J. Steven York (born 1957 in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
, United States) is an American
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 ...
and
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, ...
writer.
York was born in rural southeast
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
and from childhood showed a strong interest in science fiction, fantasy and
space exploration
Space exploration is the process of utilizing astronomy and space technology to investigate outer space. While the exploration of space is currently carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration is conducted bo ...
. It was only a matter of time before his vivid imagination drove him to share his stories and interests in the form of writing.
His first professional writing sale was to the now-defunct magazine ''Science & Mechanics'', a non-fiction article about fantastic vehicles built for science fiction movies, such as the
Landmaster
The Landmaster is a unique 12-wheeled amphibious vehicle, amphibious articulated vehicle constructed by Dean Jeffries at Jeffries Automotive in Universal City, California, for the 1977 science fiction film ''Damnation Alley (film), Damnation Alley ...
from the movie ''
Damnation Alley
''Damnation Alley'' is a 1969 science fiction novel by American writer Roger Zelazny, based on a novella of the same name published in 1967. A film adaptation of the novel was released in 1977.
Plot introduction
The story opens in a post-apoc ...
''. The article was written in collaboration with high-school friend
Gordon B. McComb. York continued to work writing non-fiction articles and reviews for magazines for many years, but his love of science-fiction never left him.
He began to write short stories, and his first fiction sale "Starbird" was published in an anthology in 1989. Later short fiction sales were made to
Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact
''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William Cl ...
and
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 ...
, as well as many smaller magazines and anthologies. Sales to award-winning small-press
Pulphouse Publishing
Pulphouse Publishing was an American small press publisher based in Eugene, Oregon, and specializing in science fiction and fantasy. It was founded by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1988. The press was active until 1996. Over that ...
led to him and his wife
Christina F. York editing The Report a non-fiction writing magazine that published until the demise of Pulphouse itself several years later.
During this period, he also began to work with Eugene, Oregon computer game company Dynamix (later a division of
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. (formerly On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line, Inc.) was an American video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded in 1979 by Ken Williams (game developer), Ken and Roberta Williams. The company is ...
), first as a technical writer documenting game tools, then later as a creative writer on PC games. His first game project was the cult-favorite strategy game
MissionForce: Cyberstorm. Following this he would take a much more major role in the game
Outpost 2: Divided Destiny, as writer and story designer. In addition to his contributions to the game itself, the CD release included a novel-length prose work written by York, ''Divided Destiny.'' This could be considered York's first published novel, despite the unconventional format. He also provided uncredited writing for the 1999 Dynamix release
Starsiege
''Starsiege'' is a mecha-style vehicle simulation game developed by Dynamix and released in 1999. ''Starsiege'' is set in the Metaltech: Earthsiege, Metaltech/Metaltech: Earthsiege, Earthsiege universe, which contains its predecessors ''Metalte ...
.
York is currently best known as a writer of
tie-in
A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, website, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original proper ...
fiction. His first print novel is the Marvel comic-book tie-in Generation X: Crossroads, published by
Ace Books
Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...
in 1998. A direct sequel, Generation X: Genogoths was published in 2000. Other long-form tie-in works include two novels (with a third on the way) in the MechWarrior: Dark Age series, two e-books in the
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
Starfleet Engineering Corps series (in collaboration with his wife Christina F. York), and the ''Anok, Heretic of Stygia'' trilogy in the
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures novel series. Short-story tie-ins have also appeared in
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
and
Transformers
''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...
themed anthologies.
York also collaborated with author
Dean Wesley Smith
Dean Wesley Smith (born November 10, 1950) is an American writer of science fiction, mystery, and fantasy. Smith has published nearly 200 novels and hundreds of short stories.
Smith has also written novels for various media franchises includi ...
on a pair of novellas based on the
Bolo stories of late science-fiction author
Keith Laumer
John Keith Laumer ( – ) was an American science fiction author. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, he was an officer in the United States Air Force and a diplomat in the United States Foreign Service. His older brother March Laumer was ...
, which were published in the anthologies ''Old Guard'' and ''Cold Steel'', from
Baen Books
Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...
.
York currently lives on the
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
coast, with his wife
Christina F. York, where he continues to work on both original and tie-in fiction. In addition, he maintains a web comic called ''Minions at Work,'' as well as two sites dedicated to his and his wife's fiction writing; ''York Writers'' & ''Tsunami Ridge Publishing''.
External links
Official homepageOfficial blogOfficial Minions at Work web cartoon*
Tsunami Ridge Publishing
{{DEFAULTSORT:York, J. Steven
1957 births
Living people
American science fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers