Gateshead-based Dr Simon Morden trained as a planetary geologist, realised he was never going to get into space, and decided to write about it instead. His writing career includes an eclectic mix of short stories, novellas and novels which blend science fiction, fantasy and horror, a five-year stint as an editor for the British Science Fiction Association, a judge for the Arthur C Clarke Awards, and regular speaking engagements at the Greenbelt arts festival.

Simon has written sixteen novels and novellas. The wonderfully tentacular Another War (2005), was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award, and 2007 saw the publication of The Lost Art, which was shortlisted for the Catalyst Award. The first three books starring everybody's favourite sweary Russian scientist, Samuil Petrovitch (Equations of Life, Theories of Flight, Degrees of Freedom) were published in three months of each other in 2011, and collectively won the Philip K Dick Award - the fourth Petrovitch, The Curve of the Earth, was published in 2013. In a departure to the usual high-tech mayhem, 2014 saw the arrival of Arcanum, a massive (and epic) alternate-history fantasy, which not only has flaming letters on the cover, but the story inside is "enthralling", "intelligent", "impeccably rendered" (Kirkus), and "engrossing", "satisfying" and "leaving the reader craving for more (Publishers' Weekly). Which was nice.

The Books of Down were next, a very different fantasy where what you are is what you become: Down Station was the first, The White City the second, chronicling the trials and triumphs of Down's latest refugees on the run from a disaster that might just have destroyed all of London.

Hard SF under the pen-name SJ Morden followed: One Way, and the sequel No Way, telling the story of Frank Kittridge, murderer and astronaut, on Mars, and Gallowglass (set in the same timeline), where Jack van der Veerden tries his hand at being a starship navigator on a less-than-routine mining mission. The Flight of the Aphrodite will be next in the series.

Special mention for Bright Morning Star, too - probably Simon's most hopeful book and firmly in the solarpunk genre, about the little robot who could, and did, change the world.

David Bruns earned a Bachelor of Science in Honors English from the United States Naval Academy. (That's not a typo. He's probably the only English major you'll ever meet who took multiple semesters of calculus, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, naval architecture, and weapons systems just so he could read some Shakespeare. It was totally worth it.)

Following six years as a US Navy submarine officer, David spent twenty years in the high-tech private sector. A graduate of the prestigious Clarion West Writers Workshop, he is the author of over twenty novels and dozens of short stories. Today, he co-writes contemporary national security thrillers with retired naval intelligence officer, J.R. Olson.

Find out more and download a free Starter Library at www.davidbruns.com.

Sign up for Felix R. Savage's mailing list to receive a FREE library of subscriber exclusive stories, set in four of his fictional universes: Earth's Last Gambit, Extinction Protocol, Sol System Renegades, and the Interstellar Railroad. These stories are not available anywhere else! http://felixrsavage.com/library

Felix was born too late to be a knight in armor, and too early to be a space colonist. He makes up for it by writing action-packed science fiction epics that have sold over 130,000 copies worldwide and become USA Today bestsellers. Restlessly driven to explore, he was born in the Deep South, grew up in the UK, and now lives in Japan with his wonderful wife, two beautiful daughters, and their feline overlords. His books cover the spectrum of science fiction, from hard SF, through space opera, to comedic science fiction, but all deliver his trademark blend of rich characterization, gripping plots, and unexpected twists. Until the day when we can vacation on Mars, this is as good as it gets!

Ralph Kern is the author of nine novels, and numerous short stories. From hard science fiction, to military, to mystery thrillers with a twist.

By day (and night), he is a frontline police officer with over fifteen years of experience which gives his writing and characters an authentic feel. To add to his science fiction, he draws on his degree in aerospace engineering, and work placements with the ESA.

He has served in both the British army reserves as an officer cadet, and the RAF as a civilian instructor, giving air experience flights to cadets in motor gliders.

He is a crazy cat guy, and is the indentured servant of two exotic shorthairs. He loves running and keep fit, as well as seeing the world.

Why do I write? Why does anyone write? Because they have something to say. For me, I have ideas boiling around all the time–situations, cool concepts, occasionally diatribes, but overall, I have characters in my head that demand their chance at existence. Who am I to stand in their way?

I was born at a very early age. As part of a military family, we moved around a LOT. My dad’s last duty station was West Point, NY, and I was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Class of 1982 (“The Select Few”). It was at West Point that I met the woman I would marry, Barbara. We’ve been married since 1983. I was in the US Army for 6+ years, ending my tour in West Germany (how quaint that sounds!). I joined a civil engineering firm in NYC, then, six years later, a transportation company in NJ.

I ran into National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) and actually wrote 50k words in one month. I looked around their website, looking for other opportunities to write. And found them.

I started writing short stories and submitting them to markets. I read blogs and learned craft. I went to events like Pitchapalooza to learn how to pitch agents and publishers. I had dozens of near-misses, and still do--some markets get flooded with hundreds of submissions. The key is perseverance--just keep working at it. You never know when a break will come.

I give back--by helping others who are just starting out, and encouraging others who are on the road to publication like me

NaNoWriMo: I am one of two Co-Municipal Liaisons to the Central NJ Region.

Princeton Writing Group: Since NaNo tends to peak in November and rapidly dies off thereafter, I help with the Princeton Writing Group, a Meetup.com group that has been going strong for years. Write-ins, daytrips, Book-Con outings, PWG does it all.

Three Day Novel: I got into this as a direct result of being in NaNoWriMo, finally taking the plunge in August of 2010. Insane! Write a 30k novella in 72 hours? But I did it, and haven’t missed a year. "The Longest Con" is my 2014 entry. I will polish and publish most of them during 2017.

Can you do what I have done? ABSOLUTELY! Want some guidance? Check out my blog, and feel free to contact me through the blog.

A. J. McWain writes science fiction, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and sci-fi techno-thriller stories all mashed together. Trained as a jazz musician and composer, he also served in Iraq and Kuwait with the Massachusetts Army National Guard. He lives outside of Boston with his wife and daughter.

Kalene became a writer at ten years old and writing has been an important part of her life ever since. By the time she was twelve, she’d created the nascent universe eventually called Krunthi.

Since then, Williams has written four volumes of The Rifter Chronicles and been featured in several anthologies. In addition, Kalene has collaborated on several books with her daughter, serving as scribe to a child’s imagination.

You can see Kalene Williams Thursday nights on the popular Keystroke Medium show, The Writer’s Journey.

Gerald M. Kilby grew up on a diet of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Frank Herbert, which developed into a taste for Iain M. Banks and everything ever written by Neal Stephenson. Understandable then, that he should choose science fiction as his weapon of choice when entering the fray of storytelling.

REACTION is his first novel and is very much in the old-school techno-thriller style while his latest books, COLONY MARS and THE BELT, are both best sellers, topping Amazon charts for Hard Science Fiction and Space Exploration.

He lives in the city of Dublin, Ireland, in the same neighborhood as Bram Stoker and can be sometimes seen tapping away on a laptop in the local cafe with his dog Loki.