This year is Stargate Atlantis star Joe Flanigan’s first year at Dragon*Con.  I sat down with Joe to get his thoughts on his co-stars and the cancellation of Stargate Atlantis, as well as his views on a variety of matters.

Actor Paul McGillion is known to many sci-fi fans as Doctor Carson Beckett from Stargate Atlantis.  McGillion, a perennial fan favorite and a regular—in odd-numbered years—attendee of Dragon*Con, took a few minutes to talk to the Daily Dragon.

Daily Dragon (DD):  What was the biggest surprise in being involved with Stargate Atlantis?

Paul McGillion (PM):  The biggest surprise in being involved with Atlantis was I guess initially, for me, I was signed on as a recurring character in season one and then …

Bruce Davison has quite a list of professional accomplishments to his name, ranging from guest starring on shows such as Designing Women to blockbuster movie roles like Senator Kelly in X-Men and X2.  Mr. Davison graciously took the time to sit down with one of our Daily Dragon reporters.

Leonard Nimoy, famous for his role as Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek series, has been wowing the crowds at Dragon*Con.  Actor, director, singer, poet, photographer—this distinguished man seems to have done it all.  And to have done it all so well.  As he waited backstage before the “Beyond Spock” panel, Nimoy graciously agreed to answer a few questions for the Daily Dragon.

Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold is equally adept at science fiction and fantasy, with works ranging from her Vorkosigan saga to her Chalion books and her recent Sharing Knife tetrology.  Winner of five Hugo and three Nebula awards, Ms. Bujold is one of the few authors to have won both awards simultaneously.  And she has accomplished this feat twice—first for her novella, “The Mountains of Mourning,” and second for her fantasy novel, Paladin of Souls.  Miles’s fans are in for a special treat: Ms. Bujold will read from the first chapters from her recently completed Cryoburn, a new Miles Vorkosigan adventure set for release in late 2010 (Sun 1PM, Hanover C-E).

Dragon*Con readers who like a little weird along with their World War II historical fiction/alternate history should be bloody glad that Rosemary Laurey is returning to the convention this year.  Under the pseudonym “Georgia Evans,” author Laurey has written a new version of the Blitz that has supernatural “Others” fighting on behalf of both Allied and Axis powers.  The blend is something out of a B horror flick, Dracula versus the Werewolf, but set in a sleepy English town with all the elements of a cozy mystery.  Wake up, Agatha!  You’ve got competition, and she’s sporting fangs.

Dragon*Con 2009 welcomes Charlaine Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern vampire novels (from Dead Until Dark through her latest novel, Dead and Gone, a recent New York Times hardback #1 bestseller) as well as the Harper Connelly, Lily Bard, and Aurora Teagarden mysteries.  Readers beware:  the Sookie Stackhouse novels and the HBO series True Blood, based on Ms. Harris’s “Sookie-verse” books, are just as addictive as “V-juice,” the street name for vampire blood.  Continue at your own risk.

Reviewer, writer, judge, classicist, systems engineer, Australian author Jenny Blackford presents as a Jill-of-all-trades, a Never Never Land kind of woman who hasn’t ignored the question of what to do when she grows up; she just does it all.  From her diverse science fiction and fantasy stories and reviews to her first book-length publication, The Priestess and the Slave, Blackford’s inspired journeys embrace the kind of …

Novelist Julie Kenner is so busy finishing new books that she had to clone herself to do it all. Publishing not only as Julie Kenner (author of the popular tales of Kate Connor, Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom, the Tainted, Torn, and Turned urban fantasy series, and the Good Ghouls young adult books), but also now as J. K. Beck (The Shadow Keepers series launching Summer 2010), the prolific fantasy/adventure/paranormal romance author has had no less than three books published each year since her first sales in 2000. With rumors of a swarm of demons, vampires, and zombies descending on the convention, it’s about time she made an appearance at Dragon*Con and shared her expertise for the protection of us all.

Dr. Phil Plait, astronomer, lecturer, and author, was a popular guest of the Dragon*Con Space and Skeptic tracks in 2008, and he’s back with us for 2009! At the end of last year’s convention, he snuck with us into the Hilton’s VIP lounge for some questions and fawning. Phil talked to us about his new book, Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End…, astronomy both bad and awesome, his blog, and his new role at the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Read on.