Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson writes epic fantasy books for Tor Books and children’s fantasy books for Scholastic Press. In 2007, it was announced that he would be completing Robert Jordan’s epic masterpiece, The Wheel Of Time. Brandon is a two-time Campbell award nominee; his books have been published in 14 languages. We are pleased to host Brandon as JordanCon Guest of Honor. www.brandonsanderson.com

Harriet McDougal

Harriet McDougal is the wife of the late Jim Rigney, best known as “Robert Jordan,” and the editor of her husband’s works. An accomplished poet, as well as editor, she has worked in publishing houses such as ACE and was the editor-in-chief at Tor Books. In late 2007, she hand-picked Brandon Sanderson to complete the final volume in Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series.

Wilson Grooms

There is arguably no bigger fan of Robert Jordan than Wilson Grooms. Wilson is a cousin of the late Jim Rigney. He typically describes himself as the “fourth of three” Rigney brothers. Wilson is known to fans of The Wheel of Time as “that guy who updated RJ’s blog when he couldn’t.”

David Wong

David Wong is the pseudonym for Jason Pargin, online humorist and author of John Dies at the End. Jason’s path to publication could only have happened in the Internet age. He originally published his novel on the web, where word of mouth gained it a cult following. He then sold paperback copies via a print-on-demand publisher, and again through word of mouth alone, sold enough copies that Hollywood came calling for the film rights and St. Martin’s Press bought the rights for worldwide publication.

Pargin was also the webmaster and head writer of the humor site PointlessWasteofTime.com from 1999 until 2007, seeing traffic grow to more than five million hits a month. In 2007 he was hired as the Editor of humor site Cracked.com. In his time there traffic has grown more than 500% to the point that Cracked is now serving more than 50 million pageviews a month and is one of the most popular humor sites in the world. www.johndiesattheend.com

Jana G. Oliver

Whether it’s researching graveyards in Atlanta or the asylums of Victorian London, Jana Oliver’s quest for new stories frequently strays off the beaten path. The fruit of that labor is her multi-award winning Time Rovers® Series. Set in 1888 London, the books deftly blend time travel, shape-shifters and Jack the Ripper. The series (SOJOURN, VIRTUAL EVIL and MADMAN’S DANCE) has received eleven awards, including the Prism Award for Time Travel and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery and Suspense.

Jana’s latest endeavor is the Demon Trappers Series, a Young Adult urban fantasy set in Atlanta which will debut from St. Martin’s Press in the summer of 2010.When not researching her next novel she can be found savoring a growing collection of single malt scotch.  www.janaoliver.com

Linda Taglieri

Linda has been blogging about The Wheel of Time since 2001. Her extensive website, The Thirteenth Depository, hosts a reference library, book read-throughs, theory corner, and discussion forums. Her writings provide unique insights into the world of Robert Jordan in context of our own myths, philosophies, and religions. 13depository.blogspot.com

Matt Hatch

Our Toastmaster for JordanCon 2010 will be Matt Hatch. The “Benevolent Dictator” of Theoryland.com, created in 1998, Matt is best known for this domain of “hardcore fan freaks”, a term for which the denizens pride themselves. This “Hardworking Lazy Ass” (as the more senior Freaks refer to him), is fanatically dedicated to all things theoretical about the Wheel of Time, which Theorylands’ “Fearless Leader” fully displayed at JordanCon 2009. When not obsessively plotting out a new way to solve the Greatest Mystery of Our Time, the Murder of Asmodean, Matt can be found reading, writing, designing, or hanging out with his wonderful, long-suffering wife and adorable kids.