Paula Volsky is an American

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.

Biography

Paula Volsky was born in

Fanwood, New Jersey Fanwood is a borough in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, the borough is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. Fanwood is located in the Raritan V ...

. She majored in English literature at liberal arts college,

Vassar Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college bec ...

, in

New York State New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, where she became friendly with

Esther Friesner Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman ( Friesner; born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themselves. ...

and Jane Bishop. Together, they wrote at least one film script for student production, ''Lavinia: a Girl of the Street'', which demonstrated Volsky's trademark tongue-in-cheek style. At the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, England, she received an M.A. in Shakespearian studies. Before writing fantasy, she sold real estate and also worked for the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and ur ...

. After releasing novels regularly for nearly twenty years, Volsky published no new work for nearly a decade, even though ''Locus'' had reported her sale of a "new fantasy trilogy" to

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...

in mid-2000. After a long delay, the publisher announced that the final volume had been completed, and that it would issue the books beginning in late 2011.

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958, in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram St ...

described Volsky as "a reliably entertaining storyteller.""Summation 1994: Fantasy," ''

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1988 to 2007. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospect ...

: Eighth Annual Collection'', p.xix All her novels written under her own name take place within the same fictional world, often with fantasy plot-lines inspired by historical events.

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Curse of the Witch-Queen''. Ballantine, 1982. * ''Sorcerer'' series **''The Sorcerer's Lady''. Ace, 1986. **''The Sorcerer's Heir''. Ace, 1988. **''The Sorcerer's Curse''. Ace, 1989. *''The Luck of Relian Kru''. Ace, 1987. *''Illusion''. London: Gollancz, 1991. *''The Wolf of Winter''. Bantam Spectra, 1993. *''The Gates of Twilight''. Bantam Spectra, 1996. *''The White Tribunal''. Bantam Spectra, 1997. *''The Grand Ellipse''. Bantam Spectra, 2000. * ''The Veiled Isles Trilogy'' **''The Traitor's Daughter''. Bantam Spectra, 2011. (as Paula Brandon) **''The Ruined City''. Bantam Spectra, 2012. (as Paula Brandon) **''The Wanderers''. Bantam Spectra, 2012. (as Paula Brandon)

Short stories

*'The Traditions of Karzh' in ''Songs of the Dying Earth'', ed.

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 ...

and

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the founding editor of '' The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of '' Asimov's Science Fict ...

, Subterranean Press, 2009. *'Giant Rat of Sumatra' in ''Resurrected Holmes'', ed. Marvin Kaye, St. Martin's.

References

External links

House/Spectra's author page
(mailing address on the discussion page) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Volsky, Paula 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Vassar College alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham American women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers