With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.
Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century.
As a published Finalist at the inaugural Writers of the Future ceremonies in 1985, Dean Wesley Smith was the first person ever to receive a WotF Award, accepting his framed certificate from judges Dr. Gregory Benford, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg and Algis Budrys. Smith has published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has been published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller and romance, as well as books for television, movies, games and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghostwriter or under house names.
With his wife (and fellow WotF judge) Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he wrote The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. Smith has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. Smith is an avid poker player and a former golf pro. With Rusch, he was also cofounder and publisher of Pulphouse Publishing (which earned them a World Fantasy Award), before editing for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books.
At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy.
His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and has not missed an issue yet, with over 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.
Dean Wesley Smith became a WotF judge in 2010.
Nancy Kress is the author of thirty-four books, including twenty-six novels, four collections of short stories, and three books on writing. Her work has won six Nebulas, two Hugos, a Sturgeon, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. She writes frequently about genetic engineering; including the acclaimed science-fiction novel Beggars in Spain. Kress’s fiction has been translated into Swedish, Danish, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Polish, Croatian, Chinese, Lithuanian, Romanian, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Russian, and Klingon, none of which she can read. In addition to writing, Kress often teaches at various venues around the country and abroad, including a visiting lectureship at the University of Leipzig, a 2017 writing class in Beijing, and the annual intensive workshop TaosToolbox. Kress lives in Seattle with her husband, writer Jack Skillingstead, and Pippin, the world’s most spoiled Chihuahua.
Steven “S.M.” Stirling is a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico. His hobbies are mostly related to the craft of writing. He loves history, anthropology, and archaeology, as well as interest in the sciences.
Steven has published over 40 novels, at least 5 of which are New York Times bestsellers and he has won awards including the Dragon Award for his novel, Black Chamber.
Steven has been a Writers of the Future Judge since 2021.
Gregory Benford, author of top-selling novels, including Jupiter Project, Artifact, Against Infinity, Eater, and Timescape, is that unusual creative combination of scientist scholar and talented artist; his stories capture readers – hearts and minds – with imaginative leaps into the future of science and of us.
Bob Eggleton is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror artist. Eggleton has been honored with the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist eight times, first winning in 1994. He also won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book in 2001 for his art book "Greetings From Earth". He has also won the Chesley Award for Artistic Achievement in 1999 and was the guest of honor at Chicon 2000.Eggleton's drawing and paintings cover a wide range of science fiction, fantasy, and horror topics, depicting space ships, alien worlds and inhabitants, dragons, vampires, and other fantasy creatures.
Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.
Since 1987 she has published over 40 books and more than 120 short stories. Among the novels Nye has written are her epic fantasy series The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland, five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology (the three collected by Meisha Merlin Publishing as Applied Mythology), Advanced Mythology, The Magic Touch, and three medical science fiction novels, Taylor’s Ark, Medicine Show and The Lady and the Tiger. Strong Arm Tactics is a humorous military science fiction novel, the first of The Wolfe Pack series. Nye wrote The Dragonlover’s Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of internationally bestselling author Anne McCaffrey’s popular world. She also collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona, Treaty At Doona and The Ship Who Won, and wrote a solo sequel to The Ship Who Won entitled The Ship Errant. Nye coauthored the Visual Guide to Xanth with bestselling fantasy author Piers Anthony, and edited an anthology of humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don’t Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear! She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin, License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin’s Myth Adventures universe: Myth-Told Tales (anthology), Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains, Myth Chief, and Myth-Fortunes. After Asprin’s passing, she published Myth-Quoted and Dragons Deal (Ace Books), third in Asprin’s Dragons series.
Her latest books are View From the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military SF novel, an e-collection of cat stories, Cats Triumphant (Event Horizon), Dragons Run (fourth in the Dragons series) and Launch Pad, an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton.
Over the last twenty or so years, Jody Lynn Nye has taught numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at Dragon Con.
She lives in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and a black cat, Jeremy.
Jody Lynn Nye became a Writers of the Future judge in 2016.
Well known for his colorful oil paintings, most often depicting strong women, Dan dos Santos' work spans a variety of genres, including advertising, comics, film and video games, but he is best known for his distinctive book cover work.
He has worked for clients such as Disney, Universal Studios, Activision, Scholastic Books, The Greenwich Workshop, Penguin Books, Random House, UpperDeck, Wizards of the Coast, DC Comics, and many, many more.
Dan has been the recipient of many awards. He is a ‘Rhodes Family Scholarship’ winner, a five time ‘Hugo Award’ Nominee for Best Artist, Jack Gauhan Award Winner, Chesley Award Winner, and has received both Gold and Silver Medals from ‘Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art’.
His illustrations have graced the #1 spot on the New York Times Best Seller list numerous times, and his covers can be seen in bookstores in dozens of countries around the world.
Simply put, Dan dos Santos is one the most recognized artists in his field. With hundreds of book covers to his credit, his vision has helped shape what the Fantasy market is today.
