Webster Nominee Archives -

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

He joined the US Navy in 1982. An avid roleplayer, he sold his first adventure to Challenge Magazine in 1990. While serving on submarines, he compiled ideas for what became the Automated Empire universe; a timeline spanning 4,000 years.

In 2017, the opportunity came to write full-time for several months. With the full support of his wonderful wife, May, he began the book that is now known as Final Assembly, the first in his series, Rise of the Automated Empire.

His latest novel, Secret of the Ombax, was published in October, 2025. Fifth in the Automated Empire Universe, first of a new series.

He can be found at AutomatedEmpire.com.

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.