Steve Utley first broke into print in the seventh grade with a poem about Hannibal (the Carthaginian general, not Samuel L. Clemens's hometown), but it wasn't until his freshman year of high school, when he discovered Mars -- the Mars of science fiction's two great romantics, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury -- that he somehow understood that he, too, must grow up to be a Writer, or at least a rich and famous person. This desire eventually led him to Texas (from Tennessee of all places), where he fell in with other young writers, including Lisa Tuttle, Howard Waldrop, and Bruce Sterling. Although his heart remains in Austin, family matters have brought him back to the environs of Nashville, smack on the buckle of the Bible Belt. He leads a quiet life, surrounded by his books, his cats and his dangerously inbred neighbors.

His work as a writer (not quite so rich or famous) has been collected in three collections: This Impatient Ape, Career Moves of The Gods and Ghost Seas (1997 Ticonderoga Publications).

"Another Continuum Heard From!" © Steven Utley

Jaxon Renick is a multi-talented artist of Native American descent with a long history in the comics field. (Besides reading them!) He has worked on projects with DC, Marvel, and a number of independent lines, and has done artwork for published articles. He studied various media and styles at the Kansas City Art Institute. Renick is many things to many many people—beloved by millions in Thailand, despised by several in the U.S., and (so far) ignored by billions elsewhere. He is also known to be a bit of a smartass, but with a heart of plated gold. Jaxon may be reached at: renegadelizard@ev1.net.

Artwork © Jaxon Renick