Kelley Armstrong (born 14 December 1968)Bio for school projectsarchive
is a Canadian writer, primarily of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

novels since 2001. She has published thirty-one fantasy novels , thirteen in her ''

Women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

'' series, five in her Cainsville series, six in her Rockton series, three in her

Darkest Powers series ''The Darkest Powers'' is a series of paranormal novels by Kelley Armstrong. The series revolves around The Edison Group, a team of supernatural scientists, and the subjects they have experimented on. The novels are divided into two trilogies. '' ...

, three in her Darkness Rising trilogy and three in the Age of Legends series, and three stand-alone teen thrillers. She has also published three middle-grade fantasy novels in the Blackwell Pages trilogy, with co-author

Melissa Marr Melissa Marr (born July 25, 1972) is an American author of young adult/urban fantasy novels. Biography Marr, a former university English teacher, currently resides in Arizona. Her first novel was published in 2007, the New York Times bestseller ...

. As well, she is the author of three

crime novels Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, the Nadia Stafford trilogy. She has also written several serial novellas and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

for the Otherworld series, some of which are available free from her website. Starting in 2014, a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television series based on the ''Women of the Otherworld,'' called Bitten, aired for 3 seasons on

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

, and SyFy.

Biography

Kelley Armstrong was born on 14 December 1968, the oldest of four siblings in a "typical middle-class family" in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

, Ontario. After graduating with a degree in

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

from The University of Western Ontario, Armstrong then switched to studying

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as anal ...

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it has campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodsto ...

so she would have time to write.

"I'm a former computer programmer, but I have escaped my corporate cubicle and hope never to return"

Her first novel '' Bitten'' was sold in 1999, and it was released in 2001. Following her first success she has written a total of 13 novels and a number of novellas in the world of the ''

Women of the Otherworld ''Women of the Otherworld'' is the name of a fantasy series by Canadian author Kelley Armstrong. The books feature werewolves, witches, necromancers, sorcerers, and vampires struggling to fit as "normal" in today's world. The series also inclu ...

'' series, and her first

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

, ''Exit Strategy'', was released July 2007. Armstrong has been a full-time writer and parent since 2002. Her novel '' No Humans Involved'' (the seventh book of the ''Women of the Otherworld'' series) was a ''New York Times'' bestseller in the hardback fiction category on 20 May 2007. Also, her YA novel '' The Awakening'' was a No. 1 ''New York Times'' bestseller in the Children's Chapter books category on 17 May 2009.

Description of work

Armstrong's ''Women of the Otherworld'' series is part of a recently popular contemporary fantasy subgenre of the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

that superimposes supernatural characters upon a backdrop of contemporary North American life, with strong romantic elements. Within that subgenre, she is notable for including many types of supernatural characters, including

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

es, sorcerers,

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

, necromancers, ghosts,

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in Media (communication), media such as comics, video ...

s and

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

s, rather than limiting herself primarily to a single type of supernatural creature. Most of her works have a mystery genre plot, with leading characters investigating some novel situation or unsolved question. In the ''Otherworld'' novels, most supernatural powers are either hereditary, or arise from the act of an existing supernatural of the same type. The ''Otherworld'', while it has overarching conflicts and plotlines that span multiple novels, is not an epic battle between good and evil. The novels are largely episodic with the continuing plotlines primarily involving the developing lives of the main characters. Her contemporary fantasy writings share genre similarities with writers Charlaine Harris,

Laurell K Hamilton Laurell Kaye Hamilton (born February 19, 1963) is an American fantasy and romance writer. She is best known as the author of two series of stories. Her ''New York Times''-bestselling '' Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter'' series centers on Anita Bla ...

and

Kim Harrison Kim Harrison (born 1966) is a pen name of American author Dawn Cook. Kim is best known as the author of the ''New York Times'' #1 best selling Hollows series, but she has written more than urban fantasy and has published over two dozen books span ...

Bibliography

Standalone novels

* ''Wherever She Goes'' (2019) *''Every Step She Takes'' (2020)

Young adult

* ''The Masked Truth'' (2015) * ''The Unquiet Past'' (2016) * ''Missing'' (2017) * ''Aftermath'' (2018)

The Women of the Otherworld Series

* All other stories may be found on the series' main article.

Otherworld novellas

Otherworld Young Adult

# ''Wolf"s Bane'' (Oct 2019) # ''Wolf's Curse'' (Mar 2020)

The Nadia Stafford Series

#''Exit Strategy'' (novel, Jul 2007)Author's book summary for ''Exit Strategy''
/ref> #''Made to be Broken'' (novel, Feb 2009) #''Wild Justice'' (novel, late 2013)Author's book summary for final Stafford book
#''Double Play'' (Apr 2016) #''Perfect Victim'' (Nov 2017)

The Darkest Powers Series

The Darkest Powers Trilogy

The Darkness Rising Trilogy

Cainsville series

# ''Omens'' (novel, Aug 2013) # ''Visions'' (novel, Aug 2014) # ''Deceptions'' (novel, Aug 2015) # ''Betrayals'' (novel, Aug 2016) # ''Rituals'' (novel, Aug 2017) # ''Portents: A Collection of Cainsville Tales'' (collection, Aug 2018) # ''Cruel Fate'' (novella, Apr 2019) # ''Rough Justice'' (novella, Jun 2018) # ''Lost Souls'' (novella, Mar 2017)

The Age of Legends Series

# ''Sea of Shadows'' (novel, 2014) # ''Empire of Night'' (novel, 2015) # ''Forest of Ruin'' (novel, 2016)

The Blackwell Pages Trilogy

Written under the alias: ''K. L. Armstrong. Co-authored with Melissa Marr.'' #''Loki's Wolves'' (2013) #''Odin's Ravens'' (May 2014) #''Thor's Serpent'' (May 2015)

Rockton novels

# '' City of the Lost'' (Jan 2017) # ''A Darkness Absolute'' (Nov 2017) # ''This Fallen Prey'' (Nov 2018) #''Watcher in the Woods'' (Nov 2019) #''Alone in the Wild'' (Feb 2020) #''A Stranger in Town'' (Feb 2021) #
The Deepest of Secrets
' (Feb 2022)

A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying

# ''A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying'' (Aug 2019) # ''The Gryphon's Lair'' (Jun 2020) #''The Serpent's Fury'' (Jun 2021) #''The Final Trial'' (Jun 2022)

A Stitch in Time

Cursed Luck

A Rip Through Time

Series in collaboration

Anthologies and collections

Notes

References

External links

*

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Kelley 1968 births Canadian fantasy writers Canadian horror writers Canadian mystery writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women novelists Fanshawe College alumni Living people Writers from Greater Sudbury University of Western Ontario alumni Urban fantasy writers Women mystery writers Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women horror writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian thriller writers