Jean Rabe is an American journalist, editor, gamer and writer of fantasy and mystery. After a career as a newspaper reporter, she was employed by

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

for several years as head of the Role Playing Game Association and editor of the ''

Polyhedron In geometry, a polyhedron (: polyhedra or polyhedrons; ) is a three-dimensional figure with flat polygonal Face (geometry), faces, straight Edge (geometry), edges and sharp corners or Vertex (geometry), vertices. The term "polyhedron" may refer ...

'' magazine. Rabe began a career as a novelist for TSR and

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

, and over the last 30 years has produced over three dozen books and scores of short stories, at first in the genres of game-related

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

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 later as an author of mystery novels. Rabe wrote game accessories and novels for the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' fantasy worlds of ''

Greyhawk Greyhawk, also known as the World of Greyhawk, is a fictional world designed as a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy roleplaying game. Although not the first campaign world developed for ''Dungeons & Dragons''—Dave Arneson' ...

'', ''

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setti ...

'' and ''

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...

'', and contributed to

West End Games West End Games (WEG) was a company that made board, role-playing, and war games. It was founded by Daniel Scott Palter in 1974 in New York City, but later moved to Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Its product lines included ''Star Wars'', ''Paranoia' ...

' '' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game'' and

FASA FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargaming, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations for several years, becoming an IP holding company under the name FASA In ...

's ''

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 ...

'' product lines. She served the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. Whi ...

as business manager and editor of the association's ''SFWA Bulletin'' until 2013. Rabe has become known for collaborations with

Andre Norton Andre Alice Norton (born Alice Mary Norton, February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen na ...

and a series of short story anthologies frequently co-edited with Martin H. Greenberg. Rabe admits she has ghost written a few works, and has co-written fiction and non-fiction works with such diverse writers as Gene DeWeese, Stephen D. Sullivan, Don Bingle, and F. Lee Bailey. She wrote her first "Piper Blackwell mystery" novel in 2018 and has published five books in the series.

Early life

Jean Rabe was born in

Ottawa, Illinois Ottawa is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and ...

, and learned to play games at an early age—

checkers Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), is a group of Abstract strategy game, strategy board games for two players which involve forward movements of uniform game ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

, and

euchre Euchre or eucre ( ) is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game played in Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, Upstate New York, and the Midwestern United States. It is played with a deck of 24, 25, 28, or 32 standard playing cards. There are no ...

by the age of 7, and

board wargames A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, ...

in high school. In 1974 she enrolled in journalism at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

. In her junior year, while attending the inaugural

Windycon Windycon is a science fiction and fantasy literature convention held in Oak Brook, Illinois, on the weekend closest to Veterans Day (United States), Veterans Day. ISFiC, the parent corporation that runs Windycon,Pavlac, RossWhat's an ISFiC ISFiC ...

games convention, she was introduced to the fantasy role-playing game ''

'', which had just been published by TSR earlier that year. She subsequently took up the game as a hobby and social activity. She graduated from Northern Illinois with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism.

Journalist

After graduating from university, Rabe worked as a newspaper reporter and bureau chief for the ''

Quincy Herald-Whig Quincy Media, Inc., formerly known as Quincy Newspapers, Inc., was a family-owned media company that originated in the newspapers of Quincy, Illinois. The company's history can be traced back to 1835, when the ''Bounty Land Register'' was one of ...

'' in

Quincy, Illinois Quincy ( ) is a city in Adams County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Mississippi River, the population was 39,463 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 40,633 in 2010. The Quincy, Illinois, mic ...

. Rabe joined the ''

Evansville Courier & Press The ''Evansville Courier & Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Evansville, Indiana. It serves about 30,000 daily and 50,000 Sunday readers. History The ''Evansville Courier'' was founded in 1845 by William Newton, a young attorney. Its first ...

'' in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is Indiana's List of cities in Indiana, third-most populous city after India ...

in late 1983, covering critical news subjects like labor relations, prison conditions, and groundwater contamination, but frequently writing stories which highlighted her love of animals. Before Christmas 1985, reporter Rabe was dispatched to

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Div ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

to cover President Reagan's visit consoling family members after a tragic crash at

Gander, Newfoundland Gander is a town located in the northeastern part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, approximately south of Gander Bay, south of Twillingate and east of Grand Falls-Windsor. Located on th ...

took the lives of 256 servicemen and crew. Although others got the front page bylines, the ''Courier & Press'' credited Rabe with essential journalism which significantly affected the coverage. Rabe later worked as a

stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...

for the '' Rockford Register Star''.

Gamer

TSR hired Rabe in 1987 to coordinate the

RPGA D&D Adventurers League (or simply Adventurers League for short) is the organized play association for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') roleplaying game which is officially administered by ''D&Ds publisher, Wizards of the Coast. It was rebr ...

Network. She also used her writing skills to create magazine articles and novels. In addition, Rabe wrote and edited ''

'' and ''

Gamma World ''Gamma World'' is a post-apocalyptic science fantasy role-playing game in which player characters explore Earth centuries after the collapse of civilization, searching for artifacts from the time before "The Great Upheaval". The game was origi ...

'' adventure modules. Rabe became the editor of a

magazine, ''MechForce Quarterly'', in 1995. For

, TSR had Rabe write the next major event for

Krynn ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura Hickman, Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' whi ...

after '' Dragons of Summer Flame'', which came to be the ''Dragons of a New Age'' trilogy, beginning with '' The Dawning of a New Age'' (1996). When

purchased TSR, they published the rest of Rabe's ''Dragons of a New Age'' trilogy before bringing back

Margaret Weis Margaret Edith Weis (; born March 16, 1948) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the ''Dragonlance'' role-playing game (RPG) world. She is f ...

and

Tracy Hickman Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955) is an American fantasy author and designer of games and virtual reality (VR) experiences. He co-authored the original ''Dragonlance'' novels with Margaret Weis as well as numerous other books. He also ...

as the main authors of Dragonlance. Her ''Dragons of a New Age'' trilogy consisted of ''Dawning of a New Age'', ''Day of the Tempest'', and ''Eve of the Maelstrom''. Her other Dragonlance work includes ''Maquesta Kar-Thon'', co-authored with Tina Daniell, and ''The Silver Star''. Her other work for TSR includes ''Red Magic'', ''Secret of the Djinn'', and ''Night of the Tiger''. Rabe also created content for Imperium Games. Rabe worked with Janet Pack on ''The Forces of Dagnarus'' for the '' Sovereign Stone'' role-playing game. She has also written more than four dozen short stories, including stories set in the ''Dragonlance'', ''

'', and ''Star Wars'' settings. Three of her ''Star Wars'' short stories—"The Breath of Gelgelar", "Day of the Sepulchral Night", and "The Farrimmer Cafe"—have been published in the '' Star Wars Adventure Journals''. She has written science fiction stories for Martin H. Greenberg's office in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, and coedited a number of all-original anthologies with Greenberg for

DAW Books DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim, with his wife, Elsie B. Wollheim, following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted ...

Writer

Rabe has also written articles for ''On The Lake'', a local magazine for tourists. In 2005, Rabe served as a juror for the

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) to the ...

for young adult fiction, which was established that year. Rabe was the business manager and later the editor of the bimonthly ''SFWA Bulletin'', published by the

. In June 2013, Rabe resigned the post in the course of a controversy about alleged

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

in ''SFWA Bulletin'' articles written by, among others,

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 ...

and Barry N. Malzberg.

Awards

''Dragonlance: Death March'' was nominated for the 2009 Special Gaming Scribe Award—awarded by the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers—for "Best Original gaming-related tie-in novel of 2009.Scribe Award Nominees Announced
posted March 26, 2009, retrieved December 29, 2010

Bibliography

''Dungeons & Dragons'' modules

* * * *

''Dragonlance'' series

*1993 '' Krynnspace'', a crossover setting for ''Dragonlance'' and ''

Spelljammer ''Spelljammer'' is a campaign setting originally published for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ( 2nd edition) role-playing game, which features a fantastic (as opposed to scientific) outer space environment. Subsequent editions have included ...

'' *1995 ''Maquesta Kar-Thon'', with Tina Daniell *1996 '' The Dawning of a New Age'', Dragons of a New Age series *1997 ''Day of the Tempest'', Dragons of a New Age series *1998 ''Eve of the Maelstrom'', Dragons of a New Age series *1999 ''The Silver Stair'', Bridges of Time series *2000 ''Downfall'', the Dhamon Saga *2001 ''Betrayal'', the Dhamon Saga *2002 ''Redemption'', the Dhamon Saga *2004 ''The Lake of Death'', Age of Mortals series *2007 ''The Rebellion'', The Stonetellers series *2008 ''Death March'', The Stonetellers series *2009 ''Goblin Nation'', The Stonetellers series

Novels connected to other fantasy role-playing settings

*1991 ''Red Magic'', a ''Forgotten Realms: The Harpers'' series *1994 ''Secret of the Djinn'', '' Endless Quest'' series *1995 ''Night of the Tiger'', ''Endless Quest'' series *1996 ''Sands of Deception'', ''Endless Quest'' series *2004 ''The Finest Creation'', Finest Trilogy *2005 ''The Finest Choice'', Finest Trilogy *2006 ''The Finest Challenge'', Finest Trilogy *2006 ''Aftershock'', a ''

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy, and crime fiction, crime, wit ...

'' novel with John Helfers *2006 '' Return to Quag Keep'', with

*2006 ''A Taste of Magic'', with Andre Norton *2007 ''Fenzig's Fortune'' *2008 ''Dragon Mage'', with Andre Norton *2018 ''The Bone Shroud'' *2024 ''The Love-Haight Case Files'', with Donald J. Bingle

Piper Blackwell Mysteries series

*2018 ''The Dead of Winter: A Piper Blackwell Mystery'' *2018 ''The Dead of Night: A Piper Blackwell Mystery'' *2019 ''The Dead of Summer: A Piper Blackwell Mystery'' *2020 ''The Dead of Jerusalem Ridge: A Piper Blackwell Mystery'' *2022 ''The Dead of Autumn: A Piper Blackwell Mystery'' *2023 ''The Dead of Sled Run: A Piper Blackwell Mystery''

Anthologies edited by Rabe

* ''Historical Hauntings'', with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 2001; ) * ''Sol's Children'', with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 2002) * ''Renaissance Faire'', with Andre Norton (DAW, 2005) * ''Furry Fantastic'', with Brian M Thomsen (DAW, 2006; ) * ''Time Twisters'', with Martin H Greenberg (DAW, 2007; ) * ''Pandora's Closet'', with Martin H Greenberg (DAW, 2007; ) * ''Terribly Twisted Tales'', with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, May 2009; ) * ''Spells of the City'', with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 2009; ) * ''Timeshares'', with Martin H Greenberg (DAW, 2010; ) * ''Stalking the Wild Hare: Stories from the Gen Con Writer's Symposium'', with John Helfers, Chris Pierson, and Marc Tassin (Walkabout Publishing, May 2010; ) * ''Steampunk'd'', with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 2010; ) * ''Boondocks Fantasy'' with Martin H. Greenberg (DAW, 2011; )) * Blue Kingdoms ** ''Blue Kingdoms: Shades & Specters'', with Stephen D. Sullivan (Walkabout Publishing, 2008; ) ** ''Blue Kingdoms: Buxom Buccaneers'', with Stephen D. Sullivan (Walkabout Publishing, 2008; ) ** ''Blue Kingdoms: Mages and Magic'', with Stephen D. Sullivan (CreateSpace, 2010; ) * ''A Hero by Any Other Name'' (Silence in the Library, 2013; )

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rabe, Jean 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American electronic literature writers American fantasy writers American magazine editors American science fiction editors American women magazine editors American women non-fiction writers American women novelists American women science fiction and fantasy writers Dungeons & Dragons game designers Living people Novelists from Illinois People from Quincy, Illinois Role-playing game writers Year of birth missing (living people)