Lydia Ballard

A professional freelance writer who got her start in the perilous world of fan fiction, Lydia Ballard--better known to the online world as 'BiteMeTechie'--is an aspiring comic book writer and self proclaimed lover of all things geek, from comic books to action figures to science fiction. She is the very definition of the word 'fangirl' and very proud of it.

A minor celebrity in fan fiction circles, her stories boast forty eight nominations and seventeen wins from awards programs such as The Isis Awards, The Stargate Fan Awards, The Skiffy Awards, The Sunny D Awards, The Spark and Burn Awards, The Rogue Poet Awards and The Spuffy Awards. She has also won the editor's choice award and best poet award for 2007 from the International Society of Poets for her original piece 'Song of a Blood Drenched Sparrow'. In addition to work for Suite101, she also writes for RetroJunk on a variety of topics.

Based out of South East Wisconsin, she spends much of her time frequenting comic shops, Renaissance Faires, sitting by Lake Michigan and traveling out of state as much as possible, all with her trusty messenger bag, pen and notebook at the ready.