James L. Sutter‘s short fiction has appeared in such venues as Escape Pod (“Overclocking”) and Podcastle (“Ties of Silver”) – woo, triple crown! – Apex Magazine, and the #1 Amazon bestseller MACHINE OF DEATH. His first novel, DEATH’S HERETIC (it’s a dimension-hopping Middle Eastern fantasy story about an atheist forced to work as a problem-solver for the goddess of death) was ranked #3 on Barnes & Noble’s Best Fantasy Releases of 2011, and is currently a finalist for the Compton Crook Award for Best First Novel. His anthology BEFORE THEY WERE GIANTS pairs the first published short stories of speculative fiction greats with new advice and instructional critiques by the authors themselves. He’s also a co-creator of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Fiction Editor for Paizo Publishing, and has published dozens of roleplaying game products. He lives in Seattle with 4 roommates and a fully functional death ray.