April 26-28, 2024 – Richmond, VA

Category: Author Guest (Page 6 of 8)

Steve Murphy

Meet Steve Murphy, an accomplished writer with a passion for storytelling. Together with his co-writer, Paul Barrett, Steve has successfully published three novels, while their fourth is currently undergoing developmental edits. They also have three exciting projects in the pipeline, showcasing their creative prowess. Notably, their collaborative screenplays have garnered recognition in esteemed national competitions, demonstrating their ability to captivate audiences on the big screen.

Steve’s life journey has taken him through various uniformed roles, instilling in him a strong sense of duty. Beginning with a four-year stint in the Navy as a Gunners Mate Missiles (GMM), he earned commendations such as the Navy Expeditionary Medal and Navy Unit Commendation. Building on this foundation, he transitioned to the Army, serving as a forward observer (FIST) for two years. Later, Steve dedicated 23 years of his life as a police officer in Charlotte, NC, with an impressive 14 years spent on the SWAT team, nine of which were as a skilled sniper.

Film production is not unfamiliar territory for Steve, who has embraced diverse roles in the industry. He has served as a military/law consultant on numerous projects, lending his expertise to ensure authenticity. Additionally, his experience as a set dresser for films and a lighting technician in live theater has honed his craft behind the scenes.

Beyond his professional achievements, Steve cherishes his role as a devoted father to two grown sons. Currently residing on a serene North Carolina farm, he shares his life with his loving wife, two dogs, and an elusive feline companion, adding a touch of mystery to his idyllic surroundings.

Dennis M. Myers

Born and raised in central Minnesota, Dennis M. Myers developed a serious reading habit early in life due to the influence of his grandmother. In late high school he read one particularly “awful” book and, with all that teenage hubris, decided that he could do better.

After spending a decade in the United States Navy, aboard submarines and teaching younger sailors, he settled in Virginia. The story ideas he had been saving were eventually compiled into a timeline spanning thousands of years. When the opportunity came to write full time for a few months, he jumped at it with the full support of his wonderful wife, May. He hasn’t stopped writing since.

His most recent work, Rise of the Automated Empire, is available now. The first book in the series, Final Assembly, is a nominee for this year’s Webster Award.

James P. Nettles

James Nettles has a thirty-year career consulting for clients from startups to Fortune 100s, as a media contributor, speaker on the I0T, privacy, business continuity and disaster recovery, futurism, coming disruptive technologies and their impact on businesses and individual daily lives. He teaches workshops on intellectual property, marketing and branding, social media, book development and publication, and the business of creativity.

Leveraging his background in technology, game theory, anthropology, and sociology, he is the author of four novels, multiple novellas and a ton of short stories in science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk and contemporary genres, and a new release on faerie faith and mythology in film.

He is the founder of Author Essentials, a company dedicated to author services and the education of authors. His latest release in this series is the second edition of Business Essentials for Writers: How to Make Money in an Ever-changing Industry, and Faerie Films: Wee Folk on the Big Screen.

He is also one of the founders and the technical director for ConTinual: The Never Ending Convention, the host of Books and Beer and of the Creating Pros podcast under the Author Essentials brand.

Heidi Nickerson

Heidi Nickerson is a speculative fiction writer who strives to tell irreverent stories with introspection, humor, and action-packed pacing. Her debut novel, The Salamander Stone, released April 2023 as the first installment in her Beowulf Brigade series, a trilogy that blends the supernatural and horrifying with the mundane. Prior to writing about monsters, Heidi has worked as a copywriter and editor for various online publications as well as a marketing and publishing professional with Morgan James Publishing. She currently resides in central Virginia with her husband and young children.

Bishop O’Connell

Bishop O’Connell is author of the American Faerie Tale series and the award winning novel, Two-Gun Witch, 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.

J.E. Pittman

J.E. Pittman dabbles in many speculative worlds. He blurs the borders between genre and crafts salient lies to tell a measure of truth. His work has been described as: capriciously chimeric, dreamlike, and a vivid enigma with indelible images stamped on your brain. He’s currently published in the Hidden Villains Arise and Behind the Shadows anthologies and independently publishes his sci-fi action series Pandora Squad*** and his darkly cozy urban fantasy series: Felix Chance. Read more of his words at halfacrepond.com.

Phillip Pournelle

Phillip Pournelle is a science fiction author, war game designer, operations analysts, and military strategist. He served in the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer, operations analyst, and planner for 26 years. He served on cruisers, destroyers, amphibious ships, and on an experimental high-speed vessel. He served on the Navy Staff conducting campaign analysis, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense doing mobility and naval analysis. He worked for 5 years at the Office of Net Assessment diagnosing the future of conflict and competition. He designed and executed war games for the Department of Defense and other organizations. He contributed to Jerry Pournelle’s last Janissaries novel and is working on the sequel. He has had several short stories and articles published on the themes of future conflicts. His latest short story was published by Baen Books in the Robosoldiers anthology. He is currently a senior war game designer and operations analyst at Group W, a defense and analysis, modeling, and research company. He teaches war game design for the Military Operations Research Society. His article on the use of war gaming, modeling, and simulation was recently published in a book on the topic by Wiley Press.

Evan Ratke

Evan Ratke was born and raised in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Longwood University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Arctic Studies from the University of Iceland. Somewhere between exams, papers, and an awkward attempt at a social life, he started work on what would eventually become his first novel, Dragoon, released in 2018. His sequel novels, Chloe and Corday, followed in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Ratke is an active runner and continues to live in the Richmond area. He is currently exploring new writing projects, including his fourth novel.

Gray Rinehart

Gray Rinehart writes science fiction and fantasy stories, songs, and… other things. He is the only person to have commanded an Air Force satellite tracking station, written speeches for Presidential appointees, devised a poetic form, and had music on The Dr. Demento Show. He is currently a contributing editor (the “Slushmaster General”) for Baen Books.

Gray is the author of the lunar colonization novel Walking on the Sea of Clouds, and his short fiction has appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and multiple anthologies. As a singer/songwriter, he has three albums which feature science-fiction-and-fantasy-inspired music.

During his unusual USAF career, Gray fought rocket propellant fires, refurbished space launch facilities, “flew” Milstar satellites, drove trucks, encrypted nuclear command and control orders, commanded the largest remote tracking station in the Air Force Satellite Control Network, and did other interesting things. His alter ego is the Gray Man, one of several famed ghosts of South Carolina’s Grand Strand, and his web site is graymanwrites.com.

Brent “EvilPenguin” Roeder

Brent Roeder, PhD, is a neuroscience researcher that is exploring how to restore damaged memory function. A lifelong geek, he enjoys writing sci-fi and fantasy to relax from work. Very occasionally he even remembers to finish a story.

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