 The Barbary Shore—James L. Cambias is a writer and game designer. Originally from the pirate haven of New Orleans, he now lives in pirate-infested western Massachusetts. He is a partner in Zygote Games, a small publisher of science-based card and board games. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, The Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives, and original story anthologies. He prefers the term “privateer.” |
 A Hand for Each—J. Kathleen Cheney is a former teacher and has taught mathematics ranging from 7th grade to Calculus. She is currently taking a sabbatical to concentrate on writing, and some of her works have been published in Baen’s Universe, Between Kisses and The Sword Review. She is a member of the Carpe Libris Writers Group, Broad Universe, and the Oklahoma Speculative Fiction Syndicate. Her website can be found at jkathleencheney.com |
 The Perfect Hook—Justine Graykin majored in Philosophy and English with a minor in Religious Studies, co-founded and edited a radical underground ‘zine in the eighties, then did the married-six-cats-two-dogs-ditto-kids thing. Above all, she is a writer. To know the writer, read the writing. That is what matters. |
 The Furies—Rajan Khanna lives in New York with his cats, Chloe and Muppet. In addition to writing fiction, Rajan also writes songs and plays the piano and the guitar. He hasn’t touched the saxophone in years. This is his first publication. |
 Pirates by Adeline Thromb Age 8—Marissa Lingen lives in Minnesota with two large men and one small dog. She is currently working on a fantasy novel whose protagonist is the Evil Regent. There is less hand-rubbing and evil laughter than you might expect. But only a little less. |
 The Sweet Realm—Jill Snider Lum lives in Toronto, Canada, with a husband who believes cats are evil aliens and a son currently obsessed with building starships out of Lego. She has worked as a gemologist, a computer programmer, a historical interpreter, and a janitor, and enjoys writing about things that are unusual or amusing, preferably both at once. |
 The Blackguard of God—Melinda Selmys has at various times lived in the woods as a hermit, reformed the Ontario electoral system, dated a fallen angel, opened a homeless shelter, home-schooled children and made food fit for the beatific vision. Her favorite Vatican document is Mulieris Dignitatem and her favorite poisonous mushroom is Amanita Muscaria. She writes from Etobicoke. |
 Hard Times for Bartleby Crow—Grant Stone lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife and two daughters. At the impressionable age of 11, he was introduced to the Apple II computer and the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, thereby sealing both his professional and literary fates. He sometimes blogs at http://d1sc0r0b0t.blogspot.com. This is his first publication. |
 Captain Blood’s B00ty—Jeremiah Tolbert is a webaddicted nerd living in Colorado. He knows absolutely nothing at all about real internet piracy, whether of a magical or mundane nature. His writing has previously appeared in Interzone, the Fantasy anthology, and All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories. Seriously, he doesn’t know anything at all about bittorrents or P2P networking, so quit bringing it up. |
 Come to the Islands—Mikal Trimm writes speculative fiction and poetry, and his works have appeared (or will soon appear) in a multitude of venues including the Polyphony anthos, Strange Horizons, Black Gate, Weird Tales, and Interfictions. He can also give you a sordid story about one of the Shimmer editors after a certain WFC party… |
 An Inconvenient Pirate—Jen West is a freelance writer. She’s sold numerous interviews, articles and features to various newspapers, magazines and websites, including a previous interview co-written with her husband, Ken Scholes, in Shimmer‘s Summer 2006 issue. She currently resides with Ken and two pudgy cats in St. Helens, OR where she is always looking for that next interesting character or story to introduce to the world. |
