OSFest Program Participants part 2

Daniel C. Nielsen - The Man from Valhalla (Nebraska)
One of the reasons for, and special treats of, attending local conventions is to introduce new authors to the SF/F community. Highlighting the writers that actually live near their fan base. Daniel Nielsen is such an author.
A self-described writer of dark fantasy, he has two books to his credit: Darksteel Destinies and These Old Bones, as well as an assortment of short stories and poetry. After discovering the joys of world building at an early age and his community library to feed his mythological cravings, Dan took to regaling his classmates with his fantasy worlds while still in school. With literary influences such as C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series and Glen Cook’s Black Company books, this is a new author you need to take the time to get to know.
So spend some time with Mr. Nielsen, attend a reading, corner him in the Con Suite, and participate in a panel he is on. Get a Taste of Twilight and find out what makes our Man from Valhalla tick! See you at OSFest.

OSFest's Featured Filmmakers: Shadow Creek Studios

Shadow Creek Studios located in Maple Grove Minnesota will be coming to this year’s Omaha Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival as our Featured Filmmakers. Christopher Mihm, head of the studio, along with members of the cast and crew are coming to talk about independent filmmaking and their movies.

They have recently completed Cave Women On Mars, their third film which is set in the future year of 1987. It will have its world premiere on April 12th of this year in Columbia Heights Minnesota at The Heights Theatre. On July 12th, they will screen first their earlier works: The Monster of Phantom Lake and It Came Form Another World before an evening showing of Cave Women. The studio's blurb is that these movies are "hilarious - and loving - tributes to 1950s B-grade horror flicks". I have talked to someone who has seen the first two and he argees with this assessment. Ah, the 1950's scifi genre, a time when science was invented, or at least stretched past the breaking point, to drive the story. A time when anything was possible and everyone had a great time escaping for a few hours.

So come and hang out with members of non-Hollywood, the filmmakers of Shadow Creek Studios. OSFest is July 11-13, 2008 at the Comfort Inn & Suites.

OSFest Program Participants part 1

Tyree Campbell

Conventions have a main lineup of guests that are spectacular and draw new people into the door. But any regular convention goer knows that most of the work in providing the entertainment at the event comes from the cadre of ancillary guests the committee lines up. These guests provide the convention with the ability to have a wide array of panels, workshops, meeting, readings, and miscellaneous interactions that make up the fannish experience.

OSFest is starting to build that cadre. The first gentleman I would like to introduce everyone to is Tyree Campbell, who was actually the first to have enough faith in us. Tyree is the Managing Editor of a micro press publishing company: Sam’s Dot Publishing and is their face at conventions in the Midwest. You will find him behind a dealer’s table willing to introduce you to the works of new writers that he has found good enough to bring to print. Along with his own works of fiction.

What does he bring to OSFest? He has been part of the current wave of small, niche publishers that is helping to fill the void in the genre. A void created when the big publishing houses fail to take the risk of new voices in the field. He knows the business from the writing, editing, printing, and marketing perspective. He will provide synergetic viewpoint to the world of written science fiction, fantasy, and zombies. Three out of his five blogs on his MySpace page are about zombies.

So thanks for coming Tyree. And to everyone else, look him up at OSFest. He is a very easy man to talk to and is quick to become friends with.