Laurell K. Hamilton was born in Heber Springs, Arkansas on February 19, 1963. She received degrees in English and biology from Marion College, which is now Indiana Wesleyan University. She writes the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series and the Meredith Gentry series.
Charlaine Harris was born in Tunica, Mississippi on November 25, 1951. She attended Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. She wrote poetry and plays before beginning to publish mysteries set in the American South. She is the author of the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series, the Lily Bard Mystery series, the Harper Connelly series, and the Sookie Stackhouse series. In 2001, the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead until Dark, won an Anthony Award for Best Paperback Mystery. The series was adapted as a TV show on HBO called True Blood.
Holly Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey on November 10, 1971. She graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. Her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale was published in 2002 and was included in the American Library Association's Best Books for Young Adults. Her other works include The Spiderwick Chronicles written with Tony DiTerlizzi, Ironside, Poison Eaters and Other Stories, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The Iron Trial (Magisteruim Book 1) and The Copper Gauntlet (Magisteruim Book 2) written with Cassandra Clare, and The Darkest Part of the Forest. Valiant won the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. She also won the Young-Adult Prize in the Indies Choice Book Awards 2015 for The Darkest Part of the Forest. Black and Clare's Magisterium Series has received both critical and popular acclaim appearing on numerous bestseller lists including The New York Times bestseller list in the Young Adult category.
Rachel Caine was born Roxanne Conrad in White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. She received a bachelor's degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. Before becoming a full-time author in 2010, she worked in corporate communications. She has written more than 40 novels including the Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, the Great Library series, Prince of Shadows, and the Revivalist series. She has written under the names Julie Fortune, Roxanne Longstreet and Roxanne Conrad. She received a Paranormal Pearl Award, an RT Booklovers Award, and a Career Achievement Award from Romantic Times. On Sunday, November 1, 2020, she died at the age of 58.
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro was born in Berkeley, California on September 15, 1942. She graduated from San Francisco State College in 1963 and worked as a demographic cartographer until becoming a full-time writer in 1970. She writes horror, science fiction, and fantasy novels including Time of the Fourth Horseman, To the High Redoubt, Spider Glass, Arcane Wisdome, and The Saint-Germain Cycle series. She has received several awards including a Life Achievement Award from the Horror Writers Association in 2009 and a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention in 2014. In 1997, the Transylvanian Society of Dracula bestowed a literary knighthood on her.
