Our announced Guests of Honor will be listed below.
Chaz Kemp – Artist Guest of Honor
Bram Stoker Award finalist Chaz Kemp embraces an Art Nouveau style that incorporates vibrancy and color into fantasy and steampunk art in a way that is rarely seen. As an illustrator, the influence of Alphonse Mucha is evident in his award-winning work that combines the artistic energy of the Roaring 20s with the untamed diversity of steampunk and fantasy.
Chaz Kemp is a featured artist in steampunk legend Paul Roland’s book “Steampunk: Back to the Future with the New Victorians”. Amazing Stories magazine featured him in the November 2014 issue, and his work has been seen in other publications such as Steampunk Magazine, Savage Insider and Aurealis. Over the years Chaz has created art for game publishers, sci-fi/fantasy conventions and several book covers including the anthology “Cthulhu Passant” by Travis Heerman & the “Oilman’s Daughter” by Local Hero Press. In 2012, he illustrated his first graphic novel entitled “Behind These Eyes” written by Guy Anthony De Marco and Peter J. Wacks. The graphic novel was a Bram Stoker Award finalist.
His latest pieces have been featured in the work that he and his wife, award-winning author, Carolyn Kay created for the World of Ashelon. These include two novellas entitled, “Dien Vek” and “Sikevra” in which he did the cover and interior art. He recently finished his three-year project called the Ashelon Oracle Deck; a 52-card divination deck featuring characters that appear in the World of Ashelon. You can find his work at www.ChazKemp.com, buy the Ashelon Oracle Deck here: http://bit.ly/AshelonOracle or become his patron at: www.Patreon.com/ChazKemp
Leslie Hudson – Music Guest of Honor
Leslie Hudson sings modern retellings of women’s stories from ancient times to the present. Drawing on myth, folklore, spiritual and cultural traditions, pop culture, family history and a lifetime of personal growth, she gives multi-genred voice to the synaesthetic spectrum of divinities and denizens, mortals and mysteries, the queens and querents who tell Her Stories.
Now a regularly touring musician across North America (venturing to Europe in 2018), Hudson is bringing her unique brand of powerful piano-centric performance to communities, venues and events supporting women’s voices and the strength of diversity.
Find out more at http://lesliehudson.com .
David J. Peterson – Linguistic Guest of Honor
David J. Peterson is a language creator, writer, and author. He is best known for creating the Dothraki and Valyrian languages for HBO’s Game of Thrones, but has also created languages for the CW’s The 100, Syfy’s Defiance, Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, Marvel’s Doctor Strange, Netflix’s Bright, and many others. He has BA’s in English and Linguistics from UC Berkeley (2003) and an MA in Linguistics from UC San Diego (2005). He’s the author of Living Language Dothraki and The Art of Language Invention, both from Penguin Random House, and he has a number of new projects on the horizon.
Veronica Calisto – Maven of Ceremonies
Masseur of people and plot lines. Singer of songs inside her own head and in a local choir. Author of Diary of a Mad Black Witch, A Griffin Scorned, and the first in SparkleTits Chronicles: Starfish & Coffee.