“Hello, my name is Dave Freer and I’m a poet.’’
“Don’t be ashamed, Dave. Here at Poets Anonymous you’re among friends. And with the sonnet program and accepting that you were in the grip of a muse greater than yourself, you can free yourself.’’
“Um. Okay. I used to write meaningful epic poetry during class at school and inflict it onto my unfortunate girlfriends. Yes, friends, there really are such sick people at large out there. But I’m reformed now and have ten SF/fantasy novels in print which I have either written or co-authored with Eric Flint or Mercedes Lackey. I also accept moral responsibility for an increasing number of short stories. All of the above I blame on my cats. Or even in extremis the Old English sheep-dog. I would blame my sons, but they’re taller than I am now. What about rock climbing as an excuse? Or having been a fisheries biologist? Perhaps I can claim it was the influence of the African sun that I live under?’’
“Part of freeing yourself of the grip of poetry is accepting responsibility for your own actions.’’
“Really? Well. I . . . I like writing. I love amusing and entertaining readers. And writing about the living dead was just perfect for me. They say you should write about what you know, and until the third cup of coffee I am a zombie.’’
Esther M. Friesner is the author of over thirty novels and over one hundred fifty short stories, two of which won the Nebula Award. Most recent publications include Temping Fate with the sequel Nobody’s Prize to appear in spring 2008. Her most popular claim to fame is for creating and editing the Chicks in Chainmail anthology series. She is married, a mom, and lives in Connecticut.
Amanda S. Green grew up in Texas, land of tall tales and big hair. While she never liked the big hair, she loved the tall tales. She’s been a teacher, a lawyer, and worked a myriad of jobs in her search for what she wants to be when she grows up. Her ultimate goal is to become the crazy cat lady who writes stories people enjoy. She currently lives near Dallas in a multi-generational home that includes her mother, her teenaged son, one dog, and a crazy kitten. Everything else is subject to change.
Over the past twenty-five years, Nina Kiriki Hoffman has sold many novels and more than two hundred short stories. Her works have been finalists for the Nebula, World Fantasy, Mythopoeic, Sturgeon, and Endeavour awards. Her first novel, The Thread That Binds The Bones, won a Stoker Award. Spirits That Walk in Shadow, a young adult novel (nominated for the Mythopoeic Award), and Catalyst, a science fiction novella (shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick award), came out in 2006. Nina does production for F&SF, teaches short story writing, and works with teen writers. She lives in Oregon.
Daniel M. Hoyt aspires to be that Dan Hoyt—you know, the one who writes those cool short stories and novels everybody loves. Realizing a few years ago that rocket science was fun, but unlikely to pay all the bills, Dan embarked on a new career choice—writing fiction for fun and profit. Since his first publication in Analog, his short stories have appeared in several magazines and anthologies, most recently Something Magic This Way Comes (DAW), Transhuman: On the Edge of the Singularity and Witch Way to the Mall. While marketing his first novel, he is working on his next one. Curiously, after a few years of this writing thing, Dan’s mortgage is still outstanding, but he remains hopeful that will change. Catch up with him at www.danielmhoyt.com.
Robert Anson Hoyt has always wanted to live in Jurassic Park, but has currently settled for Colorado Springs, where he lives with a multitude of cats who help keep things interesting. He is currently working on a new novel, but keeping up with short stories under the watchful eye of his felines. He believes that the pets you love the most never truly die.
Sarah A. Hoyt is the author of an acclaimed Shakespearean fantasy trilogy (Ill Met By Moonlight, All Night Awake, Any Man So Daring) and is in the midst of a shape-shifter novel series (Draw One In The Dark, Gentleman Takes A Chance) as well as of an historical fantasy series (Heart Of Light, Soul of Fire, Heart and Soul) which takes place at the closing of the Victorian era in a magical British Empire. Soon she will debut in science fiction with her novel DarkShip Thieves. She has also edited the DAW anthology Something Magic This Way Comes. She has published over four dozen short stories in various magazines and anthologies, including Asimov’s, Analog and Fantastic, Modern Magic and The Book Of Final Flesh. She is also in the midst of a foray into mystery under the name Sarah D’Almeida, with her Musketeer’s Mysteries series: Death of a Musketeer, The Musketeer’s Seamstress, The Musketeer’s Apprentice , The Musketeer’s Inheritance. She lives in Colorado with her husband, two teen sons and an ill-assorted clowder of cats. Catch up with her at www.sarahahoyt.com.
Jay Lake lives in Portland, Oregon, with his books and two inept cats, where he works on numerous writing and editing projects. His current novels are Trial of Flowers and Mainspring, with sequels to both books in 2008. Jay is the winner of the 2004 John W. Camp-bell Award for Best New Writer and a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. Jay can be reached through his blog at jaylake.livejournal.com.
Fran LaPlaca lives and writes in Connecticut, and has finally managed to keep one guppy alive for over two months. She’s had better luck with her children, who are all thriving and well, though she suspects them of hiding the other fish in a bid to get their allowance raised. She’s been married to the perfect man for many years now, and promises not to resort to any extreme measures to make him more perfect. A promise she will keep if he promises to load the dishwasher the proper way, which would, in fact, be her way.
A passionate reader, Rebecca Lickiss began telling stories at an early age. She finally decided to write them down for publication, since it was better than cleaning house again. Her husband and children humor her; otherwise, they’re making their own dinner. Her husband also writes, ’cause he doesn’t want to clean house either. Worried that taking care of her house, five children, going to work, and writing stories wouldn’t be enough to keep her busy, Rebecca has returned to school to get her master’s degree.
Devon Monk lives in Oregon with her husband, two sons, and a dog named Mojo. The first book in her urban fantasy series, Magic To The Bone, will be released November 2008. Her short stories can be found in a variety of genre magazines and anthologies including Realms of Fantasy and Year’s Best Fantasy #2. When not writing, she is drinks coffee, knits toys, and wonders why the dog is looking at her so strangely. For more on Devon, go to www.devonmonk.com.
Kate Paulk is a working zombie by day and a crazy writer by night. Her friends invoke the Mad Aussie clause to explain the trail of destruction and weirdness she leaves. Her most memorable exploit to date is driving fifteen hundred miles with an untreated broken right ankle. People would worry for her sanity, but she claims not to have any. She’s been published in several anthologies, and lives in semi-urban Pennsylvania with her husband and two bossy lady cats.
Charles Edgar Quinn’s last published short story appeared in last year’s DAW anthology Something Magic This Way Comes. He collects recordings of Celtic and British folk music, especially the creepy songs. While he’s worked with several pale blondes in the past, he’s pretty sure none of them were vampires.
A member of an endangered species, a native Oregonian who lives in Oregon, Irene Radford and her husband make their home in Welches, Oregon, where deer, bear, coyote, hawks, owls, and woodpeckers feed regularly on their back deck. As a service brat, she lived in a number of cities throughout the country before returning to Oregon in time to graduate from high school. She earned a B.A. in History from Lewis and Clark College, where she met her husband. In her spare time, Irene enjoys lacemaking and is a long-time member of an international guild.
Laura Resnick is the author of such fantasy novels as Disappearing Nightly, In Legend Born, The Destroyer Goddess, and The White Dragon, which made the Year’s Best lists of Publishers Weekly and Voya. She has also published more than sixty short stories. You can find her on the Web at www.LauraResnick.com.
S.M. Stirling was born
in France in 1953, to Canadian parents—although his mother was born in England and grew up in Peru. He graduated from law school in Canada but had his dorsal fin surgically removed, and published his first novel (Snowbrother) in 1984, going full-time as a writer in 1988. In 1995 he suddenly realized that he could live anywhere, so he decamped from Toronto, and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. His latest books are In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, and The Sunrise Lands. His hobbies mostly involve reading—history, anthropology, archaeology, and travel, besides fiction—but he also cooks and bakes for fun and food. For twenty years he also pursued the martial arts, until hyperextension injuries convinced him he was in danger of becoming the most deadly cripple in human history. Currently he lives with his wife Janet, also an author, and the compulsory authorial cats.
Carrie Vaughn is the author of a series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio show. The next adventure, Kitty and the Silver Bullet, was released in 2008. She’s also published over thirty short stories in anthologies and magazines such as Weird Tales and Realms of Fantasy. She has a master’s in English literature and lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she seems to be collecting hobbies. For more information, see www.carrievaughn.com.
A professional writer for forty years, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has sold eighty-five books and more than ninety works of short fiction, essays, and reviews. She also composes serious music. She lives in her hometown—Berkeley, California—with three autocratic cats. In 2003, the World Horror Association presented her with a Grand Master award; the International Horror Guild honored her as a Living Legend in 2006.
1 Substantiating the theory that every perfect piece of art exists independent of the artist, this same poem—hastily shouted by Fang Hui and not recorded in hell—would later be recreated, word per word, by the incomparable Li Bai.
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