SF-FFW Members

Catherine Asaro

Catherine Asaro was born in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Physics and MA in Physics, both from Harvard, and a BS with Highest Honors in Chemistry from UCLA. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto in Canada, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik in Germany, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Her research involved using quantum theory to describe the behavior of atoms and molecules. Catherine was a physics professor until 1990, when she established Molecudyne Research, which she currently runs.

Catherine Asaro’s fiction is a successful blend of hard science fiction, romance, and exciting space adventure. Her novel, The Quantum Rose, won the Nebula Award for best novel of 2001. She is a three-time winner of the Romantic Times Book Club award for “Best Science Fiction Novel.” To date, she has published 16 novels, 11 of which belong to her Saga of the Skolian Empire. The latest, The Final Key (December 2005), completes the Triad duology, a sprawling space adventure begun with Schism. Triad serves as a great introduction to The Skolian Saga, as it depicts the earlier years of Sauscony Valdoria, the heroine of Primary Inversion and Radiant Seas.

Ginny Baker

Virginia Baker was born on Christmas day in Neubruke, Germany, on an American military base, to Richard and Sara (Sally) Baker. An Army brat, she spent the next seventeen years moving between various bases in Germany and homes in California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire, and reveled in the adventure of it.

She had her prom in the Heidelberg castle overlooking the Rhine river, and graduated from Mannheim American High School in a ceremony held at the celebrated Worms Cathedral, where Martin Luther nailed his protest to the wall and birthed the Protestant branch of Christianity. From there, she went to college at Ricks in Rexburg, Idaho, and then graduated to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, where she received a Bachelor's of Science in Near Eastern Studies and a Masters of Arts in English Literature.

Jo Beverley

Jo Beverley is one the few authors writing English-set historical romance who is English. She was born and raised in England, and has a degree in English history from Keele University in Staffordshire. She and her husband emigrated to Canada, where they now live. They have two sons.

Though Jo started to write as a young child, it was only in the eighties that she began to think that it was something ordinary people could do, and after a talk at a local library, she settled to seriously writing her first historical romance.

Now, she is the author of over twenty-five romance novels and many novellas -- see Jo Beverley's booklist which have brought her many awards, including five RITA awards from the Romance Writers of America and awards from Romantic Times including two Career Achievement awards. She is a member of the RWA Honor Roll, and the RWA Hall of Fame.

Amy Sterling Casis

Amy Sterling Casil is a Southern California-based science fiction and fantasy writer. Her short fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and a number of other publications. A 2002 Nebula nominee, she has also written 3 novels, and a goodly number of nonfiction books for children and young adults, as well as children's fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Dayle A. Dematis

Dayle A. Dermatis is a published writer of fantasy and science fiction, media tie-in, romance, and erotica (as both Andrea Dale and Sophie Mouette, the latter in collaboration with Teresa Noelle Roberts). Cat Scratch Fever, her first novel (as Sophie Mouette), was published by Black Lace in August 2006, and she and Sarah J. Husch (writing as Sarah Dale) will see publication of A Little Night Music by Cheek Books in June 2007.

She grew up in the Adirondacks of upstate NY, but somehow ended up on the opposite end of the country, living in central, northern, and southern California before embarking on a 4-year sojourn in Wales, UK (where she eloped properly in Gretna Green, Scotland). Currently she's back in southern California, although she continues to travel frequently within the U.S. and abroad (37 countries to date), often via motorcycle.

She lives within scent of the ocean with her beloved, Ken, and two cats from Wales, one with three legs and one with extra toes. When not writing, she can be found doing historic re-creation with the Society of Creative Anachronism (with interests in costuming, weaving, and herbal concoctions), following her favorite band, Styx (65 shows to date), or renovating their 1911 Craftsman-style bungalow.

(Author Photo by Matthew Campbell, taken at Stonehenge)

P.R. Frost

P.R. Frost resides on beautiful Mt. Hood in Oregon. She hikes the Columbia River Gorge for inspiration. She is an omnivorous reader having taught herself to read before entering kindergarten. Her sister claims this was so she wouldn’t have to wait to learn how to write so she could begin penning her stories. At Science Fiction/Fantasy Convention she can be found hanging out with filkers and costumers.

Like her fictional character Tess, P.R. learned to tat (la Frivolité) with her grandmother’s shuttle. Unlike Tess, she also enjoys bobbin lace, knitting and crocheting, periodically indulging in a binge of fisherman knit sweaters.

P.R.’s musical tastes are as omnivorous as her reading ranging from classical to Celtic to new age to jazz, and of course filk.

Join P. R. on her Live Journal blog < rambling_phyl >and share her latest hiking adventures, progress reports on her books, and gushes over wildflowers.

Roberta Gellis

Roberta Gellis has a varied educational background--a master's degree in biochemistry and another in medieval literature--and working history: 10 years as a research chemist, many years as a free-lance editor of scientific manuscripts, and well over 30 years as a writer. She is married--to the same man for over 50 years (no mean feat in these days)--and lives in Lafayette, Indiana with her husband Charles and a lively Lakeland terrier called Taffy. She has one child, Mark, who teaches Rhetoric (a fancy name for expository writing) at Kettering University in Michigan. Mark is married to Sandra and they have a lovely daughter, Elizabeth.

Gellis has been one of the most successful writers of historical fiction of the last few decades, having published about 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the Silver and Gold Medal Porgy for historical novels from West Coast Review of Books, the Golden Certificate and Golden Pen from Affaire de Coeur, The Romantic Times Award for Best Novel in the Medieval Period and Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fantasy, and Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Gellis has also ventured into other genres: romantic suspense, both historical (SING WITCH, SING DEATH) and contemporary (A DELICATE BALANCE); science fiction (THE SPACE GUARDIAN and OFFWORLD, under the pseudonym Max Daniels); and fantasy (DAZZLING BRIGHTNESS, SHIMMERING SPLENDOR, and ENCHANTED FIRE in Greek settings and two novellas "Rarer Than a White Crow" and "Bride Price" in IRISH MAGIC and IRISH MAGIC II in Celtic settings.)

Ruth Glick aka Rebecca York

Ever since she can remember, Ruth Glick, aka Rebecca York, has loved making up stories full of adventure, romance, and suspense. As a child, she corralled her friends into adventure games or acted out romantic suspense stories with a cast of dolls. But she never assumed she could be an author, because she couldn't spell. Her life changed, however, with the invention of the word processor and spelling checker--and the help of her husband, Norman Glick, who spots spelling errors from fifty paces away.

A New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly best-selling and award-winning author, Ruth has written over 100 books. Her KILLING MOON was a launch title for Berkley’s Sensation imprint in June 2003. EDGE OF THE MOON was published in August 2003, and WITCHING MOON followed in October 2003. Her latest Berkley releases are BEYOND CONTROL, her story of sexually linked telepaths, and SHADOW OF THE MOON, the latest book in her Moon series. NEW MOON will be out in March 2007. BEYOND FEARLESS will be out in December 2007. Her novella (working title “Huntress Moon”) in the Ace anthology ELEMENTAL MAGIC will be out in November 2007.

Writing as Rebecca York, she has authored or co-authored over 60 romantic suspense novels, many for Harlequin Intrigue's very popular 43 Light Street series, set in Baltimore, and many with paranormal elements. Her next Intrigue is ROYAL LOCKDOWN, June 2007. Her 43 Light Street books are currently being reprinted in the Harlequin Book Club.

Ruth's many awards include two Rita finalist books. She has two Career Achievement awards from Romantic Times: for Series Romantic Suspense and Series Romantic Mystery.

Ruth enjoys cooking, walking, reading, gardening, travel, and Mozart operas. She collects rocks and has been known to lug stones back from Hawaii, Ireland, and Alaska. Ruth and her husband Norman travel frequently to research settings for novels and taste new dishes for cookbooks. Trips in recent years included Australia, New Zealand, Norway, London, New Orleans, Vienna, Budapest, and Maui. Her many unique experiences are apt to end up in her books--like the time she encountered a coral snake in the Guatemalan jungle or took a flight in a hot air balloon. The Glicks live in Columbia, Maryland. They have two grown children, Elissa (a librarian) and Ethan (a Foreign Service Officer), and two grandsons, Jesse and Leo.

Ruth holds a B. A. in American Thought and Civilization from The George Washington University and an M. A. in American Studies from The University of Maryland. She heads the Columbia Writers Workshop. She is profiled in Who's Who in America, Contemporary Authors, and Who's Who of American Women.

Laura Mixon Gould (Laura J. Mixon)

Laura J. Mixon (BURNING THE ICE, GLASS HOUSES) is a chemical and environmental engineer and science fiction writer, who writes about the impact of technology and environmental changes on personal identity and social structures. Her work is often associated with the cyberpunk movement, and has been the focus of academic studies on the intersection of technology, feminism, and gender. She has also experimented with interactive storytelling, in collaboration with renowned game designer Chris Crawford. In the 1980's, she served in the Peace Corps in East Africa. She is married to SF writer Steven Gould (JUMPER).

Denise Little

Denise Little has been involved in nearly every facet of the book business in the past twenty-five years. She worked for Barnes & Noble/B. Dalton Bookseller for ten years as a bookstore manager, then for four more years as their national book buyer for science fiction, fantasy, and romance. She was selected as Bookseller of the Year by Romantic Times and by the Virginia and the New Jersey chapters of Romance Writers of America. She launched the company’s genre magazine, Heart to Heart, and wrote it for its first two years of existence. She also was closely involved in launching its fantastic fiction magazine, Sense of Wonder.

She then joined Kensington Publishing, where she founded and ran her own imprint, Denise Little Presents, as well as editing fiction and non-fiction projects throughout the list, including books by a number of bestselling authors. Several of the romances she edited and published under her imprint were nominated for RITA Awards by the Romance Writers of America.

Since 1997, she’s been executive editor at Tekno Books, working for Dr. Martin H. Greenberg. She edits a number of best-selling authors, and has worked on projects with virtually every major publishing house. In addition to her editorial work, she is also a writer in multiple genres. She’s done high-profile ghostwriting and work-for-hire which, for reasons of confidentiality, she can’t discuss, as well as a number of books under her name, published and forthcoming, including Alien Pets; Perchance To Dream; Creature Fantastic; Twice Upon a Time (winner of the New York Public Library’s 100 Best Books of the Year Award); Dangerous Magic (winner of RWA’s Sapphire Award); Constellation of Cats; Realms of Dragons; Vengeance Fantastic; Familiars; The Sorcerer’s Academy; The Magic Shop; Rotten Relations; Time After Time; Hags, Sirens, and Other Bad Girls of Fantasy; Cosmic Cocktails, Front Lines, Mystery Date, The Quotable Cat; Murder Most Romantic; Alaska: True Adventures in the Last Frontier (with Spike Walker); Out There: Stories of Survival and Adventure in Alaska (With Larry Kaniut); The Magic Toybox; The Valdemar Companion (with John Helfers); and The Official Nora Roberts Companion (with Laura Hayden). Her short fiction is included in Civil War Fantastic and Alternate Gettysburgs. Her short non-fiction has been featured in a number of magazines, including The Romance Writers’ Report and the SFWA Bulletin. She lives in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Mary Jo Putney

Mary Jo Putney was born in Upstate New York with a reading addiction, a condition for which there is no known cure. After earning degrees in English Literature and Industrial Design at Syracuse University, she did various forms of design work in California and England before inertia took over in Baltimore, Maryland, where she has lived very comfortably ever since.

While becoming a novelist was her ultimate fantasy, it never occurred to her that writing was an achievable goal until she acquired a computer for other purposes. When the realization hit that a computer was the ultimate writing tool, she charged merrily into her first book with an ignorance that illustrates the adage that fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

Fortune sometimes favors the foolish and her first book sold quickly, thereby changing her life forever, in most ways for the better. (“But why didn't anyone tell me that writing would change the way one reads?”) Like a lemming over a cliff, she gave up her freelance graphic design business to become a full-time writer as soon as possible.

Since 1987, Ms. Putney has published twenty-nine books and counting. Her stories are noted for psychological depth and unusual subject matter such as alcoholism, death and dying, and domestic abuse. She has made all of the national bestseller lists including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USAToday, and Publishers Weekly. Five of her books have been named among the year’s top five romances by The Library Journal. The Spiral Path and Stolen Magic were chosen as one of Top Ten romances of their years by Booklist, published by the American Library Association.

A nine-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA, she has won RITAs for Dancing on the Wind and The Rake and the Reformer and is on the RWA Honor Roll for bestselling authors. She has been awarded two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards, four NJRW Golden Leaf awards, plus the NJRW career achievement award for historical romance. Though most of her books have been historical, she has also published three contemporary romances. The Marriage Spell will be out in June 2006 in hardcover, and Stolen Magic (written as M. J. Putney) will be released in July 2006.

Ms. Putney says that not least among the blessings of a full-time writing career is that one almost never has to wear pantyhose.