Author: ravenchair (Page 8 of 14)

Chad Ownby

Chad Ownby is a theatre teacher, film scholar, and podcaster from Richmond, VA. Chad has dedicated his life to educational theatre for the last fifteen years, directing numerous shows for children across all age groups. For his work in the field of educational theatre arts, he recently was the Richmond City Public Schools finalist for the Richmond Performing Arts Alliance “Nurture” Award, celebrating creating a safe, learning environment. He was also voted 2024-2025 Teacher of the Year at his middle school by his peers. In 2020, Ownby decided while he loves educational theatre, something was missing. He thought about how much he loved cinema and breaking down and dissecting different movies across genre’s and eras. He eventually found out there is actually a degree for that and enrolled in the film studies program at Tiffin University, where he graduated suma cum laude in 2024. Since then, Ownby has found a love for podcasting: Hosting and producing multiple shows including: Let’s Talk Wrestling and Let’s Talk Movies where he and his hosts break down pro-wrestling and movies from multiple perspectives.

Chuck Parker

A performer for more than 35 years, Chuck Parker has filled many musical roles: heavy metal guitarist, singer/songwriter, jazz sideman, open mic host, filk circle regular, session player, and World’s Okayest Bassist™.

Chuck has been a regular on the con circuit for more than a decade, and he’s played ballrooms, biergartens and backyards all over the country, both as a solo performer and as the bassist for wizard rock icons The Blibbering Humdingers. He plays slice of life, confessional geek tunes that are often kind of funny, and his lyrics have been called “sensitive”, “literate”, and “hard to sing…”

His music may be found at chuckparker.bandcamp.com, and his musings at chuck-parker.net.

His most recent release is Warmest Regards… released in August 2024.

Carrie Jo Patton

Carrie Jo Patton hosts the Unicorn Company Podcast, a BattleTech focused miniatures gaming podcast and YouTube channel. Her YouTube channel focuses primarily on miniatures, miniature games, and BattleTech fiction reviews. Her podcast covers a variety of topics, from BattleTech lore and technology, to the intersection of the LGBTQ community and gaming. She has also helped to playtest a number of rulebooks and supplements for Catalyst Game Labs, including the Alpha Strike Commander’s Edition and PseudoTech: Arcade Operations. In addition to her tabletop gaming experience, she is an established commission painter having won local awards, and placed in convention painting competitions. She is also an experienced 3D printing enthusiast, having worked with both FDM and resin printing.

In her personal life, Carrie enjoys reading, trying to paint original art on canvas, spending time with her partners, petting cats, and of course painting little plastic stompy robots. She has a interest in military history, going back to her childhood, when her parents bought her an over 400-page tome detailing the events of Pearl Harbor. Carrie has played everything from modern miniatures and board games to Avalon Hill games such as Victory in the Pacific, she also has a history of fundraising, having organized fundraisers for the Trevor Project, and having raised over $15,000 dollars to help at risk LGBTQ youth.

J.E. Pittman

J.E. Pittman dabbles in many speculative worlds. He blurs the borders between genre and crafts salient lies to tell a measure of truth. His work has been described as: capriciously chimeric, dreamlike, and a vivid enigma with indelible images stamped on your brain. He independently publishes his darkly cozy urban fantasy series—Felix Chance—and his sci-fi action series—Pandora Squad—in addition to several web serials and anthologies. More at halfacrepond.com.

The Platypus Princess (Alexandra Higgins)

Alexandra Higgins (aka the Platypus Princess) is a self-taught singer/songwriter whose folk-indie sound evokes the spirit of Joan Baez (a direct quote heard randomly and unprompted at every performance!). Her voice, often described as angelic, carries melodies that mix ethereal beauty with sharp wit and compassionate wisdom. Inspired by video games, movies, comic books, and disability advocacy, she blends cosplay, wordplay, and colorful guitar play—with a pinch of sass.

Phillip Pournelle

Phillip Pournelle is a science fiction author, war game designer, operations analyst, and military strategist. He served in the United States Navy as a surface warfare officer, operations analyst, and planner for 26 years. He served on cruisers, destroyers, amphibious ships, and on an experimental high-speed vessel. He served on the Navy Staff conducting campaign analysis, in the Office of the Secretary of Defense doing mobility and naval analysis. He worked for five years at the Office of Net Assessment diagnosing the future of conflict and competition. He designs and executes war games, conducts modeling and simulation, and analysis on modern warfare for the Department of Defense and other organizations. He has written and spoken on the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in warfare. He is currently a senior war game designer and operations analyst at Group W, a defense and analysis, modeling, and research company. He teaches war game design for the Military Operations Research Society. He wrote a chapter on the use of war gaming, modeling, and simulation in the book Wargaming and Simulation published by Wiley Press in 2022. He contributed to Jerry Pournelle’s last Janissaries novel Mamelukes and recently submitted the second draft of the sequel to Baen books. He has had several short stories and articles published on the themes of future conflicts. His latest short story “The Rules of the Game” was published by Baen Books in the Robosoldiers anthology.

Jennifer R. Povey

Born in Nottingham, England, Jennifer R. Povey (she/her) now lives in Northern Virginia, where she writes everything from heroic fantasy to stories for Analog. She has written a number of novels across multiple sub-genres. She is a full member of SFWA. Her interests include horseback riding, Doctor Who, and attempting to out-weird her various friends and professional colleagues. Find her on Facebook at facebook.com/jrpovey/, Mastodon at @NinjaFingers@universeodon.com, or Bluesky at @NinjaFingers.

Jennifer’s novel, Kyx, is a finalist for this year’s Webster Award.

Angela Pritchett

Angela is an award-winning, master-level cosplayer and educator. She started sewing from a very young age when her sense of style and love of dressing up like movie and TV show characters made her father and grandmother realize that “this child needs to learn how to sew.”

With over twenty years of experience in the world of cosplay, special FX makeup, and film, Angela has focused on introducing new people to costuming/cosplay and FX makeup, helping create a fun and safe environment for all. When not working on cosplays, she has designed and created costumes and makeups for stage and screen. She loves the process of bringing a thought on a piece of paper to life. Angela also enjoys writing (several short stories and two cookbooks), directing (she has won numerous awards for her short film directing, as well as for her acting), and dressing up her two pugs—Jimmy and Dezzy.

Angela can be seen in a plethora of films and on TV, including Plan 9, The Porkchop Trillogy, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and the JG Wentworth commercial.

She has been a cosplay guest, judge, contest runner, and instructor at many conventions across the US. Her costumes have been featured in The Washington Post, CosMode, and multiple coffee table costuming/cosplay books. You can find her online on Instagram @Angalese or on TikTok @AngelaPlaysUkulele.

Pushing Dragons

We are Pushing Dragons, a Dungeons and Dragons live play with a twist. We take elements of cosplay, live action role-play, and improv to create a hilarious and interactive D&D adventure. Using a stripped-down version of 5th Edition, the audience rolls on behalf of the player characters and can influence the player’s actions.

Unlike other live plays, we don’t sit around the table. Our game is performed on a stage with the players and monsters often venturing into the audience. It is an exciting and energetic experience with a lot of audience participation.

Sean Devereux and Brad McMurran are the creators of Pushing Dragons: An Improvised Dungeons & Dragons Adventure. When they aren’t playing Dungeons & Dragons they can be found performing at the Push Comedy Theater. The duo have been performing sketch and improv comedy for nearly 20 years. Both studied at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater in New York City. In 2014, they opened the Push Comedy Theater in Norfolk, VA where they just celebrated two years of sold-out shows. The show has also made appearances at the Virginia Beach Funny Bone, MarsCon, Tidewater Comicon, and our own Dragon Faire.

Evan Ratke

Evan Ratke was born and raised in the suburbs of Richmond, VA. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Longwood University and a Postgraduate Diploma in Arctic Studies from the University of Iceland. Somewhere between exams, papers, and an awkward attempt at a social life, he started work on what would eventually become his first novel, Dragoon, released in 2018. His sequel novels, Chloe and Corday, followed in 2019 and 2022 respectively. Ratke is an active runner and lives in Richmond. He is currently exploring new writing projects, including his fourth novel.

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