Asimov, Beddor, Cashore, Chima, Cornwell, Fletcher, Follett, Jordan, Martin, Novik, Oppel, Paolini, Pullman, Riordan, Tolkien -- read about the Authors whose works are covered in The Book Blog, and stay tuned for more blogs and more authors to come.
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov, on January 2, 1920, in Petrovichi, near Smolensk, Russia. He was the oldest of three children. In 1923 Isaac, with his parents, immigrated to the USA and settled in Brooklyn, New York. There, his parents temporarily changed his birthday to September 7, 1919, in order to send him to school a year earlier. Asimov was an avid reader before the age of 5. He spoke Yiddish and English at home with his parents and spoke only a few words in Russian. He began his formal education in 1925 in the New York Public School system. From 1930-1932, he was placed in the rapid advance course. In 1935, he graduated from high school, in 1939 received a B.S. and in 1941 he earned his M. Sc. in Chemistry from Columbia University. In 1948 he completed his post-graduate studies and earned his Ph. D. in Chemistry. Asimov shot to fame in 1941 with 'Nightfall', a story of a planet where night comes once every 2049 years. 'Nightfall' has been described as one of the best science fiction stories ever written. Asimov wrote over five hundred literary works. He is credited for introducing the words "positronic", "psychohistory", and "robotics" into the English language. He penned such classics as "I, Robot" and the "Foundation" series, which are considered to be the most impressive of his writings. In 1983 Asimov contracted HIV infection from a tainted blood transfusion received during a triple bypass surgery. He died on April 6, 1992, in Boston, Massachusetts. Read More About Isaac Asimov >>
Frank Beddor
Frank Beddor had already had a couple of intense careers, a professional skier (two-time freestyle world champion) and filmmaker (producer of the 1998 hitThere’s Something About Mary) before deciding to become an author (of the New York Times best sellers The Looking Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, and Arch Enemy of the Looking Glass Wars trilogy). After the global success of There’s Something About Mary, he formed Automatic Pictures, over which he still presides, to develop creative properties. “After ‘Mary’ I put a bunch of projects into development,” he says. “At the same time, though, I was coming to realize that, as a producer, you’re a facilitator for the creative team, but what I really wanted to be was a creator. Of course it’s great to have a hit; it’s great to make money, but the work I was doing was not satisfying me.” Read More About Frank Beddor >>
Kristin Cashore, born in 1976 and grew up in the Pennsylvania countryside, is an American fantasy author whose debut novel, Graceling, was published in October 2008. The book has been nominated for the Andre Norton an William C. Morris awards, and is held in over 1000 libraries. Her second book, Fire, came out in October 2009, and is described as being a 'prequel-ish companion book' to Graceling. Her third book, Bitterblue, was released 1 May 2012. "So, here's the short tale of me: I grew up in the countryside of northeastern Pennsylvania in a village with cows and barns and beautiful views from the top of the hill and all that good stuff. I lived in a rickety old house with my parents, three sisters, and a scattering of cats, and I READ READ READ READ READ. I read while brushing my teeth, I read while chopping parsley, the first thing I reached for when I woke up in the morning was my book; the only two places I didn't read were in the car and in bed. What did I do then? The one thing I liked even more than reading: I daydreamed. And so, without knowing it, I was planting the seeds. Reading and daydreaming = perfect preparation for writing." Read More About Kristin Cashore >>
Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, grew up with talking animals and kick-butt Barbies. She began writing poetry and stories in third grade, and novels in junior high school. Her Heir Chronicles young adult contemporary fantasy series includes The Warrior Heir (2006), The Wizard Heir (2007), and The Dragon Heir (2008), all from Hyperion, with two more books forthcoming. Chima’s best-selling YA high fantasy Seven Realms series launched with The Demon King (2009), followed by The Exiled Queen (September, 2010) and The Gray Wolf Throne (August, 2011.) The Crimson Crown, the final in the series, was released this fall. Chima’s books have received starred reviews in Kirkus and VOYA, among others. They have been named Booksense and Indie Next picks, an International Reading Association Young Adult Choice, a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, to the Kirkus Best Young Adults list, and the VOYA Editors’ Choice, Best Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror, and Perfect Tens lists. Her books also appear on numerous state awards lists. Both series are New York Times bestsellers. Chima was a recipient of the 2008 Lit Award for Fiction from the Cleveland Lit and was named a Cleveland Magazine Interesting Person 2009. She lives in Ohio with her family, and says she is always working on her next novel. Read More about Cinda Williams Chima >>
Bernard Cornwell
Bernard Cornwell OBE is a British author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films. A ‘warbaby’ whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, he was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. Cornwell began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government – and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars – and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe. Read More About Bernard Cornwell >>
Bernard Cornwell OBE is a British author of historical novels. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe which were adapted into a series of Sharpe television films. A ‘warbaby’ whose father was a Canadian airman and mother in Britain’s Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, he was adopted by a family in Essex who belonged to a religious sect called the Peculiar People (and they were), but escaped to London University and, after a stint as a teacher, he joined BBC Television where he worked for the next 10 years. Cornwell began as a researcher on the Nationwide programme and ended as Head of Current Affairs Television for the BBC in Northern Ireland. It was while working in Belfast that he met Judy, a visiting American, and fell in love. Judy was unable to move to Britain for family reasons so Bernard went to the States where he was refused a Green Card. He decided to earn a living by writing, a job that did not need a permit from the US government – and for some years he had been wanting to write the adventures of a British soldier in the Napoleonic wars – and so the Sharpe series was born. Bernard and Judy married in 1980, are still married, still live in the States and he is still writing Sharpe. Read More About Bernard Cornwell >>
Charlie Fletcher (born 1960) is a british screenwriter and author. After many years writing for film and television, he is now probably best known for his children's novel, Stoneheart. After studying English Literature at university, Fletcher began his career in the film business and then progressed to the BBC where he worked in film editing on everything from Drama to Current Affairs.He also moved into other types of writing, including magazine features, a computer game and as a national Sunday newspaper columnist and a restaurant reviewer. He then went to California where he became a screenwriter, having been awarded a Warner Brothers Fellowship in Screenwriting at USC School of Cinema and TV. He wrote screenplays for Tri-Star, MGM, Paramount, and Warner Brothers among others. He continues to write for the movies, and also television. he met and married his wife, Domenica, a fellow scot, in Los Angeles. They have two children, whom Fletcher calls his first, most important, and toughest audience. They’ve all now returned from California and live in Edinburgh with a terrier called Archie. Read More About Charlie Fletcher >>
Ken Follett
Ken Follett is one of the world’s best-loved novelists. He has sold more
than 130 million copies. His latest book, Fall
of Giants, went straight to the No.1 position on bestseller lists in the
USA, Spain, Italy, Germany and France. He burst into the book world in 1978
with Eye of the Needle, a taut and
original thriller with a memorable woman character in the central role. The
book won the Edgar award and became a film starring Kate Nelligan and Donald
Sutherland. He went on to write four more best-selling thrillers: Triple; The Key to Rebecca; The Man from St
Petersburg; and Lie Down with Lions.
Cliff Robertson and David Soul starred in the miniseries of The Key to Rebecca. In 1994
Timothy Dalton, Omar Sharif and Marg Helgenberger starred in the miniseries of Lie Down with Lions. He also wrote On Wings of Eagles, the true story of
how two employees of Ross Perot were rescued from Iran during the revolution of
1979. Read More About Ken Follett >>
Robert Jordan was the pen name of American writer James Oliver Rigney, Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007) He used this pseudonym for fantasy novels, including the bestselling The Wheel of Time series for which he was best known. He also wrote historical fiction as Reagan O'Neal, a western as Jackson O'Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung, and he had ghostwritten an "international thriller" that is still believed to have been written by someone else. The Wheel of Time is one of literature’s greatest achievements in epic fantasy. It was written by the late Robert Jordan, and completed posthumously by his successor, Brandon Sanderson. There are currently thirteen books in the series, all of which continue the same story, weaving towards the ultimate climax. the first of the Wheel of Time series was published in 1990. Read More about Robert Jordan >> or Wheel of Time >>
George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin, author of the best-selling series, A Song of Ice and Fire, was born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin's first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: "The Hero," sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern. Martin's present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and of Writers' Guild of America, West. Read More About George R.R. Martin >>
Naomi Novik
Naomi Novik (1973—) is an American novelist. She was born in New York in 1973, a second-generation American. Her father is of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry, and her mother is an ethnic Pole. She studied English Literature at Brown University, and holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Columbia University. She participated in the design and development of the computer game Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide, until she discovered she preferred writing to game design. Her first novel, His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire in the UK), which commences the series Temeraire, is an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars in a world in which dragons are abundant and used in aerial combat. His Majesty's Dragon won the Compton Crook Award in 2007. She is currently working on a fourth novel in the series, titled Empire of Ivory which is due out in October 2007. In September 2006, it was reported that Peter Jackson had recently optioned the Temeraire series, including all forthcoming books. Novik is married to entrepreneur and writer Charles Ardai. They live in Manhattan. Read More About Naomi Novik >> or go to the Temeraire Website >>
Kenneth Oppel
Kenneth Oppel (born August 31, 1967) is a Canadian author. Born in Port Alberni, British Columbia, he spent his childhood in Victoria, BC and Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has also lived in Newfoundland and Labrador, England an Ireland. Oppel's first published book, Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure (1985), was written while he was a high school student at St.Michaels University School in Victoria. Oppel forwarded the newly completed manuscript to a family friend, that knew Roald Dahl, who in turn recommended it to his agent. Oppel went on to receive his Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema studies and English at trinity College at the University of Toronto, writing The Live-Forever Machine (1992) during his final year. Oppel moved to England and wrote a number of books during that period, gleaning several ideas while working at typing students' papers. Oppel has won numerous literary awards. Oppel is married, has three children, and lives in Toronto, Ontario. Read More about Kenneth Oppel >> or about the Silverwing series >>
Christopher Paolini
Christopher Paolini (born November 17, 1983) is the author of the
Inheritance trilogy. He currently lives with his family in Paradise Valley,
Montana. Paolini was born in Southern California. Homeschooled for his
entire life, he graduated high school at the age of 15 through an accredited correspondence
course. Following graduation he started work on what would become the novel Eragon and its two sequels, all set in
Alagaesia. At the age of nineteen he became a New York Times bestselling author.
In 2002, Eragon was published
privately by his parents. To promote the book, Paolini toured over 135 schools
and libraries, discussing reading and writing, all the while dressed in "a
medieval costume of red shirt, billowy black pants, lace-up boots, and a jaunty
black cap." Paolini originally self-published the book and
publicized it on local tours. Incidentally, he gave a speech at Carl Hiaasen's
stepson's school and Hiaasen enjoyed the book so much, he told his publisher,
Knopf. An offer was made by Knopf for Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance
trilogy. After another round of editing, the second edition of Eragon was
published in August 2003. With regard to his prose, Paolini has said,
"In my writing, I strive for a lyrical beauty somewhere between Tolkien at
his best and Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf." Read More About Christopher Paolini >> or go to the Alagaesia Website >>
Philip Pullman
Philip Pullman's most well-known work is the trilogy His Dark Materials, beginning with Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the USA) in 1995, continuing with The Subtle Knife in 1997, and concluding with The Amber Spyglass in 2000. These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book. He was the 2002 recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature. At the award ceremony for that prize, which he was very proud to receive, and promised to spend his time in future making fewer speeches and writing more books. Stay tuned for The Book of Dust, the final book in the series. Read More About Philip Pullman >>
Philip Pullman's most well-known work is the trilogy His Dark Materials, beginning with Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the USA) in 1995, continuing with The Subtle Knife in 1997, and concluding with The Amber Spyglass in 2000. These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award - the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book. He was the 2002 recipient of the Eleanor Farjeon Award for children's literature. At the award ceremony for that prize, which he was very proud to receive, and promised to spend his time in future making fewer speeches and writing more books. Stay tuned for The Book of Dust, the final book in the series. Read More About Philip Pullman >>
Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan is the award-winning, bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series and the creator of a new series The 39 Clues. For Rick Riordan (pronounced Ryer'-dan), a bedtime story shared with his oldest son was just the beginning of his journey into the world of children's books. Already an award-winning author of mysteries for adults, Riordan, a former teacher, was asked by his son Haley to tell him some bedtime stories about the gods and heroes in Greek mythology. "I had taught Greek myths for many years at the middle school level, so I was glad to comply," says Riordan. "When I ran out of myths, (Haley) was disappointed and asked me if I could make up something new with the same characters." At the time, Haley had just been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. Greek mythology was one of the only subjects that interested the then second-grader in school. Motivated by Haley's request, Riordan quickly came up with the character of Percy Jackson and told Haley all about "(Percy's) quest to recover Zeus's lightning bolt in modern-day America," says Riordan. "It took about three nights to tell the whole story, and when I was done, Haley told me I should write it out as a book." Read More About Rick Riordan at Scholastic >> or go to Rick Riorden's Website >>
J.R.R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specializing in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide. Read More About J.R.R. Tolkien at the Tolkien Society Website >>
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a major scholar of the English language, specializing in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford, he also wrote a number of stories, including most famously The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955), which are set in a pre-historic era in an invented version of the world which he called by the Middle English name of Middle-earth. This was peopled by Men (and women), Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Orcs (or Goblins) and of course Hobbits. He has regularly been condemned by the Eng. Lit. establishment, with honourable exceptions, but loved by literally millions of readers worldwide. Read More About J.R.R. Tolkien at the Tolkien Society Website >>
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