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GuestsChris Pramas
He spent four years at Wizards where he eventually became Creative Director for Miniatures R&D. While still at Wizards, he founded Green Ronin Publishing as a side venture and went full-time with Green Ronin on his departure from Wizards. Since then, he has worked as author, developer and producer for Green Ronin on many projects. He has won three Origins Awards and two ENnie Awards for his work. He is best known as the author of the AD&D Guide to Hell, Dragon Fist, Death in Freeport (and its sequels), and most recently as the designer of the acclaimed second edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (published by Black Industries). Jo WaltonJo Walton won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 2002 and the World Fantasy Award in 2004. She comes from Wales, but lives in Montreal where the food and books are more varied. With Ken Walton she co-wrote the Celtic Myth sourcebook for GURPS and Warhammer Realms of Sorcery, as well as writing for Arcane magazine and the Into the DC storytelling card games. Jo's latest novel is the World Fantasy Award winning Tooth and Claw, a sentimental Victorian novel about dragons who eat each other. Her earlier works are The Prize in the Game and the diptych The King's Peace and The King's Name. Her alternate history mystery novel Farthing will be appearing from Tor in August 2006. She has just finished an odd little fantasy novel called Lifelode which is presently in limbo. She is presently working on a direct sequel to Tooth and Claw tentatively entitled Those Who Favor Fire; an even more direct sequel to Farthing called Ha'Penny; a version of Mansfield Park set on Mars; and a young adult fantasy about a princess defending a castle from dragons. She treats all these projects, as always, with the seriousness they deserve. Ian Watson
Ian also writes poetry, and had his first book of poetry, The Lexicographer's Love Song, published in 2001. His latest publication is a short story collection, The Butterflies of Memory, highlights of which include An Appeal to Adolf, about gay Nazi sailors in an alternative Second World War, Giant Dwarfs, a true account of Jules Verne's own journey to the centre of the Earth, and The Grave of My Beloved, the first of a series of stories co-authored with Italian sf-surrealist Roberto Qualia. Ian's other accomplishments include several Warhammer 40K books, chairing Northampton SF Writers Group's successful Newcon2 and Newcon3 cons, and uncanny impersonations of Inigo Montoya, the finest swordsman in the world, and H.G. Wells, not the finest swordsman in the world but pretty handy with a pen. Franklin Gunkelmann
Franklin has been involved in filk from the early '80s when German filk-fandom had not yet evolved and filk took place at Star Trek conventions. Calling Franklin "The Voice of German filk fandom" is not an understatement. While he is one of their finest male voices, it is his position as the Master of Ceremonies (as well as stalwart committee member) for FilkCONtinental - a job he has assumed since the first con in 1997 - which earns him this title. Gaudy costumes, intricate choreography, funny filks; Franklin provides the FilkCONtinental programme with all the jokes and puns and impromptu sketches that have become such a loved part of the German filk con. Aside from being a pillar of German filk organising, he's also a great performer. He is mainly known for his humorous songs and parodies like A Thousand Chips and Ill, Pissed By Moonlight. He's a "karaoke filker" and has so far filked artists like Abba, Ozzy Osbourne, and Frank Sinatra. However, Franklin also writes wonderful serious songs, both rewrites and originals. He has recently started to accompany himself on the piano, and created such wonderful songs as The Soul (filk of The Ship) and Internal Knight (reproduced later in this PR). He is also an excellent translator of English filk songs into German, a delicate task requiring careful rewriting. Franklin and Alexa Klettner perform as the duo "Lord Merciless". Biting lyrics, parodies, political songs, black humour, you name it, they write it, they sing it. Franklin was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2006, an international award which honours contributions to filk music and the filk community. Apart from all the commendations we can give Franklin as a wonderful musician and filk "gardener", he's also a generous, witty and downright lovely bloke, and we are delighted to have nabbed him for your pleasure. Come and meet him at the filk programme stream! |
Founder of Green Ronin, Chris Pramas began his career in the game
industry as a freelance writer in 1994. He made his name working on
such game lines as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (as a coauthor of The
Dying of the Light), Feng Shui, and Underground. He started his own
company (Ronin Publishing), but later joined Wizards of the Coast as a
RPG designer.
After lecturing in literature at universities in Tanzania and Tokyo, and in Futures Studies (including Science Fiction) in Birmingham, Ian Watson became a full-time writer in 1976 following the success of his first novels, The Embedding and The Jonah Kit. Numerous novels of SF, Fantasy, and Horror followed, and nine story collections. His stories have been finalists for the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and widely anthologised. From 1990 to 1991 he worked full-time with Stanley Kubrick on story development for the movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence. He lives with a black cat called Poppy in a small rural village 60 miles north of London.
(with thanks to the Filk Hall of Fame)