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Are/were there any SFF professionals (writers, or movie people) who posted on this site?

By professional, I mean someone who did a paid job involved with producing SFF content.

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20 Answers 20

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We've also had a few professional comics contributors come through, thanks to one of the employees' ties to this site, right? I feel like I've seen an answer about She-Hulk from someone "famous".

EDITED TO ADD:

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    " thanks to one of the employees' ties to this site" - could you please elaborate? (assuming it's public information) Dec 7, 2012 at 4:58
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    @DVK I thought I saw, uh, Brad? Brent? Brett! Brett tweet about She-Hulk? I know he writes for some comic book publications, like CBR.
    – user11165
    Dec 7, 2012 at 4:59
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    Brett White? As far as I'm aware he works for Stack Exchange company (former CHAOS team), aside from being comics expert. I was not aware that he has deeper association with comics than just being very well knowledgeable :) Dec 7, 2012 at 5:01
  • You are right about CBR Dec 7, 2012 at 5:02
  • However, I am starting to have suspicions that Brett White of CBR (whose bio blurb says he works as a comedian) is NOT the same person as Brett White of Stack Exchange CHAOS team. I will ping him on chat Dec 7, 2012 at 5:06
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    @DVK I work for Stack Exchange. I have a column for CBR. I also do interviews for Marvel.com. Dec 7, 2012 at 15:07
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    @BrettWhite - Thanks for clarifying! Hmm...a mild-mannered glasses wearing reporter, in his spare time helping make the Internet better. I think I read that story before #kal-el Dec 8, 2012 at 1:22
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While there's no proof of identity, I'm aware of at least one (Danny Rubin posted an answer to How long was Bill Murray's character (Phil Davis) supposed to be in a time loop in the film "Groundhog Day"? )

We can probably count @TangoOversway, who stated that he wrote scripts to be submitted to Star Trek (they were not used, but that's less relevant to me).

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  • Was TangoOversway paid for those scripts? DVK specifically asked for paid professionals.
    – b_jonas
    Nov 2, 2015 at 9:17
  • @b_jonas - Someone who submits a script for consideration using official channels is well within the scope of the spirit of what I was originally asking for, whether they succeeded in getting paid or not :) Nov 2, 2015 at 15:17
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    That answer was one of the reasons why I stayed on this site...
    – Möoz
    Nov 26, 2015 at 22:25
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    No, I wasn't paid for the scripts. But it got me in the door so I could pitch to one of the Co-Executive Producers. Then they shut the doors on all freelancers so they could get Unification done quickly.
    – Tango
    Nov 27, 2015 at 17:48
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    Also, yes, it was through official representation with an agent registered with WGA.
    – Tango
    Nov 27, 2015 at 17:55
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    @DVK-on-Ahch-To I love that answer by Danny Rubin not only because how interesting it is (and I love the movie), but also because it got downvotes and, at the time, people were arguing with him. If Tolkien was alive and posted here, he would probably get some angry nerds yelling at him that his answers about LotR are WRONG :P
    – Andres F.
    May 20, 2022 at 2:17
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profile for Thaddeus Howze at Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange, Q&A for science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts

Thaddeus Howze is a professional writer mainly in the Science-Fiction genre, see his website - Hub City Blues, read his own bio on Medium and check out his author's bio on Amazon.

He may not have directly asked/answered questions on his own canon, but he is an active professional on this site.

Recently, user SQB asked the question: Who are the architects of the buildings on which these fictional buildings were based? to which Thaddeus replied:

I approve those answers...

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I wanted an answer that addressed the fact that we sometimes get professionals involved with our answers, without the professional specifically creating an account here to answer the questions themselves.

Examples:

While these don't exactly fit the bill of professional participation, they are participating by proxy (whether they realize it's for our stack or not). These interactions are different than general quotes from professional's Twitter accounts or websites. For instance, JK Rowling's tweets are often cited to answer Harry Potter questions, but those tweets were not given in a direct response to a SciFi.SE member's inquiry.

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    Another example; phantom42 contacted one of the Agents of SHIELD writers to confirm an educated guess Oct 19, 2015 at 20:12
  • @JasonBaker Updated with another one that I found.
    – user31178
    Nov 2, 2015 at 5:12
  • @anaranjanda Feel free to edit
    – user31178
    May 25, 2016 at 12:49
  • I got answers to a whole bunch of Inheritance questions from Christopher Paolini through reddit.
    – ibid
    May 26, 2016 at 6:47
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Eliezer Yudkowsky, author of the famous Harry Potter fan fiction Methods of Rationality, contributed an answer to a question about his work.

Another (unregistered) user had previously used the name "Eliezer Yudkowsky" to answer a MOR question.

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  • Elizer Yudkowsky is not an answer, at least not on account of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, because he does not get money from writing that.
    – b_jonas
    Apr 13, 2016 at 12:20
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    @b_jonas Heh. I don't really disagree, but he's probably earned more donation money for his organizations from HPMOR than several other authors on this page earned for their books. So it's at least a little bit fuzzy.
    – Jeremy
    Apr 20, 2016 at 23:15
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Elio Miguel Garcia Jr

Elio Garcia and author George R. R. Martin
img src

The co-author of the book The World of Ice and Fire and renown A Song of Ice and Fire 'superfan' and collaborator with George R. R. Martin, has made a couple of appearances on this site.

Most notably:


Proof: I personally contacted Elio on Twitter, and he confirmed that is his account.

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The following question:

What's going on legally between CBS/Paramount and Axanar and how does it relate to Star Trek: Discovery (if at all)?

attracted an answer from Sai, founder and former president of the Language Creation Society and the LCS's official spokesperson in the case.

Not only is this an answer from someone professionally involved in the case, it's also an incredibly detailed and thorough answer in its own right, if you take into account the scope of the linked resources, including a Google Drive link containing hundreds of PDFs comprising all filings in the case, which is regularly updated by Sai themselves.

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Our first professional author sighting was, to my knowledge, Mark Jeffrey, in response to Tony Meyer's question about differences in the two versions of Max Quick: The Pocket and the Pendant.

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Assuming we focus purely on questions answered by word-of-god authorities where that question was prompted by a question asked on SFF:SE, then there are plenty to choose from.

For example...

Question About Fantasy Novels By F.J. Hale/Robert E. Vardeman - Robert E. Vardeman

Do they have surnames in Stonewylde? - Kit Berry

What exactly *were* the Klingon gods? - Keith R. A. DeCandido

How can Tristran believe this about his adopted mother? - Neil Gaiman

Is there a Star Trek audio book read by Brent Spiner? - Brent Spiner

Who's the child and her mother that can "talk to flowers" in Ruins? - Terese Nielsen

Why exactly do the Twin Towers still stand in the Kermit-less world? - Kirk R. Thatcher

Why does Watney’s notebook in The Martian have four holes? - Noel Cowell / Neil Floyd

ST:Titan Sword of Damocles ending - Christopher L. Bennett, David Mack

Are there any more Elminster novels coming? - Ed Greenwood

Do I need to read City of the Damned before Kinslayer? - David Guymer

Which order to read the 4 Old Republic novels? - Paul S. Kent, Sean Williams, Drew Karpyshyn

Whose buttocks are these? - Charles Stross

Why doesn't GLOPP mutate humans? - George Broussard

Is there an official plot explanation for the movie U.F.O. (2012)? - Dominic Burns

Is Dharia a matriarchy? - Susan Kaye Quinn

Why is Paris flooded in Edge Of Tomorrow? - Chris McQuarrie

How does Shrek's rescue party reach him so fast at the end of Shrek 2? - David N. Weiss

What has happened to books from world of "Paranoia" published by "Ultraviolet books"? - Alan Varney

Was "Star Wars: The Force Awakens - A Junior Novel" based on the film's script or the official novelisation? - Michael Kogge

Is there a heaven in the Top Cow Universe? - Ron Marz

Is there a reason this human character's name sounds Tymbrimi? - John Henry

Any plans to make a movie of one of Jack Vance's books? - John Vance

Is there any news about the Lost Fleet books and spinoffs? - John Henry

In The Clone Wars movie, why can't Anakin understand Huttese? - Karen Traviss

Why is the planet Lola Sayu so damaged? - Leland Chee

When and where are the Daggers and Steele books set? - Alex P. Berg

Where did the gold in Fort Knox go? - Patrick E. McLean

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Patrick Nielsen Hayden (one of SF's foremost editors, which he won several Hugos for, working for Tor; also a blogger on Making Light with his wife and others) came by. Unfortunately, he didn't stick around.

That's the only name I remember that I recognized from before, but I know we've had a couple of authors pop by (other answers here cite some of them).

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Franc Ross, who portrayed Monty on Firefly seems to have answered my question about the character.

Is Monty's last name actually Reynolds?


Leland Chee also responded to a Tweet I asked to answer this question:

Why is the planet Lola Sayu so damaged?

enter image description here enter image description here

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How did the telephone work and what was its role in Einstein's God Model was apparently answered by the writer / director - Philip T. Johnson.

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Professional SF illustrator Winchell Chung and curator of the amazing Atomic Rockets website is a participating member.

When I ran across it on the site, I immediately recognized his name as the original illustrator of the sf warfare game Ogre.

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There is another answer from an author to a question about (or at least related to) her own work:

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John Rennie emailed David Brin and got an answer for this question: Houseflies use humanity to colonize the galaxy

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The person who created the Toby the Targ stuffed animal prop answered a question about whether they're available anymore, at Does a stuffed 'Toby the Targ' toy exist?.

Matthew Hughes also answered a question about a short story of his. After a bit of confusion where his answer was deleted for not answering the question, it was all sorted out and his answer currently resides at Does it have to be those two spells, or would any combination of "impossible" spells work?

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Our good friend Edlothiad had e-mailed Andy Weir, the author of The Martian, for an answer on The Martian – what happened to all the video log recordings?

I myself had done the same thing for my comment on The members of Ares 1,2 and 4 (or 5) crews?

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Science fiction writer Greg Egan answered two questions about their own books here. At least we believe it's Greg Egan because of the username, I don't know if we have it confirmed.

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    I don't see anything (aside from the username) that confirms that it's actually Egan posting these answers. One is simply a link to Egan's (public) website and the other is largely transposed from the same source
    – Valorum
    Jan 12, 2023 at 20:07

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