Mur Lafferty (born July 25, 1973) is an American

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

based in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. She was the editor and host of ''

Escape Pod ''Escape Pod'' is a science fiction podcast magazine produced by Escape Artists, Inc. It proclaims itself "the world's leading science fiction podcast". The present co-editors are Mur Lafferty and Valerie Valdes. While episodes are free, the ...

'' from 2010, when she took over from Serah Eley, until 2012, when she was replaced by Norm Sherman. She is also the host and creator of the podcast ''I Should Be Writing''. Until July 2007, she was host and co-editor of ''Pseudopod''. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Escape Artists short fiction magazine ''Mothership Zeta'' until it went on hiatus in 2016.

Education

Lafferty attended the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

and graduated with a degree in English. In 2014, she received her MFA from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

's Stonecoast program.

Podcasting

Early contributions

A friend introduced Lafferty to podcasting in October 2004. She immediately seized on the medium as a novel opportunity to publish her essays on geekdom. Her first podcast, ''Geek Fu Action Grip'', launched in December 2004. Early topics included her obsession with

Alton Brown Alton Crawford Brown Jr. (born July 30, 1962) is an American television personality, food show presenter, food scientist, author, voice actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show '' Good Eats'' th ...

and her uncomfortable crushes on the hosts of her child's TV shows, and expanded to discussions of games, movies, and television shows. In later episodes she began podcasting her fiction, most notably her serialized novels ''Heaven'' and ''Heaven Part 2: Hell''. ''Geek Fu Action Grip'' ceased production as of episode 103. Lafferty's essays also led to her becoming an early contributor to '' Dragon Page Wingin' It'': a sci-fi variety show podcast hosted by Michael R. Mennenga and

Evo Terra Travis Unwin (born June 10, 1968), known professionally as Evo Terra, is an American podcaster, author, radio broadcaster, and businessman based in Bangkok, Thailand. Terra is the author of ''Podcasting For Dummies'', originator of ''The Beer Di ...

. While she is no longer a regular, her essay produced during their 2006

Dragon*Con Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000. ...

show is considered one of her best. In September 2006, Lafferty, along with Michael R. Mennenga and

Tracy Hickman Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955) is an American fantasy author and designer of games and virtual reality (VR) experiences. He co-authored the original ''Dragonlance'' novels with Margaret Weis as well as numerous other books. He also ...

, founded the

Parsec Awards The Parsec Awards were a set of annual awards created to recognize excellence in science fiction podcasts and podcast novels. The awards were created by Mur Lafferty, Tracy Hickman and Michael R. Mennenga and awarded by FarPoint Media. They were ...

, which recognize excellence in science fiction podcasting. After a general nomination period, the Steering Committee compiles a shortlist, from which an independent panel of judges selects the winner of each category. The awards are presented yearly at Dragon*Con.

''I Should Be Writing''

Lafferty's second podcast arose from her desire to share her experiences as a struggling fiction writer. ''I Should Be Writing'' is a self-described "podcast for wannabe fiction writers." Each show covers a specific topic about the writing world, from battling self-doubt to crafting queries and cover letters, interspersed with interviews with published professionals. ''I Should Be Writing'' won the 2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Podcast.

''Escape Pod'' and ''Pseudopod''

From May 2010 to December 2012, she was the editor and host of the sci-fi podcast magazine ''

'', taking over from former editor and founder Steve Eley. Under her editorship, ''Escape Pod'' began paying SFWA pro rates for the first time. Lafferty was also co-founder, along with Steve Eley and co-editor Ben Phillips, of ''

Pseudopod A pseudopod or pseudopodium (: pseudopods or pseudopodia) is a temporary arm-like projection of a eukaryotic cell membrane that is emerged in the direction of movement. Filled with cytoplasm, pseudopodia primarily consist of actin filaments and ...

'', a spin-off of ''Escape Pod'' presenting "the best in audio horror." In July 2007 she stepped down as co-editor of ''Pseudopod''.

Ditch Diggers

In January 2015, Lafferty started a new podcast with a recurring ''I Should Be Writing'' guest host Matt Wallace. The new show, titled ''Ditch Diggers'', focuses on the professional and business side of writing and is intended to be honest to the point of brutality, in contrast to the more optimistic and uplifting tone of ''I Should Be Writing''. It won the

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...

for Best Fancast in 2018, having been a finalist the year before.

Writing

Early career

Lafferty's early career began with her writing for White Wolf and other

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

companies, and she has expanded to writing about games for such publications as ''

Scrye ''SCRYE'' (''Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist and Price Guide'') was a gaming magazine published from 1994 to April 2009 by Scrye, Inc. It was the longest-running periodical to have reported on the collectible card game hobby. It was also t ...

'', ''

Knights of the Dinner Table ''Knights of the Dinner Table'' (''KoDT'') is a comic book/strip created by Jolly R. Blackburn and published by Kenzer & Company. It primarily focuses on a group of role playing gamers and their actions at the gaming table, which often result ...

'', ''

Anime Insider ''Anime Insider'' was a monthly magazine published by Wizard Entertainment, consisting of news and entertainment pieces relating to the Japanese anime and manga subculture. In its earliest incarnation it was published from Fall 2001 till Fall ...

'', '' Games Quarterly'', and '' The Escapist''. Her

podcast novel A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

''Playing For Keeps'' was published by Swarm Press on August 25, 2008. She has also written essays for the online magazine ''Grumble'', many of which have ended up on Geek Fu Action Grip and published fiction in ''Hub'' magazine. Her short story "1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur" (published in ''The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities'') qualified her for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which she won in 2013.

''The Shambling Guides''

In May 2013,

Orbit Books Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History Orbit Books was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, ...

released the first in Lafferty's urban fantasy series: ''The Shambling Guide to New York City''. It received favorable reception; ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

'' stated: "The hip, knowing and sometimes hysterically funny narrative, interspersed with excerpts from the guide of the title, lurches along in splendid fashion… The result is irresistible." The second novel in the series, ''A Ghost Train to New Orleans'', was published on March 4, 2014.

Awards and honors

*Member of the Podcast Pickle Hall of Fame *One of the Top Ten Savvy Women in Podcasting, 2006 *''Tricks of the Podcasting Masters'' was named one of the top reference books for 2006 by Amazon.com. *2007

Parsec The parsec (symbol: pc) is a unit of length used to measure the large distances to astronomical objects outside the Solar System, approximately equal to or (AU), i.e. . The parsec unit is obtained by the use of parallax and trigonometry, and ...

Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form): ''I Look Forward To Remembering You'' *2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Related Podcast: ''I Should Be Writing'' *2008 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Heaven – Season Four: Wasteland'' *2008 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Long Form): ''Playing for Keeps'' *2010 Parsec Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Heaven – Season Five: War'' *2011 Parsec Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Marco and the Red Granny'' *2012 Nomination for

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

*2013

*2018 Nomination for

Hugo Award for Best SemiProzine The Hugo Award for Best Semiprozine is given each year to a periodical publication related to science fiction or fantasy that meets several criteria having to do with the number of issues published and who, if anyone, receives payment. The awar ...

as editor of ''Escape Pod''

Selected bibliography

Novels

*''Playing for Keeps'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Playing for Keeps'' (2008, Swarm Press; ) *''Nanovor: Hacked'' (2010,

Running Press Kids Running Press is an American publishing company and member of the Perseus Books Group, a division of the Hachette Book Group. The publisher's offices are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with many of the corporate functions taking place in ...

) *'' Six Wakes'' (2017, Orbit Books; ) *''Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition'' (film

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

; 2018, Del Rey; ) *''Minecraft: The Lost Journals'' (2019, Random House Worlds; )

''The Shambling Guides''

*''A Shambling Guide to New York'' (2013, Orbit Books; ) *''The Ghost Train to New Orleans'' (2014, Orbit Books; )

''The Midsolar Murders''

*'' Station Eternity'' (2022,

Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

; ) *'' Chaos Terminal'' (2023, Ace)

Novellas

*''Heaven - Season One'' (2006, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Two: Hell'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Three: Earth'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Four: Wasteland'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Five: War'' (2009, Podiobooks.com) *''Marco and the Red Granny'' (2010, ''Hub Magazine'')

Short fiction

*"I Look Forward to Remembering You" (2006, ''Escape Pod'') *"1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur", ''The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities'' (ed.

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

and

Jeff VanderMeer Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Series. The se ...

) *"Produce 1:1-10" (2014, ''

Daily Science Fiction ''Daily Science Fiction'' was an American online science fiction magazine originally founded in September 2010 and edited by Jonathan Laden and Michele Barasso. New stories were published each weekday. On 11 August 2022 the magazine announced it ...

'')

Serial fiction

* ''Bookburners'' (created by

Max Gladstone Max Gladstone (born May 28, 1984) is an American fantasy author. He is best known for his 2012 debut novel ''Three Parts Dead'', which is part of '' The Craft Sequence'', his urban fantasy serial ''Bookburners'', and for co-writing '' This Is How Y ...

) ** ''Bookburners'' Season One (with Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and

Brian Francis Slattery Brian Francis Slattery is an American writer and an editor at the '' New Haven Review''. He has published three novels, ''Spaceman Blues'' (Tor, 2007), '' Liberation'' (Tor, 2008), and '' Lost Everything'' (Tor, 2012). ''Spaceman Blues'' was nomin ...

) *** Episode 4: "A Sorcerer's Apprentice" (2015) *** Episode 8: "Under My Skin" (2015) *** Episode 11: "Shore Leave" (2015) *** Episode 13: "Keeping Friends Close" (2015)

Anthologies

*''Voices: New Media Fiction'' (editor; 2006, Podiobooks.com)

Non-fiction and essays

*''Tricks of the Podcasting Masters'' (with Robert Walch) Que 2006 *''Lessons From a Geek Fu Master'', (2006, Lulu)

RPGs

*''D20 Fright Night Haunted School'' (2004,

Hogshead Publishing Hogshead Publishing was a British game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. History In October 1994, James Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing, a company which specialised in role-playing and storytelling games. Wallis ba ...

)

Magazines

*''Mothership Zeta'' (2015–2016,

Escape Artists Escape Artists Productions, LLC, commonly known as Escape Artists, is an American independently financed motion picture and television production company that has a first look non-exclusive deal at Sony Pictures Entertainment, headed by part ...

; Editor-in-Chief)

References

External links

*
RPG writing credits

Audio interview on the Comic Geek Speak podcast

Interview on Books and Ideas Podcast (2008)
*
Mur Lafferty
at ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...

''
Essay on story behind The Shambling Guide to New York City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafferty, Mur 1973 births 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American book podcasters American science fiction writers American women novelists American women podcasters American women short story writers John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer winners Living people Novelists from North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni University of Southern Maine alumni American women science fiction and fantasy writers