Kelly David McCullough (born 1967) is a contemporary American author 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, ...

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 ...

novels living in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Early life

Before becoming an author, McCullough acted in the

Minnesota Renaissance Festival The Minnesota Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event which focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional 16th Century "England-like" fantasy kingdom. It operates during seven consecutive weekends, from mi ...

, the

Colorado Renaissance Festival The Colorado Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair in Colorado located in Larkspur, Colorado, south of Denver and north of Colorado Springs. The Renaissance Festival typically runs between the months of June and August. It is based on a 16 ...

, and the

Arizona Renaissance Festival The Arizona Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance-themed amusement park and Renaissance fair located in Gold Canyon, Arizona, east of the Phoenix metro area in Pinal County. First run in 1989, the Arizona Renaissance Festival runs from mid-wint ...

Writing career

McCullough's critically acclaimed novel ''WebMage'' was released in 2006, followed by ''Cybermancy'' in 2007, ''CodeSpell'' in 2008, ''MythOS'' in 2009, and ''Spellcrash'' in 2010. The Fallen Blade series began with ''Broken Blade'' in 2011, and five other books followed. He has written three middle-grade novels: ''Magic, Madness, and Mischief'' and its sequel ''Spirits, Spells, and Snark'' and stand-alone ''School for Sidekicks''. Some of his 20 published short stories include ''The Uncola'', ''When Jabberwocks Attack'', and ''The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman: Excerpts from an EPIC Autobiography'', a Tor.Com original; he also has written a number of poems, including ''The Bees: An Edgar Allan Pooh Poem''. His non-fiction work includes an illustrated collection that is part of a robust middle school physical science curriculum that was funded by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and has been adopted by several state boards of education, the ''Interactions in Physical Science'' curriculum. Awards include the 2000 "Writers of the Future" winner, an international competition begun by

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author and the founder of Scientology. A prolific writer of pulp science fiction and fantasy novels in his early career, in 1950 he authored the pseudoscie ...

Political career

McCullough has been a county board supervisor for Dunn County, WI since 2010. He was elected as chair of the Board of Supervisors in 2022 and again in 2024. He also served as a City Council Alder for Menomonie, WI from 2021 to 2023.

Personal life

McCullough lives with his wife, Laura, and a number of cats. In 2008, McCullough donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections 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 ...

.Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection
, Northern Illinois University

Bibliography

Adult novels

Fallen Blade series

# ''Broken Blade'' # ''Bared Blade'' # ''Crossed Blades'' # ''Blade Reforged'' # ''Drawn Blades'' # ''Darkened Blades''

Webmage series

# ''WebMage'' # ''Cybermancy'' # ''Codespell'' # ''MythOS'' # ''Spellcrash''

Middle-grade novels

Magic, Madness, and Mischief series

# ''Magic, Madness, and Mischief'' # ''Spirits, Spells, and Snark''

Academy of Metahuman Operatives

* ''School for Sidekicks'' * "The Totally Secret Origin of Foxman: Excerpts from an EPIC Autobiography" (short story)

References

External links

The Kelly McCullough Papers at Northern Illinois University
*
Kelly's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCullough, Kelly 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists American science fiction writers American science writers Living people 1967 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers