About the Event

• Theme: Eruption
• Dates: October 5 – 7, 2018
• Location: the Marriott, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Guests of Honor

Mike Mullin, author guest of honor

Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really glad this writing thing seems to be working out.

Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. His debut novel, Ashfall, was named one of the top five young adult novels of 2011 by National Public Radio, a Best Teen Book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews, and a New Voices selection by the American Booksellers Association. He is represented by Kate Testerman of kt literary.

Daniel Mohr, artist guest of honor

Daniel writes and draws the web comic Everyday Gods which debuted in 2007, and draws the web comic World Wide News as well. Life is a Natural One is a new straight to print comic that Daniel created for a Wisconsin paper, but is being converted to a comic book medium. He is known for his Top Hat, puppet companion, and being an equal opportunity offender; however he promises to be good for at least five minutes a day. As well as being an artist, Daniel has performed in many theatrical productions from community theaters to professional work. Acting has always been a great passion of his. Currently he lives with his wife in St. Paul where they run Mohr Creations together selling his artwork and her custom made fine jewelry. Daniel also has is own publishing company, Wolfie B Bad Productions.

Mike Miller, fan guest of honor
One of ICON’s founders, Mike has been been to nearly all ICONs including the first ICON back in 1975.

Wolfie B Bad, actor guest of honor
Cute, fluffy, uhh, well cute and fluffy.

Joe and Gay Haldeman, Papa & Mama of ICON
Joe is an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1974 novel, The Forever War. He has been a published author since 1969, when his first short story was published in Galaxy magazine. His work has won numerous awards, including (but not limited to) 5 Hugo awards, 5 Nebula awards, and a Grand Master Nebula award. Many of his works were inspired by his experience serving in the Vietnam War. He recently retired after thirty years of teaching at MIT in Cambridge, MA. Recent books include Earthbound, published in 2011, which was the last book in a trilogy that began with Marsbound and Starbound. Joe’s newest novel, Work Done for Hire, was published in 2014. In addition to being an award-winning writer, Joe is also a poet and a painter, and a founding member of ICON.

Gay (Mary Gay Potter) Haldeman has a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature from the University of Maryland and another in Linguistics from the University of Iowa. She has recently retired from teaching in the Writing Center at MIT after thirty years, specializing in English as a Second Language. She resides in Florida, where she manages Joe’s career. She has been doing science fiction conventions since 1963 and loves to meet new people. After more than 50 years of marriage, she still thinks Joe’s the best thing that ever happened to her.

Jim C. Hines, toastmaster
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 Terminal Alliance, book one in the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than 50 magazines and anthologies.

Jim is an active blogger about topics ranging from sexism and harassment to zombie-themed Christmas carols, and 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 wife and two children in mid-Michigan. You can find him at www.jimchines.com or on Twitter as @jimchines.

ICON 43 Staff

• ConCom: Jenny Carhoff, Christopher Harmon, Shawn Johnson
• Art Show: Jessica Whitlatch
• Barnes and Noble Liaison: Terri M. LeBlanc
• Blood Mobile Liaison: Jenny Carhoff
• Chocolate Ceremony:  Michelle Clark
• Con Medic: Sheril Bogenrief
• ConSuite/Hospitality Room: Jennifer Todd
• Costume Central Organizer: Lynda Sherman
• Dealers’ Room Coordinator: Gregg Parmentier
• Student Writing Workshop Coordinator: Jed Q Peterson
• Gaming: Gamicon,Michele Maakestad, Alex Phillips
• Guest Liaison for Daniel Mohr: Ange Anderson
• Guest Liaison for Mike Miller: Denny Lynch
• Guest Liaison for Jim C. Hines: Erin Channell
• Guest Liaison for Mike Mullin: TBD
• Guest Liaison for Joe and Gay Haldeman: TBD
• Hotel Liaison: Jenny Carhoff
• Masquerade: Michelle Clark
• Paradise ICON Coordinator: Catherine Schaff-Stump
• Program Book Layout and Design: Beth Hudson Wheeler
• Programming Coordinator: Sara Pitcher
• Publicity: All staff
• Registration Coordinator: Tracie Michlin
• Room Parties Coordinator: Susan Leabhart
• Security Lead: Matt Britain
• On-Site Signage Coordinator: Chelsea Eldeen
• Tech and AV Coodinator: Fred Coverdill
• T-Shirt Company Liaison: Jenny Carhoff
• Trans-Iowa Canal Company Director: Beth Hudson Wheeler
• Treasurer: Victoria Hobbs, John Johnson
• Volunteer Coordinators: Ange and Brian Anderson
• Social Media and Web Services: John Johnson, Terri LeBlanc
• Saturday Phen Feud Organizers: Elisabeth and Samantha DeCrane