Card, Orson Scott

Woolf, Virginia

Dick, Philip K.

Ellison, Harlan

Crichton, Michael

Cherryh, C.J.

Goldin, Stephen

Hardy, Thomas

Pournelle, Jerry

Gerrold, David

Andrews, V.C.

The author best known as V.C. Andrews was born Cleo Virginia Andrews on June 16, 1923, in Portsmouth, Virginia.  Her first published book was "Flowers in the Attic," published in 1979, the story of four children held hidden in their grandmother's attic.  The series made Andrews virtually a household name, and she had completed four novels about the Dollanganger children before her death from breast cancer on December 19, 1986.

Since Andrews' death, her estate hired Andrew Neiderman to continue writing stories under her name.  Neiderman completed the final novel in the Dollanganger series, and has gone on to write some 30 or more additional books published under Andrews' name.  Experts consider that there are only 8 books actually written all or in part by Andrews herself.

Williams, Tad

Bear, Greg

Greg Bear has authored more than 30 books in science fiction and fantasy, winning two Hugos and five Nebulas along the way.  He is one of only two authors to win a Nebula in every category.  Bear is considered a "hard science fiction" author, and his works have been translated into nineteen languages.

His website is at http://www.gregbear.com/

Smith, L. Neil

King, Stephen

Bradley, Marion Zimmer

Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930-1999) was the author of fantasy novels, including "The Mists of Avalon" and the Darkover series.  She was born in Albany, New York, and began writing in 1949.  She sold her first story to "Vortex" in 1952.  Her first published novel-length worth was "Falcons of Narabedla," published in "Other Worlds" in 1957.  She was one of the cofounders of the Society for Creative Anachronism.  

Bradley was awarded the World Fantasy Award in 2000 for lifetime achievement.

Asimov, Isaac

Isaac Asimov (January 2, 1920 - April 6, 1992)

Born in Russia, Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of modern times.  He is known to have written more than 500 books in numerous genres.  As a bit of trivia, Asimov's books can be found in nine of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System, missing only in the 100s (philosophy and psychology).

Asimov is most well-known as a science-fiction author, and is considered one of the masters of the genre.  His short story "Nightfall" was voted the best science fiction story of all time in 1964 by the Science Fiction Writers of America, and many readers still give the honor to the story.  His most famous work is the "Foundation" series.  The "Galactic Empire" series and "Robot" series are also international renowned, and actually exist creatively in the same universe, creating a unified "future history" for the three separate sets of work.

Asimov is identified with what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction, roughly the late 1930s through to the 1950s.

McEwan, Ian

Go to Book Signings

Many bookstores, particularly in the larger cities, hold "book signing" events for best-selling authors. Call around to the larger bookstores in your area, and find out if they have any such events scheduled for authors you´d enjoy meeting. Ask if there will be a question-and-answer session, and find out the date and time. It´s great fun, and you´ll treasure your autographed books!

Grimes, Martha

Martha Grimes was born May 2, 1931 in Pittsburgh, PA.  She's a mystery writer, probably best know for the Richard Jury series.



She published her first mystery novel in 1981, The Man With a Load of Mischief, which was the first novel to feature Jury.  Since then, she has written at least 30 books, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.  The Anodyne Necklace, the third book in the Jury series, won the Nero Award in 1983 for best mystery of the year.

Daheim, Mary

Writer Mary Daheim is a Seattle, Washington native.  She majored in journalism at the University of Washington, and worked in newspapers and public relations.  Her first historical romance was published in 1983, but switched genres and began writing mysteries.  The Bed-and-Breakfast series made its debut in 1991, and the Emma Lord series began a year later.  She has been nominated for the Agatha Award, and in 2000, won the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Achievement Award.

Grisham, John

John Grisham was born in 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas.  He received a law degree from University of Mississippi in 1981, and practiced civil and criminal law for almost 10 years in Southaven, Mississippi.  His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in 1988 with little fanfare, but his second novel, The Firm, became one of the biggest selling novels of 1991.  He is one of the most popular American writers of courtroom thrillers, and many successful movies have been based on his books.

Stout, Rex

Stout was a prolific writer known for the Nero Wolfe mystery series.  He was born in Indiana in 1886, and was a math prodigy that studied at the University of Kansas.  He quit school to enlist in the Navy.  After his service, he tried a variety of jobs, and perhaps most importantly, he began to write.  He published three well-received novels before turning to mysteries, and published the first Nero Wolfe novel in 1934. 



Stout wrote more than 70 Nero Wolfe books and stories.  In 1959, he won the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award.  He published the last Nero Wolfe book, "A Family Affair," shortly before his death in 1975.

Rule, Ann

Ann Rule is a Seattle, Washington based true crime writer.  She began writing under the pen name Andy Stack in 1969, writing for "True Detective" magazine.  She catapulted to fame with her first book, "The Stranger Besides Me." about serial killer Ted Bundy.  She had originally begun researching a then-unsolved series of disappearances and killings, only to find that she knew and worked with the prime suspect.  The unique perspective captivated readers, and turned Rule into a household name.  She has since published almost three dozen books, mostly true crime novels and anthologies.

Toobin, Jeffrey

Toobin's background as a working attorney provided him with a solid foundation on the way to becoming one of the most recognized legal journalists in the United States.  He received a B.A. from Harvard College before graduating magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was in editor of the "Harvard Law Review."  He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, as well as an associate counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel Lawrence E. Walsh.  He has been a staff writer at "The New Yorker" since 1993, and is the senior legal analyst for CNN.  In 2000, he received an Emmy Award for his coverage of the Elian Gonzalez case.

Kipling, Rudyard

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was born in Bombay, British India (now Mumbai), and is best known for his works of fiction.  He was one of the most popular writers in English in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, the first English language writer to receive the award.  He also remains its youngest recipient.  His children's books such as "The Jungle Book" remain classics.