Debra Doyle (November 30, 1952 – October 31, 2020) was an American author in multiple related fiction genres, including

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 ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

, and mystery, for young adults and adults. Her works were co-written with her husband, James D. Macdonald.

Life and career

Doyle earned a PhD from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

with a dissertation on Old English poetry. Her first work written with Macdonald was "Bad Blood" in 1988. Their novel ''Knight's Wyrd'' was awarded the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature in 1992 and appeared on the New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age list in 1993. They published two series, ''Mageworlds'' (7 novels) and ''The Wizard Apprentice'' (8 novels), and two alternate history novels, ''Land of Mist and Snow'' and ''Lincoln's Sword''. Doyle and Macdonald also published together under other names. They published their first novel, ''Night of Ghosts and Lightning'', in 1989 under the house name Robyn Tallis; two

Tom Swift Tom Swift is the main character of six series of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention, and technology. Inaugurated in 1910, the sequence of series comprises more than 100 volumes. The fi ...

novels under the house name Victor Appleton; ''Pep Rally'', ''Blood Brothers'', and ''Vampire’s Kiss'' under the house name Nicholas Adams; and two

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appearance, first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in ...

and three

Battletech ''BattleTech'' is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark ...

novels as Martin Delrio. Together Doyle and Macdonald made up part of the core membership of the ''sff.net'' website and ''rec.arts.sff'' newsgroup. Doyle also taught at the Viable Paradise genre writer's workshop on

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

. She died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on October 31, 2020.

Bibliography

A full list of her contributions and work can be found on the Fantastic Fiction site.

Series

Circle of Magic (with James D Macdonald)

# School of Wizardry (1990) # Tournament and Tower (1990); reissued as Secret of the Tower (2000) # City by the Sea (1990); reissued as The Wizard's Statue (2000) # The Prince's Players (1990); reissued as Danger In The Palace (2000) # The Prisoners of Bell Castle (1990); reissued as The Wizard's Castle (1999) # The High King's Daughter (1990)

Tom Swift (Fourth Series) (with James D Macdonald)

* Monster Machine (1991) * Aquatech Warriors (1991)

MageWorlds (with James D Macdonald)

# The Price of the Stars (1992) # Starpilot's Grave (1993) # By Honor Betray'd (1994) # The Gathering Flame (1995) # The Long Hunt (1996) # The Stars Asunder (1999) # A Working of Stars (2002) * A Death in the Working (2004); a Mageworlds short story * On Suivi Point (2005); a Mageworlds novelette

Bad Blood (with James D Macdonald)

# Bad Blood (1993) # Hunter's Moon (1994) # Judgement Night (1995) * Bad Blood: A Short Story (2011)

Peter Crossman (with James D Macdonald)

* The Confessions of Peter Crossman (2010) * The Devil in the Details (2014)

Orville Nesbit (with James D Macdonald)

* Ecdysis (2011)

Novels

* Knight's Wyrd (1992) (with James D Macdonald) * Groogleman (1996) (with James D Macdonald) * Prince Valiant (1998) (with Hal Foster and James D Macdonald) * Land of Mist and Snow (2006) (with James D Macdonald) * Lincoln's Sword (2010) (with James D Macdonald)

Short stories (selection)

* "Now And in the Hour of Death" (co-written with James D. Macdonald and collected in

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct mag ...

's alternate history anthology ''

Alternate Kennedys ''Alternate Kennedys'' is an alternate history anthology edited by Mike Resnick, published in the United States by Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing compa ...

'') * "Witch Garden" co-written with James D. Macdonald (1994) * "Please to See the King" co-written with James D. Macdonald (1995) * "Ecdysis" co-written with James D. Macdonald (1996) * "Ghosts and Legends" (with James D. Macdonald) (2012)

References

External links

* *
Official forum
at IBDoF * * (as Debra Doyle; note also listed joint pseudonyms)
Debra Doyle
a
Fantastic Fiction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Debra 1952 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers American fantasy writers American women novelists Place of birth missing American women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American children's writers