Arinn Dembo (born February 3, 1970) is an American author currently living and writing in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

, Canada. Dembo is best known for her work with Vancouver-based

Kerberos Productions Kerberos Productions Inc. is a video game developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company was formed in 2003 by former employees of Rockstar Vancouver. The company takes its name and logo from Cerberus, a large three-headed c ...

, where she was lead writer and has worked on the background fiction for the '' Sword of the Stars'' series and ''

Fort Zombie ''Fort Zombie'' is a role-playing video game developed by Kerberos Productions. It was released on October 30, 2009. The game takes place on a version of Earth that is being invaded by an evil force which warps reality and creates zombies. Player ...

''. She attended the

Clarion West Writers Workshop Clarion West Writers Workshop is an intensive six-week program for writers preparing for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. It runs annually from late June through the end of July. The workshop is limited to 18 students per year. ...

in 1990 and frequently participates in the Workshop's annual Write-a-thon charity to raise money to cover its costs. Dembo holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology with a minor in classical civilizations from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

and a master's degree in classical archaeology from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Published professionally for the first time in the ''

New York Review of Science Fiction ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' is a monthly literary magazine of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarsh ...

'' in 1991 with an essay on

Tim Powers Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tides ...

' ''

The Stress of Her Regard Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels '' Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tide ...

'', Dembo was primarily a critic in the early years of her career. She was best known as a reviewer in the PC gaming industry and covered more than 100 titles for '' Computer Gaming World Magazine'' and CNET between 1995 and 1997. Over the years she has also published short stories, novellas and reviews of books, films, music and DVD releases. Dembo's novella ''The Deacon's Tale'' was published in 2008 by

Lighthouse Interactive Lighthouse Interactive Game Publishing B.V. was a video game publisher established in 2005 by industry veterans. With its head office in Haarlem, The Netherlands and a satellite office in Montreal, Canada, the company grew quickly and went on to ...

and packaged with the ''Sword of the Stars Collector's Edition''. A revised edition was published as a full-length novel in 2011 by Kthonia Press. ''Monsoon and Other stories'', a collection of short fiction and poetry including the award-winning "Monsoon", was published by Kthonia Press in 2012. In November 2019, Dembo joined the Executive Board of

SF Canada SF Canada was founded as an authors collective circa 1989 under the title Canada’s National Association of Speculative Fiction Professionals. Several Canadian science fiction authors have made public claim to be "founding members" of the organi ...

, the professional association of Canadian speculative fiction authors. She served as President of the association until January of 2022.

Bibliography

Poetry

# "Three Desert Poems", published in ''Raindrops Literary Review'' (1999) # "Severity", published in ''Raindrops Literary Review'' (1999) # "The Crown", published in ''Raindrops Literary Review'' (2001) # "The Humanist's Prayer", published by ''The Manitoba Humanist'' (2004) # "The Other Wife: An Invocation to the Goddess Kali", published in ''

H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror ''H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror'' was a quarterly horror magazine edited by Marvin Kaye and published by Wildside Press. The magazine was named after H. P. Lovecraft, an American author. History and profile Issue #1 was published on 11 Ap ...

'' #4 (2006) # "The Zombie's Prayer", published in ''Monsoon and Other Stories'' (2012) # "Waste", published in ''Weird Tales'' #361, Summer 2013

Essays

# "Impassion'd Clay: On Tim Powers' ''The Stress of Her Regard''", published in ''

The New York Review of Science Fiction ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' is a monthly literary magazine of science fiction that was established in 1988. It includes works of science fiction criticism, essays, and in-depth critical reviews of new works of fiction and scholarshi ...

'' (1991) # "We Are Indra", published in ''Radiant Reason: the New Humanism'' (1999) # "Offerings at the Tomb", published in ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (2001) # "''The Last Continent'': An Exchange", published in ''The New York Review of Science Fiction'' (2001)

Short stories

# "Sisterhood of the Skin", published in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'' (1996) # "Between the Lines", published in ''Imagination Fully Dilated: Science Fiction'' (Fairwood Press, 2003) # "When Push Comes to Shove", published in ''

The Vancouver Courier The ''Vancouver Courier'' was a Canadian semi-weekly local newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by the Van-Net chain owned by Glacier Media Group. In 2007, it was Canada's largest distributed community newspaper, with a wee ...

'' (2004) # "Indigestion", published in ''The Vancouver Courier'' (2005) # "Monsoon", published in ''

Best Fantastic Erotica Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

'' (Circlet Press, 2008) # "ICHTHYS", published in ''

'' (2009) # "Sacred Heart", published in ''Monsoon and Other Stories'' (Kthonia Press, 2012) # "The Words" (also published as ''Words from the Dark Inkwell of the Heart'', Kthonia Press, 2012) published in ''Monsoon and Other Stories'' (Kthonia Press, 2012) # "The Passenger", published in ''Monsoon and Other Stories'' (Kthonia Press, 2012) # "The Uncertainty Principle", published in ''Lamp Light Magazine'', Volume 2, Issue 2, December 2013 # "Agave", published in ''Gods, Memes and Monsters'' (Stoneskin Press, 2015) # "Memphre-Magog", published in ''Gods, Memes and Monsters'' (Stoneskin Press, 2015) # "Magna Mater", published in '' She Walks In Shadows'' (Innsmouth Free Press, 2015) # "Imperial Ghosts", published in ''Deep Magic: The E-Zine of Clean Science Fiction and Fantasy''(December 2016) # "The Tomb of the Winds", published in ''Pathfinder Adventure Path #113: What Grows Within'' (January 2017) # "The Old Man Down the Road", published in ''What October Brings: a Lovecraftian Celebration of Halloween'' (Celaeno Press, 2018) # "Quirks", published in ''

On Spec ''On Spec'' is a digest-sized, perfect-bound, Canadian quarterly magazine publishing stories and poetry in science fiction, fantasy, and allied genres broadly grouped under the "speculative fiction" umbrella. History and profile Based in Edm ...

'', (2022)

Novellas

# ''

Suicide Watch Suicide watch (sometimes shortened to SW) is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that any person cannot attempt suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates or patients in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital or milita ...

'', published in '' Delta Green: Dark Theatres'' (2001) # ''The Deacon's Tale'', published by Lighthouse Interactive as an extra in the ''Sword of the Stars Collector's Edition'' (2008)

Books

# ''The Deacon's Tale: a Sword of the Stars Novel'', published by Kthonia Press (2011) # ''Monsoon and Other Stories'', published by Kthonia Press (2012)

Video games

# ''

Homeworld ''Homeworld'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by Relic Entertainment and published by Sierra Studios on September 28, 1999, for Microsoft Windows. Set in space, the science fiction game follows the Kushan exiles of the planet Khara ...

'', by

Relic Entertainment Relic Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as THQ Canada Inc.) is a Canadian video game developer based in Vancouver, founded in 1997. The studio specializes in real-time strategy games and is known for series such as '' Homeworld'', '' Warhammer 4 ...

Sierra Entertainment Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded in 1979 by Ken Williams (game developer), Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is k ...

, wrote the background descriptions for the Paktu, the Manaan and the Soban, as "Marcus Skyler" (1999)Earlier Games
/ref> # '' Ground Control'', by Massive Entertainment/Sierra Online, as "Marcus Skyler" (2000) # '' Homeworld: Cataclysm'', by Barking Dog Studios/Sierra Entertainment, wrote the histories for the Kaalel, the LiirHra and some of the historical background fiction for the Somtaaw, as "Marcus Skyler" (2000). Also voice acting. # '' Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura'', by Troika Games/Sierra Entertainment, as "Marcus Skyler" (2001) # '' Sword of the Stars'', by

Paradox Interactive Paradox Interactive AB is a video game publisher based in Stockholm, Sweden. The company started out as the video game division of Target Games and then Paradox Entertainment (now Cabinet Entertainment) before being spun out into an indep ...

(2006), writer/voice actor (Tarka/various) # '' Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood'', by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2007), writer/voice actor (Zuul researchers) # '' Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows'' by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2008), lead writer/voice actor (various) # '' Sword of the Stars: Argos Naval Yard'' by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2009), lead writer/voice actor (various) # ''

'' by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2009), lead writer # '' Sword of the Stars II: The Lords of Winter'', by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2011), lead writer/voice actor (The Siren/various) # '' Sword of the Stars II: End of Flesh'', by Kerberos Productions/Paradox Interactive (2012) # '' Sword of the Stars: The Pit'', by Kerberos Productions (2013) # '' Sword of the Stars: Ground Pounders'', by Kerberos Productions (2014) # '' Kaiju-A-Gogo'', by Kerberos Productions (2015) # '' The Pit: Infinity'', by Kerberos Productions (2019) # '' Hoards of Glory'', by Kerberos Productions (2020) # '' Planetary Control!'', by Kerberos Productions (2021) # '' Sword of the Stars: The Pit 2'', by Kerberos Productions (2021) # ''Northstar'', by Kerberos Productions, space trading ship simulation, in development

Tabletop Games

# ''The Sword of the Stars Premium Lore Book'', by

(2016), a hardcover source book for the Sword of the Stars universe. # ''

Puppetland ''Puppetland: A Storytelling Game with Strings in a Grim World of Make-Believe'' is a role-playing game written by John Scott Tynes. The game was first published in Arcane magazine issue 16 in early 1997, then later by Hogshead Publishing togethe ...

'': The Story-Telling RPG of Grim Make Believe, by

Arc Dream Publishing Arc Dream Publishing is a small role-playing game publishing company founded in 2002 by Pagan Publishing Pagan Publishing is a role-playing game publishing company founded by John Scott Tynes in 1990. It began by publishing a '' Call of Cthul ...

(2016), contributed three scenarios: "Pretty Polly", "The Box", and "The Bottler". # '' THE PIT: The Board Game'', by

(2018), a cooperative dungeon crawler based on '' Sword of the Stars: The Pit'' # '' Sword of the Stars: Control!'', by

(2018), a competitive card game based on the planetary conquests of the '' Sword of the Stars'' 4X games

Acting

# '' Jesus H. Zombie'' (2006), as zombie schoolteacher # '' Cannibal Sisters'' (2006), as "Lady Lunch" real estate agent

References

External links

Kthonia Press
* *
Kerberos Productions homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dembo, Arinn Canadian fantasy writers Canadian horror writers Canadian science fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American horror writers 21st-century American poets American women poets American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists 1970 births Living people 21st-century Canadian poets Canadian women poets 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women novelists American women essayists Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women horror writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American women writers