Linnea Sinclair (born 1954 in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States) is an American writer of science fiction romance,

fantasy romance Romantic fantasy, or "romantasy", is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that combines fantasy and romance, describing a fantasy story using many of the elements and conventions of the chivalric romance genre. One of the key features of romantic fantas ...

and

paranormal romance Paranormal romance is a subgenre of both romantic fiction and speculative fiction. Paranormal romance focuses on romantic love and includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation, from the speculative fiction genres of fantasy, scien ...

. Sinclair's ''Gabriel's Ghost'' was the winner of the 2006

RITA Award The RITA Award, presented by the Romance Writers of America (RWA) from 1990 to 2019, was the most prominent award for English-language romance fiction. It was named for the RWA's first president, Rita Clay Estrada. After not being awarded in 202 ...

in the Best Paranormal Romance category. She has used the pseudonym Megan Sybil Baker. Formerly, she has been a news reporter and a private detective.

Personal life and early career

Linnea Sinclair was born in New Jersey, USA. She studied journalism and

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

(1972–1975) and

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Sinclair is a former investigative news reporter and private investigator in the Central Florida area who has written for many private investigative journals. She owned Island Investigations. Her first professional sale was the

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, ...

romance Wintertide in 1999 to LTDBooks. Since 2004 she has been published by Bantam Books.

Writing career

While she was still a practicing PI and publishing with LTDBooks, she used the pen name Megan Sybil Baker. She wrote ''Finders Keepers'' and ''Destiny's Game''.T.M.Wagner, SF Reviews
/ref> She sometimes writes with a good sense of humor, and her books ''Finders Keepers'' and ''An Accidental Goddess'' have been called "funny". In a review of ''Gabriel's Ghost'', Vicky Burkholder wrote that "Linnea blends science fiction, romance, world building and the paranormal". Sinclair has used her experience as a

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

in her work. The male protagonist in her novel ''The Down Home Zombie Blues'' is a homicide detective in a Florida city. Various of her short stories are based on a psychic investigator. Sinclair's novel ''Games of Command'' and the short story ''Of Cats, Uh, Furzels and Kings'' feature

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

feline creatures called "furzels". Sinclair has stated that these are inspired by her two cats. Sinclair's novel ''The Down Home Zombie Blues'' was the basis for the movie ''The Down Home Alien Blues'' by director C. Duke Marsh and Green Sign Media. Principal photography was completed in March 2012. The movie stars Nathalie Biermans, Jay Mitsch, and

Derek Partridge Derek Partridge (born 29 June 1935) is a British television presenter, spokesman and voice-over artist, formerly a film and TV actor. Partridge's father was a diplomat in the British Foreign Service. In the 1960s, Partridge appeared in a nume ...

. Release date was set for 2013.

Published works

Wintertide series

* ''Wintertide'' (1999, LTDBooks, as Megan Sybil Baker; June 2004, Medallion Press) * ''An Accidental Goddess'' (October 2002, LTDBooks, as Megan Sybil Baker; January 2006, Bantam Books) :the far future sequel to ''Wintertide''

Dock Five Universe series

* ''Gabriel's Ghost'' (April 2002, LTDBooks, as Megan Sybil Baker; October 2005, Bantam Books.) 2006

winner, for Best Paranormal Romance * ''Shades of Dark'' previously called ''Chasidah's Choice'' (July 2008, Bantam Books.) 2008 P.E.A.R.L. Award, for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Romance. * Hope's Folly (February 24, 2009, Bantam Books.) 2009 P.E.A.R.L. Award, for Best Science Fiction & Futuristic Fantasy Romance2009 P.E.A.R.L Awards
/ref> * Rebels and Lovers (March 2010, Bantam Books.)

Standalone novels

* ''Finders Keepers'' (October 2001, Novel Books Inc.; May 2005, Bantam Books) 2001 Sapphire Award; 2003 EPPIE Award, for Fantasy/Science Fiction/Paranormal Romance * ''Command Performance'' (April 2002, Novel Books Inc.) * ''Destiny's Game'' (November 2002, Novel Books Inc.) * ''Games of Command'' (February 2007, Bantam Books) 2007 P.E.A.R.L. Award, for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Romance2007 P.E.A.R.L Awards
/ref> * ''The Down Home Zombie Blues'' (November 2007, Bantam Books) 2007 P.E.A.R.L. Honorable Mention, for Best Futuristic Romance 2008 winner of Romantic Times 2008 Reviewers' Choice Award Winners for Futuristic/Fantasy Romance2008 Winners

Editor, with J.C. Wilder

* ''Dream Quest, Nine Spellbinding Paranormal Romances'' (January 2003, LTDBooks), including the short story "To Call the Moons" by Sinclair (as Megan Sybil Baker).

References

External links

Linnea Sinclair – Science Fiction Romance Author
– Official Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinclair, Linnea 1954 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American paranormal romance writers American romantic fiction writers American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists Florida State University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Novelists from New Jersey American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women romantic fiction writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers American women non-fiction writers