George R. R. Martin was born on September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. He began writing at an early age, selling monster stories for pennies to neighborhood children. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Journalism from Northwestern University. In 1986, he worked as a story editor for the CBS series The Twilight Zone. He was also an executive story consultant, producer and co-supervising producer for CBS's Beauty and the Beast. In 1970, he sold the story The Hero to Galaxy magazine. Since becoming a full-time writer in 1979, he has written many novels, stories, and series including A Song for Lya, Portraits of His Children, The Pear-Shaped Man, and the Song of Ice and Fire series. He… has won numerous awards including five Locus Awards, three Hugo Awards and two Nebula awards. In 2013 he made The New York Times Best Seller List with his titles A Dance with Dragons and A Game of Thrones: a Clash of Kings, a Storm of Swords, a Feast for Crows. His title's Rogues and The Ice Dragon made the New York Times List in 2014.
David Rees first came to fame as the author of Get Your War On, a Bush-era comic strip composed from clip-art that he faxed to friends. It was eventually serialized by Rolling Stone magazine, collected into three successful books, and turned into an off-Broadway play. He is also the author of the workplace satire My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable. He lives in Beacon, New York. John Hodgman (introduction) is the author of the bestsellers The Areas of My Expertise, and More Information Than You Require. Hersquo;s also known for his appearances in Applersquo;s ldquo;Get a Macrdquo; advertising campaign, and for his correspondent work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.