Lynn Flewelling (born Lynn Elizabeth Beaulieu on October 20, 1958) is an American

fantasy fiction 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.

Biography

Born at Presque Isle, Flewelling grew up in northern

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. She has worked as a teacher, a house painter, a necropsy technician, and a freelance editor and journalist. She has been married to Douglas Flewelling since 1981, and has two sons. She currently lives in

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is located a ...

, where she continues to write, and offers lectures and creative writing workshops at the University of Redlands. Flewelling is a convert to Thiền Buddhism, having taken her vows with Engaged Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, and is a practitioner of

Buddhist meditation Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are ''bhavana, bhāvanā'' ("mental development") and ''Dhyāna in Buddhism, jhāna/dhyāna'' (a state of me ...

. Flewelling's writings promote

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

causes, having said in relation to these topics, "I’ve always believed that people are people, and it’s wrong to discriminate against them just because of what gender or group they fall into."

Writings

Her first Nightrunner novel, ''Luck in the Shadows'', was a '' Locus'' Editor's Pick for Best First Novel and a finalist for the Compton Crook Award. Her novels '' Traitor's Moon'' (2000) and '' Hidden Warrior'' (2004) were both finalists for th
Spectrum Award
Her novels are currently published in 13 countries, and in 2005, the first volume of the Japanese-language version of ''Luck in the Shadows'' was published. Flewelling is accessible to readers through her website, her

LiveJournal LiveJournal (), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary. American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as a way of keeping his high school ...

blog, her Yahoo! group, and numerous guest appearances at conventions including Comic-Con and

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

's ConBust. Her work has been praised by other fantasy authors, including

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948) also known by the initials G.R.R.M. is an American author, television writer, and television producer. He is best known as the author of the unfinished series of Hi ...

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. , he is the only person to have won a Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula Award in List of joint ...

, Elizabeth Hand, Robin Hobb, and Katherine Kurtz. Independent film company Csquared Pictures has acquired film rights to the first three books in the Nightrunner series, but they have not yet started production. Flewelling has cited a number of authors as being major influences on her work, including

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

, T. S. Eliot,

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

, Mary Renault, Anne Rice, and

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...

, and has also expressed her admiration for works by additional authors, including

Isaac Asimov Isaac Asimov ( ; – April 6, 1992) was an Russian-born American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University. During his lifetime, Asimov was considered one of the "Big Three" science fiction writers, along with Robert A. H ...

, William Kotzwinkle, Ellen Kushner,

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

, Shirley Jackson, E. B. White,

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, and

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, particularly of science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has wo ...

.Flewelling, Lynn
"Interview: Lynn Flewelling"
, "Strange Horizons", April 9, 2001. Flewelling's work has frequently promoted

themes as well as topics related to

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

. The protagonists of the Nightrunner books are both

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

, and Flewelling has stated their creation was in response to the near-absence of LGBT characters in the genre and marginalization of existing ones. The Tamir Triad, combining elements of psychological drama with ghost story horror, features a protagonist who transforms from one sex and gender to the other. Flewelling's works have drawn academic attention in relation to these themes.Battis, Jes (projected 2010)
"Queer Break-Ins: Erotic Service in the Novels of Chaz Brenchley and Lynn Flewelling"
"Are You Being Served", Ed. Jennifer Lokash, Columbia University Press. Accessed a

Bibliography

Novels

The Nightrunner Series

* * * * * * *

Tamír Triad

* * *

Shorts

* "Letter To Alexi", ''Prisoners of the Night'' #9, 1995 * "Raven's Cut", ''Assassin Fantastic'' anthology, Martin Greenberg and Alex Potter, ed.

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 ...

, 2001 * "The Complete Nobody's Guide to Query Letters", '' Speculations'', 1999; reprinted on SFWA website and in ''The Writer's Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals'' by Moira Allen, Allsworth Press, 2001 * "Perfection", ''Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy'', Steven Savile and Alethea Kontis, ed.,

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles. History Tor was founded by Tom Doherty, ...

, 2006 *

References

External links

Lynn Flewelling's Official Web Site

Lynn Flewelling Blog on LiveJournal

Lynn Flewelling's Yahoo! group
*
Lynn Flewelling Blog on WordPress
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flewelling, Lynn 1958 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American bloggers American fantasy writers American feminist writers American women short story writers American women novelists American Zen Buddhists Buddhist feminists Converts to Buddhism Engaged Buddhists Feminist bloggers American LGBTQ rights activists People from Presque Isle, Maine People from Redlands, California Rinzai Buddhists Sex-positive feminists Thiền Buddhists University of Redlands faculty American women science fiction and fantasy writers Novelists from Maine American women bloggers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Activists from California Novelists from California American women academics American Buddhists