On On Being a Dictator

Kevin J. Anderson has published 160 books, 56 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, Dune, and DC Comics universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer from Rush, Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and Spine of the Dragon. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press. He is Director of the Publishing MA Program at Western Colorado University. Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side... or maybe it's the other way around. He told stories to imaginary friends and learned to type on his brother's manual typewriter even though he couldn't reach the keys. (He types with the keyboard in his lap still today.) He couldn't imagine any career but writing fiction... until his algebra teacher said, "This is a program. You should write one of these." Fast forward 30 years of programming, writing, and teaching. He was named an MVP by Microsoft for his work with the developer community. He is an avid role-playing gamemaster, but that didn't satisfy his storytelling urge. He wrote, but he never submitted until his brother-in-law read a chapter and said, "That's not a chapter. That's a story. Send it in." It won second place in the Baen Memorial Writing Contest and earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that! Martin hasn't stopped writing (or programming) since. His novella "Murder on the Aldrin Express" was reprinted in The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection and in Year's Top Short SF Novels 4. His work has appeared in Analog, Galaxy's Edge, Digital Science Fiction, Forever Magazine, Writers of the Future 31, Year's Best Military and Adventure SF 4, Avatar Dreams, and select service garages worldwide. He received the Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award for his Clarkesworld story "Today I Am Paul", which also was nominated for a Nebula award and appeared in four year's best anthologies and eight international editions. The story continues in Today I Am Carey, published by Baen Books in March 2019. Another novel, The Last Dance, will be published by 47North in Fall 2019. Learn more at http://Shoemaker.Space.