ROD LOTT, Editor
Based in Oklahoma City, Rod Lott spends his days as the assistant editor of Oklahoma’s largest alternative weekly newspaper. In his “spare time,” he is the editor of Hitch Magazine: The Journal of Pop Culture Absurdity, and some of his humor essays have appeared in the anthologies 101 DAMNATIONS (St. Martin’s Press), MORE MIRTH OF A NATION (HarperCollins) and MAY CONTAIN NUTS (HarperCollins). He also adapts classic short stories to comic book form for the ongoing GRAPHIC CLASSICS series of graphic novels from Eureka Publishing. Theoretically, you could keep track of all his projects here, should he find time to update it.

Rod’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon
• THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
• A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
• COMPLETE TALES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE by Edgar Allan Poe

CHRISTOPHER SHARPE, Reviewer / Website Administrator
Christopher Sharpe is an independent filmmaker living in Austin, Texas. His first feature, SEX MACHINE, is due out sometime in 2006. He runs the Cinema Eye website of daily movie news and reviews.

Chris’ 5 Favorite Books:
• JESUS’ SON by Dennis Johnson
• THE STAND by Stephen King
• BLOOD MERIDIAN: OR THE EVENING REDNESS IN THE WEST by Cormac McCarthy
• SNOW ANGELS by Stewart O’Nan
• RABBIT ANGSTROM: THE FOUR NOVELS by John Updike

MATT ADDER, Reviewer
In the late ’90s, Matt Adder capitalized off the burgeoning indie-film movement by founding and achieving moderate success with some short films and the website ALWAYSi.com. After selling out to Hollywood Video, he retreated to Cincinnati to dedicate himself to writing. Experimenting in the bizarro writing movement, he’s behind publishing the book SACRED COWS & DEAD VEGETARIANS, and continues to produce uncompromising, genre-defying novels, indulge his strange obsessions, and expand his library of odd fiction and movies.

Matt’s 5 Favorite Books:
• 100 BULLETS by Brian Azzarello
• THE STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester
• LIFE AFTER GOD by Douglas Coupland
• TRAVELER by D.B. Drumm
• BOY’S LIFE by Robert R. McCammon

DOUG BENTIN, Reviewer
Doug Bentin was born in San Antonio, Texas, sometime after the fall of the Alamo, but currently lives in central Oklahoma. Married with one son, he works in marketing and on weekends reviews films for a weekly alternative newspaper and for the website efilmcritic.com. If he had three wishes, screw world peace; Doug would bring Boris Karloff, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price back to life. Actually, he’d wish for lots of money, better health and Boris Karloff’s resurrection. Cushing and Price will just have to find another sucker.

Doug’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
• APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O’Hara
• A HELL OF A WOMAN by Jim Thompson
• THE LOVED ONE by Evelyn Waugh
• THERESE RAQUIN by Emile Zola

BART BRUNSCHEEN, Reviewer
Born in Wichita, Kan., raised in Evergreen, Colo. and currently missing the mountain air living in Wichita, Bart has an employment career almost as varied as Louis L’Amour. He’s been a cruise ship deckhand, U.S. Army medic, undercover police detective, board game designer, stand-up comic and author of articles for COMPUTER GAMING MAGAZINE. A born-again reader since the 6th grade thanks to his homeroom teacher Mr. Reibold, his box of books and his reading worm (ask him; he’ll explain).

Bart’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE RUNNING MAN by Richard Bachman
• MY BROTHER SAM IS DEAD by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
• STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE #5 – FALLEN HEROES by Dafydd ab Hugh
• LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry
• CHARLIE MIKE by Leonard B. Scott

ALAN CRANIS, Reviewer
Born in St. Louis, Miss., he moved some 35 years ago to Los Angeles, Calif., where he now lives with his wife and son. He reads. A lot. And after all these years, he’s okay with it. Today he remains a stauch Defender of Genre Literature in Most of Its Forms. When he’s not reading, he works as an administrator for a private graduate school of psychology in L.A. In his spare time, he can be found skulking through the aisles of public libraries and book stories in Southern California, or devising more creative spaces to store his books at home. But he’d rather be reading.

Alan’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES by Ray Bradbury
• LABYRINTHS by Jorge Luis Borges
• THE GUARDS by Ken Bruen
• THE BIG SLEEP by Raymond Chandler
• THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett

KEN DAVIS, Reviewer
Ken Davis lives in Wichita, Kan., where he enjoys a career in law enforcement and is desperately trying to get promoted to the rank of detective. An occasional contributor to Hitch Magazine, his favorite creative outlet is through black-and-white photography. He hasn’t yet succumbed to going digital and enjoys spending time in his darkroom. By his own admission, Ken is a living, breathing paradox; he loves to read but does it slooooowly.

Ken’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE NEGATIVE by Ansel Adams
• THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway
• MISERY by Stephen King
• 1984 by George Orwell
• THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger

LOUIS FOWLER, Reviewer
In addition to being a cad and a ne’er-do-well, Louis Fowler is a film critic based in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he writes for such newspapers as The Colorado Springs Independent and The Rocky Mountain Chronicle, as well as being a frequent contributor to Hitch Magazine, Exploitation Retrospect and the horror magazine Scars. He’s also a popular DJ on KRFC-FM 88.9, where his DAMAGED HEARING show helped him be named “Best Local Radio Personality.” He’s currently working on a screenplay, a novel and a whole slate of short stories. Visit Louis’s frequently updated blog louisfowler.com for a great way to waste more time at work.

Louis’ 5 Favorite Books:
• CASH: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Johnny Cash
• KILL YOUR IDOLS: A NEW GENERATION OF ROCK WRITERS RECONSIDER THE CLASSICS edited by Jim Derogatis and Carmel Carrillo
• LUCHA LIBRE: MASKED SUPERSTARS OF MEXICAN WRESTLING by Lourdes Grobet
• MIKE NELSON’S MOVIE MEGACHEESE by Michael J. Nelson
• SHOCK VALUE by John Waters

ED GORMAN, Reviewer
Ed Gorman has been called “one of suspense fiction’s best storytellers” by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and “one of the most original voices in today’s crime fiction” by The San Diego Union. His work has appeared in venues as various as The New York Times, Redbook, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Penthouse. His work has won numerous prizes, including the Shamus, the Spur and the International Fiction Writer’s award. He most recently won the prized Ellery Queen award. He’s been nominated for the Edgar, the Anthony, the Golden Dagger, and the Bram Stoker awards. His work has been taken by the Literary Guild, The Mystery Guild, Doubleday Book Club, and the Science Fiction Book Club, and has been translated into 11 languages.

Ed’s 5 Favorite Books:
• AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
• THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• BRIGHTON ROCK by Graham Greene
• ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
• THOSE WITHOUT SHADOWS by Francoise Sagan

BRUCE GROSSMAN, Reviewer
Bruce Grossman, formerly of The By-Pass Control blog was born and raised in Providence, R.I.. He spent a brief spell in New York during the college years, but now lives over the state line in Fall River, Mass. When he is not transcribing notes for work, he usually can be found digging through his vast piles of used paperbacks. He patiently waits for Neil Young to reissue TIME FADES AWAY with bonus tracks. But since it won’t happen, he’ll just make due with his dream of staring in a Mike Hammer movie that won’t be an I, THE JURY remake.

Bruce’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon
• THE LONG GOODBYE by Raymond Chandler
• FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by Ian Fleming
• LAST TRAIN TO MEMPHIS: THE RISE OF ELVIS PRESLEY by Peter Guralnick
• MY GUN IS QUICK by Mickey Spillane

PAUL KUPPERBERG, Reviewer
Born and bred in Brooklyn, Paul is a lifelong freelance writer and editor. He has written hundreds of comic book stories for publishers including DC, Marvel, Charlton, 2000 A.D., as well as novels, short stories, articles, young adult non-fiction, newspaper comic strips, humor, satire and web animation. A member in good standing of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, Paul has done his share of adapting characters from other medium into prose, including Batman, Superman, the Justice Society of America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Doctor Who, Star Trek and others. He has also been an editor for DC Comics; executive editor of the late, lamented WEEKLY WORLD NEWS; and senior editor of WWE KIDS. You can keep up with his exploits at his website.

Paul’s 5 Favorite Books:
• FOREVER by Pete Hamill
• THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• MARTIN EDEN by Jack London
• THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA by Philip Roth
• THE WILD TREES by Richard Preston

JASON LIGHT, Reviewer
Jason Light is an art director at a print shop in Oklahoma City, and an aspiring writer of novels, short stories and screenplays. He is the author of the novel DUST AND BONES and has published short fiction in print magazines and online. He is currently at work on his new novel, THE SACRISTAN.

Jason’s 5 Favorite Books:
• ‘SALEM’S LOT by Stephen King
• WRITER OF THE PURPLE RAGE by Joe R. Lansdale
• SAVAGE by Richard Laymon
• SWAN SONG by Robert R. McCammon
• ALIVE by Piers Paul Read

ALLAN MOTT, Reviewer
Allan Mott’s first memory is seeing STAR WARS at the Twin Drive-In when he was two years old and he’s been obsessed with movies in the 28 years that have passed since. He’s written one book on the subject (SCARY MOVIES), as well as four-and-a-half collections of short genre fiction (of which HAUNTING FIRESIDE STORIES is his favorite), as well as a book about urban legends and seven collections of regional ghost stories based (very loosely) on local state history. He’s currently at work on his first novel and constantly updating his blog, http://houseofglib.com.

Allan’s 5 Favorite Books:
• LONDON FIELDS by Martin Amis
• KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL: ADVENTURES IN THE CULINARY UNDERBELLY by Anthony Bourdain
• MICROSERFS by Douglas Coupland
• THE LIAR by Stephen Fry
• FARGO ROCK CITY: A HEAVY METAL ODYSSEY IN RURAL NORTH DAKOTA by Chuck Klosterman

RYUN PATTERSON, Reviewer
Ryun Patterson’s earliest literary memory (age 3) is listening to his dad read ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS to him. His mindset hasn’t changed much. Hailing from near Green Bay, Wis., Ryun has a degreee in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. Figuring his life wasn’t complicated enough already, he spent four years as the night editor of The Cambodia Daily in Phnom Penh. He now works as an editor in Chicago.

Ryun’s 5 Favorite Books:
• DON QUIXOTE by Cervantes
• AMERICAN GODS by Neil Gaiman
• NEUROMANCER by William Gibson
• ALTERED CARBON / BROKEN ANGELS by Richard Morgan
• SNOW CRASH by Neal Stephenson

MARK ROSE, Reviewer
Mark is an editor and writer who has 25 years experience and more than 500 articles on history, antiques, collectibles and popular culture under his belt, as well as a significant amount of Jack Daniel’s. He’s written one book (COIN AND STAMP COLLECTORS’ ELECTRONIC ALBUM), edited another (CULINARY TAILS) and is searching for future projects. He formerly reviewed old comics for The Comic Reader and mystery novels for the sadly defunct Armchair Detective website. Mark also currently writes “Things I’ve Found,” an online occasional collection of Internet madness hosted by Electric Story.

Mark’s 5 Favorite Books:
• THE SIZE OF THOUGHTS by Nicholson Baker
• THE COMPLETE SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• THE ANATOMY OF BIBLIOMANIA by Holbrook Jackson
• THE STAR DIARIES by Stanislaw Lem
• THE GORMENGHAST TRILOGY by Mervyn Peake

BRIAN WINKELER, Reviewer
Brian is creative director and owner of Robot House Creative as well as associate creative director at an Oklahoma City advertising agency. In his spare time, Brian is mentally composing several failed screenplays and pilot scripts, and plans to soon update his website with a blog and webcomic which he’ll then neglect to regularly update.

Brian’s 5 Favorite Books:
• WHY I HATE SATURN by Kyle Baker
• THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY by Michael Chabon
• A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens
• WATCHMEN by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
• ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY by David Sedaris