ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Jamie Ibson is from the frozen wastelands of Canuckistan, where moose, bears, and geese battle for domination among the hockey rinks, igloos, and Tim Hortons. After joining the Canadian army reserves in high school, he spent half of 2001 in Bosnia as a peacekeeper and came home shortly after 9/11 with a deep sense of foreboding. After graduating college, he landed a job in law enforcement and has been posted to the left coast since 2007. He published a number of short stories in 2018 and 2019, and he released his first novel in January 2020. He’s pretty much been making it up as he goes along, although he has numerous writer friends who serve as excellent role models, mentors, and, occasionally, cautionary tales. His website can be found at ibsonwrites.ca. He is married to the lovely Michelle, and they have cats.
Jonathon D. Green is an IT professional as well as a part time machinist, crafter, knitter, martial artist and leather worker. Other than the story in this anthology, he has written a short adventure for Spider-Woman for Marvel and co-scripted The First Death, the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter comic, with his wife. He currently resides in St. Louis, and dreams of the Ocean.
Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 170 books, 56 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart, based on the concept album by the band Rush. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press. His most recent novels are Stake, Kill Zone, and Spine of the Dragon.
Kevin Ikenberry is a lifelong space geek and retired Army officer. As an adult, he managed the U.S. Space Camp program and served as a space operations officer before the Space Force was a thing. He’s an international bestselling author, award finalist, and a core author in the wildly successful Four Horsemen Universe. His eleven novels include Sleeper Protocol, Vendetta Protocol, Runs In The Family, Peacemaker, Honor The Threat, Stand or Fall, Deathangel and Fields Of Fire. He’s co-written several novels with amazing authors. He is an Active Member of SIGMA—the science fiction think tank.
Jessica Schlenker holds an M.S. in Information Security and Assurance, a bevy of industry certifications, and a B.S. in biology. She works as a professional nerd in the field of IT Security. Sadly, she is too much of a white hat to actually combine these specialties into creating her own cyborg army. But she’s thought about it.
Jaime DiNote is a veteran of the Florida Army National Guard and US Army Reserves and has mobilized for Operation Noble Eagle, providing air defense over the National Capitol Region. She holds a BA in Criminal Justice from Seattle University. She is currently residing in the Florida Panhandle as a full-time Air Force spouse to husband, and usual co-author, Chris, and as stay-at-home-mom to their daughter Remy. This is her first solo publication.
William McCaskey is a veteran of the United States Army, with an MS in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, who traded in the hot and sandy for the hot and humid of central Florida with his family, dogs, and a very demanding feline overlord. In his free time, he enjoys honing his martial arts skills while imparting a few of them, traveling, and scuba diving. William made his debut with the science fiction novel Dragon Two-Zero and is co-editor of the bestselling anthology Fantastic Hope.
Justin Watson grew up an Army brat, living in Germany, Alabama, Texas, Korea, Colorado and Alaska, and fed on a steady diet of X-Men, Star Trek, Robert Heinlein, DragonLance, and Babylon 5. While attending West Point, he met his future wife, Michele, on an airplane, and soon began writing in earnest with her encouragement. In 2005 he graduated from West Point and served as a field artillery officer, completing combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and earning the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge.
Medically retired from the Army in 2015, Justin settled in Houston with Michele, their four children and an excessively friendly Old English Sheepdog.
J.F. Holmes is a retired Army Senior Noncommissioned Officer, having served for twenty-two years in both the Regular Army and Army National Guard. During that time, he served as everything from an artillery section leader to a member of a Division level planning staff, with tours in Cuba and Iraq, as well as responding to the terrorist attacks in NYC on 9/11.
From 2010 to 2014 he wrote the immensely popular military cartoon strip, “Power Point Ranger,” poking fun at military life in the tradition of Beetle Bailey and Willy & Joe.
His books range from Military Sci-Fi to Space Opera to Detective to Fantasy, with a lot in between, and in 2017 two were finalists for the prestigious Dragon Awards. As of August 2020, Mr. Holmes has nineteen books and two novellas published.
In 2018, he launched Cannon Publishing, specializing in science fiction and military science fiction.
Jason Cordova is a 2015 John W. Campbell Award finalist and a 2019 Dragon Award finalist. Author of the popular “Kin Wars Saga,” he has been featured in previous Freehold anthologies. A US Navy veteran, Jason currently lives in Virginia.
Christopher “MOGS” DiNote, has served over twenty-one years in the United States Air Force and Air National Guard (Pennsylvania and Ohio). He has deployed for Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and Noble Eagle. Chris is a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and the USAF Weapons School. He holds an M.A. in Military History from Norwich University, and a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the Air War College. Chris also plays saxophone and bass guitar and has performed in several bands. He was born in Philadelphia PA, raised in South Jersey, and currently resides in the Florida Panhandle with his wife and usual co-author Jaime, and their daughter Remy. This is his second work of fiction.
Philip Wohlrab has spent time in the United States Coast Guard and has served for more than fourteen years in the Virginia Army National Guard. Serving as a medic attached to an infantry company, he earned the title “Doc” the hard way while serving across two tours in Iraq. He came home and continued his education, earning a Master of Public Health degree in 2016. He currently works as a DoD contractor designing wargames for the United States Air Force and with occasional work for the United States Space Force. He also does game design work for the civilian market.
ABOUT THE EDITOR:
Michael Z. Williamson is variously an immigrant from the UK and Canada; a retired veteran of the US Army and US Air Force with service in the Middle East; a consultant on disaster preparedness and military matters to private clients, manufacturers, TV and movie productions and occasionally DoD elements; bladesmith; award-winning and best-selling editor and author. His hobby of collecting weapons has led him into an arms race in which he outguns Barbados and Iceland, so far.