FenCon XVI - September 20-22, 2019 |

Guests of Honor


The Doubleclicks Music Guests of Honor The Doubleclicks are a folk-pop sibling duo, featuring clever lyrics about dinosaurs, literature, love and the Internet—with a cello, guitar, and meowing kitten keyboard. Their latest CD “Love Problems" debuted at number one on the Billboard comedy albums chart, and they’ve toured the world, playing at conventions, comedy festivals, living rooms and one time in a circus in Australia. Their songs and YouTube videos have been viewed over 4 million times and are frequently featured on BoingBoing, io9, and NPR.
Helen Montgomery Fen Guest of Honor Helen Montgomery is a Chicago fan who recently relocated to Seattle. She is currently a co-chair of the Chicago in 2022 Worldcon Bid, the Division Head for Events for Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon, and an Area Head for Capricon in Chicago. Helen has been active in Chicago fandom since 2000, holding many roles for Capricon, including Conchair (twice) and serving on their Board of Directors (twice). She has worked on six Worldcons and three NASFiCs, including Chicon 7 in 2012, when she was one of three “Chairman’s Flying Monkees” (Vice Chairs). She also chaired Smofcon 2016 in Chicago. Additionally, she is the President of the Science Fiction Outreach Project, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that promotes literacy and fandom through the reading of science fiction and fantasy.
Julie Czerneda Science Guest of Honor (Julie Czerneda) For over twenty years, Canadian author/ former biologist Julie E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science fiction, published by DAW Books, NY. Julie’s written fantasy too, the first installments of her Night’s Edge series (DAW) A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadow, winning consecutive Aurora Awards (Canada’s Hugo) for Best English Novel. Having completed her Clan Chronicles series with To Guard Against the Dark, Julie’s latest SF novel is Search Image, Book #1 of her new SF series, The Web Shifter’s Library, bringing back her beloved character Esen the Dear Little Blob. Julie’s edited/co-edited numerous award-winning anthologies of SF/F, including SFWA’s 2017 Nebula Award Showcase, but nothing prepared her for the sheer joy of opening her Clan Chronicles to fans of the series to produce Tales from Plexis, out December 2018. What’s coming next? Her new fantasy standalone, The Gossamer Mage, out August 2019, and so much more.
Angie Hodapp Special Workshop Guest Angie Hodapp is the Director of Literary Development at Nelson Literary Agency. She holds a BA in English and secondary education and an MA in English and communication development, and she is a graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver. She has worked in publishing and professional writing and editing for the better part of the last two decades and is the author of Do You Need a Literary Agent?: The Writer-in-the-Know Guide to a Literary Agent’s Role in the Publishing Industry (January 2019). A veteran teacher and speaker, she loves helping authors hone their craft and learn about the ever-changing business of publishing.
Orlando Sanchez Toastmaster Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order. The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem. He currently resides in Queens, NY with his wife and children and can often be found in the local coffee shop where most of his writing is done.

The Doubleclicks

Music Guests of Honor

The Doubleclicks are a folk-pop sibling duo, featuring clever lyrics about dinosaurs, literature, love and the Internet—with a cello, guitar, and meowing kitten keyboard. Their latest CD “Love Problems" debuted at number one on the Billboard comedy albums chart, and they’ve toured the world, playing at conventions, comedy festivals, living rooms and one time in a circus in Australia. Their songs and YouTube videos have been viewed over 4 million times and are frequently featured on BoingBoing, io9, and NPR.

Helen Montgomery

Fen Guest of Honor

Helen Montgomery is a Chicago fan who recently relocated to Seattle. She is currently a co-chair of the Chicago in 2022 Worldcon Bid, the Division Head for Events for Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon, and an Area Head for Capricon in Chicago.

Helen has been active in Chicago fandom since 2000, holding many roles for Capricon, including Conchair (twice) and serving on their Board of Directors (twice). She has worked on six Worldcons and three NASFiCs, including Chicon 7 in 2012, when she was one of three “Chairman’s Flying Monkees” (Vice Chairs). She also chaired Smofcon 2016 in Chicago.

Additionally, she is the President of the Science Fiction Outreach Project, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that promotes literacy and fandom through the reading of science fiction and fantasy.

Julie Czerneda

Science Guest of Honor

(Julie Czerneda) For over twenty years, Canadian author/ former biologist Julie E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science fiction, published by DAW Books, NY. Julie’s written fantasy too, the first installments of her Night’s Edge series (DAW) A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadow, winning consecutive Aurora Awards (Canada’s Hugo) for Best English Novel. Having completed her Clan Chronicles series with To Guard Against the Dark, Julie’s latest SF novel is Search Image, Book #1 of her new SF series, The Web Shifter’s Library, bringing back her beloved character Esen the Dear Little Blob. Julie’s edited/co-edited numerous award-winning anthologies of SF/F, including SFWA’s 2017 Nebula Award Showcase, but nothing prepared her for the sheer joy of opening her Clan Chronicles to fans of the series to produce Tales from Plexis, out December 2018. What’s coming next? Her new fantasy standalone, The Gossamer Mage, out August 2019, and so much more.

Angie Hodapp

Special Workshop Guest

Angie Hodapp is the Director of Literary Development at Nelson Literary Agency. She holds a BA in English and secondary education and an MA in English and communication development, and she is a graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute at the University of Denver. She has worked in publishing and professional writing and editing for the better part of the last two decades and is the author of Do You Need a Literary Agent?: The Writer-in-the-Know Guide to a Literary Agent’s Role in the Publishing Industry (January 2019). A veteran teacher and speaker, she loves helping authors hone their craft and learn about the ever-changing business of publishing.

Orlando Sanchez

Toastmaster

Orlando Sanchez has been writing ever since his teens when he was immersed in creating scenarios for playing Dungeon and Dragons with his friends every weekend. An avid reader, his influences are too numerous to list here. Some of the most prominent are: J.R.R. Tolkien, Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, Terry Brooks, Piers Anthony, Lee Child, George Lucas, Andrew Vachss, and Barry Eisler to name a few in no particular order. The worlds of his books are urban settings with a twist of the paranormal lurking just behind the scenes and generous doses of magic, martial arts, and mayhem. He currently resides in Queens, NY with his wife and children and can often be found in the local coffee shop where most of his writing is done.

Program Participants

Rhonda Eudaly | Shanna Swendson |

Rhonda Eudaly (Rhonda Eudaly) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's ventured into several industries and occupations for a wide variety of experience. She's married with dogs and a rapidly growing Minion© army. Her two passions are writing and music, which is evident in her increasing horde of writing instruments. Rhonda has a well-rounded publication history in fiction, non-fiction, and script writing. Check out her website for her latest publications and downloads. (Photo by Bobby Hitt)
Shanna Swendson (Shanna Swendson) (Wikipedia) Shanna Swendson is best known as the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series from Ballantine Books, the YA steampunk fantasy Rebel Mechanics, and a variety of geeky pop-culture essays published by BenBella Books. She can occasionally be lured out of her writing cave by movies, promises of Doctor Who episodes, conventions, or new books calling to her from the library or bookstore. Or tea or chocolate (or tea and chocolate, but not chocolate tea).

Rhonda Eudaly

(Rhonda Eudaly) Rhonda Eudaly lives in Arlington, Texas where she's ventured into several industries and occupations for a wide variety of experience. She's married with dogs and a rapidly growing Minion© army. Her two passions are writing and music, which is evident in her increasing horde of writing instruments.

Rhonda has a well-rounded publication history in fiction, non-fiction, and script writing. Check out her website for her latest publications and downloads.

(Photo by Bobby Hitt)

Shanna Swendson

(Shanna Swendson) (Wikipedia) Shanna Swendson is best known as the author of the Enchanted, Inc. series from Ballantine Books, the YA steampunk fantasy Rebel Mechanics, and a variety of geeky pop-culture essays published by BenBella Books. She can occasionally be lured out of her writing cave by movies, promises of Doctor Who episodes, conventions, or new books calling to her from the library or bookstore. Or tea or chocolate (or tea and chocolate, but not chocolate tea).

If you are interested in being a participant this year, please read our program participant guidelines before contacting us. We hope it will answer most of your questions. Thanks.