Peter Watts. Life getting you down? Are things so bad you wonder what's the point in even getting out of bed in the morning? No? Have you not been paying attention? Peter Watts is a marine biologist, runner, expert Half-Life player, Battlestar Galactica fancier, and oh yes - a 2007 Hugo nominee and critical darling for Blindsight, his ass-kicking assault on meaning, consciousness and those skeptical that one could ever credibly write a novel with space vampires and have it touted as one of the purest lines of hard science fiction in recent memory. His website kicks ass, too. Unlike this one, it's all wild animation, screamin'-hell graphics - and content, content, content. It also lays bare any pretext for optimism for the future of the planet, the universe or humanity. So what are you waiting for? Hide the whiskey and sharp objects, stay away from the balcony and click on the fracking link. And while you're there, be sure to check out this power-point presentation about how vampires may not be so far-fetched after all.

Karl Schroeder. Life getting you down even more now that you visited Watts' site? Good thing for my pal Karl Schroeder. Back in the day, Karl and I collaborated on a short story called The Toy Mill, for which we won an Aurora Award. That turned into a novel called The Claus Effect (bottom line - Santa Claus is not as kindly as he seems). Lately, Karl is turning his attention to re-inventing the thinking person's space opera. Novels like Ventus, Permanence and Lady of Mazes (all from Tor Books) delve deep into nanotechnology, the political implications of consensus virtual reality and rights economies, all the while ratcheting up the sense of wonder and sheer adventure of big-universe space travel. Karl's latest, the Virga series ( Sun of Suns, Queen of Candesce, Pirate Sun, The Sunless Countries and the forthcoming Ashes of Candesce)  is just a damn joyride. Takes place inside a planet-sized fullerine sphere (see Karl's website for an explanation of that) filled with an atmosphere, some rocks and water and ice, fusion-powered artificial suns to heat it all, and an indeterminate bunch of wheel towns, airships, and pirates. Trust me: it is a wild ride, a fantastic world, and I almost want to go live there. Except, of course, that I'm nowhere near good enough with a cutlass...

Cory Doctorow. Do I even have to describe this guy? Copyright superhero, sf rock star, king of the blogosphere thanks to boingboing... All I will say about Cory is that we first met back in the early 1990s, he was carrying a case of pop between meeting rooms at a Toronto science fiction convention so he wouldn't have to pay for his membership. Shortly after that, he joined the Cecil Street Irregulars, the writing workshop that spawned me, Karl, Michael Skeet, Hugh A.D. Spencer, Allan Weiss, and others. He has come a long way since then.

Edo Van Belkom. Back in 1997, Edo and I shook the pillars of Heaven and won ourselves a Bram Stoker award, for our short story Rat Food - a touching story about a woman, her rat, and some very bad food. Big deal for both of us; bigger for me, I think, because of the two of us, Edo is definitely the seasoned pro: he's published about 200 short stories, a pile of novels, how-to books on writing, non-fiction books on the field, and has been honored with two Aurora Awards. Lately, he's doing well with a series of young adult novels starting with Wolf Pack, and a monthly serial in Truck News Magazine - Mark Dalton: Owner/Operator. Go see his website - there's way more to peruse. I haven't, after all, even begun to talk about the time he spent writing speeches for Mel Lastman...