Finally!  Chambanacon has been trying to land Jim C. Hines as a GoH for many years but life has a way of complicating everything. We are over the moon that he and his son will be our guests this Thanksgiving. Jim C. Hines’ first novel was Goblin Quest, the humorous tale of a nearsighted goblin runt and his pet fire-spider. Actor and author Wil Wheaton described the book as “too f***ing cool for words,” which is pretty much the Best Blurb Ever. After finishing the goblin trilogy, he went on to write the Princess series of fairy tale retellings and the Magic ex Libris books, a modern-day fantasy series about a magic-wielding librarian, a dryad, a secret society founded by Johannes Gutenberg, a flaming spider, and an enchanted convertible. He’s also the author of the Fable Legends tie-in Blood of Heroes. He’s now writing humorous science fiction with the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than 50 magazines and anthologies. Jim won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2012. He has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a Masters in English, and lives with his two children in mid-Michigan. You can find him at jimchines.com or on Twitter as "@jimchines".

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Juanita Coulson is a force of nature. She's been writing, writing, writing since the late 1950s: essays, apas, short fiction, novels. Juanita and her husband Robert "Buck" Coulson co-edited the science fiction fanzine Yandro. It was nominated for a Hugo Award every year from 1959 to 1967, and won in 1967, making Juanita the first woman to be so honored. She is a cornerstone of the filk community, the little lady with the BIG voice. Juanita's the GoH at numerous filk conventions, won several Pegasus Awards, and was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame in 1996. She's famous for having set the poetry of Martha Keller to music and, along with Michael Longcor recorded "What's a Hoosier"?. Bill Roper has been working on Juanita's solo CD for nearly a decade, and should finally be released in time for Chambanacon. At the 2012 Worldcon in Chicago, Juanita won the Big Heart Award, the science fiction community's highest award for service. Chambanacon is blessed to finally applaud her as our Golden Guest of Honor.

Todd Hamilton is a talented artist whose long list of work has graced the covers of science fiction and fantasy magazines and novels for over four decades. His art comes in many forms: painting, metalwork, jewelry casting, house interiors ... he’s amazing! Todd along with the late, great Pat Beese co-authored a novel, The Guardsman, which was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1989, followed by several pieces of short fiction. Todd has been a regular at Chambanacon since the beginning, and his art has graced our program books and badges with more style than we rightfully deserve. We are pleased to showcase his exquisite work in our art show.

Chicago singer/songwriter, drummer/guitarist and all around powerhouse Cathy McManamon is a music-maker down to her core. She performs solo or in concert with the likes of S.J. Tucker, Leslie Hudson, Toyboat, and and the Pegasus Award-winning rock band Random Factions. Her music is featured on Bandcamp with 14 CDs, and she performs regularly in the US and Canada. Check her out on Facebook.

Dr. Scott Thorne knows his stuff! He's been teaching Retail Marketing, Sport Marketing, Advertising and Promotion, Principles of Marketing, and Consumer Behavior for the Department of Management and Marketing at Southeast Missouri State University and Southern Illinois State University since 1992. When not teaching, he owns and operates Castle Perilous Games and Books, serving the gaming population since 1990 as the largest gaming store in southern Illinois. Dr. Thorne has anchored the Chambanacon huckster room for thirty years, providing quality gaming goods and last-minute Christmas gifts to our attendees. He knows games, what's hot, what's not, and he's happy to direct you to the rabbit hole you know you're going to dive into and enjoy. He'll be offering sage advice on go-to games at Chambanacon. When not gaming, he's a kind, fun, generous, and all around great person to hang with as well.

Toastmaster  Clif Flint

Clif began writing fiction in college, became well known in filk circles and huckster rooms attending conventions all around the Midwest. He is the author of Tcl/Tk: A Developer's Guide, now in its third printing and regarded as one of the best technical books on the subject in the computer industry. Clif has returned to fiction writing with the novels /Misrouted /and /Promised Reward/. Always a helpful fellow, he developed Editomat, a writing tool that finds and highlights weak sections of prose, provides dialog analysis, reading difficulty scores, passive voice, specialized words, and emotional content. He and his delightful wife/writing partner Carol are joys to know. Chambanacon is oh so pleased to have Clif Flynt as our Toastmaster.