Starfest 2004 Guest Dayton Ward

		April 16-18, 2004 Marriott Denver Tech Center I-25 & Belleview, Denver CO

Starfest 2004 Confirmed Guests ...so far

Actors: Sean Astin - Michael Shanks - Dominic Keating - Lance Henriksen - Gary Graham - Lani Tupu - Peter Mayhew - Richard Hatch - David Franklin - Matthew Helms Director: Roland Emmerich Authors: Christie Golden - Dayton Ward - Kevin Dilmore - Dave McDonnell Also: Walt Faulconer - Jeff Walker - Kevin Atkins

Dayton Ward
In his “normal life,” Dayton Ward is a software developer, having become a slave to Corporate America after spending eleven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. When asked, he will tell you that he joined the military soon after high school because he had grown tired of people telling him what to do all the time.

Whoops.

Dayton began his writing career by inserting running commentary and editorials into the comment sections of numerous computer programs littering the corporate software landscape. After being counseled more times than a washed-out actor at a drug rehab center for this odd behavior, Dayton opted to channel these misplaced energies into writing short stories. Many of those stories were Star Trek-related, and a few of those made their way into the first three Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthologies.

And editors at Pocket Books have been shaking their heads in dismay ever since.

In addition to having collaborated with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore on several installments of the Star Trek: S.C.E. e-Book series, Dayton is also the author of the Star Trek novel In the Name of Honor and the science fiction novel The Last World War, as well as short stories in the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits and the forthcoming horror collection Family Plots. For 2004 and again working with Kevin, he wrote a short story for Pocket’s upcoming Tales of the Dominion War, two more S.C.E. e-Books and the novels A Time to Sow and A Time to Harvest, two installments of this year’s mammoth 9-book Star Trek: The Next Generation mini-series.

Fans of Star Trek who also frequent America Online may remember Dayton from his years of volunteering in the Star Trek Club in the guise of "NetTrekker" or "STFC Net." In his capacity as a community leader, remote staffer, or whatever the heck AOL calls its legions of vastly unappreciated volunteers these days, he served as a live trivia game host, content writer, message board moderator, and general all-around pain in the tuckus.

Dayton currently lives in Kansas City with his wife, Michi, where they serve on the personal staff of two mixed labs named Whistle n' Dixie and Midnight the cat. He was born and raised in sunny Florida and despite having relocated all over the country and even overseas, he still maintains a torrid long distance romance with his beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Find out more about Dayton at his official web site: www.daytonward.com.

Dayton will be appearing on our writing panels at Starfest 2004.