Lewis Shiner (born December 30, 1950 in Eugene, Oregon) is an American writer. Shiner began his career as a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writer, and then identified with

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and c ...

. He later wrote more mainstream novels, albeit often with

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...

and

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 ...

elements. He was formerly a resident of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

(and a member of the Turkey City Writer's Workshop), and now lives in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Life and career

Shiner graduated from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

in 1973. Several of his novels have

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

as a theme or main focus, especially the musicians of the late 1960s; for example, Shiner's 1993 novel ''Glimpses'' considers the great never-recorded albums of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

, Brian Wilson,

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

and Jimi Hendrix. ''Say Goodbye: The Laurie Moss Story'' (1999) focuses on a fictional up-and-coming female musician and her subsequent fall back down. ''Slam'' (1990) is immersed in

skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a mo ...

and anarchist culture. Perhaps because novels with music as a major theme are not generally considered mainstream genre material, his work has frequently been overlooked. He is a contributing author to the

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

-edited anthology ''

Wild Cards ''Wild Cards'' is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors (referred to as the "Wild Cards Trust") and are edited by George ...

'', notably creating that universe's most powerful character, the tantric sex magic wielding pimp, Fortunato. In July 2007 Shiner created the web site Fiction Liberation Front (FLF) as a venue for his short stories. The stories are released under the

Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...

and are available in

HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaSc ...

and PDF formats. Since 2006, Shiner has been a card-carrying member of the radical labor union, the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines general ...

. On July 22, 2007,

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...

began publishing a weekly column by Shiner, titled "Graphic Scenes", about comics.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Frontera''. Riverdale, NY, USA: Baen, 1984 (paper). *''Deserted Cities of the Heart''. New York, NY, USA: Doubleday, 1988. *''Slam''. New York, NY, USA: Doubleday, 1990. *''Glimpses''. New York, NY, USA: William Morrow & Co., 1993. (

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

winner) *''Say Goodbye''. New York, NY, USA: St Martin's, 1999. *''Black & White''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2008. *''Dark Tangos''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2011. *''Outside the Gates of Eden''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2019.

Collections

*''Nine Hard Questions about the Nature of the Universe''. Eugene, OR, USA: Pulphouse Publishing, 1991. No ISBN (''Author's Choice Monthly'' #4) *''The Edges of Things''. Baltimore, WA, USA: Washington Science Fiction Association, 1991. *''Twilight Time''. Eugene, OR, USA: Pulphouse Publishing, 1991. No ISBN *''Private Eye Action As You Like It'' with Joe R. Lansdale. Holyoke, MA, USA: Crossroads Press, 1998. *''Love in Vain''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2001. *''Shades of Gray'' (chapbook available with the signed, numbered limited edition of ''Black and White''). Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2008. *''Love in Vain'' (Australian edition, includes previously uncollected novellas "Perfidia" and "Primes"). Greenwood, WA, Australia: Ticonderoga Publications, 2009. *''Collected Stories''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2009. *''Widows & Orphans'' (chapbook available with the signed, numbered limited edition of ''Collected Stories''). Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2009. *''Heroes and Villains''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2017.

Wild Cards

* Wild Cards I: Wild Cards - contains the short stories "The Long Dark Night of Fortunato" and "Epilogue: Third Generation" written by Shiner in 1986 * Wild Cards II: Aces High - contains the short story "Pennies from Hell" written by Shiner in 1987 * Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild - contains segments of the character "Fortunato" written by Shiner in 1987 * Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad - contains the short story "Zero Hour" written by Shiner in 1988

Editor

*''Modern Stories #1'' (April, 1983): A self-published fanzine featuring original fiction by

William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...

Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Personal life Though born in Houston, Mississippi, Waldrop has spent ...

, and Joe R. Lansdale, among others. *''When The Music's Over'' ( anthology featuring alternatives to

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

) (Nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology)

Comics

* ''Time Masters'' (with Bob Wayne) Art by

Art Thibert Arthur Thibert is a comic book artist, primarily known as a freelance inker, although he has a substantial résumé as a penciler and has even written some comics. Thibert is best known for his work as an inker for Marvel Comics on their various '' ...

and

Jose Marzan Jr. Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

(

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

February 1990 - September 1990) *"Scales" Art by Carlos Kastro (adaptation of the short story of the same name) in ''Omnibus: Modern Perversity'' (Blackbird Comics January 1992) *''

The Hacker Files ''The Hacker Files'' is a twelve issue DC Comics mini-series published from August 1992 to July 1993. It was written by Lewis Shiner and illustrated by Tom Sutton. Publication history The series written by cyberpunk novelist Lewis Shiner is notab ...

'' Art by

Tom Sutton Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002) He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyoming. Later, stationed at It ...

(

August 1992 - July 1993) *"Steam Engine Time" Art by Doug Potter (adaptation of the short story of the same name) in ''Wild West Show'' (

Mojo Press Mojo Press is a now-defunct small press which primarily published science fiction, horror, and western books and graphic novels between 1994 and 1999. History Mojo Press was founded in 1994 by publisher Ben Ostrander and managing editor Richa ...

1996)

References

External links

Official WebpageFiction Liberation Front (FLF)
*
''Austin Chronicle'' article about the Fiction Liberation FrontInterview on The Next Track podcastInterview on sfss.space
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiner, Lewis 1950 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers Living people American atheists American male novelists Cyberpunk writers Industrial Workers of the World members Novelists from North Carolina World Fantasy Award-winning writers Chapbook writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers