Lisa Smedman is a

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, ...

author and journalist. Her novel ''

Extinction Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

'', set in the

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 ...

universe, was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller. Smedman first became known for

gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playing ...

adventure novels, and later published her own independent fantasy novels.

Background

Smedman was born and raised in North Vancouver,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. She earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and a journalism diploma from

Langara College Langara College (snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ in ''Halkomelem'') is a public degree-granting college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada which serves more than 19,000 students annually. Langara College started in 1965 as part of Vancouver Community ...

in Vancouver. After her first job as a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

for a local publisher, Smedman has spent her whole career working as a reporter and editor at Vancouver-area weekly newspapers. She has worked at the ''Richmond Review'', the ''Langley Times'', and ''Sounder'' magazine. She has written extensively on local history, having worked as an editor at the ''

Vancouver Courier The ''Vancouver Courier'' was a Canadian semi-weekly local newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, by the Van-Net chain owned by Glacier Media Group. In 2007, it was Canada's largest distributed community newspaper, with a we ...

'' writing local history articles, and having published two non-fiction books on the history of Vancouver. Smedman lives in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...

Writing

Smedman is one of the most prolific authors of science fiction and fantasy gaming tie-in novels in Canada. She first began writing stories in elementary school. In 1981, she discovered ''

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 ...

'' and soon became a Dungeon Master. By 1987, Smedman had become convention spokesperson for the 15th year of the

Vancouver Science Fiction Convention VCON is a fan run fantasy, gaming, and science fiction convention held annually in the metro Vancouver area of British Columbia, Canada. It has been hosted by the West Coast Science Fiction Association (WCSFA) since 1993, and by the Western Canadi ...

(V-Con), the annual convention of the British Columbia Science Fiction Association. The Convention attracted about six hundred people. In the late 1980s, Smedman began to write for ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' magazine. This enabled her to write her first gaming adventure for

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 ...

—the creators of ''

''—in 1993. After ''

Dragon's Crown ''Dragon's Crown'' is a 2013 action role-playing game developed by Vanillaware for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. The game was published in Japan and North America by Atlus and in PAL regions by NIS America. A high-definition port fo ...

'' was released, Smedman wrote ten more adventures for TSR in the next three years. In 1993 she was a finalist in the

Writers of the Future Writers and Illustrators of the Future is a science fiction and fantasy story and art contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983 as Writers of the Future. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, was launched in 1988 and presen ...

contest. Smedman's first novel, ''The Lucifer Deck'', was set in the

Roc Books Roc Books is a fantasy imprint of Penguin Group, as part of its New American Library. It was launched in April 1990 after Penguin Chairman Peter Mayer asked John Silbersack, the editor in chief of New American Library's science fiction (SF) pro ...

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 ...

'' universe and was published in 1997. Smedman used her own childhood experiences with homosexuality to fashion a child protagonist who, after changing into a magical creature and being rejected by her family, finds herself homeless on the streets. Although Smedman says that her family is supportive and loving, "I have known people who came out as gay in their teens and were utterly rejected by their families. Because I'm also gay, it's easy for me to imagine what they must have felt." Smedman wrote eight more books after ''The Lucifer Deck''. ''

'', set in

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 ...

's ''

'' universe, made ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list in 2004. She also wrote the novel ''The Playback War'', set in FASA's Vor: The Maelstrom universe. In 2004, Smedman's tenth novel appeared. It was her first entirely independent work. ''The Apparition Trail'' is an alternate-history fantasy which posits an 1884 Western Canada where the power imbalance between the

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

and European settlers exists in a universe with magic and alternate physics.

Books

Forgotten Realms

* ''Heirs of Prophecy'' 2002 * ''Venom's Taste'' (''House of Serpents'', book one) 2004 * ''Viper's Kiss'' (''House of Serpents'', book two) 2005 * ''Vanity's Brood'' (''House of Serpents'', book three) March 2006 * ''House of Serpents: A Forgotten Realms Omnibus'' (This omnibus collects all three volumes of the ''House of Serpents'' trilogy: ''Venom's Taste'', ''Viper's Kiss'', and ''Vanity's Brood''.) * ''

'' (''

War of the Spider Queen ''War of the Spider Queen'' is a Fantasy fiction, fantasy series of novels set in the ''Forgotten Realms'' universe published by Wizards of the Coast. The series contains Hexalogy, six books focused on the Drow (Dungeons & Dragons), drow and thei ...

'', book four) January 2004 * ''Sacrifice of the Widow'' ('' The Lady Penitent'', book one) March 2007 * ''Storm of the Dead'' (''The Lady Penitent'', book two) out August 2007 * ''Ascendency of the Last'' (''The Lady Penitent'', book three) June 2008 * ''The Gilded Rune'' 2012

Shadowrun

* ''The Lucifer Deck'' * ''Blood Sport'' * ''Psychotrope'' * ''The Forever Drug'' * ''Tails You Lose''

VOR: The Maelstrom

* ''The Playback War''

Other novels

* ''The Apparation Trail'' 2004 * ''Creature Catchers'' March 2007

Non-fiction

* ''From Boneshakers to Choppers: The Rip-Roaring History of the Motorcycle'' * ''Vancouver: Stories of a City'' * ''Immigrants: Stories of Vancouver's People''

References

External links

* *
Lisa Smedman
- Author's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Smedman, Lisa 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian fantasy writers Canadian lesbian writers Canadian science fiction writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women science fiction and fantasy writers Electronic literature writers Langara College people Living people People from North Vancouver Role-playing game designers Role-playing game writers Year of birth missing (living people)