Fyrecon 7, 2023 Guests
Fyrecon is pleased to announce the presenters for the 2023 year. We are still lining up more great individuals. Please check back as we fill our ranks of Dragons and Phoenixes.
Fyrecon 7 Master Guests
Lisa Mangum Fyrecon 7, 2023
Lisa Mangum
EDITOR & AUTHOR
Lisa Mangum, the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain Publishing, has worked with New York Times best-sellers including James Dashner and Brandon Mull. She is the author of four national best-selling YA novels (The Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello) as well as several short stories and novellas.
Author Kary English Fyrecon 7, 2023
KARY ENGLISH
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR & WotF FIRST READER
Kary English is a Hugo and Astounding finalist whose work has been published by Galaxy’s Edge, Daily Science Fiction, Writers of the Future, and Tor Nightfire.
Joshua Essoe Fyrecon 7, 2023
Joshua Essoe
EDITOR
Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who has edited for NYT bestsellers, like David Farland, as well as hundreds of independents. He teaches editing at Superstars Writing Seminars every year. The 1st two of his books on writing funded in just hours on Kickstarter, each covering two subjects of the most-common issues he sees in fiction writing.
Author Martin L. Shoemaker Fyrecon 7, 2023
Martin L. Shoemaker
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side… or maybe it’s the other way around. His award-winning story “Today I Am Paul” is now the opening to his debut novel, Today I Am Carey.
Maria V. Snyder
NEW YORK TIME BESTSELLER
Maria V. Snyder is a New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels and numerous short stories. Her fiction has won several awards, and she teaches and mentors students in Seton Hill University's MFA program.
Fyrecon 7 Presenters
Alex Shvartsman
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Alex Shvartsman is a writer, translator, and anthologist. He’s the author of three fantasy novels and over 120 short stories which have appeared in Analog, Nature, Strange Horizons, etc. His website is alexshvartsman.com
Amy White
BEST SELLING AUTHOR
Amy White, children’s literature specialist and Farmer System of Narrative Analysis expert, is an experienced lecturer and teacher for what is affectionately known as the “Story Cone” at writing workshops and conferences.
Andy Dibble
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Andy Dibble is a healthcare IT consultant who has worked for large healthcare systems in six countries. His work appears in Writers of the Future Volume 36, Diabolical Plots, and Mysterion.
Ben Ireland
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Ben Ireland is an award-winning author of both Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Cyber-Horror. Born and raised in Australia, Ben is uniquely qualified to write about horrifying spiders and how much they would like to kill you.
C. H. Lindsay
AUTHOR
Charlie has published a number of short stories and poems. She is currently working on her first three novels. She is also an award-winning poet. In 2018 she became the literary trustee for Al Carlisle’s literary estate. Her website is chlindsay.net
Clark Rowenson
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Fascinated by magic since he could imagine pinecones as fireballs, Clark R. Rowenson an author and writing coach that studies magic-building like others study oil-painting so he can help storytellers craft and repair their magic systems.
David Hankins
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
David Hankins is an award-winning author who writes from the thriving cornfields of Iowa where he lives with his wife, daughter, and two dragons disguised as cats. He devotes his time to writing, traveling, and finding new ways to pay his mortgage.
DAWNRAY AMMON
ARTIST, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, & MARKETING EXPERT
DawnRay Ammon coordinated and worked on over 1800 art pieces installed across the globe. including working on the Roots of Knowledge stained glass installation. She worked in web development companies and became one of the company’s leading experts in web and SEO.
Elizabeth Suggs
EDITOR
Elizabeth is the creator of Editing Mee, where she brings authors to market through formatting, editing, and marketing. She is also the co-owner of Collective Tales Publishing.
Haley Cavanagh
BEST SELLING, AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Haley Cavanagh is the award-winning and best-selling YA author of the Oceanstone Initiative series and Adulting: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet. She is an Army veteran, wife, and mother.
Author James T. Lambert Fyrecon 7, 2023
James T. Lambert
AUTHOR
James T. Lambert writes from his office/land yacht ‘Bertrude’. He’s been polishing his craft since his first NaNoWriMo in 2011.
Author Editor Jana S. Brown Fyrecon 7, 2023
Jana S. Brown
AUTHOR, EDITOR, MARKETER
Jana S. Brown is an author, editor, and presenter complete with fuzzy sidekicks. She’s been involved in publishing for nearly 30 years. A multi-genre author with three pennames – she writes the weird and the wonderful often with smoochies.
Illustrator Jane Noel Fyrecon 7, 2023
Jane Noel
ILLUSTRATOR
Jane Noel is the design artist for DreamForge Magazine. She does title design and most of the illustrations for the digital version, DreamForge Anvil. Jane has worked as an Artist, Art Director, and Project Manager for the computer game industry.
Author John M. Olsen Fyrecon 7, 2023
John M. Olsen
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
John M. Olsen uses writing and editing to harness his burning desire to create, working to entertain and enlighten others as well as himself. A love of stories about ordinary people stepping up to extraordinary circumstances permeates his writing.
Joshua Essoe Fyrecon 7, 2023
Joshua Essoe
EDITOR
Joshua Essoe is a full-time editor who has edited for NYT bestsellers, like David Farland, as well as hundreds of independents. He teaches editing at Superstars Writing Seminars every year. The 1st two of his books on writing funded in just hours on Kickstarter, each covering two subjects of the most-common issues he sees in fiction writing.
Joshua P. Sorensen
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Joshua P. Sorensen is from Orem, Utah. He writes poetry and short fiction (mostly horror). His other loves include history, nature, and things geek. He can be found on Facebook: #SorensenVagabondWriter and Amazon: amazon.com/author/joshuapsorensen
Joshua Sky
COMIC BOOK WRITER
Originally from Maui, Hawaii, Joshua Sky is currently a writer for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as well as Heavy Metal. He has written for Marvel, Tor.com, SFWA, Mattel, Humanoids, Sci-Futures, Assemble Media and Cartoon Network.
Author Kaki Olsen Fyrecon 7, 2023
Kaki Olsen
AUTHOR
Kaki Olsen’s published works range from fairy tale retellings to forward-thinking personal fiction. This Bostonian native studied at Brigham Young University, but has known to write her stories around the world.
Author Kary English Fyrecon 7, 2023
KARY ENGLISH
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR & WotF FIRST READER
Kary English is a Hugo and Astounding finalist whose work has been published by Galaxy’s Edge, Daily Science Fiction, Writers of the Future, and Tor Nightfire.
Leah Ning
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Leah Ning writes uncomfortable things, some of which can be found in Apex Magazine, PodCastle, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. You can find her on Twitter @LeahNing.
Lisa Mangum Fyrecon 7, 2023
Lisa Mangum
EDITOR & AUTHOR
Lisa Mangum, the Managing Editor for Shadow Mountain Publishing, has worked with New York Times best-sellers including James Dashner and Brandon Mull. She is the author of four national best-selling YA novels (The Hourglass Door trilogy and After Hello) as well as several short stories and novellas.
Author Martin L. Shoemaker Fyrecon 7, 2023
Martin L. Shoemaker
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side… or maybe it’s the other way around. His award-winning story “Today I Am Paul” is now the opening to his debut novel, Today I Am Carey.
Maria V. Snyder
NEW YORK TIME BESTSELLER
Maria V. Snyder is a New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels and numerous short stories. Her fiction has won several awards, and she teaches and mentors students in Seton Hill University's MFA program.
Melissa Dalton Martinez
MARKETING CONSULTANT & AUTHOR
Melissa has worked in the entertainment industry since 1998. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Business Management, and a Master’s degree in Publishing. In 2017 Melissa started The Book Break company and remains owner today.
Mia Kleve
EDITOR
Mia has been an avid reader since she was a kid. She’s one of those people who always has a book.
She started as a proofreader, but soon moved into line, copy, and developmental editing, and has recently become a full-time freelance editor. She now edits for WordFire Press and Chris Kennedy Publishing, as well as several regular author clients.
Pete Lead
AUTHOR
Pete is a performer and teacher of improvised comedy, with 25 years experience in the theatre (and on less-glamorous stages). He is an author and narrator of short speculative fiction. Learn more at petelead.com
Rebecca E. Treasure
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Rebecca’s short fiction has been published by or is forthcoming from Flame Tree, Zooscape Magazine, Galaxy’s Edge, Air & Nothingness Press, and others. She is the managing editor at Apex Magazine, and the creator/editor of Crepuscular Magazine.
Steven Heumann
AUTHOR
After 15 years working as a writer and director in the television industry, Steven left it all behind to become a full-time novelist…with a wife and six kids.
Seriously.
It may sound crazy, but that’s who you’re dealing with here.
Storm Humbert
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Storm Humbert is a writer living in Michigan. He studied fiction at OSU and Temple University. He has published stories in Andromeda Spaceways, Apex, Interzone, and Galaxy’s Edge, and he is a winner of the Writers of the Future contest.
Troy Lambert
AUTHOR
Troy is an author, editor, freelance writer, and the education lead for Plottr. The author of over 30 novels and several works of non-fiction, he lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Idaho with his very talented dog.
Zack Be
AWARD WINNING AUTHOR
Zack Be is an award winning SF/F author, musician, and licensed psychotherapist trapped in the Washington, DC area gravity well. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, Analog, and Writers of the Future Vol. 36.
Legendary Author David Farland
DAVID FARLAND
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
David Farland was an award-winning, bestselling author with over 50 novels in print. He is best known for his NYT bestselling series The Runelords and his numerous students.
In Memorium.
Because we will always have a room for Dave.
Because we will always have a room for Dave.