James D. Macdonald
Encyclopedia
James D. Macdonald is an American author and critic who lives in New Hampshire with his wife and frequent collaborator, Dr. Debra Doyle
. He works in several genres, concentrating on fantasy
, but also writing science fiction
, and mystery
and media tie-in
s.
. He attended the University of Rochester
, and went on to serve in the US Navy for fifteen years. He has been writing professionally since the early 1990s and has published 35 novels.
, Teresa Nielsen Hayden
).
, a company that claims not to be a vanity publisher but a "traditional publisher" that accepts or rejects books based on their quality. Macdonald organized a group of professional authors to test whether that company was actually reading any submissions for clarity and realism before accepting them. One day after Macdonald issued a press release announcing that PublishAmerica had accepted a manuscript that was created to be as bad as possible, the company withdrew the offer to publish it.
.
Debra Doyle
Dr. Debra Doyle is an American author writing in multiple related genres, including science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. Many of her stories are co-written with her husband, James D. Macdonald...
. He works in several genres, concentrating on fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, but also writing science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, and mystery
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
and media tie-in
Tie-in
A tie-in is an authorized product based on a media property a company is releasing, such as a movie or video/DVD, computer game, video game, television program/television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property...
s.
Biography
Macdonald was born in 1954, and raised in White Plains, New YorkWhite Plains, New York
White Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
. He attended the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
, and went on to serve in the US Navy for fifteen years. He has been writing professionally since the early 1990s and has published 35 novels.
Educational work
Macdonald is well known for his work in educating aspiring authors, particularly for his advice on avoiding literary scams. Early in his career he was asked by such an author how much he had paid to have his books published, and in response began a campaign of educating other writers about the problems of vanity publishers. As part of this campaign, he coined Yog's Law, which states "Money should flow toward the author," which is often quoted by professional authors when giving advice on getting published (such as John ScalziJohn Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi II is an American author and online writer, and president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He is best known for his Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, released by Tor Books in January 2005, and for his blog , at which he has written...
, Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Teresa Nielsen Hayden
Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an American science fiction editor, fanzine writer, essayist, and teacher. She is a consulting editor for Tor Books. She has also worked for Federated Media Publishing, where in 2007 she revived the comment section for the blog Boing Boing...
).
Atlanta Nights and PublishAmerica
One target of his campaign is PublishAmericaPublishAmerica
PublishAmerica is a Maryland-based print-on-demand book publisher founded in 1999 by Lawrence Alvin "Larry" Clopper III and Willem Meiners ....
, a company that claims not to be a vanity publisher but a "traditional publisher" that accepts or rejects books based on their quality. Macdonald organized a group of professional authors to test whether that company was actually reading any submissions for clarity and realism before accepting them. One day after Macdonald issued a press release announcing that PublishAmerica had accepted a manuscript that was created to be as bad as possible, the company withdrew the offer to publish it.
Awards and honors
Knight's Wyrd was awarded the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's literature, 1992, and named to the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list in 1993. In 1997, he was awarded Best Young-Adult Science Fiction by the Science Fiction Chronicle for GrooglemanGroogleman
Groogleman is a young adult science fiction novel written by Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald and published by Harcourt in 1996. Set in a post-apocalyptic future, it is the story of 13-year-old Dan Henchard, who shows signs of an immunity to the deadly plague which threatens his village...
.
Novels with Debra Doyle
- (Under pseudonym Robyn Tallis) Night of Ghosts and Lightning ("Planet Builders" series), Ivy, 1989.
- (Under pseudonym Robyn Tallis) Zero-Sum Games ("Planet Builders" series), Ivy, 1989.
- (Under pseudonym Victor Appleton) Monster Machine ("Tom Swift" series), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.
- (Under pseudonym Victor Appleton) Aquatech Warriors ("Tom Swift" series), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1991.
- Timecrime, Inc. ("Robert Silverberg's 'Time Tours'" series), Harper (New York, NY), 1991.
- Night of the Living Rat ("Daniel Pinkwater's 'Melvinge of the Megaverse'" series), Ace Books (New York, NY), 1992.
- Knight's Wyrd, Harcourt, Brace (New York, NY), 1992.
- Groogleman, Harcourt, Brace (New York, NY), 1996.
- Requiem for Boone (based on the television series Gene Roddenberry's Earth—Final Conflict), Tor (New York, NY), 2000.
- (As Douglas Morgan) Tiger Cruise, Forge (New York, NY), 2001.
- (As Douglas Morgan) What Do You with a Drunken Sailor? (nonfiction), Swordsmith, 2002.
- Land of Mist and Snow, Eos, 2006
"Circle of Magic/The Wizard Apprentice" series, with Debra Doyle
- School of Wizardry, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- Tournament and Tower/The Secret of the Tower, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- City by the Sea/The Wizard's Statue, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- The Prince's Players/Danger in the Palace, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- The Prisoners of Bell Castle/The Wizard's Castle, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- The High King's Daughter, Troll (Metuchen, NJ), 1990.
- Mystery at the Wizardry School, Troll (Metuchen NJ), 2003. [This book was not written by the authors James D. Macdonald and Debra Doyle, they only wrote the first 6]
- Voice of the Ice,Cloverdale Press, 2003. [This book was not written by Doyle and Macdonald, despite having their names on the cover.]
Horror High series
All written with Debra Doyle under the joint pseudonym "Nicholas Adams."- Horror High: Mister Popularity
- Horror High: Resolved: You're Dead
- Horror High: Heartbreaker
- Horror High: New Kid on the Block
- Horror High: Hard Rock
- Horror High: Sudden Death
- Horror High: Pep Rally
- Horror High: Final Curtain
- Horror High: Blood Game
- Horror High: Deadly Secret
- Horror High: Voice of Evil
- Horror High: You're Dead
"Mageworld" series, with Debra Doyle
- The Price of the Stars, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1992.
- Starpilot's Grave, Tor (New York, NY), 1993.
- By Honor Betray'd, Tor (New York, NY), 1994.
- The Gathering Flame, Tor (New York, NY), 1995.
- The Long Hunt, Tor (New York, NY) 1996.
- The Stars Asunder, Tor (New York, NY) 1999.
- A Working of Stars, Tor (New York, NY), 2002.
"Bad Blood" series, with Debra Doyle
- Bad Blood, Berkley (New York, NY), 1993.
- Hunters' Moon, Berkley (New York, NY), 1994.
- Judgment Night, Berkley (New York, NY), 1995.
Under joint pseudonym "Martin Delrio," with Debra Doyle
- Mortal Kombat (movie novelization), Tor (New York, NY), 1995.
- Midnight Justice ("Spider-Man Super-Thriller" series), Byron Preiss (New York, NY), 1996.
- Global War ("Spider-Man Super-Thriller" series), Byron Preiss (New York, NY), 1996.
- Harold R. Foster's Prince Valiant (movie novelization), Avon (New York, NY), 1998.
- The Loch Ness Monster (nonfiction), Rosen Publishing (New York, NY), 2002.
- Truth and Shadows (novel; "MechWarrior: Dark Age" series), Roc (New York, NY), 2003.
External links
- Official web site
- Official forum at IBDoF
- Travis Tea - author of Atlanta Nights
- Interview on IT Conversations