Starfest 2005 Dayton Ward

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.

Dayton has collaborated with friend and co-writer Kevin Dilmore on several installments of the Star Trek: S.C.E. e-Book series, articles for Star Trek Communicator Magazine, the Star Trek: The Next Generation novels A Time to Sow and A Time to Harvest, and the short story “Field Expediency” in the Tales of the Dominion War anthology. On his own, he is the author of the Star Trek novel In the Name of Honor, the science fiction novels The Last World War and The Genesis Protocol (the latter to be published in early 2006), as well as short stories in the Star Trek: New Frontier anthology No Limits, Kansas City Voices Magazine and the forthcoming horror collection Family Plots.

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 tuchis.

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.