Jessica Brawner grew up in the wilds of South Texas and plotted ways to spend her life traveling the world. She has been remarkably successful at that endeavor, attending school and travelling all over Europe at the age of eighteen, moving back to the United States to achieve two bachelor’s degrees, and then moving to Central Asia for a time with the Peace Corps. Fifteen years ago she discovered the wonders of Science Fiction and Fantasy conventions and the crazy, loveable, friends-are-the-family-you-choose mentality found there. She spent many years working as a booth babe and volunteering at conventions all over the country. In addition to her convention activities, Ms. Brawner has developed and taught self-defense classes, worked as an event planner, an entertainment agent, a computer teacher, and a personal assistant. More recently she has channeled her adventures and her time into writing, and running several different small businesses. Her newest ventures are Story of the Month Club - Excellent Stories To Your Inbox (www.storyofthemonthclub.com) and Life Stats (www.lifestats.org). Readers are encouraged to contact Ms. Brawner with comments, and questions at charisma@lifestats.org