Thrilling Tales of the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences (41 page)

Jack Mangan
is an author, podcaster, musician, smitten father, and considered by the editors as “The Iron Man of Podcasting,” born in New Jersey, but now residing in Arizona. “The Clockwork Samurai,” featured in
Ministry Protocol
, is actually a sequel to his first Ministry story, the 2012 Parsec-nominated
“Night’s Plutonian Shore.”
Aside from the Ministry writings, Jack’s fiction and non-fiction works have appeared in numerous online, print, and podcast venues, including such prestigious outlets as
Interzone Magazine, Podthology: The Pod Complex,
Michael A. Stackpole’s
Chain Story, Theme and Variations, 2020 Visions, Variant Frequencies
, and
Tales of the Talisman
. His words and worlds have also appeared on independently-produced audio productions at
Wander Radio, Variant Frequencies,
and
Beam Me Up Radio
. His novel,
Spherical Tomi
, was among the first wave of podcast fiction releases, and was the first number one title at
Podiobooks.com
. His Deadpan Podcast has enjoyed a diverse, fun, weird history and a dedicated following since 2006. More info about Jack Mangan and his work at:
jackmangan.com
.

Dan Rabarts
lives in New Zealand and has been writing since he was big enough to hide a torch under the blankets at night and scribble stories in the back of his Maths homework book. Because who needs Maths, right? His fiction can be found in
Beneath Ceaseless Skies
,
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine
,
Aurealis
, and in the anthologies
Dreaming of Djinn
,
Bloodstones
,
When the Hero Comes Home: Volume 2
, and
Regeneration
. His stories have been podcast on the
StarShipSofa
,
Tales to Terrify
,
Tales from the Archives
and
Wily Writers’
podcasts. Most recently, he has put on an editor’s hat to compile a chilling, thrilling collection of flash-length horror tales called
Baby Teeth: Bite-sized Tales of Terror
. He has been a finalist for New Zealand’s Sir Julius Vogel Awards multiple times, both for fiction and non-fiction. Find him lurking on the web at
dan.rabarts.com
, or in the dusty corners of the house, bleeding words across a page.

Tiffany Trent
is the author of the young adult steampunk novels
The Unnaturalists
and
The Tinker King
, as well as the Hallowmere series. She has been published in numerous other venues, including the anthologies
Corsets & Clockwork
,
Magic in the Mirrorstone
, and
Willful Impropriety
. When not writing, she is usually out playing with 60,000 bees. Visit her at
tiffanytrent.com
.

Alex White
grew up in the Deep South, where he still resides. He writes and produces his podcast,
The Gearheart
, which is a three-time Parsec Finalist. He also holds the distinction as to being the biggest contributor to the Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, having designed the Ministry coat-of-arms, composed and performed the theme to the Parsec-wining
Tales from the Archives
podcast, created the covers for this anthology and
The Ministry Initiative
roleplaying game, and written
“The Boy, the Bomb, and the Witch Who Returned.”
An artist and composer during the day, Alex has plied his trade for a US President, many major corporations, and most importantly, other authors. He asks too many questions of strangers and may be terminally curious. Alex can be found at
thegearheart.com
.

Peter Woodworth
is a New Jersey native and resides there still, happily teaching English at a small local college. The first two books in his post-zombie-apocalypse
Dead Heroes
trilogy,
Runner
and
Domino
, are currently available on Amazon, and the final volume
Knockout
is scheduled for release in late 2013. His short fiction has appeared on websites such as
Terrible Minds
and
365 Tomorrows
, as well as in several anthologies:
Gimme Shelter; We Are Dust; Have Blaster, Will Travel; The Lost
and more. A longtime game designer, he has written a stack of roleplaying books for both tabletop and live-action play for the likes of White Wolf, Evil Hat, West End Games and Eschaton Media. Peter’s next project will be writing the supplement R
ogues Gallery: The Ministry's Most Wanted
for
The Ministry Initiative
from Galileo Games. When he isn’t grading papers or writing novels, he reads a lot, runs too many RPGs, is seriously addicted to Fantasy Flight board games, and LARPs whenever he can swing it. You can find him online at
peterwoodworth.com
.

Our Field Directors

Pip Ballantine
, New Zealand native, Fantasy writer and voice talent, is the author of Ace Books’
Books of the Order
and Pyr Books’
Shifted World
series. She has also contibuted to both fiction and non-fiction collections such as
Clockwork Fairy Tales
and
A Taste of True Blood
. She is also the co-creator with her husband Tee Morris of
The Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences
novels. Her awards include the 2011 Airship Award for Best Steampunk Literature, a 2012 Parsec Award for Best Short Story, the 2013 Steampunk Chronicle Reader’s Choice for Best Novel, and a 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Award for her podcast of
Chasing the Bard
. Today she continues to podcast alongside Tee with both
The Shared Desk
and
Tales from the Archives
. She currently resides in Manassas, Virginia with husband, daughter, and a furry clowder of cats. You can keep up on what is currently occupying Pip’s writing desk at
pjballantine.com
.

Tee Morris
has been writing for over a decade, his first novel,
MOREVI: The Chronicles of Rafe & Askana
, a nominee for the 2003 EPPIE for Best Fantasy and the first novel to be podcast in its entirety in 2005. In 2008, Tee won the Parsec Award for Best Audio Drama for
The Case of the Singing Sword: A Billibub Baddings Mystery
, and wrote and edited several short story and essay collections like
Farscape
Forever: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Muppets, So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions on
Battlestar Galactica
, and Dragon Moon Press’
Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy
series.

In 2011, Tee penned
Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel
, written with his wife, Pip Ballantine. The title went on to win the 2011 Airship Award for Best Steampunk Literature and become a finalist for Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Science Fiction of 2011. Tee and Pip returned to the Goodreads Choice Awards in 2012 with
The Janus Affair: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel,
and received Steampunk Chronicle’s Readers Choice for Best Novel. While working on the third installment,
Dawn’s Early Light
, Tee and Pip continue to produce podcasts with their Parsec-winning
Tales from the Archives
, a podcast anthology featuring short stories set in their steampunk universe; and
The Shared Desk
, a light-hearted look at the life of a writer. You can find more about Tee’s upcoming releases and works in progress at
TeeMorris.com
.

TS (Tee) Tate
received a Master of Arts in English in 2008 from Southeastern Louisiana University. She has studied under Edgar nominee Tim Gautreaux, Booksense Pick novelist Bev Marshall, and Clarion West graduate and World Fantasy nominee Cat Rambo. She has more than ten years of editing experience and is currently the Editor-in-Chief of
LitStack.com
. She has spent the past nine years in the corporate environment as a Technical Editor and has previously edited for Christine Rose, Phoebe North, Heather McCorkle, Laura Pauling, Anne Riley, Christine Fonseca and UF writer Carolyn Crane. With Heather McCorkle, Tee co-founded the #WritersRoad chat on Twitter.

A SFWA member, Tee is currently working on several creative projects, including her second novel and various short stories. Her flash fiction, “Street Noises,” was included in the Pill Hill Press anthology
Daily Frights 2012: 366 Days of Dark Flash Fiction (Leap Year Edition)
and her short “Til Hunt Be Done,” was included in the
Winter Wonders
anthology from Compass Press. A diehard New Orleans Saints fan and no stranger to the Humpty Dance, Tee lives with her family in Southeast Louisiana.