Kelley Armstrong (born 14 December 1968)Bio for school projectsarchive
is a Canadian writer, primarily of

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, ...

novels since 2001. She has published thirty-one fantasy novels , thirteen in her ''

Women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

'' series, five in her ''Cainsville'' series, six in her Rockton series, three in her '' Darkest Powers'' series, three in her ''Darkness Rising'' trilogy and three in the ''Age of Legends'' series, and three stand-alone teen thrillers. She has also published three middle-grade fantasy novels in the ''Blackwell Pages'' trilogy, with co-author Melissa Marr. As well, she is the author of three

crime novels Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

, the Nadia Stafford trilogy. She has also written several serial novellas and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

for the Otherworld series, some of which are available free from her website. Starting in 2014, a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

television series based on the ''Women of the Otherworld,'' called Bitten, aired for 3 seasons on

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

, and SyFy.

Biography

Kelley Armstrong was born on 14 December 1968, the oldest of four siblings in a "typical middle-class family" in Sudbury, Ontario. After graduating with a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

, Armstrong then switched to studying

computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...

Fanshawe College Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is partnered with private ILAC International College. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it ha ...

so she would have time to write.

I'm a former computer programmer, but I have escaped my corporate cubicle and hope never to return

Her first novel '' Bitten'' was sold in 1999, and it was released in 2001. Following her first success she has written a total of 13 novels and a number of novellas in the world of the '' Women of the Otherworld'' series, and her first

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

, ''Exit Strategy'', was released July 2007. Armstrong has been a full-time writer and parent since 2002. Her novel '' No Humans Involved'' (the seventh book of the ''Women of the Otherworld'' series) was a ''New York Times'' bestseller in the hardback fiction category on 20 May 2007. Also, her YA novel '' The Awakening'' was a No. 1 ''New York Times'' bestseller in the Children's Chapter books category on 17 May 2009.

Description of work

Armstrong's ''Women of the Otherworld'' series is part of a recently popular

contemporary fantasy Contemporary fantasy is a genre, subgenre of fantasy set in the present day. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenres, occult detective fiction, urban fantasy, low fantasy, supernatural fiction and paranormal fiction. Several authors note that ...

subgenre of the

genre that superimposes supernatural characters upon a backdrop of contemporary North American life, with strong romantic elements. Within that subgenre, she is notable for including many types of supernatural characters, including

witches Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...

, sorcerers,

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...

, necromancers, ghosts,

shamans Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of th ...

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s and

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

s, rather than limiting herself primarily to a single type of supernatural creature. Most of her works have a mystery genre plot, with leading characters investigating some novel situation or unsolved question. In the ''Otherworld'' novels, most supernatural powers are either hereditary, or arise from the act of an existing supernatural of the same type. The ''Otherworld'', while it has overarching conflicts and plotlines that span multiple novels, is not an epic battle between good and evil. The novels are largely episodic with the continuing plotlines primarily involving the developing lives of the main characters. Her contemporary fantasy writings share genre similarities with writers

Charlaine Harris Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in mysteries. She is best known for her book series '' The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', which was adapted as the TV series '' True Blood''. The television sh ...

, Laurell K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison.

Works

Source:

Standalone novels

* ''Wherever She Goes'' (2019) * ''Every Step She Takes'' (2020) * ''The Life She Had'' (2022) (as K.L. Armstrong) * ''Hemlock Island'' (2023) * ''Known to the Victim'' (2024) (as K.L. Armstrong) * ''Finding Mr. Write'' (2024) * ''I'll Be Waiting'' (2024)

Young adult

* ''The Masked Truth'' (2015) * ''The Unquiet Past'' (2016) * ''Missing'' (2017) * ''Aftermath'' (2018) * ''Someone Is Always Watching'' (2023),

The Women of the Otherworld Series

* All other stories may be found on the series' main article.

Otherworld novellas

Otherworld Young Adult

# ''Wolf's Bane'' (Oct 2019) # ''Wolf's Curse'' (Mar 2020)

The Nadia Stafford Series

#''Exit Strategy'' (novel, Jul 2007)Author's book summary for ''Exit Strategy''
/ref> #''Made to be Broken'' (novel, Feb 2009) #''Wild Justice'' (novel, late 2013)Author's book summary for final Stafford book
#''Double Play'' (Apr 2016) #''Perfect Victim'' (Nov 2017)

The Darkest Powers Series

The Darkest Powers Trilogy

The Darkness Rising Trilogy

Cainsville series

# ''Omens'' (novel, Aug 2013) # ''Visions'' (novel, Aug 2014) # ''Deceptions'' (novel, Aug 2015) # ''Betrayals'' (novel, Aug 2016) # ''Rituals'' (novel, Aug 2017) # ''Portents: A Collection of Cainsville Tales'' (collection, Aug 2018) # ''Cruel Fate'' (novella, Apr 2019) # ''Rough Justice'' (novella, Jun 2018) # ''Lost Souls'' (novella, Mar 2017)

The Age of Legends Series

# ''Sea of Shadows'' (novel, 2014) # ''Empire of Night'' (novel, 2015) # ''Forest of Ruin'' (novel, 2016)

The Blackwell Pages Trilogy

Written under the alias: ''K. L. Armstrong. Co-authored with Melissa Marr.'' #''Loki's Wolves'' (2013) #''Odin's Ravens'' (May 2014) #''Thor's Serpent'' (May 2015)

Rockton novels

# '' City of the Lost'' (Jan 2017) # ''A Darkness Absolute'' (Nov 2017) # ''This Fallen Prey'' (Nov 2018) #''Watcher in the Woods'' (Nov 2019) #''Alone in the Wild'' (Feb 2020) #''A Stranger in Town'' (Feb 2021) #''The Deepest of Secrets'' (Feb 2022)

A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying

# ''A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying'' (Aug 2019) # ''The Gryphon's Lair'' (Jun 2020) #''The Serpent's Fury'' (Jun 2021) #''The Final Trial'' (Jun 2022)

Haven's Rock

# ''Murder at Haven's Rock'' (Feb 2023) # ''The Boy Who Cried Bear'' (Feb 2024)

A Stitch in Time

Cursed Luck

A Rip Through Time

Series in collaboration

Anthologies and collections

Awards

Notes

References

External links

*
Armstrong's online fiction center
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Kelley 1968 births Canadian fantasy writers Canadian horror writers Canadian mystery writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian women novelists Fanshawe College alumni Living people Writers from Greater Sudbury University of Western Ontario alumni Urban fantasy writers Canadian women mystery writers Canadian women science fiction and fantasy writers Canadian women horror writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian thriller writers Forest of Reading Award winners Aurora Award–winning writers Novelists from Ontario