Straight Outta Tombstone

by David Boop

  In between lays the sort of resume that used to be de rigueur for writers. She has never actually wrestled alligators, but she did at one point very briefly tie bows on bags of potpourri for a living. She has also washed dishes and ironed clothes for a living. Worst of all she was, for a long time, a multilingual scientific translator.

  At some point, though, she got tired of making an honest living and started writing. She has over twenty-three—the number keeps changing—published novels, in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, historical mystery, historical fantasy and historical biography. Her short stories have been published in Analog, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Amazing Stories (under a previous management), Weird Tales, and a number of anthologies from DAW and Baen. Her space-opera novel Darkship Thieves was the 2011 Prometheus Award Winner, and the third novel in the series, A Few Good Men, was a finalist for the honor.

  She also writes under the names Sarah D’Almeida, Elise Hyatt and Sarah Marques.

  Alan Dean Foster

  Born in New York City in 1946, Foster was raised in Los Angeles. After receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Master of Fine Arts in Cinema from UCLA (1968, l969) he spent two years as a copywriter for a small Studio City, Calif. advertising and public relations firm.

  His writing career began when August Derleth bought a long Lovecraftian letter of Foster’s in 1968 and, much to Foster’s surprise, published it as a short story in Derleth’s bi-annual magazine The Arkham Collector. Sales of short fiction to other magazines followed. His first attempt at a novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang, was bought by Betty Ballantine and published by Ballantine Books in 1972. It incorporates a number of suggestions from famed SF editor John W. Campbell.

  Foster’s work to date includes excursions into hard science fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, Western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous nonfiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as Star Wars, the first three Alien films, Alien Nation, The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, and two of the Transformers films. Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first Star Trek movie. His novel Shadowkeep was the first ever book adaptation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science fiction ever to do so. He is the recipient of the Faust, the IAMTW lifetime achievement award.

  Besides traveling he enjoys listening to both classical music and heavy metal. Other pastimes include basketball, hiking, body surfing, and scuba diving. In his age and weight class he is a current world and Eurasian champion in powerlifting (bench press). He studied karate with Aaron and Chuck Norris before Norris decided to give up teaching for acting. He has taught screenwriting, literature, and film history at UCLA and Los Angeles City College as well as having lectured at universities and conferences around the world. A member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the Author’s Guild of America, and the Writer’s Guild of America, West, he also spent two years serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission of his home town of Prescott, Arizona. Foster’s correspondence and manuscripts are in the Special Collection of the Hayden Library of Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.

  The Fosters reside in Prescott in a house built of brick salvaged from a turn-of-the-century miners’ brothel, along with assorted dogs, cats, fish, several hundred houseplants, visiting javelina, porcupines, eagles, red-tailed hawks, skunks, coyotes, bobcats, and the ensorceled chair of the nefarious Dr. John Dee. He is presently at work on several new novels and media projects.

  David Lee Summers

  David Lee Summers is the author of ten novels along with numerous short stories and poems. His writing spans a wide range of the imaginative from science fiction to fantasy to horror. David’s novels include Vampires of the Scarlet Order, which tells the story of a band of vampire mercenaries who fight evil, and Owl Dance, which is a Wild West steampunk adventure. His short stories have appeared in such magazines and anthologies as Realms of Fantasy, Cemetery Dance, and Gaslight and Grimm. He’s been twice nominated for the Science Fiction Poetry Association’s Rhysling Award. In addition to writing, David has edited such anthologies as Maximum Velocity: The Best of the Full-Throttle Space Tales and A Kepler’s Dozen, along with the magazine Tales of the Talisman. When not working with the written word, David operates telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Learn more about David at davidleesummers.com.

  Kevin J. Anderson

  Kevin J. Anderson has published 144 books, 55 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, and the Saga of Shadows trilogy, but he has the most fun with his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI, as should come across in this story. Dan Shamble has appeared in four novels and a story collection, Working Stiff. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press.

  Naomi Brett Rourke

  Naomi Brett Rourke is a writer and a teacher living in Southern California. She loves the genres of crime, mystery, and horror and spending time with her beloved family and pets. Her short stories can be found in anthologies such as Life on the Rez by Tree-Lion Press, Brewed Awakenings 2 by Caffeinated Press, and Enter the Apocalypse by TANSTAAFL Press, and in journals and magazines such as The Mature Years by Abingdon Press, London’s Morpheus Tales, and the Young Adult journal Refractions by Golden Fleece Press.

  Coming out in 2017 are stories in the anthologies Distressing Damsels (April) by Fantasia Divinity; 100 Voices, Volume 3 (April) by Centrum Press; and Straight Outta Tombstone (July 4) by Baen Books. Her novelette Devil’s Night, published by London’s Frith Books, will make it out by October. She is currently working on two novels and more short stories. She is a member of the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. Visit her at www.naomibrettrourke.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/naomibrettrourke, on Twitter at NaomiBRourke, and on Instagram at @naomibrettrourke.

  Peter J. Wacks

  Peter J. Wacks was purportedly born in California sometime during 1976. He has always been amazed and fascinated by both writing and the absurdity of the world in general. Throughout the course of his life, he has hitchhiked across the States and backpacked across Europe on the Eurail. Peter writes a lot, and will continue to do so till the day he dies. Possibly beyond.

  He is a bestselling cross-genre writer who has worked in various capacities across the creative fields in gaming, television, film, comics, and most recently, when not busy editing, he spends his time writing novels. He began in the creative fields as a child actor and model, most notably as an extra on Revenge of the Nerds and Thunder Alley. At age six he began writing short stories, and was first published in high school (1992), a time in which he was also a top ten honorable mention for the NCTE award (1993).

  In gaming he was the lead designer and storyline writer of Cyberpunk CCG, a consultant for Allegiance, and both a writer and editor for multiple books in the Interface Zero line. After the Cyberpunk CCG project he spent a month in L.A. as a consultant for the TV show Alias, helping the studio determine the viability of converting the show into a CCG. In the mid 2000s he decided to focus on his original passion, writing stories, once more. His first novel, Second Paradigm, was published in 2008.

  Peter’s first comic, Behind These Eyes, garnered a finalist spot for the Bram Stoker in 2012. Currently, he has published five novels, four novellas, and appeared in sixteen anthologies.

 
He has been a panelist, guest speaker, and Guest of Honor at a combined total of over 250 conventions, trade shows, organizations, and colleges—including GAMA, Mensa Colorado, and UCLA.

  When he isn’t working on the next book he can be found practicing martial arts, playing chess, drinking Scotch or IPA, or fighting with swords.

  Jim Butcher

  Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in his home town of Independence, Missouri.

  Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only three in a thousand who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only one in ten make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.

  All the same, he refuses to change his nickname.