Gail Carriger (born May 4, 1976) is an American

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

and author of

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and Applied arts, aesthetics inspired by, but not limited to, 19th-century Industrial Revolution, industrial steam engine, steam-powered machinery. Steampun ...

fiction. She was born in Bolinas, an unincorporated community in

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

, and attended high school at

Marin Academy Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a private school, private college preparatory high school in San Rafael, California. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure, Marin Academy was ...

. She received her undergraduate degree from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

, a masters of science in archaeological materials at England's

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

in 2000, and a master of arts in anthropology (with a focus on archaeology) at the

University of California Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay ...

in 2008. She is a 2010 recipient of the

Alex Awards The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the ...

Novels

Carriger's first novel, '' Soulless'', was published in 2009 by

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History Orbit Books was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, ...

and earned her a nomination for the

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

. The book was a

Compton Crook Award The Compton Crook Award is presented by the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) to the year's best English language debut novel in the science fiction, fantasy, or horror genres, as voted by its members. BSFS confers the award at their annua ...

nominee, a

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. Originally a poll ...

finalist for Best First Novel, and '' Locus'' placed her on their recommended reading list. Her second novel, '' Changeless'', was published in early 2010 and earned her a place on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller List. Her third novel, '' Blameless'', was released in September 2010 and also became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. The five-book series continued with '' Heartless'' in late June 2011 and concluded with '' Timeless'' in March 2012. Carriger was the guest of honor at FenCon, a

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 ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, in September 2011. Carriger lists "

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

, Austen,

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

, and Victorian travel journals" as influences on her writing. Carriger's series for young adults, the four-book ''Finishing School'' series, launched with '' Etiquette & Espionage'' in February 2013 and was an instant ''New York Times'' bestseller. The ''Finishing School'' series takes place in the same world as the ''Parasol Protectorate'' series, featuring an earlier generation of characters. Book two in the ''Finishing School'' series, '' Curtsies & Conspiracies'', was released in November 2013. In July 2012, final cover art and synopsis for '' Etiquette & Espionage'' were revealed along with the announcement of an additional series set in the ''Parasol Protectorate'' world, titled ''The Custard Protocol''. The first novel in the ''Custard Protocol'' series was called ''Prudence'', followed by ''Imprudence'', ''Competence'', and ''Reticence''. The ''Supernatural Society'' and ''Delightfully Deadly'' novellas are also set in the Parasolverse. Carriger's paranormal romance series,
The San Andreas Shifters
'' written under the name G.L. Carriger, launched in 2017 with
The Sumage Solution
'. The series is based on her previously published short story, ''Marine Biology'', and is set in her home county of Marin, California. Carriger also has a science fiction universe
''the Tinkered Stars,''
which began with YA space adventure stor
''Crudrat''.
Begun as a Kickstarter, ''Crudrat'' was first published as a full cast audio in 2014, and then reissued in print in 2022. The second book in the universe is sci fi cozy mystery
''The 5th Gender''
was published in 2019 and written under the G.L. Carriger name. She also has a YA space opera trilogy in this universe, the ''Tinkered Starsong'' series, which launched with the boo
''Divinity 36''
first published in 2023.

Bibliography

Parasol Protectorate

* '' Soulless'' (2009) USA,

, Pub date October 7, 2009, Paperback * '' Changeless'' (2010) USA,

, Pub date April 1, 2010, Paperback * '' Blameless'' (2010) USA,

, Pub date September 1, 2010, Paperback * '' Heartless'' (2011) USA,

, Pub date June 28, 2011, Paperback * '' Timeless'' (2012) USA,

, , Pub date February 28, 2012, Paperback * ''Meat Cute (short story)'' (2019), ebook only

Supernatural Society novellas

* ''Romancing the Inventor'', Gail Carriger LLC, , Pub date 1 November 2016, paperback / eBook. * ''Romancing the Werewolf'', Gail Carriger LLC, , Pub date 5 November 2017, paperback / eBook.

Parasol Protectorate (manga)

* '' Soulless: The Manga'', Vol. 1 (2012) USA,

Yen Press Yen Press is an American manga, graphic novel and light novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published '' Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, ...

, Pub date March 1, 2012, Paperback based on '' Soulless'' * ''Soulless: The Manga'', Vol. 2 (2012) USA,

, Pub date November 20, 2012, Paperback, based on '' Changeless'' * ''Soulless: The Manga'', Vol. 3 (2013) USA,

Pub date November 19, 2013, Paperback, based on '' Blameless''

Finishing School

* '' Etiquette & Espionage'' (2013) USA, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers * ''Curtsies & Conspiracies'' (November 5, 2013) USA, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers * ''Waistcoats & Weaponry'' (November 4, 2014) * ''Manners & Mutiny'' (November 3, 2015)

Delightfully Deadly novellas

* ''Poison or Protect'', Gail Carriger LLC, , Pub date 21 June 2016, paperback / eBook *''Defy or Defend'', Gail Carriger, , Pub date 3 May 2020, paperback/eBook *''Ambush or Adore'', Gail Carriger, Pub date 27 June 2022, paperback / eBook

The Custard Protocol

* ''Prudence'' (2015) * ''Imprudence'' (2016) * ''Competence'' (2018) * ''Reticence'' (6 Aug 2019)

Claw and Courtship

* ''How to Marry a Werewolf,'' , Pub date 13 April 2020, paperback/eBook

San Andreas Shifters

* ''Marine Biology'' (2010) novella in ''The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2'' * ''The Sumage Solution'' (2017) * ''The Omega Objection'' (2018) * ''The Enforcer Enigma'' (1 August 2020) * ''The Dratsie Dilemma'' (forthcoming)

The Tinkered Stars Universe

* ''Crudrat'' (Full cast audio 2014 with Artistic Whispers Productions and Gail Carriger, ebook/paperback release 2022) * ''The Fifth Gender'' (2019) * ''Divinity 36'' (2023) Book 1 of ''The Tinkered Starsong Trilogy''

Short fiction

* ''My Sister's Song'' (2011) * ''Marine Biology'' (2010) in ''The Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance 2'' * ''Fairy Debt'' (2013) *''The Curious Case of the Werewolf that Wasn't, The Mummy that Was and the Cat in the Jar'' (2013) '' The Book of the Dead''

Other

* ''Which Is Mightier, the Pen or the Parasol?'' article (2010) ''Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded'' *''The Heroine's Journey,'' non-fiction, , Pub date 25 Aug 2020

Cultural references

*
Deathless
' is a 21-player

Live action role-playing game A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their character (arts), characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of ...

run at Phenomenon Role-playing Convention during 2017 in

Canberra, Australia Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city, and the eighth-largest Australian city b ...

, based on Gail Carriger's ''Parasol Protectorate'' series. *
The Curious Case of the Corpsified Contact
' is a 5-player

run at Phenomenon Role-playing Convention during 2019 in Canberra, Australia, based on Gail Carriger's ''Parasol Protectorate'' series.

References

Other sources

* * * * * *

External links

*
Finishing School book series
(official) * * *
Tofa Borregaard
at LC Authorities {{DEFAULTSORT:Carriger, Gail Living people Oberlin College alumni Alumni of the University of Nottingham American paranormal romance writers 21st-century American novelists American women novelists American science fiction writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers People from Bolinas, California Steampunk writers University of California, Santa Cruz alumni 1976 births American women romantic fiction writers 21st-century American women writers Writers from Marin County, California Urban fantasy writers American mystery writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers