Elizabeth Engstrom (born May 11, 1951) is an American

speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella term, umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from Realism (arts), realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or ...

writer.

Biography

She was born Bette Lynn (Betsy) Gutzmer, but she legally changed her name to Elizabeth Engstrom a few years after publishing her first novel under that pseudonym. She is married to Al Cratty, and sometimes writes under the name Liz Cratty as well. She was nominated for a 1992

Bram Stoker Award The Bram Stoker Award is a recognition presented annually by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) for "superior achievement" in dark fantasy and horror writing. History The Awards were established in 1987 and have been presented annually since ...

for Best Fiction Collection for her book ''Nightmare Flower''. Her

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Dead on Demand: The Best of Ghost Story Weekend'' spent six months on the ''

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

'' "Best Seller List." Her short story, "Crosley", was picked to be included in ''The Thirteenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'', edited by

Ellen Datlow Ellen Datlow (born December 31, 1949) is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist. She is a winner of the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award ( Horror Writers Association). Career Datlow began her car ...

. Her work has been 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 Spiv ...

'', ''Horror Show'', ''American Fantasy Magazine'', and '' Cemetery Dance''. Elizabeth Engstrom also gives writing seminars on subjects like Structural Fiction, Sensual Fiction, Kick Start Your Novel, and The Architecture of Fiction. She was the owner of TripleTree Publishing, but she sold the business to Richard Ramsey in 2007. Under Engstrom's aegis, TripleTree published 19 books and put more than 200 authors in print for the first time. She was an instructor and eventually Director of the Maui Writers Retreat and its Department of Continuing Education. She has her

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and

Writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

, a Master's in Applied

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from

Marylhurst University Marylhurst University was a private applied liberal arts and business university in Marylhurst, Oregon. Marylhurst was founded as St. Mary's College in 1893 and run for many years by the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. The former ca ...

. She gives a large portion of book sales on her website to the ''

Melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

Research Foundation''. She was a founding member o
Wordcrafters in Eugene
a literary community, and is a former faculty member at the

University of Phoenix University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the Ac ...

. Engstrom's novel ''Candyland'' has been adapted as a film by Motorcycle Boy Productions of Vancouver, B.C., written and directed by Rusty Nixon, starring James Clayton,

Chelah Horsdal Chelah Horsdal (born June 19, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series '' Hell on Wheels'', ''When Calls the Heart'', and '' The Man in the High Castle'', recurring roles on ''Stargate SG-1'', '' L ...

and

Gary Busey William Gary Busey (; born June 29, 1944) is an American actor. He portrayed Buddy Holly in ''The Buddy Holly Story'' (1978), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and won the National Society of Film Critics Award fo ...

. The film ''Candiland'' was released in February 2017. Her novel ''When Darkness Loves Us'' has been optioned for film by Light in the Dark Productions. Recently, her two first books
When Darkness Loves Us
an
Black Ambrosia
were re-released b
Valancourt Books
with introductions by

Grady Hendrix Grady Hendrix is an American author, journalist, public speaker, and screenwriter known for his best-selling 2014 novel '' Horrorstör''. He lives in Manhattan, and is one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival. Life and career Hend ...

, as a part of their Paperbacks from Hell imprint. Valancourt has recently republished a volume of her short stories, ''Nightmare Flower''

Selected works

Novels

* ''

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman who was Trial, tried and Acquittal, acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her Patricide, father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was c ...

'' * ''When Darkness Loves Us'', foreword by

Theodore Sturgeon Theodore Sturgeon (; born Edward Hamilton Waldo, February 26, 1918 – May 8, 1985) was an American author of primarily fantasy fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and Horror fiction, horror, as well as a critic. He wrote approximately 400 ...

( William Morrow, 1985) * ''Black Ambrosia'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

, 1986) * ''Lizard Wine'' * ''Black Leather'' * ''Candyland'' * ''The Northwoods Chronicles'' * ''York's Moon'' (February 2011) * ''Baggage Claim'' (February 2013) ASIN B00BDSS3FW * ''Guys Named Bob'' (October 2018) * ''The Itinerant'' (November 2021) * ''Unrequited Loss'' (May 2025)

Short story collections

* ''The Alchemy of Love'' (introduced by

Jack Ketchum Dallas William Mayr (November 10, 1946 – January 24, 2018), better known by his pen name Jack Ketchum, was an American horror fiction author. He was the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. His novels inclu ...

and illustrated by

Alan M. Clark Alan Marshall Clark (born May 10, 1957) is an American author and artist who is best known as the illustrator and book cover painter of many pieces of horror fiction. He was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel for his 2005 ...

) * ''Nightmare Flower'' (Tor Books) (Valancourt Books) * ''Suspicions''

Anthologies

* ''Mota 9: Addiction'' * ''Imagination Fully Dilated'' co-edited with Alan M. Clark * ''Imagination Fully Dilated Volume II'' co-edited with Alan M. Clark * ''Dead on Demand: The Best of Ghost Story Weekend''

Nonfiction

* ''The Maui Writers Conference Presents: Word by Word: An Inspirational Look at the Craft of Writing'' co-authored with John Tullius (also features

Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly high fantasy, epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times Best Seller List, ''New York Times'' ...

Jackie Collins Jacqueline Jill Collins (4 October 1937 – 19 September 2015) was an English romance novelist and actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and spent most of her career there. She wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times B ...

, Michael Eberhardt,

Richard Paul Evans Richard Paul Evans (born October 11, 1962) is an American author, best known for writing '' The Christmas Box'' and, more recently, the Michael Vey series. Biography Evans graduated from Cottonwood High School in Murray City, Utah. He graduat ...

Ernest J. Gaines Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. Four of his works we ...

Julie Garwood Julie Elizabeth Garwood ( Murphy; December 26, 1944 – June 8, 2023) was an American writer of over twenty-seven romance novels in both the historical romance, historical and suspense subgenres. Over thirty-five million copies of her books are ...

Elizabeth George Susan Elizabeth George (born February 26, 1949) is an American writer of mystery novels. She is best known for a series of novels featuring Inspector Thomas Lynley. The 21st book in the series was published in January 2022. The first 11 were ...

David Guterson David Guterson ( ; born May 4, 1956) is an List of American novelists, American novelist, short story writer, poet, journalist, and essayist. He is best known as the author of the bestselling Internment of Japanese Americans, Japanese American ...

Tony Hillerman Anthony Grove Hillerman (May 27, 1925 – October 26, 2008) was an American author of detective novels and nonfiction works, best known for his mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Several of his w ...

Susan Isaacs Susan Isaacs (born December 7, 1943) is an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter. She adapted her debut novel into the film '' Compromising Positions''. Early life, family and education She was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Helen Asher ...

Ridley Pearson Ridley Pearson (born March 13, 1953, in Glen Cove, New York) is an American author of suspense, thriller and adventure books. Several of his books have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. Literary career Pearson became the fir ...

Nicholas Sparks Nicholas Charles Sparks (born December 31, 1965) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. He has published twenty-three novels, all ''New York Times'' bestsellers, and two works of nonfiction, with over 115 million copies sold ...

Mitch Albom Mitchell David Albom (born May 23, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and musician. As of 2021, he has sold 40 million books worldwide. Having achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, he turned to writing inspi ...

, Kenneth C. Davis,

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

, Ron Bass,

Mike Scully Michael C. Scully (born October 2, 1956) is an American television writer and producer. He is known for his work as executive producer and showrunner of the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' from 1997 to 2001. Scully grew up in West Springfield, ...

and many more). * ''How to Write a Sizzling Sex Scene'' (2015) * ''Divorce by Grand Canyon'' (2019)

Lectures on audio

Elizabeth Engstrom has made some of her seminars available on CD and

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette (format) (or ''cassette tape''), a format that contains magnetic tape for audio, video, and data storage and playback * Compact Cassette, a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ...

* ''The Art of the Short Story'' * ''Writing a Well-Crafted Sex Scene'' * ''Creating Memorable Characters''

References

External links and references

Official Website

Blog
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Engstrom, Elizabeth 20th-century American novelists American women short story writers 1951 births Living people Marylhurst University alumni 21st-century American novelists American women horror writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women novelists People from Elmhurst, Illinois Novelists from Illinois 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers