Kara Mia Dalkey (born 1953) is an American author of young adult fiction and

historical fantasy Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements (such as magic (fantasy), magic) into a more "realistic" narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy; those c ...

Personal life

She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

of Japan. She was married to author

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

; they divorced in 2001. She is a member of the Pre-Joycean Fellowship and of the Scribblies.

Education

She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.

Literary work

Her works include ''The Sword of Sagamore'', ''Steel Rose'', ''Little Sister'' and ''The Nightingale''. The latter book is part of Terri Windling's Fairy Tale Series. Her short stories are featured in the Liavek anthologies, ''Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction,'' and ''Firebirds Rising''. Liavek was a shared-world series edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly. Ace Books published Liavek and thus many of the Scribblies' first short stories. Her ''Water Trilogy'' is a blend of the

Atlantis Atlantis () is a fictional island mentioned in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'' as part of an allegory on the hubris of nations. In the story, Atlantis is described as a naval empire that ruled all Western parts of the known world ...

myth with

Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...

legends. Her stories "Lady Shobu" and "The Rule of Silence" are part of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer anthologies from Simon & Schuster.

Musical background

She is also a musician and has gigged extensively on electric bass (which she plays left-handed) and harmony vocals, with such bands as Runestone, the Albany Free Traders, Flyer and Nate Bucklin and the Ensemble (in Minnesota) and Relic and Voodoo Blue (in Seattle.) At different times she has also played drums, banjo and acoustic guitar. She is a songwriter, but her total output is low, and no CD or other album is in the works.

Bibliography

Sagamore

*''The Curse of Sagamore'' (1986) *''The Sword of Sagamore'' (1989)

Mitsuko

*''Little Sister'' (1996) *''The Heavenward Path'' (1998)

Blood of the Goddess

#''Goa'' (1996) #''Bijapur'' (1997) #''Bhagavati'' (1998)

Water Trilogy

#''Ascension'' (2002) #''Reunion'' (2002) #''Transformation'' (2002)

Other novels

*'' The Nightingale'' (1988) *''Euryale'' (1988) *'' Steel Rose'' (1997) *''Crystal Sage'' (1999) *''Genpei'' (2000) *''Sword Named Sorrow'' (2021)

Short stories

*"The Hands of the Artist" in ''Liavek,'' edited by Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, 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 1985. *"Before the Paint is Dry" in ''Liavek: The Players of Luck,'' edited by Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, published by

in 1986. *"The World in the Rock" in ''Liavek: Wizard’s Row,'' edited by Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, published by

in 1987. *"Portrait of Vengeance" in ''Liavek: Spells of Binding,'' edited by Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, published by

in 1988. *"A Prudent Obedience" in ''Liavek: Festival Week,'' edited by Will Shetterly & Emma Bull, published by

in 1990. *"Lady Shobu" in '' Tales of the Slayer'', published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in 2002. *"Lady of the Ice Garden" in ''Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction,'' ed.

Sharyn November Sharyn November is an American writer and an editor of books for children and teenagers. Until March 2016 she was Senior Editor for Viking Children's Books and Editorial Director of Firebird Books, which is a mainly paperback (reprint) imprint ...

, published by Firebird Books in 2003. *"The Rule of Silence" in '' Tales of the Slayer'', published by

in 2004. *"Hives" in ''Firebirds Rising: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction and Fantasy,'' ed.

, published by Firebird Books in 2006. *"Flatland" in ''Firebirds Soaring: An Anthology of Original Speculative Fiction'' ed.

, published by Firebird Books in 2009. *"The Philosopher Duck" in ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', June 2014. *"The Midden" in ''The First Line'' ed. David LaBounty, published by Blue Cubicle Press in summer 2016. *"American Angel" in ''After the Orange'' ed. Manny Frishberg, published by

B Cubed Press B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It represe ...

in 2017. *"Ancestral Key" in '' The First Line'' ed. David LaBounty, published by Blue Cubicle Press in summer 2020.

Award nominations

* ''The Nightingale'' - Nominee - 1989 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for fantasy novel * ''Heavenward Path'' - Nominee - 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for children's literature * "Lady of the Ice Garden" - Short list - The 2003 James Tiptree, Jr. Award

References

External links

Bio at Lunacat BibliographyFive reviews at
Steampunk.com
Review of The Ascension
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalkey, Kara 1953 births Living people American fantasy writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women novelists Asimov's Science Fiction people