With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most enduring and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard. Then too, of course, there is all L. Ron Hubbard represents as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology and thus the only major religion born in the 20th century. As a published Finalist at the inaugural Writers of the Future ceremonies in 1985, Dean Wesley Smith was the first person ever to receive a WotF Award, accepting his framed certificate from judges Dr. Gregory Benford, Roger Zelazny, Robert Silverberg and Algis Budrys. Smith has published far over a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds and hundreds of short stories across many genres. He has over eight million copies of his books in print and has been published in nine different countries. He has written many original novels in science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller and romance, as well as books for television, movies, games and comics. He is also known for writing quality work very quickly and has written a large number of novels as a ghostwriter or under house names. With his wife (and fellow WotF judge) Kristine Kathryn Rusch, he wrote The Tenth Planet trilogy and The 10th Kingdom. Smith has also written books and comics for all three major comic book companies, Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. Smith is an avid poker player and a former golf pro. With Rusch, he was also cofounder and publisher of Pulphouse Publishing (which earned them a World Fantasy Award), before editing for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the old west, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and the superhero series starring Poker Boy. His monthly magazine, Smith's Monthly, consisting of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and has not missed an issue yet, with over 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month. Dean Wesley Smith became a WotF judge in 2010. Steven "S.M." Stirling is a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico. His hobbies are mostly related to the craft of writing. He loves history, anthropology, and archaeology, as well as interest in the sciences. Steven has published over 40 novels, at least 5 of which are New York Times bestsellers and he has won awards including the Dragon Award for his novel, Black Chamber. Steven has been a Writers of the Future Judge since 2021. Bob Eggleton was born in Concord, Massachusetts in 1960 and became interested in science fiction art at an early age. Today he is a successful science fiction, fantasy and landscape artist. Winner of seven Hugo Awards and eleven Chesley Awards, his art can be seen on the covers of numerous magazines, professional publications and books in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror across the world including several volumes of his own work. He has also worked as a conceptual illustrator for movies and thrill rides. Of late, Eggleton has focused more on private commissions and self-commissioned work. He is an elected Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists and is a Fellow of the New England Science Fiction Association. Bob Eggleton received the L. Ron Hubbard Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts in 2019. He has been an Illustrators of the Future judge since 1988. Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as "spoiling cats." When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories. Since 1987 she has published over 40 books and more than 120 short stories. Among the novels Nye has written are her epic fantasy series The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland, five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology (the three collected by Meisha Merlin Publishing as Applied Mythology), Advanced Mythology, The Magic Touch, and three medical science fiction novels, Taylor's Ark, Medicine Show and The Lady and the Tiger. Strong Arm Tactics is a humorous military science fiction novel, the first of The Wolfe Pack series. Nye wrote The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of internationally bestselling author Anne McCaffrey's popular world. She also collaborated with Anne McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona, Treaty At Doona and The Ship Who Won, and wrote a solo sequel to The Ship Who Won entitled The Ship Errant. Nye coauthored the Visual Guide to Xanth with bestselling fantasy author Piers Anthony, and edited an anthology of humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear! She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin, License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin's Myth Adventures universe: Myth-Told Tales (anthology), Myth Alliances, Myth-Taken Identity, Class Dis-Mythed, Myth-Gotten Gains, Myth Chief, and Myth-Fortunes. After Asprin's passing, she published Myth-Quoted and Dragons Deal (Ace Books), third in Asprin's Dragons series. Her latest books are View From the Imperium (Baen Books), a humorous military SF novel, an e-collection of cat stories, Cats Triumphant (Event Horizon), Dragons Run (fourth in the Dragons series) and Launch Pad, an anthology of science fiction stories co-edited with Mike Brotherton. Over the last twenty or so years, Jody Lynn Nye has taught numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at science-fiction conventions. She has spoken in schools and libraries around the north and northwest suburbs. In 2007 she taught fantasy writing at Columbia College Chicago. She also runs the two-day writers workshop at Dragon Con. She lives in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband Bill Fawcett, a writer, game designer, military historian and book packager, and a black cat, Jeremy. Jody Lynn Nye became a Writers of the Future judge in 2016.