Gregory A. T. Morris

Gregory has written as a hobby for quite some time. Working on Remnants is his first venture into professional short-story publication and already it has been a rewarding one. He enjoys travel, speaks several languages fluently and is working with scraps of several more. He is currently finishing up his degree in History at the University of the South and is waiting to see what happens next. Crowdance itself is a question he has been interested in for a while: how can a person make a choice for or against individuality? Aside from the infusion of a serious idea, Crowdance was really just a chance to have fun. The Remnants setting has been very thought provoking, and he looks forward to perhaps writing more, whether about Crowdance or on something else in the setting, if the occasion should arise.

Robin Kate Harding

Whether you consider My Brother's Keeper to be a comedy or a tragedy probably depends on how you feel about robotic incest.

Not that the author's main purpose in writing this was to put forth her views on robotic incest. Not that there's anything really wrong with robotic incest, it's just that you won't actually find the author marching up and down outside Wow Wee with a placard. You're more likely to find Robin wandering the streets of Britain's gayest city, doing a very bad impression of a useful member of society.

As Robin is usually employed by serious people wanting her to lift heavy stuff and hit things with hammers, you can imagine her surprise when a bouncy bloke with a beard offered to pay her for writing words. She doesn't think she's done too bad a job for her first paid outing (hopefully you agree). Not that she's intending to give up her day job any day soon; this words malarkey is harder than it looks.

Robin likes to think she brought a sense of humour to this project, along with boobs and the aforementioned robotic incest. She also, being the first female author signed up, brought the delicate touch of a feminine hand. A feminine hand with a spanner in it, yes, but this is an android anthology.

Without question, the bit of the Remnants project Robin enjoyed the most was shacking up with the editor. She sincerely doubts she'd've gotten away with her complete inability to meet deadlines any other way.

Lawrence Duncalf

They wouldn't let him be a fireman, or a ninja, or a mad scientist, and there aren't many job openings in piracy these days. So Lawrence Duncalf became an artist. Having just graduated in Fine Art, his new life's work is to put the mad ramblings of his mind into a form that other people can use to enliven their lives... whether they like it or not.

Remnants is just such a task, though instead of placing his thoughts in front of your eyes, reading the story is designed to deposit the ideas inside your brain. Or at least, that's how he likes to think of it. But this is man who, upon being asked to contribute to Remnants, said 'Oh, I'm so inspired by the juxtaposition of the classic Western setting with the anomalously robotic nature of its inhabitants!', or something like that, so it's not healthy to pay full attention to what he says in case it sends you mad.

Lawrence paints, sculpts, writes, laughs maniacally, paints some more, reads, plans to redesign reality, collects masks, writes some more, uncovers the secrets of the Ancients, makes snarky comments, pretends he knows what to do, collects monster movies, and delights in messing with your head. Yes, yours.

Nick Westwood

Nick Westwood is originally from Southampton, Hampshire, and was introduced to the Remnants project while studying the third year of a bachelor's degree in politics and philosophy at the University of Wolverhampton. Inspired by listening to far too much Fields of the Nephilim and watching equally unhealthy amounts of Firefly, he set about writing Legacy of Life. He also dislikes writing about himself, particularly in the third person.

Colleen Weare

Colleen was born in New York to a naval officer and his Brooklyn bride, traveling to ‘interesting’ parts of the world during her youth as a Navy brat and getting to sample the full range of the American school system. It was during this time that she discovered science fiction, first in the form of old Tom Swift books, then she found a copy of André Norton's Moon of Three Rings and was well and truly hooked on the genre. After leaving school, she went to university with the intention of becoming a veterinarian. It wasn't until shortly before graduation she realized that dissecting dead animals wasn't at all the same as cutting up live ones and decided a career change was in order. She earned a master's degree in information science from Drexel University and has been earning a living as a technical writer specializing in turning the arcane scribblings of software engineers into something resembling English. Over the years she has cared for a succession of horses, with each one adding something unique to her education. In her 'copious free time' she writes fiction, plays Dungeons & Dragons, gardens, draws SF and fantasy artwork, and creates manga. She lives in the American West, loathes tumbleweeds, loves sagebrush, and has never yet seen a rattlesnake.

William Isgrove

Will is currently in the third year of a Drama BA course at the University of East Anglia. It's not the most productive use of his time, but if there's one thing the world needs more of, it's waiters.

Jeffery Pagenton

To avoid being in any way the maths student he supposedly is, Jeff spends his spare time acting, singing, and particularly writing. He's been knocking out short stories since the age of ten, and reckons they're probably now of a standard that people would be interested in reading.

The Maker's Mark is a project that Jeff finds fascinating, particularly how the characters are granted such potential for superhuman ability - he remarks that they don't have to eat or sleep if they don't want, and have incredibly durable bodies - but at the same time, are totally human in the way they think. He feels that the setting allows writers to explore how people would behave in completely impossible situations - and says he's looking forward to seeing what future writers will do with that.

When people ask him about his Remnants story, he usually quotes to them what a close friend told him he thought of it: "It's not great literature, but it's savage and violent and rocking the character despair boat all the way into port." He says he's quite fond of that.

Our weekly webcomic, Prologue, follows on from Jeff's short story Every Sheep Needs A Shepherd; one of the ten stories that comprise the Remnants anthology.

Jon Garrad

Jon Garrad is good for nothing but writing, so it's quite fortunate that he does it for a living. Top Night Out is his first piece of professionally published fiction (as far as he can remember), while Remnants is the first time he's ever been an editor. He found one of the experiences rather enjoyable: the other was a harrowing brush with responsibility from which he may never recover.

He maintains that Top Night Out is considerably more subtle and morally complex than it looks (but he says that about everything), and quite a jolly little story to boot. When asked about Remnants as a whole, he wraps his arms around his head and shrieks something along the lines of 'the deadlines! the deadlines! It's all so wonderful... but why can't they just meet the deadlines?'

Jon lives in sin Sale, Manchester, and dreams of being able to settle down with a piano and several dozen kittens. In the meantime, he arranges words for fun and profit, and tries not to be terribly grown-up about it. His hobbies include arguing, procrastination, spending ridiculous amounts of money on shirts and trying not to get thrown out of art galleries.

Anthony Burn

Anthony Burn is huge! We're not just talking enormous here, we're talking gigantic, gargantuan, immense, colossal and mammoth. Listen; you may think you know big but you couldn’t even begin to imagine the size we’re referring to. Just picture the biggest thing you could think of ever… and you’re not even close! Very big just does not do it.

His size is only matched by his talent, charm, wit and modesty. He has written over a thousand novels under different names (most of which you will have read and enjoyed) but only his bestselling romantic comedy The Last Echo is available from Freak Ash books.

He has worked at varying times as a lion tamer, gospel preacher for an alternative religion, international assassin and a kick-starter for jumbo jets. He has won numerous awards for art, literature, bravery and butchery. He is a gentleman, a scholar and a fine judge of female anatomy.

He wrote Escape From Migration because he was told to, and scratched it out on a piece of tin foil with a rusty nail in order to maintain authenticity. He drew inspiration for his story from the film Westworld which he both wrote and directed, and starred in under the pseudonyms Michael Crichton and Yul Brynner.

So please read and enjoy Escape From Migration or he will come and tower over you in a threatening manner.

Erin Hockings

Erin is a twenty-one year old New Zealander, and has always had the dream of becoming an author. Reading has been a fascination since she was small, fantasy and sci fi especially - C. S. Lewis and Robert Heinlein were her introductions to the genre, and from there it just expanded. Currently, she's in the middle of a Chemistry degree, and writes about (and around) her various other hobbies, including medieval re-enactment, roleplaying, and wargaming.

Her Remnants story, Inheritance, was the result of thinking through the world of The Maker’s Mark. What is it that makes a droid more than just metal? Emotions. What is the strongest of emotions? Love. And what would a droid who has loved and lost do? The choice between emotions (and the pain that goes with them) and no emotions (and thus no pain) was the pivotal point of this story. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the feelings of the author, but aren’t all stories?