Professionals

Mary Abreu

Mary Abreu is a TV/film seamstress and set costumer for more than 10 years and the author of three sewing books with Stash Books/C&T Publishing.

Stephen Adams

Stephen Adams is the host of the long-running comedy podcast, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, and a founder of the 2Dorks network of podcasts and live streams.

David Afsharirad

David Afsharirad is an associate editor at Baen Books. He is the editor of several volumes of short fiction and the author of many published short stories. 

Jer Alford

Jer Alford is the Owner/Editor/Writer of Mini-Komix publishing company specializing in independent comics, fanzines, and prose books. Webmaster for Stupid Comics comic book retrospective, and Anime Anyway genre review blog.

Quincy J Allen

As a cross-genre author with countless short story publications and 10 novels in print, Quincy J. Allen continues to mix and match sci-fi, fantasy, noir, and everything in between.

Rachael Allen

Rachael Allen is a scientist by day and kidlit author by night. She is the winner of the 2019 Georgia Young Adult Author of the Year award.

Drew Allison

Drew Allison is the founder of Grey Seal Puppets. Allison has performed regularly on television and stage including such venues as The Center for Puppetry Arts and The Smithsonian Institution.

Ayla Almee

Ayla Almee has performed dance for 30+ years. They are a founding member, head choreographer, and co-director of Antipode Dance and specialize in silk road styles.

Cristina Amaya

Cristina Amaya is the president & cofounder of nonprofit Latinx in Gaming, has been on the Board of Directors for the IGDA and works as the Director of Dreamhack Festivals.

Robert Amico

Robert Amico is a Portland-based puppet artist who cofounded Kettlehead Studios with their partner Keziah. They produce puppet acts for Puppet Slams and variety shows and short puppet films. 

Daryl Andrews

Daryl Andrews is a professional freelance game designer, with 30+ board games already released through 20+ different publishers. Andrews’s top selling board game, Sagrada has sold over 300,000 copies.

J A Andrews

JA Andrews’ degree in aerospace engineering is useless as a fantasy author. In The Keeper Chronicles, she has too much fun writing the fantasy to worry about science.

Corey Applegate

Corey Applegate works for the Mando Mercs costume club, TarValon.Net, and JordanCon. Applegate is a former Disney Travel Planner, an avid reader, crocheter, and cross stitcher.

Dr. Armes

Dr. April Armes is a microbiologist who is generally interested in how bacteria communicate with each other and their hosts. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of microbiology with others.

Azure Arther

Azure Arther is obsessed with literature. Azure's work has appeared in over a dozen publications, including a winning story in Writers of the Future, Volume 38.

Dyrk Ashton

PhDs should never go to waste, thus Dyrk Ashton uses his as a professor of Screenwriting & Cinema Studies and to write The Paternus Trilogy.

Davis Ashura

Davis Ashura is the award-winning author of three bestselling epic fantasy series, the Castes and the OutCastes, the Chronicles of William Wilde, and Instrument of Omens.

aSwanNamedEmily

Emily Swan is a graphic designer, illustrator, Twitch streamer, and podcaster. Swan is the creator of the Doodle Crew, co-host of Sketching Shakespeare, and a member of the In Addition podcast.

Samantha Avila

Samantha Avila is an Art Director working in film and TV. Recent credits include Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3,  Spider-Man:No Way Home, Our Flag Means Death, and Westworld.

Will Aymerich

Will Aymerich is a paranormal investigator of 30+ years out of Atlanta, GA. He has traveled the world experiencing and investigating claims of high strangeness.

Kevin Bachelder

Kevin Bachelder has been podcasting about genre TV and movies since 2005. His podcasts have won four Parsec Awards in the Best Fan Podcast category.

Michael Bailey

Michael Bailey has been podcasting since 2007 and currently runs The Fortress of Baileytude Podcasting Network. He also writes for The Superman Homepage and currently co-hosts Superman Homepage Live.

Griffin Barber

A retired police officer, Griffin Barber has written and co-written novels and shorts set in a variety of sub-genres of SF, he's currently working on more 1632 books with Eric Flint, writing short stories and trying to get his own novels completed and out the door.

Aretta Baumgartner

Aretta Baumgartner is a performer/teaching artist specializing in puppetry, mask, and movement. She’s proud to be the Education Director of the world-renowned Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta.

Davey Beauchamp

Davey Beauchamp is an artist and librarian. He has also done covers for Falstaff Books, Scaldcrow Press, the Geek Gala, and other conventions.  

Leigh Bennett-Conner

Leigh is the co-host of 50 Days of Dragon Con podcast. She's the one with questions, makes double - or triple - entendres without meaning to, and then gets embarrassed.

Kaitlin Bevis

Kaitlin Bevis is best known as the author of the young adult Greek mythology series, The Daughters of Zeus and the young adult horror story, Blood and Other Matter.

Daniel Bitton

Daniel Bitton is a freelance illustrator with professional experience illustrating covers for SF and Fantasy in both print and digital publications.

Lazarus Black

Lazarus Black, First Place Winner of Writer's of the Future v38 is an author of fine fiction and non-fiction based in the Seattle area.

J.D. Blackrose

Jennifer Blackstream

Jennifer Blackstream is a bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance fueled by binge-watching TV murder mysteries, a Master's degree in Psychology, and an obsession with mythology and fairy tales.

Bobby Blackwolf

Bobby Blackwolf is the co-owner of the Voice of Geeks Network podcast network and Twitch channel and has hosted a live internet show and podcast about video games since 2005.

D.J. Bodden

D.J. Bodden is a sci-fi and fantasy author of 10 books and counting. He has written in the LitRPG Viridian Gate Online universe and recently started his own sci-fi universe.

Ian Boley

Ian Boley is a historian who uses sci-fi to teach about national security,diplomatic, and nuclear issues on The Joint Geeks of Staff podcast.

David Boop

Author David Boop wrote She Murdered Me with Science, a sci-fi/noir, and Rippers: the Soul Changers, a Victorian horror. Boop’s shorts include Predator and The Green Hornet. 

Jon Boutelle

Jon Boutelle co-hosts and produces 50 Days of Dragon Con. He can also be found on Need Coffee's Weekend Justice and The Unique Geek.

Arthur Bowling

Arthur Bowling is a fantasy/sci-fi illustrator who has also created work for tabletop games, book covers, and interior art. His work was featured in Writers of the Future Volume 36.

Jay Boyce

Jay Boyce is the author of A Touch of Power series published with Mountaindale Press. She is an editor-turned-author who also spends her time working with deaf students.

Bill Bridges

Bill Bridges is a writer and game designer most known for developing White Wolf’s World of Darkness and the Fading Suns science-fiction universe.

Bethany Brookshire

Bethany Brookshire is a PhD neuroscientist, science writer, and podcaster. She is the author of the forthcoming book Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains.

Christopher "Rotzo!" Brown

Chris "Rotzo" Brown has frightened and delighted theatre, film and television audiences for decades with fare including Scarlett’s Web, Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell and Stranger Things.

Matthew J. Brown

Matthew Brown, PhD, is a scholar of comics and pop culture He is co-editor of More Critical Approaches to Comics and has organized academic panels at Dragon Con.

Dr. John Edgar Browning

A recognized authority on horror, vampires, and monsters, Dr. John Edgar Browning has contracted or published 20 nonfiction books and 100 shorter works. 

Doug Burbey

Doug Burbey is the author of the Blood War urban fantasy series. In addition to writing, he is a Department of Defense Program Manager for advanced technology development efforts.

Raychelle Burks

Raychelle Burks is a chemistry professor with a crime lab background. On the Smithsonian Channel, she brings her expertise to The Curious Life and Death Of… to examine unusual cases.

Tyra Burton

Tyra Burton is a social media strategist and creator of the Geek Meets Social podcast. She has written the sci-fi romance Penduli Station and Socially Engaged: The Author’s Guide to Social Media.

Darin M. Bush

Darin M. Bush is an award-winning science-fiction and fantasy short-story author. He is the founder and executive producer of Tables of Content, a virtual sci-fi convention.

D.J. Butler

D.J. (Dave) Butler has been a lawyer, a consultant, an editor, a corporate trainer, and a registered investment banking representative, and he is now a Consulting Editor for Baen Books.

Jessica Cail

Featured on NOVA’s Secret Life of Scientists for her dual life as psychopharmacologist and stuntwoman, Dr. Cail also serves as a scientific consultant for Hollywood sci-fi.

Kenneth G Carpenter

Dr. Kenneth Carpenter is currently the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Operations Project Scientist and the Ground Systems Project Scientist for the Roman Space Telescope (RST) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

Alison Carrier

As a seasoned developer, Alison Carrier has worked on Star Wars: Hunters, Halo Infinite, and other titles while passionately advocating for diversity and equity in video games.

Dr. Julia Ann Cartwright

Dr. Cartwright is a planetary scientist who studies meteorites. Her research uses different techniques to characterize extra-terrestrial materials for composition or chronology. 

Cathalson

Cathalson is an author of over 40+ publications. He is also a fiction developer for Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. / AntiMater Games and Big Farm Games. 

CatieOsaurus

Catieosaurus is a mental health advocate and full-time content creator. As a professional streamer and TTRPG influencer, she is passionate about opening conversations about neurodiversity and accessibility into the gaming community. 

Karen Ceesay

Karen Ceesay is an actress, writer, and coach. She serves on the boards of Film Impact Georgia, ArtsATL, the organizing committee for SAG-AFTRA, and is a past board member of WIFTA.

Alex Chan

Alex Chan is a Los Angeles-based software and hardware product leader and an expert in gaming and content creation. Chan is currently working with Medal.tv creating gaming content.

Robert Chapin

Robert Chapin is a visual effects artist, fight choreographer, actor, writer, and producer. He has worked on The Haunted, Cowboy Bebop, Picard, Legion, and DC comic’s upcoming movie Black Adam.

Michael Chatfield

Michael Chatfield is an international bestseller of several books and series. He is wrapping up the Ten Realms series and the Builders legacy series.

ChelseaBytes

ChelseaBytes is a content creator who loves everything geeky! When this Twitch Partner isn’t building a computer or beating a game, she's hosting for Amazon, AMC, and many more!

Echo Chernik

Echo Chernik’s powerful vision of feminism and unique art nouveau creations have earned collectors around the globe. She is also the coordinating judge in the Illustrators of the Future Contest.

Casey Chorba

Recipient of the*gameHERs Rising Star Rising Leader award, Casey Chorba is considered an expert in Privacy Program Management for video game companies including Activision and Epic on her resume.

Gene Chorba

Gene Chorba is an expert in the gaming, esports and entertainment industry. Gene is now Head of Developer Relations at Roku and Advisor to TSM.

Joshua Colwell

Dr. Joshua Colwell is Chair and Pegasus Professor of Physics at the University of Central Florida. He hosts Walkabout the Galaxy, the fun astronomy podcast.

Ryan A Consell

Ryan Cosnell is an engineering professor, costumer, prop maker, and author with particular expertise in engineering science with research focused on composite materials and bicycle destruction.

Harmon Cooper

Harmon Cooper is the bestselling indie author of over 60 science fantasy books including Pilgrim, Cowboy Necromancer, War Priest, The Feedback Loop, and his new web serial, Tokens and Towers.

Jason Cordova

A 2019 Dragon Award finalist, Jason Cordova has appeared in over 50 novels and anthologies and is the author of the Kin Wars series. 

Crippled Critic

Mike Matlock was born with the disorder Spinal Muscular Atrophy and has been in a wheelchair since he was young. He's an international speaker, gaming journalist, accessibility consultant, and disabled gamer. 

Crispy

Chris Lloyd is an actor for DragonConTV, an improv comedian, a podcaster on WhatTheCast.com and a specialist on pop culture and post-apocalyptic culture, zombies not withstanding.  Chris Lloyd is a moderator for Dragon Con.

Katie Cross

Magic-lover Katie Cross has published more than 20 books in YA Fantasy because she likes to hang out with dragons in wild places. 

Mike Crugnola

Mike Crugnola is best-known for role playing characters like Jebeddo and Deeran on the D&D live play podcast Adventure Incorporated, the Poked expert on Ask the Poked expert, and as a Moontower Soccer host.

Stephanie Crugnola

Jack of all trades, and master of early modern English literature, Stephanie Crugnola is a content creator specializing in Shakespeare and D&D.

Paul B Currie

Dr. Paul Currie is a Health Science administrator and recovering Biology and Chemistry professor. He has given numerous talks on the use of pop culture in teaching.

Joshua Cutchin

Joshua Cutchin has featured on paranormal programming from Ancient Aliens to Coast to Coast AM. His books include The Brimstone Deceit, Thieves in the Night, and Where the Footprints End.

Veronica Dahshell

Veronica Dahshell is half of the husband and wife puppetry team, Felt Nerdy! She and her husband Charles Kelso can be seen at conventions across the Southeast.

Ron Daniels

Ron Daniels is an attorney who regularly handles consumer protection matters including privacy issues, credit report errors, and abusive debt collection practices.

Milton Davis

Milton Davis is an award-winning Black Speculative fiction writer and owner of MVmedia, LLC, a publishing company specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and sword and soul.

Jason De La Torre

JC De La Torre is an author, composer, animator, filmmaker, audio drama/fiction podcast creator, producer, screenwriter, editor, voice actor, and probably a few other things we forgot to mention.

Rita De La Torre

Rita De La Torre is a producer and actress, known for Seekers of the Lost Worlds, Continuum Force, Vampires of White Chapel, and Star Mage: Guardians of Medeltiden.

Walter Dean

Walter Dean of Dean's Lyst is a designer who specializes in custom-made costumes. He was featured by Marvel Studios in Marvel Becoming: Dora Milaja. He has also been spotlighted in several written publications.

Ryan DeBruyn

Ryan DeBruyn was a professional athlete that always wanted to write, and turned his dream into a reality. His works include, Ether Collapse, System Misinterpret, and Ether Flows. 

Lali DeRosier

Science teacher and education researcher, Lali DeRosier promotes youth involvement in science through student writing, art, and, outreach. She tackles themes of science and diversity in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.

Matt Dinniman

Matt Dinniman is the author of the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series. In addition, he is the author of over 10 novels and dozens of works of short fiction.

Beth Dolgner

Beth Dolgner writes paranormal fiction and nonfiction, and she gives presentations about Victorian death and mourning customs and Victorian Spiritualism.

Cecilia Dominic

By day, psychologist Cecilia Dominic helps people cure their insomnia. By night, this USA Today bestselling author writes steampunk and urban fantasy books that keep readers up past bedtime.

Addie Dove

Dr. Addie Dove is a planetary science professor who studies how rocks and hazardous dust behave on surfaces in microgravity.

Brian Duckwitz

Brian Duckwitz has contributed to and authored 16 works for Paizo including the adventure We Be Heroes?, and Siege of Gallowspire.

Patrick Dugan

Patrick Dugan is the award-winning author of the Darkest Storm trilogy from Falstaff Books and the Watchers of Astaria from Distracted Dragon Press.

Jordan Duncan

Jordan is a paranormal investigator and historian. He’s been a part of the Atlanta paranormal community since 2008.

Em Dupre

Em Dupre mainly writes speculative fiction. She has published short stories, co-created graphic novels and has just finished her first novel. She is a 2022 Writers of the Future winner.

Andy Dykes

Andy Dykes is a real, live rocket scientist who has flown satellites for a living and has supported all kinds of manned and unmanned space flight at NASA. 

Marc Edelheit

Marc Edelheit is an avid reader and accomplished author.  He applied his experience as a business leader in the healthcare industry to his writing career to become a full-time author.

K.D. Edwards

K.D.'s first book in his urban fantasy series The Tarot Sequence, called The Last Sun, was published in June 2018. The third installment, The Hourglass Throne, is expected May 2022.

Kevin Eldridge

Kevin Eldridge produces and hosts The Flopcast, a pop-culture comedy podcast. He is a published science fiction author, an organizer and host of skeptic events, and a comedy musician.

Zane Exactly

Shadow Girls Cult is a trio of queer theatre, puppetry and visual artists incorporating human silhouettes and cinematic shadow puppetry techniques, they weave surreal tales of trauma, identity and loss.

Kacey Ezell

Kacey Ezell is a retired USAF helicopter pilot who writes sci-fi/fantasy/noir/alternate history fiction.  She is a two-time Dragon Award Finalist for Best Alternate History.

Michael Falkner

Michael Falkner is a writer and podcaster at Creative Criticality. He is the author of the Timestamps Project and is also one of the leaders for Dragon Con Newbies.

Emily A Finke

A forensic anthropologist by training, but a science communicator by passion, Emily Finke has spent the past 20 years teaching in museums, nature centers, pubs, conventions, and more.

Declan Finn

Declan Finn is the author of thirty books, ranging from thrillers to SciFi and Fantasy. His has been nominated for three Dragon awards.

Nick Fish

Nick Fish is the president of American Atheists. With 15years of policy, organizing, and leadership experience, Fish works to elevatethe profile of atheists in American society.

Teddi (FSM) Fishman

With advanced degrees from Purdue (PhD) and Clemson (MA, MS) Universities, Teddi Fishman is a "pracademic" specializing in ethics and integrity in higher education.

Rob Fitz

Rob Fitz is a professional makeup artist and film director with 25 years of experience. He recently won several awards for his feature films, Blessid and God of Vampires.

Tom Fleming

Tom Fleming is a four-time Chesley Award nominee who is known for his work with Magic the Gathering, World of Warcraft, Marvel, DC and Dark Horse Comics, and more.

Dustin Fletcher

Dustin Fletcher is a specialty costumer for film and television focusing on the superhero and horror genres as well as a professional DM for the actual play D4.

Sean Fletcher

Sean Fletcher is the Amazon bestselling, award-winning author of YA and middle grade fantasy. He also can be found speaking about and teaching writing and working as a editor.

John L. Flynn

Dr. John L. Flynn is an author, screenwriter, and three-time Hugo nominee. As a member of the SFWA and the MWA, he has written books, screenplays, and many short stories.

Barr Foxx

Barr Foxx is an award-winning cosplay artist and television/film producer. His national brand, Cosplay Your Way, encourages individuals to embrace the art of cosplay through imagery and film.

Anthony Francis

By day, Anthony Francis teaches robots to learn; by night, he writes science fiction and draws comic books. His latest novel is Jeremiah Willstone and the Clockwork Time Machine.

Adam Friedman

Adam Friedman is an environmentalist, scientist, and artist exploring the intersections between art and environmentalism. Recently, he co-founded the Atlanta Green Theatre Alliance, which advocates for sustainability in the arts.

Paige Gardner

Paige Gardner is an award-winning costume designer whose eccentric masks, bizarre props, and original costumes make her art recognizable worldwide. Gardner’s high-profile costumes have been featured in multiple media outlets.

J. B. Garner

J. B. Garner is a professional author and editor, with over a dozen novels to her name and editing hundreds more, including multiple bestsellers.

Jenna Garrett

Jenna Garrett is a proud member of Botched! A D&D Podcast, Horse Girls, and the Soup in Soup, Salad, Sandwich. 

Rich Gatz

Rich Gatz is a dedicated cybersecurity and data privacy attorney with experience working with the world's largest - and smallest - companies to help solve cyber and data privacy risk.

Tristan Gibbon

Tristan Gibbon is a founding member of the evergreen show Botched: A D&D Podcast where he is a voice actor, audio editor, writer, comedian, and musician.

Clay Gilbert

Since 2013, Clay Gilbert has published 12 novels in genres ranging from YA dystopia to space fantasy and horror. His works are published by Dark Moon Press.

Alison Gill

Alison Gill manages American Atheists’ federal and state advocacy for religious equality and litigation activities. Alison is a nationally recognized expert on civil rights law and state advocacy.

Yarn Goddess

Yarn Goddess Cosplay is an queer African-Caribbean cosplayer who’s taken crochet to a new level. ALL of their cosplays are crocheted by them.

Dwayne Goetzel

Dwayne Goetzel is an intellectual property lawyer in Austin, Texas, who handles trademarks, copyrights, contracts, licensing, domain name disputes, and litigation matters involving those subjects.

Savannah Jo Goins

Savannah J. Goins, author of fantasy novels The Gwythienian, The Crivabanian, and The Cathawyr, uses her background in dragon wrangling as an exotic animal RVT to inspire young adults.

Nicoli Gonnella

Nicoli Gonnella writes Unbound on the website RoyalRoad, has 8 million page-views and 8 thousand followers. Six books are soon to be published through Mountaindale Press.

John Goodwin

John Goodwin, President Galaxy Press, has been involved with book publishing since 1986, including the internationally acclaimed Writers of the Future anthology, now in its 39th year.

L.R. Gould

L.R. Gould is a transgender science fiction and urban fantasy author published by Falstaff Books. The first book of her new sci-fi series, Prodigal Brother is coming soon.

Tony Gowell

Tony Gowell is a moderator for Dragon Con.

Grandmafun

Grandmafun is a classy lady from the islands with Bettie Page charms and Beyonce booty-shaking moves that will make you swoon

Dr. Craig Greathouse

Dr. Craig Greathouse is a Professor of Political Science and expert in issues of Western European and American security issues, strategic culture, international relations theory, and cyber war.

Andrew Greenberg

Best known for his work on roleplaying and computer games, Andrew Greenberg runs the Georgia Game Developers Association and Georgia Esports League.

Darrell Z. Grizzle

Darrell Z. Grizzle is a horror, urban fantasy, and thriller writer. He is the author of I Never Meant to Start a Murder Cult and featured in Pink Triangle Rhapsody.

Dr. Nicole Gugliucci

Dr. Nicole Gugliucci (aka NoisyAstronomer) is a physics professor, education researcher, astronomer, science communicator, and all-around geek. Her passion for science education drives a number of projects.

L.J. Hachmeister

Bestselling author L.J Hachmeister writes and fights (although not at the same time) and is best known for her sci-fi series, Triorion and her sci-fi romance, The Laws of Attraction.

Valerie Hampton

Dr. Valerie Hampton, Woman-of-All-Seasons - historical archaeologist, author, game maker, paranormal researcher, and Indie film producer, speaks on the intersection between popular fantasy and history has numerous publications in history.

Henry Hanks

Henry Hanks has written about geek culture for sites such as CNN.com, Syfy.com and Joblo.com. He has participated in Dragon Con panels for over 20 years.

Isabelle Hardesty

Isabelle Hardesty is an author who weaves her love of magic and nature into her books. Her work includes the novel The Witch of Belle Fleur.

Thomas Harper

Thomas Harper frequently wields Star Wars and other sci-fi to teach about law and the law of war, including on The Joint Geeks of Staff and The Legal Geeks podcasts.

Scott Harris

Scott Harris is the staff planetary geologist at Fernbank Science Center and the Jim Cherry Memorial Planetarium in Atlanta, Georgia.

Will Harris

Will Harris is a paleontologist, educator, and host of the Common Descent Podcast, where he applies his experience as a fossil hunter, researcher, and educator to entertaining and educational discussions. 

John G. Hartness

John G. Hartness is an author, publisher, and podcaster from Charlotte, NC. He is the author of multiple novel series, including the award-winning Quincy Harker, Demon Hunter series. He is also the co-founder and publisher of Falstaff Books, and a member of the Authors & Dragons Live D&D podcast.

Laura Hayden

Laura Hayden writes in a wide variety of genres. With fourteen novels under her belt, she’s also a founder and a nine-time director of the Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

Drew Hayes

Drew Hayes is the author of over 25 novels, GM of the Authors and Dragons Podcast, and producer on Shingles: The Movie.

M. Haynes

M. Haynes is the mind behind the popular Elemental novel series, an educator, a blogger, and public speaker who hopes to show that everyone has the elements of a hero.

Travis Heermann

Travis Heermann is the author of nine novels, including Tokyo Blood Magic and The Ronin Trilogy, plus short fiction in Apex Magazine, Cemetery Dance, and others.

Rick Heinz

Rick Heinz is an urban fantasy author and the writer for the Geek & Sundry series: GM Tips and Lead Story Director for Sirens: Battle of the Bards.

May Hemmer

May Hemmer has been making her way around the country as well as internationally. This 2017 Miss Montreal Burlesque is not only a burlesque performer, but a cosplayer.

Devan Henderson

Devan Henderson is a co-DM of the live actual play podcast D4, alongside Dustin Fletcher. He’s been professionally GMing for over eleven years through LARP and D&D.

Tony P Henderson

Tony P. Henderson is a moderator, podcaster, and digital media creator known for the Tony P. Oddcast, the Geek Vs podcast, and as a contestant on America’s Next Top Podcaster.  

Karl Herlinger

Herlinger is a LA ventriloquist known for his irreverent and outside-of-the-box approach. He has performed at shows including The Magic Castle, Flappers, Tomorrow Show and the LA Guild of Puppetry.

Lucas Hernandez

Lucas Hernandez is an animal educator at the South Carolina aquarium. He is also a member of Pokescience, a podcast focused on the science behind the Pokemon games and anime.

HeyGude

Erik Gude is a classically trained guitarist, artist, performer, and sourdough expert. As @heygude on Tiktok, Youtube and Twitch, Gude has built a dedicated community of over 300,000 followers.

Robert Viktor Hill

Founder of the Flying Nuggets LLC, a non profit in Atlanta with the Mission to inspire excellence in STEAM programming through competition and instruction for k-12.

Madaug Hishinuma

Intense gamer, former teacher, and current mastermind of all around mayhem, Madaug Hishinuma first started writing in grade school. His current series include: Shadow Wars, Space Sovereign, and Sherrilyn's Worlds.

Chris Hofmann

Chris Hofmann manages launch operations for Astra, a space infrastructure company. He is the current Flight Director on mission days, having helped develop their agile and rapidly deployable launch system.

Brian Holder

Brian Holder is the co-owner and casting director of LazuArts Entertainment, a black-owned, full-service dubbing studio. Brian is currently casting for Frost Giant Studios' upcoming RTS videogame Stormgate.

Jeff Hubbs

Jeff Hubbs is a consultant in the fields of energy systems and climate change research-based in Atlanta. He has been part of the Drawdown Georgia initiative.

John Hudgens

John Hudgens is an award-winning filmmaker, animator, and artist who has directed documentaries and short films. His work on licensed properties includes Babylon 5, Crimson Skies, MechWarrior, and Star Wars.

Rebecca Huguet

Rebecca Huguet is a theatrical costume technician and designer. She currently works for A to Z Theatrical Service and Supply as their costume shop manager.

Walter Hunt

Walter H. Hunt is a science-fiction and historical fiction writer. He is the author of the Dark Wing universe books and two books in the 1632/Ring of Fire shared world. 

James A. Hunter

James Hunter is a former Marine, a member of SFWA, and the bestselling author of Rogue Dungeon, Bibliomancer, and Viridian Gate Online!

Topher Hunter

Topher Hunter is a professional biomedical science communicator and amateur droid builder with a passion for trying new things and helping others to not make the same mistakes he/they made.

Kevin Ikenberry

Kevin Ikenberry is a retired Army office and author. He is the author of The Protocol War series, the Peacemaker novels in the bestselling Four Horsemen Universe, and The Crossing.

ImaginaryNomad

Philip D. Keating is a comedian, streamer, musician, and podcaster. He is one of the creators of Botched: A D&D Podcast.

Chris Jackson

Sailor, SFF nerd, and gamer, Chris Jackson has written for the Pathfinder, Iron Kingdoms, Shadowrun, Arkham Horror, and Traveller RPG’s. He has over 30 novels and won numerous awards.

Kristin Jackson

Kristin Jackson is an accomplished print/digital designer, working in the film industry as an artist, set photographer, and social media manager. She's the Director of Communications and Graphic Designer for Frostbite Pictures.

G. S. Jennsen

G.S. Jennsen is a bestselling author of 17 novels and numerous short stories. Her novel, Starshine was named one of the best sci-fi novels by a woman in the last 50 years.

Bernadette Johnson

Bernadette Johnson is the author of The Big Book of Spy Trivia, which covers espionage history, tradecraft, and entertainment. Her other works include 50+ articles for HowStuffWorks.com and several short stories.

Emily Jones

Emily Goodwin is VP Public Relations Author Services, Inc. for the international Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests. She is the producer for the Writers of the Future annual gala.

Omega Jones

Omega Jones, also known as the Critical Bard, is a performer, TTRPG designer, and Twitch partner. As a content creator, he puts diversity and activism first in all aspects of his life.

Christopher Kao

Christopher Kao has worked in video games for over a decade as a designer, producer, and product manager. He has worked on some of the top properties in the world.

Charlie Kaufman

Charlie Kaufman has worked in environmental consulting and studied coastal erosion and natural disaster impacts (and has also managed to run Godzilla damage estimates, zombie outbreak models, and Sharknado predictions).

Kavura

Kavura is one of the hosts of both the StarPodTrek and StarPodLog podcasts. She produces Ladies Trek Library and is in several Star Trek fan clubs and fan films.

Charles Kelso

Charles Kelso is half of the husband and wife puppetry team Felt Nerdy. They have been performing at conventions across the southeast for over seven years.

Darin Kennedy

Darin Kennedy is a doctor-by-day and novelist-by-night. Kennedy's works include his Fugue & Fable series, the Pawn Stratagem series, and The April Sullivan Chronicles.

Christina Kieffer

Christina Kieffer has over 15 years of experience in the paranormal including ghosts, UFOs, and cryptids. She is also found on many episodes of True Ghost Stories on Facet TV.

Roy Kilgard

Dr. Kilgard is an astrophysicist who researches black holes in nearby galaxies with an emphasis on intermediate-mass black holes: an enigmatic class of objects whose origins are unclear.

Sue Kisenwether

Sue Kisenwether has been podcasting about sci-fi TV and movies since 2010. Currently, she co-hosts Women at Warp, exploring Star Trek through a feminist lens.

Gini Koch

Gini Koch writes the fast, fresh, and funny Alien/Katherine “Kitty” Katt series for DAW Books/PRH, plus many other novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories in all the genres.

Jeffrey L Kohanek

Jeffrey L. Kohanek grew up in rural Minnesota where comic books and fantasy novels sparked his young imagination, inspiring fantasies of heroes overcoming impossible odds and saving the day.

Aleron Kong

Aleron Kong is an African-American physician turned bestselling author. He is proud of his fandom that raised over $150,000 for charity, and lives by “Through service, ascendance. Through dedication, transcendence.”

Dakota Krout

Dakota Krout is a bestselling author of fantasy and LitRPG with over 30 titles in his Completionist Chronicles, Divine Dungeon, Full Murderhobo, and Year of The Sword series.

Shemer Kuznits

Shemer is an Israeli LitRPG author, known best for his six-book series: Life Reset. Shemer started writing in 2017, becoming a full-time author in 2019.

Zaine L

Zaine Lodhi is an Illustrator, 3D modeler, and grand prize winner of Volume 38 of Writer and Illustrators of the Future.

SM Lahti

SM is an innovative digital marketing leader in gaming with a career history including Twitch, Riot Games, and 100 Thieves. She is also a voice actress on several indie video games.

Steph LaMassa

Astrophysicist Steph LaMassa works at the Space Telescope Science Institute on the James Webb Space Telescope, a NASA flagship observatory in collaboration with the European and Canadian Space Agencies.

Cheralyn Lambeth

Cheralyn Lambeth is a professional costume, prop, and puppet builder whose work includes feature films, TV shows, live/interactive properties, and books.

Erika Lance

Erika Lance is founder and CEO of 4 Horsemen Publications and host of the Drinking with Authors podcast as well as a screenplay and horror/thriller author.

Jason Lane

Jason Lane is a longtime writer of stuff; mostly concerning horror, exploitation, martial-arts films, Asian pop culture, giant monsters, giant robots, pro-wrestling, comic books, and any types of vanguard/cult cinema.

Todd W Langen

Todd W Langen is the screenwriter of the original Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (1990), its sequel The Secret Of The Ooze (1991), and The Wonder Years TV show.

Ed Larson

Ed Larson is founder and CEO of Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers, (TDSX) which is a manufacturer of small autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV).

Dr. Law

Dr. Leigh A. Willis, is a self-styled renaissance man, and passionate second-generation geek. He is a scientist, gamer, published cosplay photographer, podcaster, and comic collector. 

Oriana Shani Leckert

Oriana Leckert is the Director of Publishing & Comics Outreach at Kickstarter. Leckert  has written and edited for Vice, MTV News, Slate, Hyperallergic, Gothamist, Atlas Obscura, and many more. 

Chris LeDoux

Chris LeDoux is a Crafty Apes co-founder and Senior VFX Supervisor. Being a leader in high-level producing and VFX supervision, LeDoux’s career in VFX began as a compositor.

DN Lee

DN Lee is an Outreach Scientist and hip-hop maven who enjoys critiquing the social, justice, and science themes of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror entertainment. 

Marc Lee

Marc Lee is a moderator for Dragon Con.

Laura Levy

Dr. Laura Levy is Research Director of GEAR (Gaming & Esports Applied Research) at Georgia Tech and an engineering psychologist specializing in esports, game design, AR/VR, and human-computer interaction research.

Rob Levy

Rob Levy regularly writes about popular culture and co-hosts the Music Modernity, and Weekend Justice podcasts. He has contributed to Time Lords & Tribbles, Winchesters & Muggles, and much more.

Philip Ligon

Philip Ligon is the bestselling author of the steampunk-fantasy Engine trilogy and the Falconbone Chronicles. The King's Regret was nominated for a Dragon Award for Best Middle Grade/Young Adult novel.

Little Red Dot

By day, she is Chelsea. By night, she is Little Red Dot, storyteller, #Twitch streamer, and #TTRPG game fanatic. Little Red Dot is a moderator for Dragon Con.

Jeffrey Falcon Logue

Jeffrey "Falcon" Logue has been a professional writer for over six years. He has published 15 books within that time, having started the dungeon core subgenre with his original.

F.T. Lukens

F.T. Lukens is an award-winning author of speculative young adult fiction. Their most recent releases are In Deeper Waters and So This is Ever After.

Tara Lynne

Tara Lynne is an author, event planner, fandom and geek culture expert, and public speaker. They founded Ice & Fire Con and is host of the Geek Saga and Sagas & Sass podcasts.

Courtney Lytle

Courtney Lytle is a practicing attorney and Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law. She specializes in intellectual property law and is a partner at Culhane Meadows.

Megan Mackie

Megan Mackie is the author of  The Finder of the Lucky Devil, The Saint of Liars, The Devil’s Day, Death and the Crone, and Saint Code: The Lost.

Terry Maggert

An author of more than 50 titles across four genres, Terry Maggert is an international bestseller who writes about space warfare, interstellar justice, witches, and everything in between.

Josh Maltby

Josh Maltby has been a TTRPG content creator, professional game master, and Quid Pro Roll podcast performer since 2018. Co-Host of the Goblins & Growlers TTRPG news podcast since 2020. 

Lisa Manifold

Lisa Manifold is a USA Today bestselling author of the paranormal women's fiction series Oracle of Wynter, as well as over 80 other paranormal and romance titles across two pen names.

Thomas Mariani

Thomas Mariani is a staff writer for Film Cred and host of the podcast Double Edged Double Bill who has done seven years' worth of Dragon Con panels.

Melissa McArthur

Melissa McArthur is the Associate Publisher at Falstaff Books, a freelance editor and graphic designer, an adjunct English professor, and plays Polly D. Arton on the Authors & Dragons Calamity Janes podcast.

Katie McClenahan