{"id":429,"date":"2023-11-19T21:54:59","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T03:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/2025\/?page_id=429"},"modified":"2026-04-28T01:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T01:58:05","slug":"guests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/guests\/","title":{"rendered":"Guests of Honour"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mikey Mason<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Mikey Mason\u2019s profession is creating art and music with geeky themes, using his lifelong love for fantasy, science fiction, cats, and games to inspire his music and help him evolve as person and artist . His performances are sharpened by long years of experience as a stand-up comedian. He\u2019s performed at theatres, bars, comedy clubs, casinos, colleges, festivals, and conventions across the US, hosted podcasts, exhibited at art shows, created a coloring book, and more, continually expanding his horizons as to what his next project will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His book, Confessions of a Geek Bard, was released in June 2023 through Falstaff Books. His 18th album, The Passage, was released on October 3, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more at MikeyMason.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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GMB Chomichuk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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GMB Chomichuk is an award-winning writer and illustrator whose work has appeared in comics, graphic novels, books, role-playing games, theatre, television and film. He is the host of Super Pulp Science, a podcast about how genre gets made. His work in words and pictures ranges from the heartwarming to the bloodcurdling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works from GMB Chomichuk include the forthcoming Witch Police Cases from At Bay Press, Apocrypha: The Legend of Babymetal from Z2, Cassie and Tonk+ Rust and Water + Dragon Nanny from Chasing Artwork, Dead Work from The Dead Work Collective, Will I See? + This Place: 150 Years Retold from Portage and Main Press. The Automatic Age + The Backbone of Night + Blood Letters from Great Plains, The Eye Collector from HEAVY METAL, Shared World: Sinister Tales of Sword and Sorcery + Once Lands + Moon Patrol from Stranger Fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see some of GMB Chomichuk’s works at www.gmbchomichuk.ca<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Lar deSouza<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Lar deSouza, beard advocate, noted hat enthusiast and Internet Uncle, is really good at sitting. He sits like a champ. And when he sits, he draws. Like, a LOT. For the past 20 years, Lar has the artist for the daily comic \u201cLeast I Could Do\u201d (LICD.com<\/a>). He also spent 17 years on the 2008 Shuster Award winning online comic \u201cLooking For Group\u201d (LFG.co<\/a>). Lar also continues to freelance and has been fortunate to contribute to Steve Jackson Games, most notably Super Munchkin Artist Edition, Munchkin CCG and the Illuminati second edition in 2018, among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lar has been the recipient of the Prix Aurora Award for Artistic Achievement in Canadian Science Fiction (2008, 2006) and numerous other awards for caricature and cartooning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was born to humble surroundings on a Halloween night many years ago. After an apparently normal childhood, he attended Sheridan College of Visual Arts where he obtained diplomas in Illustration and Computer Graphics. While other artists might have muses that look like Grecian oracles, Lar’s wears three fingered gloves and speaks in a shout. It was only a matter of time before professional cartooning called his name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He has been artistically active in fandom for many years, garnering a reputation as a passing fair cartoonist and a sick puppy. He has no idea what to write for programme bios and suggestions are welcome. The Halloween bit is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yes, he does look like his caricature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can see his online work at: Least I Could Do<\/a>, Looking For Group<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ryan Costello<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Ryan Costello writes your childhood*. As one of the co-designers of Renegade Game Studios’ Essence20 RPG system, he worked on over a dozen G.I. JOE, Power Rangers, My Little Pony, and Transformers sourcebooks. Additionally, he worked on satirical fantasy comic Looking For Group for 10 years, first managing the website and designing merchandise, including the LFG roleplaying<\/a> game boxed set and multiple LFG tabletop games. This led to him writing the last year of the comic, including the series’ last page. Most recently, he ran the official Voltron Facebook and Instagram accounts from 2024-2025, creating content only fans can appreciate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*only applicable for childhoods between 1980-1994.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Thurston \u201cThursty\u201d Hillman (Winnipeg)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Associate Publisher, Paizo Inc.
Starfinder Co-Creator
Actual Play GM \u2013 Narrative Declaration<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thurston \u201cThursty\u201d Hillman is a Winnipeg-born TTRPG creator and Game Master known for his work on the Narrative Declaration YouTube channel, where he runs actual play campaigns enjoyed by fans around the world. He started his career working in gaming retail at several stores in Winnipeg, including Pendragon, Campaign Outfitters, and Comics America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professionally, he serves as Associate Publisher at Paizo and is a co-creator of Starfinder (1st & 2nd Editions). His extensive credits include Pathfinder RPG, Warhammer Wrath & Glory, and numerous other tabletop projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow his adventures at @OnCallGM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Also Appearing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Jessica Redekop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Jessica Redekop is a Canadian writer, illustrator, and game designer, finding her way into the games industry through her love of the Planescape D&D setting. She is a frequent freelance contributor to Paizo’s Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs, including her recent adventure path volume, Revenge of the Runelords: Into the Apocalypse Archive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jess loves cats, movies, and creating collaborative storytelling experiences. To keep up with her work, follow her on BlueSky<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Jonathan Ball<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Ball is the poet laureate of Hell. He has won numerous awards for his many books of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and comics, and holds a PhD with twin focuses in Creative Writing and Canadian Literature. He is the owner of Stranger Fiction, a publisher that develops its own stories and also provides creative services to other independent publishers and producers, and hosts a podcast called Writing the Wrong Way, which teaches serious writers what the MFA didn\u2019t. Connect with Jonathan through his newsletter and get a free story at www.strangeInk.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Chadwick Ginther<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Chadwick Ginther is the Prix Aurora Award winning author of The Thunder Road Trilogy, Graveyard Mind, and over forty short stories, some of which have been collected in Khyber: Stories of Sword and Sorcery in a Shared World and When the Sky Comes Looking for You: Short Trips Down the Thunder Road. His short fiction has also appeared recently in On Spec, Hauntings and Hoarfrost, and The Year\u2019s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Volume 2 and 3. He lives in Winnipeg, Canada where he writes stories full of skeletons, giants, and dragons. Find him at www.chadwickginther.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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River City Sabers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For over 15 years, River City Sabers has explored the real-world application of LED Saber martial arts through their weekly classes & event appearances. Whether you\u2019re looking to take home a combat-grade saber of your own, or explore a combat sport with open accessibility, River City Sabers are your local saber experts. Classes are completely beginner friendly, with sabers provided for all students to practice with, and private and public event appearances adaptable for all ages and audiences.   <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Manitoba Game Designers<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Manitoba Game Designers is a collection of Manitoba game designers that specialize in creating memorable experiences in both the analog and digital gaming worlds. Represented at Keycon 42 by Arcane Dominion<\/a>, Bardic Inspirations RPGs<\/a>, GambitRPG<\/a>, and Trapped Chest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Mikey Mason Mikey Mason\u2019s profession is creating art and music with geeky themes, using his lifelong love for fantasy, science fiction, cats, and games to inspire his music and help him evolve as person and artist . His performances are sharpened by long years of experience as a stand-up comedian. He\u2019s performed at theatres, bars, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"heading-image-no-title","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-429","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2090,"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/429\/revisions\/2090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keycon.org\/42\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}