Guests

Joe Haldeman is an American science fiction author best known for his 1974 novel, The Forever War. He has been a published author since 1969, when his first short story was published in Galaxy magazine. His work has won numerous awards, including (but not limited to) 5 Hugo awards, 5 Nebula awards, and a Grand Master Nebula award. Many of his works were inspired by his experience serving in the Vietnam War. He retired after thirty years of teaching at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Recent books include Earthbound, published in 2011, which was the last book in a trilogy that began with Marsbound and Starbound. Joe’s newest novel, Work Done for Hire, was published in 2014. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Joe is also a poet and a painter, and a founding member of ICON. www.joehaldeman.com

Gay (Mary Gay Potter) Haldeman has a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Maryland and another in Linguistics from the University of Iowa. She retired from teaching in the Writing Center at MIT after thirty years, specializing in English as a Second Language. She resides in Florida, where she manages Joe’s career. She has been doing science fiction conventions since 1963 and loves to meet new people. After more than 50 years of marriage, she still thinks Joe’s the best thing that ever happened to her.

Darby Harn is the best-selling, critically acclaimed author of Dead Malls, Stargun Messenger, a Self Published Science Fiction Contest Quarterfinalist, and Ever The Hero, which Publisher’s Weekly called an “entertaining debut that uses superpowers as a metaphor to delve into class politics in an alternate America.” His fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Interzone, Fantasy Magazine, and elsewhere. He graduated from the University of Iowa and is an alum of the Irish Writing Program at Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland. www.darbyharn.com

Professional Attendees

Tricia Andersen lives in Iowa with her husband and her three children. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Kirkwood Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in Communications Media/Public Relations. She writes romance for all genres, from paranormal to historical to contemporary. She also has a couple of non-fiction historical titles and a few children’s picture books under the pen name, Lynette Andersen.

Rachel Aukes is the bestselling author of over forty novels, including 100 Days in Deadland, which made Suspense Magazine’s Best of the Year list. She was one of the first Wattpad Stars, with her stories having over eight million reads. She has written in several genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and horror. One of her most recent novels includes The Lazarus Key, a science fiction thriller recommended by the International Thriller Writers' The Big Thrill magazine. When not writing, Rachel can be found hiking with her dog. Rachel resides in eastern Iowa. www.rachelaukes.com

Cheshire Moon is the fanciful collaboration of trickster bard Lizzie Crowe and crazed magician Eric Coleman. What began as a simple joining of two talents in song circles, and occasionally during the mad-hatter antics of Eric Coleman on stage, whipped and frothed into the most likely of pairs. Eric’s love of punk, folk and prog rock gives them an eerie, otherworldly sound, while Lizzie brings the voice of that otherworld to life in voice and verse. Together they weave song and story, breathing new life into old myths, new faces onto old gods, and finally telling the princess's side of the faerie tale.

Updated 5/14/2025