Don DeBrandt is a Canadian
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
author, who also writes under the pen-names Donn Cortez, DD Barant and Dixie Lyle. Born in
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North ...
, he lives 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 ...
. In addition to North America, his books have been published in Germany, France, Italy, and Russia. His influences include
Spider Robinson
Spider Robinson (born November 24, 1948) is an American-born Canadian science fiction author. He has won a number of awards for his hard science fiction and humorous stories, including the Hugo Award 1977 and 1983, and another Hugo with his co-a ...
and
John D. MacDonald
John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916December 28, 1986) was an American writer of novels and short stories. He is known for his thrillers.
MacDonald was a prolific author of crime and suspense novels, many set in his adopted home of Florida. One ...
, among others.
Writing as Don DeBrandt
As DeBrandt, he has written numerous essays, short stories, plays and comics. His first novel, the
cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian Futurism, futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of low-life, lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial in ...
''The Quicksilver Screen'' was part of
Del Rey Books
Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. I ...
' 'Discovery' line, and featured a cover by science fiction painter
Vincent Di Fate
Vincent Di Fate (born November 21, 1945) is an American artist specializing in science fiction, fantasy and realistic space art (hardware art) illustration. He was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on June 25, 2011.
Di Fate was bor ...
. This was followed by work for
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...
and a novel in the series of book tie-ins for the ''
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...
'' TV series.
Writing as Donn Cortez
As Donn Cortez, he took a darker turn for ''The Closer'', a hard-edged story about a
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
hunting other serial killers. His follow-up, ''The Man Burns Tonight'' (set at
Burning Man) was written in his more light-hearted style.
He has also contributed several short stories and non-fiction articles to numerous publications, writing on such diverse subjects as ''Angel'', ''
Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...
'', ''
The Golden Compass
''Northern Lights'' (titled ''The Golden Compass'' in North America and some other countries) is a young-adult fantasy novel by Philip Pullman, published in 1995 by Scholastic UK. Set in a parallel universe, it follows the journey of Lyra Be ...
'', ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it ...
'', ''
CSI: Miami
''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...
'', ''
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
'', ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to ...
'', ''
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as being ...
'', ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'', and ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vario ...
''.
Beginning in 2005, Cortez was contracted to write the tie-in novels for both the original ''
CSI'' series, and its spin-off ''CSI: Miami''. The final volume in his run, ''Dark Sundays'', was released in early 2010.
A sequel to ''The Closer'', titled ''Remote'' was published in 2011.
Writing as DD Barant
In 2009, DeBrandt began writing a series of supernatural crime procedurals, entitled ''The Bloodhound Files'', using the pen name "DD Barant" to distinguish the lighter tone of the books from his work as Cortez. The first of three books, ''Dying Bites'' was released in July 2009, with sequels ''Death Blows'' and ''Killing Rocks'' released in 2010. ''Better Off Undead'' came out in 2011, and ''Back From The Undead'' in 2012.
Writing as Dixie Lyle
The Spring of 2014 saw the beginning of a new series of books written under the pseudonym of Dixie Lyle. The ''Whiskey, Tango & Foxtrot'' series, beginning with ''A Taste Fur Murder'' are part of what is known as
Cozy mysteries
Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thu ...
, in which pets and their owners solve crimes.
The ''Whiskey, Tango & Foxtrot'' series deals with one Deirdre 'Foxtrot' Lancaster, personal assistant to a wealthy entrepreneur, who is reunited with her reincarnated cat Tango, now able to communicate with her telepathically. Together with an ectoplasmic, shape-shifting dog named Whiskey they set out to keep Foxtrot's boss out of trouble. The series is more light-hearted in tone, with imaginative plotting and characters. A second book, ''To Die Fur'' was released later in 2014, and as of 2020 four books in total have been published with a fifth title forthcoming.
Bibliography
*''
The Quicksilver Screen
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...
'' (1992)
*''
Steeldriver'' (1998)
*''
Timberjak'' (1999)
*''
V.I.'' (2000)
*''
Angel: Shakedown'' (2000)
Writing as Donn Cortez
*''
The Closer
''The Closer'' is an American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a cl ...
'' (2004)
*''
The Man Burns Tonight
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...
'' (2005)
*''
CSI:Miami: Cult Following'' (2005)
*''
CSI:Miami: Riptide'' (2006)
*''
Investigating CSI'' (2006) -as editor
*''
CSI:Miami: Harm for the Holidays: Misgivings'' (2006)
*''
CSI:Miami: Harm for the Holidays: Heart Attack'' (2007)
*''
CSI:Miami: Cut and Run'' (2008)
*''
CSI:Killing Jar'' (2009)
*''
CSI:Dark Sundays'' (2010)
*''
Remote
Remote may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Remote'' (1993 film), a 1993 movie
* ''Remote'' (2004 film), a Tamil-language action drama film
* ''Remote'' (album), a 1988 album by Hue & Cry
* Remote (band), ambient chillout band
* ' ...
'' (2011)
Writing as DD Barant
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Dying Bites'' (2009)
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Death Blows'' (2010)
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Killing Rocks'' (2010)
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Better Off Undead'' (October 2011)
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Back From The Undead'' (2012)
#''
The Bloodhound Files:Undead to the World'' (2012)
Writing as Dixie Lyle
*''
A Taste Fur Murder'' (2014)
*''
To Die Fur'' (2014)
*''
Marked Fur Murder'' (2015)
*''
A Deadly Tail'' (2016)
*''
Purrfectly Dead'' (forthcoming)
External links
*
SFWA websiteDonn Cortez websiteFantasticfiction.co.uk - Bibliography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debrandt, Don
20th-century births
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Canadian male novelists
Canadian science fiction writers
20th-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian novelists
20th-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
Writers from Saskatchewan
Writers from Vancouver
Urban fantasy writers