Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (born September 15, 1942) is an
American writer. She is known for her series of historical horror novels about the vampire
Count Saint-Germain.
Biography
Yarbro was born in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years at
San Francisco State College (now University).
In November 1969 she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982. She has no children.
Writing for over 45 years, Yarbro has worked in a wide variety of genres, from
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
to westerns, from young adult adventure to historical
horror. She is the author of over 70 novels and numerous short stories. In addition to the Count Saint-Germain novels, she also has published numerous volumes in a popular series of channeled
wisdom
Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...
from the entity
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
in the Messages from Michael series.
Yarbro's contribution to the horror genre has been recognised in a variety of ways: she was named a Grand Master at the World Horror Convention in 2003, and in 2005 the International Horror Guild named her a "Living Legend". She has received the Knightly Order of the Brasov Citadel from the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. In 2009 the Horror Writers' Association presented Yarbro with the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014, she was honored with the
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. Additionally, two of her novels, ''The Palace'' (1979) and ''Ariosto'' (1980) were nominated for the
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 ...
, neither winning.
In 2016, she reported that on average, she wrote three to four books and one or two short stories and/or essays a year. She wrote six hours per day, six days per week except when traveling. Five days a week she spent three to four hours doing research.
Aside from writing, she has worked as a cartographer, has
read tarot cards and palms, and has composed music, all of which she continues to do. Over the years she has studied seven instruments, voice, and musical theory: composition, voice, and piano have continued to be active interests for her. The newsletter, ''Yclept Yarbro'', about her and her writings has been published since 1995 by Lindig Hall Harris.
She played a major role in popularizing ''
The Eye of Argon'', a novella that became part of widespread
science fiction convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction subgenre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of ex ...
reading game.
Pseudonyms
*
Quinn Fawcett, for projects coauthored
with Bill Fawcett
* Trystam Kith, for the two volume ''Trouble in the Forest''
historical fantasy
Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those c ...
series featuring vampire antagonists
* Terry Nelson Bonner, for the fifth volume of ''The Making of Australia'' series
* T. C. F. Hopkins, for historical nonfiction
* Camille Gabor, for the
high fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...
series, ''The Vildecaz Talents''
* Vanessa Pryor, for the romance novel ''Taste of Wine''
The Michael teachings
''Messages from Michael'' is the first in a series of four books recounting three-decade-long "conversation" between a group of friends centered around Sarah Chambers (1937≠1998) with a channeled entity and spiritual teacher that has come to be known as
Michael
Michael may refer to:
People
* Michael (given name), a given name
* he He ..., a given name
* Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael
Given name
* Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
. As of September 2013 this conversation continues, as the Michael group continues to conduct closed sessions in the San Francisco Bay Area. A core concept of the teachings is "all choices made are equally valid."
Yarbro's book presented a heavily fictionalized version of Sarah Chambers' group, which gave Chambers the alias of "Jessica Lansing". The three subsequent books more contain edited
channeling transcripts, along with background material.
Bibliography
Footnotes
References
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External links
*
*
*
Quinn Fawcett(joint pseudonym of Yarbro and
Bill Fawcett) at LC Authorities, with 12 records, an
at WorldCat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yarbro, Chelsea Quinn
1942 births
Living people
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American science fiction writers
American fantasy writers
American horror writers
Western (genre) writers
American women short story writers
American women novelists
Pseudonymous women writers
American women science fiction and fantasy writers
Writers from Berkeley, California
American women horror writers
World Fantasy Award–winning writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Channellers
20th-century American short story writers
21st-century American short story writers
20th-century pseudonymous writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers