Our Authors

Don DeBrandt has been accused of authoring The Quicksilver Screen, Steeldriver, Timberjak, V.I. and the “Angel” novel Shakedown, as well as writing two books under the pseudonym Donn Cortez: The Closer, a thriller, and The Man Burns Tonight, a mystery set at Burning Man (to be published in August 2005). He does not deny these charges. His two current novels are CSI: Miami—Cult Following and CSI: Miami—Riptide.

Keith R. A. DeCandido has been a fan of Spider-Man since seeing his live-action adventures on “The Electric Company” as a kid. His first short story sale and first novel sale were both collaborative Spider-Man tales (“An Evening in the Bronx with Venom” with John Gregory Betancourt in 1994’s The Ultimate Spider-Man and Venom’s Wrath with José R. Nieto in 1998), and solo he’s also written a Spidey short story (“Arms and the Man” in 1997’s Untold Tales of Spider-Man) and a Spidey novel (Down These Mean Streets in 2005). He’s become a regular Smart Pop contributor, having also written essays in Finding Serenity, The Man from Krypton, Star Wars on Trial, The Unauthorized X-Men and King Kong Is Back!, with more to come. Find out less at his official Web site at DeCandido.net.

Jared DeFife, PhD, is a clinical psychology research scientist at Emory University and Associate Director of the Laboratory of Personality and Psychopathology (www.psychsystems.net). A former clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Adelphi University.

Dr. DeFife specializes in the study of personality, mood disorders, and psychotherapy. He also frequently publishes and teaches on psychodynamic therapy, research methods, media, politics, film, and literature. He serves on the editorial board of the American Psychological Association journal Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training and contributes a regular blog to Psychology Today. He is currently working on a National Institute of Mental Health—funded investigation of alternative approaches to personality disorder diagnosis for ICD-11 and DSM-V.

David DeGraff has been a space cadet since he was 6 years old, watching Neil Armstrong bounce across the lunar surface. No longer a cadet, Dr. DeGraff is now chair of the physics and astronomy department at Alfred University. In addition to the standard physics and astronomy classes, Dr. DeGraff also teaches Life in the Universe, Science in Science Fiction, Living in Space and The Theory and Practice of Time Travel.

Christie del Castillo-Hegyi, MD, is a board-certified emergency physician and studies newborn brain injury and developmental disabilities caused by insufficient feeding. She cofounded the Fed Is Best Foundation when her own first-born son was harmed by unsafe advice on exclusive breastfeeding from breastfeeding books, breastfeeding classes, and health professionals. When she learned that these complications were happening on a daily basis to infants across the globe as a result of things commonly taught to parents, she and Jody Segrave-Daly launched the Foundation to raise awareness among parents and health professionals. She has advocated for safer breastfeeding practices at the NIH, the USDA, and to members of Congress, and, with Segrave-Daly, has met with the top officials of the World Health Organization breastfeeding guidelines program. She is a member of the Global Developmental Disabilities Research Collaborators and has coauthored papers documenting the rise in prevalence of multiple neurological and developmental disabilities among children across the globe.

Fitness guru Vince Del Monte has been coined “The Skinny Guy Savior.” He earned this name by dedicating his life to transforming the lives of the skinny, scrawny guys, as well as skinny girls, and helping them become healthier, fitter, and more confident in their bodies. His students transform themselves to “Live better, Look better, & Know better!” Vince has transformed thousands of lives with a perfect mix of encouragement, humor, no BS, inspiration and fun with his popular bestselling “No-Nonsense Muscle Building” system.

Vince was the poster boy of the “I can’t gain weight or get the girl” story. He became known as “Skinny Vinny.” He was 140-150 pounds at 6 feet tall, and the nickname stuck with him all through college. He tried everything to gain weight any way he could, never surpassing 149 lbs, dripping wet.

Vince received an Honors Kinesiology degree from the University of Western Ontario. After college, he found a mentor who “told him to burn all of his fitness magazines and stop wasting money on supplements to gain weight.” Vince’s life started to change. He gained some weight, developed toned muscles, and then met the girl of his dreams—now his wife!

Vince is also an award-winning WBFF Professional Fitness Model and enjoys the natural bodybuilding and fitness lifestyle. He continues to practice what he preaches to challenge himself and inspire his readers.

A. M. Dellamonica, author of A Slow Day at the Gallery (a Year’s Best SF pick) and numerous other SF and fantasy stories, has published fiction in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, SciFi.Com’s SciFiction, and Strange Horizons, as well as anthologies including the upcoming Passing for Human, edited by Steve Utley and Michael Bishop. A 2006 Canada Council Grant recipient for her current work in progress, The Wintergirls, she teaches writing through the UCLA Extension Writers’ program and writes book reviews for Science Fiction Weekly.

Dr. Stephanie R. DeLusé, psychologist, researcher, author and teacher, is also Associate Faculty Director of the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) program at Arizona State University. Her graduate training focused on social and personal issues that affect most of us at one time or another—issues around individual/group interactions, family support and divorce, and health and wellness. Her most recent academic efforts have earned her recognition for her teaching, including selection as one of ASU’s Featured Faculty in 2006 and an Outstanding Faculty Award in 2005. In her sparse free time she communes with nature most frequently in the guise of her cat, her trees and her herb garden replete with insect life and lizards.

Ray Dempsey lives in Palo Alto, Calif. During his career he taught high school and college-level classes, worked in sales and marketing in publishing and the airlines industry, and most recently served as customs compliance manager in high tech before retiring. He holds degrees from Emerson College, Boston; marketing (summa cum laude) from Clark University; and an M.B.A. from Babson College. He has published in Monogram Aviation Publications and contributed articles to the Ian Fleming Web site. Ray has traveled extensively in the United States, Asia and Europe where, in Holland, he had the good fortune to meet his beautiful wife Anneke, his partner for over 34 years.