< Back Sarah Avery Literary Author Sarah Avery's first book, Tales from Rugosa Coven, won the 2015 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award. Her short fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Nowa Fantastyka, Space and Time, Fantasy Scroll, and Black Gate, where she was also a regular contributor on series fantasy and teaching fantasy literature. With David Sklar, she coedited the Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic anthology. Thanks to a hundred-odd (and perhaps also just plain odd) Kickstarter backers, you can read her novella, The Imlen Brat. Grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County helped her to design and release much of her short fiction backlist in ebook form. An escaped academic, she lives in Maryland. Other Socials

< Back Emily Anne Lewis Filk/Music Musician Emily got hooked on filk as a member of Sassafrass. Having played Baldur in Sassafrass' production "Sundown" at Balticon 2012, Emily has come back to Balticon ever since then, now serving as the second in command for the Music track. Emily is an avid scifi/fantasy fan and songwriter/singer. Other Socials

< Back Chris Oakley Literary Book Seller Chris Oakley owned and operated Oakley’s Gently Used Books, a bricks & mortar used bookshop with a specialty in Sci Fi/Fantasy, for more than 20 years (1995-2016) in Charlottesville, VA and a bookseller at Madicon, MarsCon, MystiCon, RavenCon, Libertycon, DSC50, DSC60 and Omegacon. She has edited and published “undergound" newspapers as well as literary magazines. (Chris Oakley collection of alternative press, Special Collections, University of Delaware). As a GCIU Journeyman, she worked in small commercial print shops before opening her bookshop in 1995. She was the organizer and moderator for the VA Festival of the Book Sci Fi/ Fantasy programs with Katherine Kurtz, Hugh Howey, Stephen Hickman, Toni Weisskopf, Kim Harrison, Colleen Doran, David Coe, Jack Campbell (John Hemry) and others. She does volunteer work to raise money for her local Friends of the Library (Jefferson-Madison Regional) book sales. (Our team raised over $160,000 for the library system at our October 2024 sale.) Other Socials

< Back Jo Miles Literary Author Jo Miles writes optimistic science fiction and fantasy, including the Gifted of Brennex space opera trilogy beginning with Warped State. Their short stories have appeared in magazines including Uncanny, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Lightspeed, and more. They live in Maryland. Find a complete list of Jo’s books and short stories at www.jomiles.com. Other Socials http://www.jomiles.com.

< Back Tom Doyle Literary Author Tom Doyle is the award-winning author of the American Craftsmen trilogy from Tor Books, a saga of modern-day magician soldiers and psychic spies fighting their way through nightmares from the worlds of Hawthorne and Poe. Tom's latest work for Graphic Audio is the Agent of Exiles series of supernatural spy adventures in the 6th century BCE. His recent SF novel, Border Crosser, follows the far-future journeys of Eris, a psychologically extreme secret agent whose shifting loyalties cause chaos wherever she goes in the galaxy. Text and readings of Tom's short fiction are available on his website: www.tomdoyleauthor.com. He has survived Harvard, Stanford, and cancer. Other Socials http://www.tomdoyleauthor.com

< Back Larry Hodges Literary Author Larry Hodges is an active member of SFWA with over 220 short story sales, with 56 "pro" sales, including ones to Analog, Escape Pod (2), Daily Science Fiction (3), Dark Matter (2), and 19 to Galaxy’s Edge. He also has four novels. He's a graduate of the six-week 2006 Odyssey Writers Workshop, the two-week 2008 Taos Toolbox Writers Workshop, and a member of Codexwriters.com. In the world of non-fiction, he has 22 books and over 2300 published articles in over 200 different publications. He's also a professional table tennis coach (it's an Olympic Sport!), and claims to be the best science fiction writer in USA Table Tennis and the best table tennis player in SFWA! Visit him at larryhodges.com. Other Socials https://larryhodges.org/

Fan Tables & Parties Fan Tables Fan Tables are available to fan groups, clubs, and organizations within the local community to showcase their group or event during the convention. Fan Tables are a great opportunity to promote, recruit new members, raise awareness, and do community outreach. We are now accepting applications for fan tables. Please fill out our form. If you have any questions about Fan Tables, please contact fantables@balticon.org . Fan Table Request Open Room Parties Promote Your Fan Group or Event Balticon has a long history of open-room parties for event promotion and socialization! We group all Room Parties on the same floor to minimize disturbing other attendees and hotel guests. If you're planning a party, whether open or not, let us know and we'll make sure you're on the Party floor. Open Room Parties may only be hosted by someone with a paid Balticon badge. Party Rooms are assigned for the entirety of the event on a first come, first served basis. There are a limited number of adjoining rooms in the Party Block. To request a Party Room, first make a hotel reservation for the room, and then fill out the Party Request form. You will need your hotel reservation number(s) to reserve a space in the Party Block. Our Party Coordinator and Hotel Liaison will reply with a confirmation that you are in the Party Block and, if requested, you will also be informed if an adjoining room is possible. We recommend that you make your reservation as early as possible as sometimes the hotel sells out, and no rooms are reserved from the convention block for parties. Parties may be asked to lower the volume if other hotel guests are disturbed outside of the Party Room block. Balticon does pay the cleaning fee for the first ten (10) rooms, one per party, but if more Party Rooms are requested, the registrant would be responsible for the cleaning fee. The Balticon Hotel Liaison and/or Party Coordinator do a tour of the Party Rooms prior to the convention and catalog any damage(s) they find. Any damage caused by the party to the room outside of what the hotel considers standard wear and tear is the financial responsibility of the party host. Due to Baltimore corkage laws, no alcohol is permitted to be distributed in Open Party Rooms. Parties may not charge an admission fee. Food and non-alcoholic drink may be served. Parties caught breaking these rules may be shut down or banned from future party assignments. Balticon also has limited rental space for larger events like book launch parties, etc. Please contact the Hotel Liaison for more information. Party requests should be made as early as possible and before May 1st of the convention year. If you would like to hold a party in your room, please fill out this form. (To be linked soon.)

< Back A. L. Kaplan Literary Author A. L. Kaplan’s love of books started as a child and sparked a creative imagination. Born on a cold winter morning in scenic northern New Jersey, her stories and poems have been included in several anthologies and magazines. Her most recent publications are Hummingbird and Mark of the Goddess. She is a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association, is the past president of Maryland Writers’ Association and holds an MFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art. When not writing or indulging in her fascination with wolves, this proud mother of two lives in Maryland with her husband and dog. ALKaplanauthor.com Other Socials

Convention Information Balticon will once again be at the Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel , inside the Baltimore Inner Harbor Entertainment District. We are close to multiple shops, restaurants, and entertainment venues, and accessible by public transit or by car. To find any information that you need, select any links below. Online Registration In-person and virtual options Hotel Booking Need a place to stay? Parking & Directions How to get here Just the FAQs Frequently Asked Questions Email balticoninfo@balticon.org Call 410-JOE-BSFS (410-563-2737) Please note: this line is not usually answered live! Leave a message and we'll get back to you. Follow

< Back Randee Dawn Literary Author Randee Dawn is a Brooklyn-based SFF/H author at night and an entertainment journalist during the day for publications including Today.com, NBCNews.com, Variety, The Los Angeles Times, Gold Derby.com and Emmy Magazine. Her humorous pop culture fantasy debut, Tune in Tomorrow, was published in 2022 by Solaris/Rebellion and reissued in 2024 with additional content by Solaris Nova. She has three books scheduled to publish in 2025: dark rock 'n roll fantasies The Only Song Worth Singing (April) and Leave No Trace (August), both from Arc Manor/Caezik; and We Interrupt This Program (a follow-up to Tune, from Solaris Nova). Her short fiction has appeared in magazines, podcasts and anthologies over the years, including most recently Dark Spores: Stories We Tell After Midnight, Vol. 4. She is the co-author of The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion. Originally from Maryland, Randee now lives with her husband, a lot of books and never enough mangoes in New York. Other Socials