Author: ravenchair (Page 10 of 16)

Meg Nicholas

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Meg Nicholas is a folklorist and storyteller of mixed Munsee-Delaware and Welsh heritage. She holds an MA in Public Sector Folklore and a BA in history from George Mason University. She currently serves as a Folklife Specialist at the American Folklife Center, in the Library of Congress, where she contributes wisdom on the stewardship and presentation of Indigenous culture within the Center’s archival collections and public programs. She is the producer of the Center’s Community Collections subseries of the Folklife Today podcast. She is also a regular writer on the Folklife Today blog, covering topics as varied as cryptids, foodways, puppetry, and the intersection of science, history and folklife.

Bishop O’Connell

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Bishop O’Connell is author of the American Faerie Tale series and the award-winning Two-Gun Witch series, as well as a consultant, writer, blogger, lover of kilts and beer, as well as a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. Born in Naples Italy while his father was in the Navy, Bishop grew up in San Diego, where he fell in love with the ocean and fish tacos. After wandering the country for work and school (absolutely not evading mind controlling bunnies), he settled in Richmond VA, where he writes, collects swords, revels in his immortality as a “visionary” of the urban fantasy genre, and is regularly chastised for making up
things for his bio. He can also be found online at A Quiet Pint (aquietpint.com), where he muses philosophical on life, the universe, and everything, as well as various aspects of writing and the road to getting published.

Katie Oslow

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Katie Oslow is a provocative author, activist, and “gender fluid enigma” who creates at the intersection of dark speculative fiction and radical social commentary. Known for her philosophy of “gender chaos,” Oslow crafts stories that dismantle traditional binaries, exploring the visceral and philosophical nature of transformation.

Her work spans across genres to address the complexities of the human experience:

Sci-Fi Dystopia: In her Rebalance series, Oslow envisions a future where gender and biology are tools of both control and liberation. These narratives explore systemic power and the reclamation of self in worlds designed to categorize and constrain.

Transformation Fiction: Her collection Lessons in Lace serves as a hallmark of her work in gender-swap and feminization erotica. In these stories, transformation is more than a plot point; it is a catalyst for deep introspection, exploring how the shift in physical form impacts identity, desire, and societal standing.

The Nexum Universe: Her darker explorations are captured in the volume Sentenced to be His Sex Pet. This dystopian dark erotic thriller examines the architecture of ownership and the loss of agency, mirroring real-world power dynamics through an extreme, transgressive lens.

Beyond her fiction, Oslow is a staunch advocate for transgender rights and social justice. She views her storytelling as a form of activism, utilizing “gender chaos” to challenge cis-normative structures and champion bodily autonomy. Whether writing about magical gender-swaps or dystopian enslavement, Oslow remains committed to visibility, authentic representation, and the pursuit of true liberation for all identities.

Chad Ownby

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Chad Ownby is a theater teacher, podcaster, and film scholar from Richmond, VA. He finds love in analyzing and discussing films, TV, acting performances, and many various fandoms. Last year at RavenCon, he gave a presentation on his master’s thesis, “Anyone Can Be Batman: A Case Study on the Evolution of Batman in Film.”

Knightress Oxide

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Knightress Oxide (She/He/They) of the Science Fiction Double Feature Drag Show is Virginia’s genderfluid sweetheart, a huge Trekkie, and a lover of horror. At his core he is a Spock lover through and through and has a wide collection of Spock memorabilia. At this year’s drag show, she’s giving you theatrical campy realness for the 100th anniversary of sci-fi with two Star Trek performances!

Chuck Parker

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

A performer for more than 35 years, Chuck Parker has filled many musical roles: heavy metal guitarist, singer/songwriter, jazz sideman, open mic host, filk circle regular, session player, and World’s Okayest Bassist™.

Chuck has been a regular on the con circuit for more than a decade, and he’s played ballrooms, biergartens and backyards all over the country, both as a solo performer and as the bassist for nerdmusik icons The Blibbering Humdingers. He plays slice of life, confessional geek tunes that are often kind of funny, and his lyrics have been called “sensitive”, “literate”, and “hard to sing…”

He is also a published poet, avid cyclist, spouse, father, and a herder of cats, both figuratively and literally.

His music may be found at chuckparker.bandcamp.com, and his musings at chuck-parker.net.

Charles Pellegrino

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Charles Pellegrino is the New York Times best-selling author of Her Name Titanic, Ghosts of the Titanic, To Hell and Back: The Last Train from Hiroshima, and Ghosts of Hiroshima, along with eighteen other acclaimed books (including an SF trilogy under a pen name). At Brookhaven National Laboratory he was co-designer with Jim Powell of the Valkyrie relativistic rocket (hybridized with Bob Forward’s Star Wisp and animated for the Avatar series). With Jesse Stoff he co-authored the Europa Theory, worked out the chemistry of Saturn’s moon Titan, and advanced preliminary design (as in Darwin’s Universe, 1983) of the dragonfly Titan drone. He served as technical advisor to James Cameron on Titanic and serves presently on the Avatar series. As a graduate student in New Zealand, 1981, he invented what is now known as the Jurassic Park recipe, as subsequently adapted by Michael Crichton. Current projects include a new Jurassic Park direction (without the park) and the James Cameron film about double-hibakusha—people who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Raised by parents who believed in “Never give up” and aided by a few treasured teachers, he climbed up from dyslexia and autism. Never give up. And never let childhood’s sense of wonder drain away.

Kent M. Peterson

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Kent M. Peterson lives in Virginia, where he worked for many years as a software tester. He now focuses on gardening and writing.

Hekla Petursson

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

Hekla Petursson is the host of The 8-Bit Pop Culture Show as well as a filmmaker and performer working in Richmond, VA. Episodes of The 8-Bit Pop Culture Show are released weekly, where she interviews folks she admires in pop culture, geek scenes, and the arts. She is currently producing a feature film, Midnight Courier, and has two surrealist fantasy short films set to release in late 2026. Recently, you may have met her in-character at Richmond Renaissance Faire events, hosting Jeopardy at Galaxycon or as the voice of the Awesomecon Cosplay Competition.

J.F. Posthumus

March 22, 2026 / ravenchair

J.F. Posthumus writes tales where mystery tangles with magic, shadows whisper secrets, and danger always lurks just out of sight. A lifelong lover of the strange and fantastical, Posthumus blends crime, fantasy, and the supernatural into page-turning adventures. When not plotting new twists, she can usually be found wrangling her four younger “monsters” (her eldest, a police officer, passed in June 2023), crafting, creating digital art, or drinking too much tea while dreaming up her next story.