Lawrence Watt-Evans
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Watt-Evans is one of the pseudonym
s of American
science fiction
and fantasy
author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer). Born in Arlington, Massachusetts
, as the fourth of six children, he made his first attempts at professional writing when he was eight.
After graduating from Bedford High School
in Bedford, Massachusetts
, he attended Princeton University
but left without a degree. By the rules of Princeton, he could not re-apply for a year, during which he began to seriously try to sell his writing, but sold nothing significant until The Lure of the Basilisk in 1978 (published 1980), whereupon he began writing full time. Despite having sold a short story and several articles under his real name, he initially submitted his first novel under a pseudonym; it was the editor of that novel, Lester Del Rey
, who first demanded he use his real name and then added the hyphen to create the name Lawrence Watt-Evans. Evans had insisted on including his middle name to avoid confusion with a contemporary non-fiction writer also named Lawrence Evans, and del Rey had then added the hyphen "to make it more distinctive".
Watt-Evans was president of the Horror Writers Association
from 1994 to 1996, and has also served as Eastern Regional Director and treasurer of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
. From 1995 to 1997, he was half of a partnership known as Malicious Press (with screenwriter Terry Rossio
), which published Deathrealm
magazine, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey
and he was the managing editor of the webzine Helix SF
for its entire run of ten quarterly issues.
In April 2005, Watt-Evans announced that the first draft of his latest Ethshar
novel, The Spriggan Mirror, would be made available online as a serial
, using a modified version of the Street Performer Protocol
. The draft has since been finished and was previously available in its entirety on one of Watt-Evans' websites. However, a revised version has now been published commercially in both electronic and paper editions, so the free version has been removed. In 2007 he completed another novel, The Vondish Ambassador
, in November 2008 he started writing Realms of Light (a sequel to Nightside City), in June 2010 he started The Final Calling another Ethshar novel, all using that same method.
The Worlds of Shadow
The Obsidian Chronicles
The Annals of the Chosen
", which won the Hugo Award
for Best Short Story in 1988.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 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...
author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer). Born in Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, as the fourth of six children, he made his first attempts at professional writing when he was eight.
After graduating from Bedford High School
Bedford High School (Bedford, Massachusetts)
Bedford High School is a public high school in the town of Bedford, Massachusetts. Students come primarily from Bedford. Other students that attend Bedford High School come from the neighboring Hanscom Air Force Base or from Boston through the use of the METCO system...
in Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
, he attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
but left without a degree. By the rules of Princeton, he could not re-apply for a year, during which he began to seriously try to sell his writing, but sold nothing significant until The Lure of the Basilisk in 1978 (published 1980), whereupon he began writing full time. Despite having sold a short story and several articles under his real name, he initially submitted his first novel under a pseudonym; it was the editor of that novel, Lester Del Rey
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
, who first demanded he use his real name and then added the hyphen to create the name Lawrence Watt-Evans. Evans had insisted on including his middle name to avoid confusion with a contemporary non-fiction writer also named Lawrence Evans, and del Rey had then added the hyphen "to make it more distinctive".
Watt-Evans was president of the Horror Writers Association
Horror Writers Association
The Horror Writers Association is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark Fantasy writers. It was formed in the 1980s with the help of many of the field's greats, including Joe Lansdale, Robert...
from 1994 to 1996, and has also served as Eastern Regional Director and treasurer of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, or SFWA is a nonprofit association of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. It was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight under the name Science Fiction Writers of America, Inc. and it retains the acronym SFWA after a very brief use of the SFFWA...
. From 1995 to 1997, he was half of a partnership known as Malicious Press (with screenwriter Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio is an American screenwriter.Rossio was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating from Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, California, he went on to study at California State University, Fullerton where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications, with an emphasis in radio,...
), which published Deathrealm
Deathrealm
Deathrealm was a small-press magazine of horror fiction that ran from 1987 through 1997, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey. In its ten-year history, Deathrealm featured hundreds of stories by writers ranging from talented first-timers to the best-known professionals in the horror field...
magazine, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey
Stephen Mark Rainey
Stephen Mark Rainey is an author of novels, short stories, and various works of nonfiction. From 1987 to 1997, he edited Deathrealm, a magazine of horror and dark fantasy fiction, for which he won several awards for Best Editor.-Biography:...
and he was the managing editor of the webzine Helix SF
Helix SF
Helix SF was a quarterly American speculative fiction online magazine edited by William Sanders and Lawrence Watt-Evans. The poetry editor was Bud Webster....
for its entire run of ten quarterly issues.
In April 2005, Watt-Evans announced that the first draft of his latest Ethshar
Ethshar
Ethshar is a constructed world first developed by American fantasy author Lawrence Watt-Evans for use in role-playing games, in which he later set a number of novels and short stories...
novel, The Spriggan Mirror, would be made available online as a serial
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
, using a modified version of the Street Performer Protocol
Street Performer Protocol
The threshold pledge or fund and release system is a way of making a fundraising pledge as a group of individuals, often involving charitable goals or financing the provision of a public good. An amount of money is set as the goal or threshold to reach for the specified purpose and interested...
. The draft has since been finished and was previously available in its entirety on one of Watt-Evans' websites. However, a revised version has now been published commercially in both electronic and paper editions, so the free version has been removed. In 2007 he completed another novel, The Vondish Ambassador
The Vondish Ambassador
The Vondish Ambassador is a novel by Lawrence Watt-Evans set in his Ethshar universe. He serialized it with a variant of the Street Performer Protocol. It remained available online until at least late July 2008, at his ....
, in November 2008 he started writing Realms of Light (a sequel to Nightside City), in June 2010 he started The Final Calling another Ethshar novel, all using that same method.
The Lords of Dûs series
- The Lure of the Basilisk (1980)
- The Seven Altars of Dûsarra (1981)
- The Sword of Bheleu (1982)
- The Book of Silence (1984)
The Worlds of ShadowThe Worlds of ShadowThe Worlds of Shadow is a fantasy novel trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.There are three worlds in the story. There is a fantasy world where magic works and the planet is literally the centre of the universe, a science fiction world containing "faster than light" travel and blaster technology and...
series
- Out of This WorldOut of This World (Watt-Evans novel)Out of This World is the first fantasy novel in The Worlds of Shadow trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.-Plot introduction:The premise of the novel is that parallel universes do exist. Some have intelligent non-human life, while others are populated by English-speaking humans. Prior to the events of...
(1993) - In the Empire of ShadowIn the Empire of ShadowIn the Empire of Shadow is the second fantasy novel in The Worlds of Shadow trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.-Plot introduction:A group from this world is trapped in a science fiction universe...
(1995) - The Reign of the Brown MagicianThe Reign of the Brown MagicianThe Reign of the Brown Magician is the final fantasy novel in The Worlds of Shadow trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.-Plot introduction:By defeating the powerful wizard who runs a fantasy universe, a man from this world gains all of her powers...
(1996)
The Obsidian ChroniclesThe Obsidian ChroniclesThe Obsidian Chronicles are a trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans. The three books are Dragon Weather, The Dragon Society, and Dragon Venom.It centers around a boy named Arlian and his quest for vengeance against the dragons that destroyed his hometown and killed his family, and against the man who sold...
- Dragon Weather (1999)
- The Dragon SocietyThe Dragon SocietyThe Dragon Society is the second fantasy novel of The Obsidian Chronicles, a trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.-Plot introduction:After the events of the first book, Dragon Weather, Arlian finds himself armed with the knowledge of how dragons reproduce. It is a nasty and terrible business and Arlian...
(2001) - Dragon VenomDragon VenomDragon Venom is the third fantasy novel of The Obsidian Chronicles, a trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.-Plot introduction:Arlian has discovered how to kill the dragons, he now faces an all-out war between dragons and humans. The Dragon Society is split between those loyal to the dragons and those...
(2003)
The Legends of Ethshar series
- The Misenchanted Sword (1985)
- With a Single Spell (1987)
- The Unwilling WarlordThe Unwilling WarlordThe Unwilling Warlord is a fantasy novel by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It details the story of hereditary warlord Sterren of Semma taking over, unwillingly, the position of warlord for one of Ethshar's Small Kingdoms.-Plot introduction:...
(1989) - The Blood of a Dragon (1991)
- Taking Flight (1993)
- The Spell of the Black Dagger (1993)
- Night of Madness (2000)
- Ithanalin's Restoration (2002)
- The Spriggan Mirror (2006)
- The Vondish AmbassadorThe Vondish AmbassadorThe Vondish Ambassador is a novel by Lawrence Watt-Evans set in his Ethshar universe. He serialized it with a variant of the Street Performer Protocol. It remained available online until at least late July 2008, at his ....
(2007) - The Unwelcome WarlockThe Unwelcome WarlockThe Unwelcome Warlock is the eleventh novel in Lawrence Watt-Evans' series the Legends of Ethshar. It was produced as a serial under the name The Final Calling making it the latest of the four such novels written by Watt-Evans and supported entirely by reader donations...
(2010)
The Annals of the ChosenThe Annals of the ChosenThe Annals of the Chosen is a trilogy by Lawrence Watt-Evans.The trilogy is set in the world of Barokan. All magic in Barokan is based on ler. Magic is broken into two types. Ler of the first type are linked to a specific object. There are ler of plants, places, animals and things. Priests...
trilogy
- The Wizard Lord (2006)
- The Ninth Talisman (2007)
- The Summer Palace (2008)
Bound Lands
- A Young Man Without Magic (2009)
- Above His Proper Station (2010)
Other fantasy novels
- The Rebirth of Wonder (1992)
- Split Heirs (in collaboration with Esther FriesnerEsther FriesnerEsther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner is an American science fiction and fantasy author best known for her humorous pieces.- Life :...
) (1993) - Touched by the Gods (1997)
The War Surplus series
- The Cyborg and the Sorcerers (1982)
- The Wizard and the War Machine (1987)
Star Trek novels
- Voyager: Ragnarok (as Nathan Archer) (1995)
- Deep Space Nine: Valhalla (as Nathan Archer) (1995)
Other science fiction novels
- The Chromosomal Code (1984)
- Shining Steel (1986)
- Denner's Wreck (1988)
- The Spartacus File (in collaboration with Carl Parlagreco) (2005)
- Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
: Goblin Moon (as Nathan Archer, with Kurt BusiekKurt BusiekKurt Busiek is an American comic book writer notable for his work on the Marvels limited series, his own title Astro City, and his four-year run on Avengers.-Early life:...
) (1999) - Mars Attacks: Martian Deathtrap (as Nathan Archer) (1996)
- PredatorPredator (novel series)The Predator novels are an extension of the Predator franchise, the most recent are published by Dark Horse Comics under their DH Press imprint...
:- Cold War (as Nathan Archer) (1997)
- Concrete Jungle (as Nathan Archer) (1995)
- How to Prosper During the Coming Zombie Apocalypse (as Nathan Archer) (2011)
Short stories
He has written more than a hundred short stories, including "Why I Left Harry's All-Night HamburgersWhy I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers
"Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers" is a science fiction short story by Lawrence Watt-Evans. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1988, and was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1987.-Plot summary:...
", which won the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Short Story in 1988.
Collections
- Crosstime Traffic (short story collection) (1992)
- Celestial Debris (2002)
Literary Criticism
- The Turtle Moves! (Discworld's Story Unauthorized) (2008) - Review of the comic fantasy series by Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
.
External links
- Author's home page: The Misenchanted Page
- The Ethshar Home Page
- The Vondish Ambassador Serialization
- Short interview at Geek World
- December 1997 Interview at Writers Write, mainly about the writing process of Touched By the Gods
- July 1998 interview at Critters