84","title":"Writing as Resistance","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron (moderator)"},{"id":"182","name":"Alexis Glynn Latner"},{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey"},{"id":"459","name":"Elizabeth Moon"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"Writing in an age of oligarchs, and how we can stay prolific, support one another, and keep going.  Looking around the world right now, it can feel particularly difficult to want to keep going. But writing, no matter the topic, is resistance. So let's discuss how we can support one another, connect, and be our own heroes."},{"id":"85","title":"Sapphic Speculative Fiction","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"10:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark A"],"people":[{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron (moderator)"},{"id":"332","name":"Avery Parks"},{"id":"497","name":"Hana Lee"},{"id":"56","name":"Lauren C. Teffeau"}],"desc":"When women love women, magic happens.  Let's focus on some of the great sapphic works of speculative fiction and fantasy-- like The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri, The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir, This is How You Lose the Time War-- and celebrate what they give us."},{"id":"86","title":"A Banquet in Space, a Feast in Winterfell","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"195","name":"Amber Royer (moderator)"},{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron"},{"id":"318","name":"Marina Lostetter"},{"id":"330","name":"Amber Fisher"},{"id":"420","name":"Lenore Alecto"},{"id":"493","name":"Julia Vee"}],"desc":"What do people eat? How do you load a table with goodies, and what does it mean for the worlds you're building? Let';s step into some worldbuilding with food in faraway lands."},{"id":"87","title":"Music To Create By","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"14:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke (moderator)"},{"id":"116","name":"Aaron de Orive"},{"id":"291","name":"K.D. Blade"},{"id":"496","name":"David Hopkins"}],"desc":"What music does a writer\/artist use to help get into the right creative head space? Is it the same every outing or does it change? How do we craft an environment to best foster our creativity?"},{"id":"89","title":"Interview with Editor Guest Angelica Chong","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"305","name":"Aparna Verma (moderator)"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"}],"desc":"Interview with Editor Guest of Honor Angelica Chong"},{"id":"90","title":"Interview with Special Guest P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"68","name":"Thomas Wagner (moderator)"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"}],"desc":"Join us for an interview with Special Guest P. Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark."},{"id":"91","title":"Interview with Guest of Honor Samantha Mills","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"532","name":"Ellie Blackwood (moderator)"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"Interview with Guest of Honor Samantha Mills"},{"id":"92","title":"Fannish Feud (Game Show)","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"17:30","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn (moderator)"},{"id":"191","name":"Scott Bobo"},{"id":"53","name":"Andrew Hilbert"},{"id":"531","name":"Lori Anderson"},{"id":"533","name":"Kevin Anderson"},{"id":"535","name":"Amy Salley"},{"id":"552","name":"Bob Pastorella"},{"id":"63","name":"Rhonda Eudaly"}],"desc":" It's a game show-type event where a team of SF professionals and a team of fans compete to guess the results of a survey on SF topics."},{"id":"93","title":"ArmadilloCon Opening Ceremony","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"19:00","mins":"30","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"75","name":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke (moderator)"},{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix"},{"id":"240","name":"Jonathan Miles"},{"id":"536","name":"P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"},{"id":"537","name":"Angelica Chong"},{"id":"538","name":"Brad Bankston"},{"id":"539","name":"Samantha Mills"}],"desc":"We're opening up the festivities!"},{"id":"97","title":"Queer Exploration in Speculative Fiction","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"455","name":"A.E. Lanier (moderator)"},{"id":"291","name":"K.D. Blade"},{"id":"452","name":"Lindsey Carmichael"},{"id":"461","name":"Rae Wilde"}],"desc":"Speculative fiction provides all kinds of opportunities to explore and reimagine things like gender, attraction, and family and community structures. What are ways that genre fiction has shaped the way we think about those things and how have we explored them in our own work? "},{"id":"104","title":"Colonizing Mars ","url":"","tags":["Science & Technology*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"119","name":"C. Stuart Hardwick (moderator)"},{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey"},{"id":"340","name":"Shlomi Harif"},{"id":"453","name":"Bill Frank"},{"id":"74","name":"Paige E. Ewing"}],"desc":"It's not just rocket science - When thinking of colonizing Mars, people think about what it takes to get there. However, colonizing a planet requires living there, which is a much harder task. Our panelists discuss things you may not have considered that would be needed to colonize the Red Planet. \r\n"},{"id":"109","title":"Changing Face of Comics","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"14:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"306","name":"Paul Benjamin (moderator)"},{"id":"120","name":"David Bowles"},{"id":"538","name":"Brad Bankston"},{"id":"545","name":"Drew Edwards"}],"desc":"How has the comic book market changed in the past 20 years? The rise of the graphic novel has made comics more available, but has he purchase of DC and Marvel by larger conglomerates decreased the appetite to try new things? Is it harder to get a new take on old heroes or are we spoiled with an abundance of choice?"},{"id":"110","title":"Meet Ark Press","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"52","name":"David Afsharirad"}],"desc":"Senior Editor David Afsharirad talks about Ark Press and takes your questions."},{"id":"117","title":"Worldbuilding: SFF Expanding Horizons","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"14:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun (moderator)"},{"id":"305","name":"Aparna Verma"},{"id":"399","name":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "},{"id":"497","name":"Hana Lee"},{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba"},{"id":"534","name":"Mia Tsai"}],"desc":"There is an assumption that SFF is entirely synonymous with what has merely been the most popularized and funded version of itself-- specifically fantasy occurring in settings akin to medieval Europe, and containing a pastiche of Celtic folklorian derived creatures such as fae and dragons; America centric sci-fi involving space colonization, etc. Yet SFF is global, and encompasses many different realities, paradigms, and settings, stretching our imaginations and challenging our assumptions."},{"id":"118","title":"Can We Have Fun and Be Serious? ","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Literature*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"21:00","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun (moderator)"},{"id":"452","name":"Lindsey Carmichael"},{"id":"532","name":"Ellie Blackwood"},{"id":"68","name":"Thomas Wagner"},{"id":"74","name":"Paige E. Ewing"}],"desc":"There is a prevailing misconception that fiction that discusses important themes or challenges reader worldviews and assumptions cannot also arrive in a fun package or cannot truly be escapist literature. Is this true? Panelists will discuss novels and literature that do good work of acquitting themselves well in both categories while also discussing what escapism truly means and whether escapism is a function of literature or merely a breezy side quest in hopes of achieving a novel's aims. "},{"id":"119","title":"It\u2019s Worth HOW MUCH?!","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"10:00","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn (moderator)"},{"id":"538","name":"Brad Bankston"}],"desc":"The days of finding an Action Comics number one perfectly preserved in the attic are long gone, but people still collect all kinds of things in the hopes of one day striking it rich. Is this a wise option? What do you do with the collection at the end of your life? Join us as we discuss some of the perils and pitfalls of trying to sell your stack of 'Return of Superman' still in plastic."},{"id":"120","title":"Meet the Pros!","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"19:30","mins":"90","loc":["Lobby"],"people":"","desc":"Join us in the lobby to meet all the amazing folks at ArmadilloCon this year!"},{"id":"121","title":"Worldbuilding For Masochists LIVE!","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"317","name":"Natania Barron (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris"}],"desc":"A live recording of Worldbuilding for Masochists, where Cass, Natania and Marshall (and perhaps a special guest, who knows?) talk worldbuilding, magical nude gates, and answer questions."},{"id":"122","title":"Sensory Writing with Amber Royer \ud83c\udfa6","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"195","name":"Amber Royer (moderator)"}],"desc":"Participants will use a worksheet to record information relating to all the senses, inspired by a visual image.  They will then turn that information into a scene.  We will discuss involuntary autobiographical memory, and how a character\u2019s perspective changes how sensory details are written.  We will also consider how this impacts the tone and mood of a piece.  As time allows, volunteers will share their scenes.\r\n"},{"id":"123","title":"Disabled Stories: Tips & Pitfalls","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"16:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"452","name":"Lindsey Carmichael (moderator)"}],"desc":"Paralympian and writer Lindsey Carmichael presents some tips and pitfalls of telling disabled stories. What kinds of stories are disabled people most excited to read and write about, ourselves? What tropes can cause harm and perpetuate ableist stereotypes, especially in SFF? Lindsey doesn\u2019t have all the answers or speak for all of the 1 in 4 Americans with disabilities, which is why she is also going to offer a treasure trove of books and resources to help us all figure it out together."},{"id":"124","title":"I Was a Teenage Mars Rover","url":"","tags":["Science & Technology*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"13:00","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"87","name":"John K Gibbons (moderator)"}],"desc":"Celebrating 60 years of robotic exploration of Mars since Mariner 4, and a science update from The Curiosity rover which has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012."},{"id":"125","title":"Do You Want To Start A Podcast?","url":"","tags":["Media*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"17:30","mins":"55","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"531","name":"Lori Anderson (moderator)"},{"id":"22","name":"Marshall Ryan Maresca"},{"id":"295","name":"Cass Morris"},{"id":"405","name":"Mur Lafferty"},{"id":"533","name":"Kevin Anderson"}],"desc":"It's easy to start a podcast, isn't it?  But is it easy to keep it going, that's the question.  Folks from Hugo, Girl, I Should Be Writing and Worldbuilding for Masochists talk about the podcasting game."},{"id":"126","title":"David Bowles Presents:  The Matron","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"13:00","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"120","name":"David Bowles (moderator)"},{"id":"545","name":"Drew Edwards"}],"desc":"David Bowles presents his new feminist slasher comic mini-series The Matron with co-creator Drew Edwards!"},{"id":"127","title":"Art Auction","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"63","name":"Rhonda Eudaly"}],"desc":"Bid on things from the Art Show!  Take something glorious home with you!"},{"id":"128","title":"So It's Your First ArmadilloCon?","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"18:30","mins":"30","loc":["Ballroom E"],"people":[{"id":"335","name":"Ehigbor Okosun (moderator)"}],"desc":"If you've never come to ArmadilloCon before, come to this pre-show mixer to meet other folks who've never been before, so you have con-friends to start!  "},{"id":"129","title":"Crafts & Cocktails","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Lecture"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"50","loc":["Sweetwaters"],"people":[{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix"}],"desc":"Make glorious things with Sara Felix, and have a glorious drink while you're at it!"},{"id":"130","title":"Fairy Tale Mad Libs!","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"14:00","mins":"50","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix (moderator)"},{"id":"546","name":"Teddy Harvia"}],"desc":"The audience will give suggestions, and artist Teddy Harvia will draw the story that comes from it!"},{"id":"131","title":"The Visual Craft of Story","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"17:30","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom F"],"people":[{"id":"529","name":"Gabriella Buba (moderator)"},{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix"},{"id":"353","name":"Lauren Raye Snow"},{"id":"546","name":"Teddy Harvia"}],"desc":"An exploration of the narrative aspect of visual art. 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Don't miss the fun! "},{"id":"192","title":"John Picacio presents THE INVISIBLE PARADE","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Reading - Single Author"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"15:00","mins":"50","loc":["Ballroom D"],"people":[{"id":"187","name":"John Picacio (moderator)"}],"desc":"Hugo Award Winner John Picacio discusses his debut picture book and how he and co-author Leigh Bardugo collaborated to create this national bestseller. Book signing to follow. "},{"id":"194","title":"Austin Books: A Local Institution","url":"","tags":["Fandom*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:30","mins":"50","loc":["Southpark B"],"people":[{"id":"45","name":"Rick Klaw (moderator)"},{"id":"224","name":"Mark Finn"},{"id":"240","name":"Jonathan Miles"},{"id":"538","name":"Brad Bankston"}],"desc":"The local bookstore is having a comeback in recent years, but some, like Austin Books & Comics, have stood the test of time.  How does a local bookstore serve its community of fans and readers?"},{"id":"195","title":"Turn Ideas into Short Film Content ","url":"","tags":["Screenwriting*","\ud83d\udcc1 Workshop"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"14:00","mins":"50","loc":["Conference Center"],"people":[{"id":"476","name":"Devon Foster"}],"desc":"Screenwriting workshop to turn ideas into Short Film content, taught by Devon Foster."},{"id":"196","title":"Mock TV Writer's Room: Star Trek Voyager","url":"","tags":["Screenwriting*","\ud83d\udcc1 Workshop"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"15:00","mins":"50","loc":["Conference Center"],"people":[{"id":"463","name":"Matt Rifley"}],"desc":"Workshop in which participants mimic a TV Writer's Room, putting together an episode of Star Trek Voyager."},{"id":"197","title":"Tiara Workshop","url":"","tags":["Speculative Fiction Art*","\ud83d\udcc1 Workshop"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"11:00","mins":"50","loc":["Sweetwaters"],"people":[{"id":"188","name":"Sara Felix"}],"desc":"Make a tiara with Hugo Winning Artist Sara Felix!  $15 for materials, 15 seats available."},{"id":"198","title":"Acts of Resistance: Creating Crafted Writing Circles","url":"","tags":["Writing, Editing & Publishing*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"19:00","mins":"50","loc":["Conference Center"],"people":[{"id":"504","name":"Joi Chevalier (moderator)"},{"id":"351","name":"E.A. 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Have you ever read or written something digitally that you wish you could put together and keep on your shelf? We will go over the basic steps in book construction and how you can vary your approach. We will also discuss the growing craft of fanbinding, binding fanfiction into physical books. "},{"id":"200","title":"Play a Game: Alta Curia","url":"","tags":["Gaming*","\ud83d\udcc1 Scheduled Game"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"20:00","mins":"150","loc":["Rm 102"],"people":"","desc":"Play a one-shot collective story-telling game based on \"12 Angry Men.\""},{"id":"201","title":" I Want to Play that Deck Builder, Worker Placement, Roll and Write Game...","url":"","tags":["Gaming*","\ud83d\udcc1 Panel Discussion"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"15:00","mins":"55","loc":["Rm 102"],"people":"","desc":"Board game mechanics have come a long way since Sorry and Clue.  Come learn how a cooperative game differs from a team game, how a worker placement game is different from a tile placement game and much more.  Along the way we'll share our favorite games in each category."},{"id":"202","title":"Play a Game: Nicky Drayden's Prosper with Dragons","url":"","tags":["Gaming*","\ud83d\udcc1 Scheduled Game"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"18:00","mins":"150","loc":["Rm 102"],"people":"","desc":"In this cooperative game you will pool resources to survive disasters and woo dragons to your cause."},{"id":"203","title":"Play a Game: Not Today, Murder","url":"","tags":["Gaming*","\ud83d\udcc1 Scheduled Game"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"21:00","mins":"150","loc":["Rm 102"],"people":"","desc":"Play this hilarious party game where you try to devise the best plan to escape from a series of entertainingly \u2018murder-y\u2019 situations, but with only three random items at your disposal.\r\n"},{"id":"204","title":"Jess Nevin's Fury of the Norsemen","url":"","tags":["Gaming*","\ud83d\udcc1 Scheduled Game"],"date":"2025-09-14","time":"10:30","mins":"120","loc":["Rm 102"],"people":[{"id":"314","name":"Matthew Bey (moderator)"}],"desc":" In this short RPG sample campaign, you're a viking in a world of mythic Norse monsters."},{"id":"205","title":"Screenwriting Workshop","url":"","tags":["Screenwriting*","\ud83d\udcc1 Participatory Event"],"date":"2025-09-12","time":"10:00","mins":"480","loc":["Conference Center"],"people":[{"id":"463","name":"Matt Rifley (moderator)"},{"id":"476","name":"Devon Foster"}],"desc":"Austin Indie Fest and ArmadilloCon have teamed up to offer a Screenwriting Workshop on Friday as part of ArmadilloCon!\r\nAll day will be interactive as a group with breakout micro workshops to focus on specific genres or types of screenwriting formats (i.e., TV\/Episodic vs Feature Film). Bring a laptop or device so you can work on a project as part of some of these sessions.\r\nWant to participate?  https:\/\/armadillocon.org\/d47\/screenwriting-workshop\/"},{"id":"206","title":"Ghoulish Crew Story Hour: Readings by Jess Hagemann, Andrew Hilbert, and Bob Pastorella ","url":"","tags":["Readings*","\ud83d\udcc1 Reading - Multiple Authors"],"date":"2025-09-13","time":"20:00","mins":"50","loc":["Conference Center"],"people":[{"id":"422","name":"Max Booth III"},{"id":"509","name":"Jess Hagemann"},{"id":"53","name":"Andrew Hilbert"},{"id":"552","name":"Bob Pastorella"}],"desc":" As darkness falls, it's time to join Ghoulish Books authors Jess Hagemann, Andrew Hilbert, and Bob Pastorella in a reading guaranteed to get weird. "}];
var people = [{"id":"52","name":["David Afsharirad"],"prog":["35","37","62","110"],"bio":"David Afsharirad is Senior Editor at Ark Press. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies, magazines, and journals. He lives in Austin, TX."},{"id":"402","name":["Beth Anderson"],"prog":["41","43","48","52","70","71"],"bio":"Beth Anderson (who also publishes under A.E. Dethlefsen) writes fiction and screenplays, and her work has appeared in Not One of Us, Akashic, Horror Tree and other publications. She has an MFA in Popular Fiction from the Stonecoast Creative Writing Program. While her work spans multiple genres, including fantasy, horror and thriller, it almost always incorporates a strong woman and a dead body or two. A long-time film nerd, she spent many years working in the industry and has presented at multiple film conferences in the U.S. and Canada."},{"id":"533","name":["Kevin Anderson"],"prog":["41","81","92","125","180"],"bio":"Kevin is a life-long science fiction fan, a horror fan, and a public defender by day. He produces, edits, and creates the music for the Hugo Award-winning podcast Hugo, Girl!"},{"id":"531","name":["Lori Anderson"],"prog":["34","60","81","92","125","180"],"bio":"Lori Anderson is a lawyer and co-host of the podcast Hugo, Girl! which takes a look at Hugo award-winning novels (and sometimes other things) through a feminist lens. "},{"id":"538","name":["Brad Bankston"],"prog":["48","93","109","119","194"],"bio":"Brad Bankston is a fifty-something year old adolescent with a 40+ year passion for nerdy entertainment!\n\nCurrently, Brad is the co-owner of:\nBankston\u2019s Sports Memorabilia, Comics, & Collectibles (Waco, est. 1985)\nAustin Books & Comics (Austin, est. 1977)\nOutlaw Moon Games & Toys (Austin, est. 2014)\nGuzu Gallery (Austin, est. 2013)\nBrad has worked in, operated, or owned comic book, game, and bookstores since 1985.\n\nHe lives in Bruceville, Texas, and oversees the operation of stores in Waco and Austin."},{"id":"317","name":["Natania Barron"],"prog":["11","55","84","85","86","121","186"],"bio":"The award-winning author of Queen of None, a feminist Arthurian retelling, Natania Barron is preoccupied with mythology, monsters, mayhem, and magic. From medieval-inspired tales to Regency fantasy romance, her often historically-inspired novels are lush with description and vibrant characters. "},{"id":"306","name":["Paul Benjamin"],"prog":["14","71","74","76","109"],"bio":"Paul Benjamin is a New York Times bestselling author who has written and produced comics and video games for diverse properties including many Marvel characters such as Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, most of the DC characters in DC Universe Online, plus Disney Princesses, Star Wars, Star Trek, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, the Muppets, Monsters, Inc., G.I. Joe, and more. He is a contributing essayist in books about Buffy, G.I. Joe, and others. His manga Pantheon High was a YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens nominee. He is Narrative Director on an upcoming Warhammer video game."},{"id":"314","name":["Matthew Bey"],"prog":["3","15","40","84","104","138","175","183","204"],"bio":"Matthew Bey is a writer, editor, internet marketer, TPWD-certified elite angler, and country gentleman living in Austin, Texas. He co-founded the print zine Space Squid and assistant-edited at the Drabblecast podcast. He contributed to the futurist blog No Fear of the Future. His short stories have appeared in Black Gate Magazine, Town Drunk, Pseudopod, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, and many other venues. With co-creator Nicky Drayden, he writes the Deep Austin series."},{"id":"532","name":["Ellie Blackwood"],"prog":["40","45","91","118"],"bio":"Ellie Blackwood is a British-American SFF writer-in-progress who makes video essays about books, sci-fi, and Doctor Who."},{"id":"75","name":["Jayme Lynn Blaschke"],"prog":["15","18","23","43","78","87","93","154","185"],"bio":"Jayme Lynn Blaschke has published a variety of science fiction, fantasy and related non-fiction in such markets as Interzone, Fast Ships Black Sails, Cross Plains Universe and HelixSF, among others. A revised and expanded 50th anniversary edition of his book, Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, a non-fiction history about THAT infamous brothel is now available. A collected volume of his interviews, Voices of Vision, boasts quite possibly the most inappropriate nightmare-inducing cover ever. He's currently working on a YA science fiction novel, Sailing Venus."},{"id":"191","name":["Scott Bobo"],"prog":["60","92"],"bio":"Scott Bobo is an ardent fan who has been attending science fiction conventions since 1975.  He attended the first ArmadilloCon and has returned for most ever since.  He co-wrote with Kurt Baty the party review column for the WorldCon daily newsletter during the 1990s. Lately, he has been wrangling Hugo Award statuettes for Worldcon\/WSFS."},{"id":"422","name":["Max Booth III"],"prog":["2","39","60","144","206"],"bio":"Max Booth III is the co-owner of Ghoulish Books, which is both a small press and indie bookstore located in San Antonio, TX. They are also the author of several books, including WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING, which was later adapted into a film for IFC Midnight. Their latest novel is I BELIEVE IN MISTER BONES."},{"id":"120","name":["David Bowles"],"prog":["109","126","189"],"bio":"David Bowles is a Mexican American author and translator from South Texas, where he teaches literature and Nahuatl at the University of Texas R\u00edo Grande Valley. Among his forty published books are the multiple-award-winning They Call Me G\u00fcero, The Prince & the Coyote, and Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, as well as the series Garza Twins, 13th Street, Tales of the Feathered Serpent, and Clockwork Curandera. His short fiction can be found in venues such as Apex, Strange Horizons, the Sunday Transport, plus multiple anthologies and textbooks. He is the current president of the Texas Institute of Letters."},{"id":"55","name":["Christopher Brown"],"prog":["19","40","51","145","185"],"bio":"Christopher Brown is the author of A NATURAL HISTORY OF EMPTY LOTS: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places, published October 2024 by Timber Press, and of the novels TROPIC OF KANSAS (a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award), RULE OF CAPTURE, and FAILED STATE (a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award). He lives in Austin, where he also practices law."},{"id":"529","name":["Gabriella Buba"],"prog":["4","55","65","66","117","131","163","184"],"bio":"Gabriella Buba is a mixed Filipina-Czech author and chemical engineer based in Texas who likes to keep explosive pyrophoric materials safely contained in pressure vessels or between the covers of her books. She writes adult romantic fantasy for bold, bi, brown women who deserve to see their stories centered. Her debut SAINTS OF STORM AND SORROW is a filipino-inspired epic fantasy out with Titan Books. DAUGHTERS OF FLOOD AND FURY comes out in July 2025"},{"id":"123","name":["A. T. Campbell, III"],"prog":["60","71"],"bio":"A. T. Campbell, III has been involved in Texas fandom for over 20 years. He\u2019s helped run local cons (ArmadilloCon, OwlCon, ApolloCon), a WesterCon, a WorldCon, and 2 World Fantasy Conventions. He organizes a SF\/F reading group that recently discussed its 600th book. He was a graphics programmer in the video game industry for many years, and now he writes medical visualization software. A.T. lives in Austin with his lovely wife Carol. He was Fan Guest at ArmadilloCon 39.  "},{"id":"452","name":["Lindsey Carmichael"],"prog":["79","97","118","123"],"bio":"Lindsey Carmichael is a queer disabled writer from Austin, Texas. Her work has appeared in  the fantasy anthology Traveling Light from the Hugo-finalist podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists, as well as Reconnecting to the Body, Analecta, and Hothouse. A mutant by birth and a cyborg by science, Lindsey multiclassed as a hedgewitch and two-time Paralympian. She set a world record in archery in 2004 and won a bronze medal in 2008. As of the Paris Games, she remains the only US woman to win an Olympic or Paralympic archery medal in singles since 1996. "},{"id":"551","name":["Tiffo Carmichael"],"prog":["199"],"bio":"Tiffo Carmichael is Chair of the Education Committee at the Austin Book Arts Center. Tiffo has been in fandom since a love of the X-Files in the mid 1990s and has enjoyed gathering new fandoms to add to their basket over the last few decades. Tiffo loved having the chance to create with fellow obsessives and build friendship and community through love of similar interests. Because of this they have volunteered with a number of fandom groups and nonprofits in the last decade. They set up Renegade Bookbinding Guild in 2023 and look forward to many years of Fanbinding fun!"},{"id":"32","name":["DRR Chang"],"prog":["3","5","8","13","74","175"],"bio":"DRR Chang is the senior editor at spacesquid.com (\"your puny planet's finest scifi and humor\"). His superpowers include building cat iconography in Photoshop and helping businesses increase their web traffic. He's bogarted Larry Ellison's dinner, sung with the Houston Symphony, worked on some semi-famous videogames, and ineptly body-slammed Sigourney Weaver on set. He was published in Avast, Ye Airships and won a Michael Jasper Gioia Award from Sequoia. You can find more at sparkleworks.com and snag a retro RPG at videogamewriter.com\/free-rpg ."},{"id":"504","name":["Joi Chevalier"],"prog":["198"],"bio":"Joi Chevalier is an Early Modern England scholar, chef, amateur astronomer, and writer who brings story, culture, and science together. A longtime ArmadilloCon participant, she has supported FACT\u2019s World Fantasy bids, supports the ConSuite team, and hosted food-centered panels like Talking About Food and Talking About Dreams (2020). Joi is a member of the Armadillo Authors Society, and for ArmadilloCon 2025 she moderates Acts of Resistance: Creating Crafted Writing Circles. She is developing two narrative nonfiction books: a YA exploration of astronomy, space science, and cultural inheritance, and a work on the food traditions of Black Catholics on the Texas Coast. She still believes the night sky holds the greatest stories of all."},{"id":"537","name":["Angelica Chong"],"prog":["29","35","49","70","89","93"],"bio":"Angelica Chong is an editor at Orbit Books where she acquires science fiction, fantasy, and horror titles and edits a range of authors including World Fantasy Award winner Fonda Lee, New York Times bestselling author Tessa Gratton, H. G. Parry, and Megan Bannen. Before joining Orbit in 2022, she worked in the contracts departments at Macmillan and Astra Publishing House. She is a graduate of New York University."},{"id":"536","name":["P.  Dj\u00e8l\u00ed Clark"],"prog":["66","67","68","75","90","93","152","189"],"bio":"Phenderson Dj\u00e9li Clark is the award-winning and Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, and Sturgeon nominated author of the novels Abeni\u2019s Song and A Master of Djinn, and the novellas The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, Ring Shout, The Black God\u2019s Drums, and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His short stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com and in print anthologies including, Hidden Youth and Black Boy Joy. His most recent novel, Abeni and the Kingdom of Gold, was released in April 2025"},{"id":"308","name":["Elizabeth Cobbe"],"prog":["10","31","34","61"],"bio":"Elizabeth Cobbe's short fiction has appeared in or is forthcoming from Fireside, Cossmass Infinities, and Kaleidotrope, and she is a graduate of Viable Paradise. Before turning to fiction, she was a playwright and an arts critic, covering theater and other performing arts for the Austin Chronicle for over 10 years. She currently has a novel out on sub."},{"id":"541","name":["Mariana Col\u00edn"],"prog":["38","41","49","66"],"bio":"Mariana Col\u00edn is a doctoral student at the University of Illinois' Institute of Communications Research, where she studies online political discourse from an anthropological and economic perspective. She is better known from her YouTube channel 'The Morbid Zoo,' where she analyzes horror in film, with a focus on monsters both real and imagined."},{"id":"399","name":["Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport "],"prog":["29","44","45","66","117","176","190"],"bio":"Nia \"N.E.\" Davenport is the award-winning author of \"The Blood Trials,\" its sequel \"The Blood Gift,\" and the speculative thriller \"Out of Body.\" She\u2019s served as a member of the Hugo-nominated FIYAHCON team. She attended USC and studied Biological Sciences and Theatre. She has an M.A. in Secondary Education. She enjoys vacationing with her family, skiing, and being a foodie. She\u2019s an advocate for diverse perspectives and protagonists in literature. You can find her at www.nedavenport.com and on Instagram @nia.davenport."},{"id":"450","name":["Randee Dawn"],"prog":["2","23","35","136","179"],"bio":"Randee Dawn is the bestselling author of the \"funny as hell\" pop culture fantasy novel \"Tune in Tomorrow.\" She has three novels out in 2025: Dark Celtic musical fantasies \"\ufeffThe Only Song Worth Singing\" and \"Leave No Trace\" and the next funny foray into the \"Tune-iverse,\" \"\ufeffWe Interrupt This Program.\" A veteran entertainment journalist for The LA Times, Variety and Today.com, Randee lives in Brooklyn."},{"id":"116","name":["Aaron de Orive"],"prog":["19","26","38","41","49","55","87"],"bio":"Aaron de Orive is a screenwriter and video game narrative director who\u2019s worked on several bestselling games, including titles in the Ultima, Metroid, Star Wars and New World franchises. He co-authored the middle-grade fantasy novel Blade Singer with award-winning author Martha Wells. He\u2019s also the creator of the tabletop RPG Shard: World of the False Dawn, as well as the founder and co-host of The Gentlemen Nerds podcast. "},{"id":"545","name":["Drew Edwards"],"prog":["109","126","189"],"bio":"Award-winning comic book writer, horror film historian, music journalist, rock promoter, and showman extraordinaire; these are all guises of the creative force known as Drew Edwards. Edwards is a Best of Austin Winner, Ringo Awards Nominee, and member of the Pen America Fellowship of Writers. Best known as the writer and creator of the long-running underground comic book series, Halloween Man, he's also a cast member of the horror movie podcast Castle of Horror. He\u2019s helped bridge the horror and comic culture worlds with Austin\u2019s legendary music scene with Halloween Man Productions\u2019 annual \u201cPunk vs. Rockabilly\u201d showcase during SXSW."},{"id":"63","name":["Rhonda Eudaly"],"prog":["4","27","92","127","165","184"],"bio":"Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where her wide variety of experience and skills is well-suited to her work in the public and private sector. She's married with dogs and an increasing horde of writing instruments. Rhonda has a well-rounded publication history in all kinds of writing including novels, collaborations, and short stories. Check out her website - www.RhondaEudaly.com - for her latest publications and downloads. \n\n"},{"id":"188","name":["Sara Felix"],"prog":["60","93","129","130","131","191","197"],"bio":"Sara Felix is Hugo award winning mixed media artist. She has designed two Hugo bases and three Lodestar awards.  Sara also creates a tiara weekly for Tiara Tuesdays and has created over 100 different tiaras since the beginning of the pandemic. She is the president of ASFA (the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists), which gives out the Chesley Award, one of the premier genre awards for artists. She has curated numerous art displays, including  the Infinite Worlds gallery show in 2018 as well as art panels at conventions for several ASFA artists. She lives and works in Austin, Texas."},{"id":"224","name":["Mark Finn"],"prog":["1","18","19","61","62","92","119","146","190","194"],"bio":"Mark Finn is an author, an editor, a game designer, and a pop culture critic. He is a nationally-recognized authority on Robert E. Howard and has written extensively about the Texas author. When he is not waxing eloquent about popular culture, he tends to the weekly needs of his growing Substack audience with musings on bunker life and pop culture from the totally real and not-at-all-made-up North Texas Apocalypse Bunker. He lives in North Texas over an historic movie theater with his wife and all of their books."},{"id":"330","name":["Amber Fisher"],"prog":["13","53","86"],"bio":"Amber Fisher is an urban fantasy writer living in Austin, Texas. Her novels feature magic, the paranormal, treachery, and murder. You can find an array of goodies from lighthearted and fun cozy mysteries to dark and twisty supernatural suspense. When not reading or writing, she loves to travel, learn new home improvement skills, study foreign languages, make digital art, and plan for next Halloween."},{"id":"549","name":["Roanna Flowers"],"prog":["198"],"bio":"Roanna Flowers is a \u201clitcom\u201d author based in Austin. Her short story, \u201cThe Bitches of Eastwick,\u201d appeared in the anthology, Mixed Bag of Tricks. She has written three award-winning short comedy films, one of which played in over 30 festivals worldwide, including Cannes Short Film Corner. Her debut novel, Too Much Heaven, is set to publish next year. She\u2019s a founding member of the Armadillo Authors Society and an active member of the Writers\u2019 League of Texas. Roanna has a B.A. in English Literature and Latin from the University of North Texas."},{"id":"476","name":["Devon Foster"],"prog":["195","205"],"bio":"Raised traveling between disparate homes in Hawaii and Texas, Devon draws upon her mixed heritage \u2013 finding inspiration to tell both narrative and documentary stories. Her 2019 short film, about ecological threats, was screened during SXSW and awarded Best Short Film by the Rainforest Partnership. Across hundreds of small towns in Texas, she interviewed rural communities for documentary television. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture, she bought a platform to underrepresented farmers and traditional craft makers. Devon studied filmmaking as an undergraduate at Texas State University, where she received her BS in Digital Media Production. "},{"id":"453","name":["Bill Frank"],"prog":["43","75","78","104"],"bio":"Bill Frank controls the universe at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He's a Chief Training Officer (CTO) who used to just control the simulated International Space Station and Boeing Starliner universes, now he controls the simulated Artemis universe as well. His science fiction story - Moon Unit - was published in Analog Magazine a few years back."},{"id":"444","name":["Laura Gal\u00e1n-Wells"],"prog":["29","31"],"bio":"Laura Gal\u00e1n-Wells (she\/her) is a Mexican-American improviser and author in Austin, TX who writes across MG, YA, and Adult. She loves blending speculative fiction genres, and is inspired by nerdy media, Mesoamerican mythology, and Texan and Mexican folklore, history, and culture. Her comic book MOLT, the origin story of super powered Leya Pelayo, will be the tenth issue of THE THIRTEEN\u2014a new universe launching this Fall via Chispa Comics, a Scout Comics imprint. Her YA Science Fantasy novel MONSTRUOS OF MEXICO is currently on submission. "},{"id":"87","name":["John K Gibbons"],"prog":["124"],"bio":"John K Gibbons is an SF fan and writer, a volunteer speaker for NASA's JPL, a retired software developer, a recent Master\u2019s graduate in Aerospace Engineering, and a hiker with way too many hobbies. Blog (hiking, mostly): https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/yxtce2ze "},{"id":"542","name":["Tracy S. Morris"],"prog":["39","52","62","69","143"],"bio":"Tracy S. Morris is the author of six books and short story collections, as well as a contributor to a number of anthologies. She is a frequent contributor to the 1632 shared world enterprise. Her most recent short story, Gilt and Glamour appears in the Baen anthology Swords and Larceny.  You can find her online at tracysmorris.com.  She sends out a bimonthly serialized story at tracysmorris.com\/newsletter "},{"id":"424","name":["Abby Goldsmith"],"prog":["12","13","45","60","76"],"bio":"Abby Goldsmith is the author of 6 sci-fi novels, the Torth series, which starts with Majority and ends with Empire Ender, all published by Podium, with starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. Her short works have appeared in Escade Pod, Writer's Digest Books, and anthologies. You can find her on social media, Patreon, and at AbbyGoldsmith.com."},{"id":"61","name":["Skyler Gray"],"prog":["1","4","53","56"],"bio":"Skyler Gray has ghostwritten 36 non-fiction books, co-written three novels with Steven Brust (The Incrementalists, The Skill of Our Hands, and The Sword of Happenstance), and soloed on three of her own (and Falling, Fly, In Dreams Begin, and Roadtrip to Ruin). She works as a book coach, title consultant, and brand strategist."},{"id":"289","name":["Clayton Hackett"],"prog":["8","40","49","70","76"],"bio":"Clayton Hackett is an attorney and short fiction writer whose work has appeared in PseudoPod, Daily Science Fiction, and elsewhere. His work tends to focus on the unintended consequences of technology, whether real or speculative. He is a member of Codex, can be found on Bluesky as @hackett.bsky.social, and spends too much time falling off of walls and running slowly."},{"id":"509","name":["Jess Hagemann"],"prog":["206"],"bio":"Jess Hagemann\u2019s recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Beneath the Bluebonnets: Tales of Terror from Texas Women, Three Seasons of Winter, and Last Girls Club, among others. Her debut novel Headcheese (2018) won an IPPY Award in Horror. Her sophomore novel Mother-Eating (2025) marries Marie Antoinette and cults. Jess received her MFA from the Jack Kerouac School, and has been awarded a teaching fellowship at McNeese State University as well as a writing residency at Dear Butte. She lives in Austin. More at www.jesshagemann.com."},{"id":"420","name":["Lenore Alecto"],"prog":["26","53","56","86"],"bio":"Lenore is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University\u2019s creative writing program, where she wrote her first novel. She has since written two novels: The Order of Ophiucus and Nameless Fury. She has published work in Diverse Voices Quarterly and Terse. You can follow her on Substack at lenorealecto.substack.com.\n"},{"id":"119","name":["C. Stuart Hardwick"],"prog":["25","48","78","104"],"bio":"Analog regular C. Stuart Hardwick is a Writers of the Future Contest, Jim Baen Memorial award, and Analog Analab winner. An Air Force brat from South Dakota, he grew up on Black Hills treasure hunts and family stories like pages from a Steinbeck novel while making \u201cradio shows\u201d on an old tape recorder and animated shorts using Star Wars miniatures. He\u2019s been translated into a dozen languages, published with Neil Gaiman, worked with the creators of the video game Doom. More and a free signed e-book sampler at www.cStuartHardwick.com.\n"},{"id":"340","name":["Shlomi Harif"],"prog":["20","43","104"],"bio":"Shlomi is an Austin-based author of three murder\/mystery novels and Last Run, a Texas-centric postapocalyptic novel. He\u2019s also published novellas and poetry chapbooks. He's part of the White Gold Wielder and Slugtribe groups. When he's not writing he's committing acts of mentoring on an unsuspecting techy population."},{"id":"540","name":["Ann Michelle Harris"],"prog":["4","51","66"],"bio":"Born in Jamaica and raised in Atlanta, Ann Michelle Harris writes crime and fantasy\/speculative fiction stories with diverse characters and positive social justice themes. She writes sci-fi\/fantasy and anime reviews for the Hugo Award winning Nerds of a Feather. She is a Maggie finalist, a double finalist in the Pages From the Heart contest, and a finalist for the Eleanor Taylor Bland Award from Sisters in Crime. Her YA fairytale retelling novel North debuted in January, 2025. Her crime stories are featured in various anthologies. Find her at annmichelleharris.com"},{"id":"546","name":["Teddy Harvia"],"prog":["130","131"],"bio":"Teddy Harvia has won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist four times, and has been nominated an additional sixteen times for the award. For his service to Southern science fiction fandom, Harvia was presented the Rebel Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation in 1997 at that year's DeepSouthCon. He was chair of the bid to host the Worldcon in Canc\u00fan, Mexico, in 2003. Teddy Harvia is an anagram of David Thayer."},{"id":"53","name":["Andrew Hilbert"],"prog":["92","206"],"bio":"Andrew Hilbert is the author of Dreamcast 2, xcrmntmntn, Invasion of the Weirdos, Bangface, and Death Thing. He hosts Ha! Ha! Storytime! 5gkilledgod.com"},{"id":"496","name":["David Hopkins"],"prog":["4","8","10","14","15","87","150"],"bio":"David Hopkins is a fantasy novelist with an interest in Shakespeare, medieval history, fairy tales, and myth. He is the author of the Dryad\u2019s Crown, a story set in the vast world of Efre Ousel. He\u2019s created a few best-selling \u201cRed War\u201d titles for the D&D Adventurers League, and he\u2019s written feature stories for a variety of magazines and newspapers. David is a member of SFWA. He's married to artist, April Hopkins. They have two daughters, Kennedy and Greta."},{"id":"442","name":["C.S. Humble"],"prog":["14","51","68","148"],"bio":"C.S. Humble is the award-winning author of the Amid the Vastness of All Else Saga published by Shortwave Publishing. His work has also appeared in Bram Stoker Award-nominated anthologies and publications such as Texas Highways Magazine. "},{"id":"401","name":["C.L. Irwin "],"prog":["38","74","75"],"bio":"C.L. Irwin is a nonfiction science author and poet. As an IT professional, she's worked for organizations such as DoD, NIH, and DoS with the bulk of her career in support of the life sciences (i.e., genomics, bioinformatics, etc.). She's currently at work on a dark epic fantasy series. Discover more at clirwin.com."},{"id":"343","name":["Vivien Jackson"],"prog":["25","34","54"],"bio":"Viv's an Austin-based writer whose debut novel <I>Wanted & Wired<\/I> won some awards and was a finalist for others. She's worked as both a writer and an editor, but her favorite part of this adventure has been mentoring and reading for other writers and holding the door open for all the awesome folks who've come after her."},{"id":"49","name":["Derek Austin Johnson"],"prog":["2","38","41","49","71","159"],"bio":"Derek Austin Johnson was born on the East Coast but has lived most of his life in the Lone Star State. His work has appeared in the Splatterpunk Award-winning anthology Camp Slasher Lake Vol. I, Sirens Call, Amazing Stories, and ParSec. His first novel The Faith was published in 2024. He lives in Central Texas with his wife Gretchen Johnston and multiple cats."},{"id":"5","name":["Jennifer Juday"],"prog":["2"],"bio":"Jennifer Juday's first ever job was at Houston Public Library, with work as assistant to the children's librarian being a special highlight. She studied English at Rice University and Information Science at the University of North Texas. She has worked in three independent bookstores, including Inklings, a women's bookstore in Houston, where she selected new mystery and SFF titles. She went on to work in corporate HR in learning and development, specializing in line learning. These days, she works as an independent educator (math and science). "},{"id":"45","name":["Rick Klaw"],"prog":["35","36","37","194"],"bio":"Publicity Manager and occasional editor for Tachyon Publications, the so-called optimistic curmudgeon Richard \u201cRick\u201d Klaw has edited numerous publications, including anthologies The Apes of Wrath, Rayguns Over Texas, and the groundbreaking Weird Business (with Joe R. Lansdale). For Tachyon, he\u2019s handled the Texas authors Lansdale, Josh Rountree, and David Liss. Klaw, also for Tachyon, edited the non Texas author Meg Elison. In the 90s the Klaw-fronted Mojo Press predicated several of the 21st century publishing models. The opinionated Klaw has written countless reviews and essays. Many of his writings were collected in Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century (MonkeyBrain)."},{"id":"405","name":["Mur Lafferty"],"prog":["4","34","53","125","157"],"bio":"Mur Lafferty is an author, editor, and podcaster. She lives in Durham, NC where she watches minor league baseball and plays all kinds of games. "},{"id":"348","name":["Keith Lansdale"],"prog":["14","37","53","74","178"],"bio":"Author, director, editor, and screenwriter Keith Lansdale's credits span multiple medias. Notable works include The Pale Door, X-Files, and Creepshow. Big nerd with big nerd thoughts."},{"id":"182","name":["Alexis Glynn Latner"],"prog":["25","40","84","139"],"bio":"Alexis' science fiction and fantasy stories have appeared in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Amazing Stories, and many print and online anthologies including the USA Today best-selling Pets in Space\u00ae. She\u2019s had stories in mystery anthologies too. Her science fiction novel Hurricane Moon was published by Pyr (Prometheus Books) in 2007 and again by Avendis Press in 2014 with the sequels Downfall Tide, Star Crossing, and Helldive. A new romantic science fiction series began with Witherspin, followed by Starmaze, then Adversary. The next novel in the series will be Revenant in 2025. \u2029"},{"id":"27","name":["William Ledbetter"],"prog":["39","43","76","78","140","189"],"bio":"William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with three novels and more than seventy speculative fiction short stories and non-fiction articles published in five languages, in markets such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Escape Pod and the SFWA blog. He's been a space and technology geek since childhood and spent most of his non-writing career in the aerospace industry. He lives near Dallas with his wife, a needy dog and three spoiled cats.\n"},{"id":"497","name":["Hana Lee"],"prog":["15","79","85","117"],"bio":"Hana Lee is a biracial Korean American writer who also builds software for a living. Their debut science fantasy duology, ROAD TO RUIN and FLIGHT OF THE FALLEN, was published by Saga Press. Hana has an undying love for fantastical stories in all their forms, especially video games, and a habit of writing to moody indie rock playlists. Hana lives in California with their partner and two beloved cats."},{"id":"99","name":["Stina Leicht"],"prog":["27","34","38","68","76","142","190"],"bio":"Stina Leicht writes science fiction and fantasy. She has written four Fantasy novels: Cold Iron, Blackthorne, Of Blood and Honey, And Blue Skies from Pain and the SF novels: Loki's Ring and Persephone Station. Her third Space Opera, Helix Falls, is scheduled to release in 2026 by Saga Press. She was a finalist for the Crawford Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer (twice.) "},{"id":"548","name":["Kara Lenore"],"prog":["198"],"bio":"Kara Lenore is the author of Beneath a Sun Deprived Sky, her first novel. Her short story \u201cClimbing\u201d appeared in the Mixed Bag of Tricks anthology under the name Kara Stockinger. In addition to being a founding member of the Armadillo Authors Society, Kara is an alumna of the Viable Paradise Workshop and a member of the Writers' League of Texas. Kara spent part of her youth living in Japan and earned a doctorate in Japanese studies, experiences which influence her work. She now resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband, two children and spoiled tuxedo cat."},{"id":"312","name":["Ryan Leslie"],"prog":["1","13","23","67"],"bio":"Ryan Leslie oversees research for a large health system, where making stuff up is generally frowned upon. His creative outlet has always been writing fiction. He is the author of COLOSSUS, THE BETWEEN, and THE GARDEN OF BEFORE (coming Sept. 2025). Ryan lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, children's author Lindsay Leslie, and their two sons."},{"id":"318","name":["Marina Lostetter"],"prog":["26","44","56","61","86","172","187"],"bio":"The open skies and dense forests of the Pacific Northwest are ideal for growing speculative fiction authors\u2013or, at least, Marina would like to think so. Originally from Oregon, she now resides in Arkansas with her spouse, Alex, two terrible house cats, and the luckiest of dogs. In her spare time she enjoys globetrotting, board games, and all things art-related. Her original short fiction has appeared in venues such as Lightspeed, Uncanny, and Shimmer Magazine, and her novels are available from Harper Voyager and Tor. She posts on Bluesky as @MarinaLostetter"},{"id":"455","name":["A.E. Lanier"],"prog":["11","79","97","137"],"bio":"A.E. Lanier is a fantasy and horror writer with stories at The Arcanist, Metastellar, and Daily Science Fiction. She is also a host for the New Books in Fantasy Podcast. She enjoys caves, silent reading, and other people\u2019s cats. \n"},{"id":"22","name":["Marshall Ryan Maresca"],"prog":["10","26","44","61","79","121","125","187"],"bio":"Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of sixteen novels, most of which are part of the Maradaine Saga: Four braided series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. He is also the author of the standalone dieselpunk fantasy, The Velocity of Revolution.  He is a five-time Hugo finalist as the co-host of the podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists, and has been a playwright, an actor and an amateur chef. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family."},{"id":"130","name":["A. Lee Martinez"],"prog":["25","53","62","168","182","185"],"bio":" A. Lee Martinez's novels are known for combining pulp and comic book influences along with philosophy, metaphysics, and humor. He is the author of 13 novels, including Gil's All Fright Diner, The Automatic Detective, Monster, and the Constance Verity trilogy. His novel Monster was adapted into the Chinese language film Monster Run. He likes writing very much and getting paid for it, so he's got that going for him. He lives outside Dallas, Texas, with his wife and the minimum number of pets required as a writer. "},{"id":"383","name":["Jessie Mihalik"],"prog":["11","27","29"],"bio":"Jessie Mihalik grew up reading science fiction and fantasy, and she found her love of romance by sneaking her grandmother\u2019s Harlequins instead of doing homework. When she started writing, Jessie combined her two favorite genres, and she loves to explore the potent mixture of fast SF\/F action and slow-burn relationships. She is the author three space opera trilogies and several romantic fantasy stories. Her next book, Silver & Blood, is scheduled for January 2026 and kicks off a romantasy duology. Find her online at www.jessiemihalik.com or on Bluesky as @jessiemihalik.com."},{"id":"240","name":["Jonathan Miles"],"prog":["1","93","194"],"bio":"Jonathan Miles is the chair of ArmadilloCon 47."},{"id":"489","name":["Linsey Miller"],"prog":["65","68","69","70","181","183"],"bio":"Once upon a time, Linsey Miller studied biology in Arkansas. These days, she holds an MFA in fiction and is the author of Lambda-nominated What We Devour. Her other works include the Mask of Shadows duology, Belle R\u00e9volte, The Game, the first three books in the Disney Princes series, and That Devil, Ambition. Her short fiction can be found in Being Ace, The House Where Death Lives, and This Is How We Roll. She can be found in Texas writing about science and magic anywhere there is coffee.\n\n"},{"id":"539","name":["Samantha Mills"],"prog":["25","36","65","79","84","91","93","171","186"],"bio":"Samantha Mills is an award winning SFF author from Southern California. You can find her short fiction in Uncanny Magazine, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Strange Horizons, and others, as well as in The New Voices of Science Fiction and The Year\u2019s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2023. Her short story, \u201cRabbit Test,\u201d won the Nebula, Locus, and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards. Her debut novel, The Wings Upon Her Back, won the Compton Crook Award and is currently a finalist for the World Fantasy Award. You can find more at www.samtasticbooks.com."},{"id":"459","name":["Elizabeth Moon"],"prog":["51","84","135"],"bio":"Elizabeth Moon made her first fiction sale at age 40. Since then, she's published 28 novels, including Nebula winner The Speed of Dark, Hugo Finalist Remnant Populations, epic fantasy (Deed of Paksenarrion, Legacy of Gird (omnibus volumes) and Paladin's Legacy (5 volumes), as well as a military SF\/ space opera series. She has also published over 50 shorter works in magazines and anthologies. She has degrees from both Rice University and the University of Texas. She served in the USMC, and enjoys fencing, knitting, cooking, and writing."},{"id":"295","name":["Cass Morris"],"prog":["10","27","44","75","121","125"],"bio":"Cass Morris lives her life at the intersection of storytelling, performance, and education as a writer and editor of novels, short fiction, and immersive experiences. Her novels, The Aven Cycle, are Roman-flavored historical fantasy. She is also one-third of the team behind the five-time Hugo Award Finalist podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists. Cass works as Story Editor at Mythik Camps, providing writing and developmental editing for mythology-themed interactive experiences. She holds a Master of Letters from Mary Baldwin University and a BA in English from the College of William and Mary.\n"},{"id":"342","name":["Sara A Mueller"],"prog":["54","56","72","73"],"bio":"A historian, seamstress and horsewoman, Sara A Mueller writes speculative fiction. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family, numerous recipe books, and a forest of fountain pens. In a nomadic youth, she trod the earth of every state but Alaska and lived in six of them. She\u2019s an amateur historical costumer, gamer and cook. The Bone Orchard, her debut novel from Tor, was nominated for a Locus Award, The British Fantasy Award, and won the Endeavour Award."},{"id":"29","name":["Michelle Muenzler"],"prog":["3","39","55","67","153"],"bio":"Michelle Muenzler, known at local science fiction and fantasy conventions as \u201cThe Cookie Lady,\u201d writes things both dark and strange to counterbalance the sweetness of her baking. Her short fiction and poetry can be read in numerous science fiction and fantasy magazines, and she takes immense joy in crinkling words like little foil puppets. Visit her website to find links to more of her work, or if you are feeling especially brave, check out her squidgy weird buddy adventure novella, The Hills of Meat, the Forest of Bone, on Amazon."},{"id":"552","name":["Bob Pastorella"],"prog":["92","206"],"bio":"Bob Pastorella is the co-host of the This Is Horror podcast. He is also the author of They\u2019re Watching (with Michael David Wilson), with numerous tales in such publications as Lost Films, Borderlands 6, Warmed & Bound: a Velvet Anthology, and the Booked Anthology. The Small Hours is Bob\u2019s debut solo novel. Bob lives in southeast Texas with his cat, Squeaky, and is currently working on another vampire story. "},{"id":"291","name":["K.D. Blade"],"prog":["13","37","71","87","97","162"],"bio":"K.D. Blade writes horror urban fantasy. Her first novel, Night Skin: Tall Tales of a Black American Princess, is a story about a Black American Princess who turns into a werewolf and battles a vampire princess who wants to marry then eat her. It was on the Amazon bestseller list for African-American fiction (#13) when it published in Halloween 2022. The novel got its start on TikTok when she asked if anyone wanted to read about Black women who turn into werewolves and eat people went viral. (The Internet said 'YES!!!') "},{"id":"187","name":["John Picacio"],"prog":["192"],"bio":"JOHN PICACIO is the co-author and illustrator of THE INVISIBLE PARADE, newly out from Little, Brown for Young Readers. He is one of the most acclaimed American artists in science fiction and fantasy over the last decade, creating best-selling art for George R. R. Martin\u2019s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, the STAR TREK and X-MEN franchises, as well as over 150 book covers. He is the recipient of the World Fantasy Award, the Inkpot Award and nine Chesleys. He is the founder of The Mexicanx Initiative. He lives and works in San Antonio, TX."},{"id":"463","name":["Matt Rifley"],"prog":["196","205"],"bio":"Matt Rifley is a cinematographer, television show creator, and visual story lover. After spending 20 years in the military, Matt (a Disabled Veteran from his time in service) returned to his childhood dream of creating stories for people to enjoy by pursuing degrees in Radio\/Film\/Television and Digital Media Production. Matt has become a 1st generation Amazon Studios filmmaker, created several award-winning independent films, launched an annual film festival in Austin and co-created a weekly television show called TEXAS AGRICULTURE MATTERS. An avid Texas historian, few people know Texas the way he does."},{"id":"74","name":["Paige E. Ewing"],"prog":["1","23","43","104","118","135","188"],"bio":"Paige writes about superheroes and sentient cities, were-spiders and gun-loving fairies. Author of the Liliana and the Fae of Fayetteville series, she writes a lot about neurodivergent were-creatures in North Carolina surviving social landmines, and the occasional poisonous spider the size of a volkswagon. For fun, Paige shoots arrows and throws axes at people and things. She lives in the middle of nowhere, Texas, and flies a lot to get somewhere, usually in planes. "},{"id":"144","name":["Rob Rogers"],"prog":["51","52","156","188"],"bio":"Rob Rogers is the author of Devil's Cape, a superhero thriller set in Louisiana. Devil's Cape was a Pop Matters pick and a HeroPress book of the year. His short stories have also appeared in the anthologies The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Triumph Over Tragedy, and This Mutant Life. Rob lives in Texas, where he continues to write about superheroes, pirates, aliens, mad cultists, dragons, interdimensional rifts, carnival freaks, and cowboys, often in the same stories."},{"id":"83","name":["Josh Rountree"],"prog":["14","27","36","37","169","183"],"bio":"Josh Rountree is an Austin based novelist and short story writer. His new novel The Unkillable Frank Lightning is billed as \"Frankenstein in a Wild West Show\" and his new novella Summer in the House of the Departed is a West Texas haunted house tale. Several collections of his short fiction have been published, including his most recent, Death Aesthetic, featuring tales of death and transformation. Rountree lives with his lovely wife of many years, and a pair of half-feral dogs who demand his obedience. "},{"id":"195","name":["Amber Royer"],"prog":["48","86","122"],"bio":"Amber Royer writes the Chocoverse comic telenovela-style foodie-inspired space opera series, and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. She is also the author of Story Like a Journalist: a Workbook for Novelists. She also teaches creative writing and is an author coach. Amber and her husband live in the DFW Area.  If you are very nice to Amber, she might make you cupcakes.  Chocolate cupcakes, of course! Amber blogs about creative writing technique and all things chocolate at www.amberroyer.com."},{"id":"322","name":["Elizabeth Rubio"],"prog":["11","55","75"],"bio":"Elizabeth lives in a house with more cats, snails, and spiders than people. If you ask, they might tell you a story. Elizabeth's stories have appeared in publications such as Analog and Little Blue Marble."},{"id":"535","name":["Amy Salley"],"prog":["69","75","81","92","180"],"bio":"Amy Salley is a longtime SFF fan, having cut her teeth on teen urban fantasy and Star Trek:TNG in her youth. Amy resides in Atlanta, lawyers as a day job, and co-hosts the hilariously feminist podcast Hugo, Girl! with her three besties Haley Zapal, Lori Anderson, and Kevin Anderson."},{"id":"26","name":["Patrice Sarath"],"prog":["10","18","52","54","65","149","187"],"bio":"Patrice Sarath is the author of several novels including The Sisters Mederos and Fog Season (The Tales of Port Saint Frey) and Gordath Wood, Red Gold Bridge, and The Crow God\u2019s Girl (The Books of the Gordath), as well as The Unexpected Miss Bennet, a sequel to Pride & Prejudice. Her short story collection, Into the Dark, is published by NewCon Press. She has made a number of short films in the fantasy genre, most notably Changeling and Do Over, which are available through the Austin Community College RTF website."},{"id":"136","name":["Van of The Van Show"],"prog":["45","60"],"bio":"Van is the star of the Austin Public Library's web series, The Van Show. Do you like learning new things and making new friends? Then you\u2019ll love the Van Show! You\u2019ll meet all kinds of new friends that write books, and find out cool stuff like what it\u2019s like to be an author, where their ideas come from, and what is the grossest thing they can think of?  You can find the Van Show on YouTube: @AustinPublicLibrary1"},{"id":"335","name":["Ehigbor Okosun"],"prog":["10","66","75","117","118","128","184"],"bio":"Ehigbor Okosun writes speculative fiction for adult and young adults in sci-fi\/ fantasy, mystery\/thriller, and contemporary genres. Raised across four continents, she hopes to do justice to the myths and traditions she grew up steeped in, and to honor her large, multiracial and multiethnic family. Her epic postcolonial fantasy, Forged By Blood, arrived via Harper Voyager in August 2023 and was a #1 Sunday Times Bestseller. It's sequel, Exiled By Iron, arrived to critical acclaim in October 2024. She is currently hard at work on future projects.  "},{"id":"73","name":["Adrian Simmons"],"prog":["19","62","69","167"],"bio":"Adrian Simmons lives in Norman, Oklahoma. He has hoofed the Ouachita and Ozark Highlands trails, the England coast to coast trail, and the Camino de Santiago in Spain. His nonfiction has appeared in Black Gate and Strange Horizons. His fiction has popped up in James Gunn\u2019s Ad Astra, Outposts of Beyond, Lackington\u2019s, Andromeda Spaceways, and Tales from the Magician's Skull.  He has work coming out in Baen's \"Swords and Larceny\" anthology.  In 2009 he founded the webzine Heroicfantasyquarterly.com and currently serves as 1\/3 of its editorial staff."},{"id":"332","name":["Avery Parks"],"prog":["20","67","85","151"],"bio":"Avery Parks (she\/her) is a science fiction writer, with stories at Analog, Solarpunk Magazine, and Utopia, among others. She lives in Texas with her family, a variety of pets, and (according to some) too many books. You can find her online at averyparkswrites.com. (AKA Tiffany Smith)"},{"id":"353","name":["Lauren Raye Snow"],"prog":["38","131"],"bio":"Lauren Raye Snow is an award-winning artist from South Texas. Her work explores uncanny, ambivalent visions, both dreadful and cathartic. Lauren\u2019s work has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Chesley Awards and the World Fantasy Awards. She\u2019s also known for her work as Art Director for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), leading their official brand redesign in 2020. \nShe is inspired by the Symbolists and the Surrealists, by the syncretic icons of her native South Texas, and by works of terror and beauty in literature, myth, and music.\n"},{"id":"56","name":["Lauren C. Teffeau"],"prog":["20","26","79","85","190"],"bio":"Lauren C. Teffeau is a speculative fiction author from New Mexico. Her environmental fantasy novella A Hunger with No Name came out last fall from University of Tampa Press. Her novel Implanted (Angry Robot), a cyberpunk\/solarpunk adventure, was shortlisted for the 2019 Compton Crook award for best first SF\/F\/H novel. She's published over twenty short stories, holds a master\u2019s degree in Mass Communication, and spent a few years toiling as a researcher in academia. Stay tuned for a new novella from her next spring. For more information, please visit laurencteffeau.com."},{"id":"534","name":["Mia Tsai"],"prog":["36","44","61","67","117","147","186"],"bio":"Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author and editor of speculative fiction. She debuted with Bitter Medicine, a xianxia-inspired contemporary fantasy. Her next novel, The Memory Hunters, is forthcoming from Erewhon Books on July 29, 2025. She lives in Atlanta with her family, pets, and orchids. Her favorite things include music of all kinds and taking long trips with nothing but the open road and a saucy rhythm section."},{"id":"493","name":["Julia Vee"],"prog":["8","55","61","86"],"bio":"Julia Vee was that GenX kid raised by libraries and still remains largely unsupervised. She writes with her friend from middle school, Ken Bebelle, and they have penned over 10 novels together. Their novel Ebony Gate, an Asian-inspired contemporary fantasy, was published by TOR and named a 2023 Golden Poppy Finalist for the Octavia E. Butler award. The series conclusion, Pearl City, released in July of 2025."},{"id":"305","name":["Aparna Verma"],"prog":["29","45","65","89","117","190"],"bio":"Aparna Verma was born in Rajasthan, India, and grew up in the United States. She graduated from Stanford University with Honors in the Arts and a B.A. in English. In 2021, she self-published The Boy with Fire, which quickly went viral on TikTok, and was later republished by Orbit as The Phoenix King in 2023. When she is not writing, Aparna likes to lift heavy, dance to Bollywood music, and find cozy cafes to read myths from ancient worlds. You can connect with Aparna on TikTok at @aparnawrites, and Twitter and Instagram at @spirited_gal."},{"id":"547","name":["Vincent Villafranca"],"prog":["174"],"bio":"Sculptor Vincent Villafranca creates pieces that range from life-size native Texas wildlife species to historical figures and fantasy creatures. His work has been used for the Bradbury Awards and the Hugo Awards. In 2016, he designed the new base for the World Fantasy Award, and creates the trophies every year. Vincent is the recipient of several awards, including the Chesley Awards (2020 nomination; winner 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012), Best of Show at ConGlomeration 2014, the Jurors' Award at the 2008 WorldCon, and Best 3-D Art at the 2006 World Fantasy Convention."},{"id":"68","name":["Thomas Wagner"],"prog":["70","90","118"],"bio":"Thomas Wagner has been involved in Texas SFF fandom since he was an irritating teenager in the 1980s, publishing his own fanzines. After finishing school at UT Austin and spending several years working in comics and film\/TV production, he launched his book review website SFReviews.net in July 2001. In late 2013, he joined YouTube\u2019s popular Booktube community, launching his channel SFF180 \u2014 featuring reviews, interviews, and his popular new-release roundup Mailbag Monday \u2014 and revamping his legacy website under the new name. Thomas is now retired and enjoying booktubing for his 12,000 subscribers."},{"id":"184","name":["Holly Lyn Walrath"],"prog":["3","27","39","54","65"],"bio":"Holly Lyn Walrath's poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Daily Science Fiction, Luna Station Quarterly, Liminality, and elsewhere. She is the author of three books of poetry: Glimmerglass Girl, The Smallest of Bones, and Numinous Stones. She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas and a Master's in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. Find her online at: hlwalrath.com"},{"id":"329","name":["Jacob Weisman"],"prog":["18","36","69"],"bio":"Jacob Weisman is the World Fantasy Award-winning editor and publisher at Tachyon Publications, which he founded in 1995. He edits many of Tachyon\u2019s titles, and is the series editor of Tachyon\u2019s Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, and Shirley Jackson Award-winning novella line. His writing has appeared in The Nation, Realms of Fantasy, the Louisville Courier-Journal, The Seattle Weekly, and The Cooper Point Journal. Jacob recently co-authored the novel Egyptian Motherlode (with David Sandner)."},{"id":"461","name":["Rae Wilde"],"prog":["31","49","97"],"bio":"Rae Wilde (she\/her) is a queer woman and author of dark fiction who has published numerous works under the pen name Rae Knowles. Her available works include The Stradivarius, Merciless Waters, and I Can Fix Her, and she is represented by Carleen Geisler at P.S. Literary.\n "},{"id":"351","name":["E.A. Williams"],"prog":["198"],"bio":"E.A. Williams is a graduate of  the University of North Texas, where she studied film and playwriting while helping to run a bi-weekly writer's workshop for local poets. A bit of a film buff and horror fan, Williams worked as a special effects makeup artist before beginning her debut series, The Line of Tepes, a thrilling vampire noir set in her home town of Houston Texas. Her other works can be found in publications like Mixed Bag of Tricks, Femme Fairytales and the upcoming A Grimoire of Honeyed Spells. Having grown up in the golden age of fandom somewhere between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, Williams' likes to infuse her work with punchy pop-culture and hidden gems left for fans dedicated to look."},{"id":"501","name":["Eric Williams"],"prog":["2","19","20","141","186"],"bio":"Eric Williams is a writer and editor who lives on the lithified remains of a Cretaceous seaway in Austin, Texas. He has published a collection of his own original weird short stories (Toadstones, Malarkey Books, 2022) as well as selected, edited, and wrote the introduction for a collection of the fiction in translation that appeared in Weird Tales magazine (Night Fears: Weird Tales in Translation, Paradise Editions, 2023)."},{"id":"550","name":["Cactus Winters"],"prog":["199"],"bio":"Cactus Winters has been active in Renegade Bookbinding Guild, a not-for-profit guild of artists engaged in binding fannish works, since 2021. Cactus's fandom involvement spans almost 30 years, and more recently includes making her first fan bound book in 2021 with the help of the Renegade community. Cactus loves to spend her time reading fanfiction, playing videos games, and hiking.  "},{"id":"60","name":["D.L. Young"],"prog":["26","48","51","56","187"],"bio":"D.L. is a Pushcart Prize nominee and winner of the Independent Press Award. A lifelong science fiction fan, his intense, fast-paced novels echo his many influences from books and movies, including Star Wars, the Mad Max films, Dune, Blade Runner, Star Trek, the stories of Harlan Ellison, and the novels of William Gibson. For more on his books, visit dlyoungfiction.com"}];