Roxanne Longstreet Conrad (April 27, 1962 – November 1, 2020), known by her pen name Rachel Caine, was an American writer of science fiction,

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, ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

, suspense, and horror novels.

Personal life

Caine grew up in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the desert climate, arid and semiarid climate, semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Texas, Wichita Falls, Abilene, Texa ...

and graduated from Socorro High School in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

, in 1980. She earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the

Rawls College of Business The Rawls College of Business (Jerry S. Rawls College of Business Administration, commonly referred to as Rawls Business) is the business school of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. Rawls Business offers curriculum for both undergraduate a ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

in 1985, with a minor in music. Caine wrote and published novels and short stories since 1990. She was a professional musician who played with notable musicians including

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

Peter Nero Peter Nero (born Bernard Nierow; May 22, 1934 – July 6, 2023) was an American pianist and pops conductor. He directed the Philly Pops from 1979 to 2013, and earned two Grammy Awards, including the award for Best New Artist in 1962, as well ...

, and

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

. From 1999, Caine was employed in corporate communications as a web designer, editor, corporate communications manager, and finally as director of corporate communications for a large multinational company. She took an eight-month hiatus for most of 2008 to meet pressing deadlines, and retired from her position to write full-time in 2010. She lived in north Texas with her husband, artist Cat Conrad. Caine did most of her writing at home and on the road during appearances. In 2018, Caine was diagnosed with

soft tissue sarcoma A soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) is a malignant tumor, a type of cancer, that develops in soft tissue. A soft-tissue sarcoma is often a painless mass that grows slowly over months or years. They may be superficial or deep-seated. Any such unexplained ...

.Author Spotlight: Rachel Caine
at the Cedar Park Library; retrieved July 16, 2020 She died on November 1, 2020.

Bibliography

Sources:

As Rachel Caine

Standalone novels

Weather Warden (adult urban fantasy)

Joanne Baldwin is a Weather Warden and part of an organization that rents space from the UN. Their mission is supposed to be alleviating natural disasters before millions of people die. Joanne shows up on the run, in her hot Mustang "Delilah", from a murder of which she has been accused; she thinks if she can find Lewis Orwell, with all three Warden capabilities—Earth, Fire, and Weather—who is in hiding, she can get help. Lewis' last known action among the Wardens was to steal three bottles containing Djinn, the supernatural beings, many of whom partner with Wardens to do their work. Her life becomes one huge complication as she learns a lot of truths people do not want her to know.

Red Letter Days (Adult Urban Fantasy)

The Morganville Vampires (Young Adult)

Athena Force (Adult Urban Fantasy)

The ''Outcast Season'' (Adult Urban Fantasy)

On August 24, 2007, Caine announced on her mailing list and her blog that she had sold a four-book series called "Outcast Season" to

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 ...

. Describing the upcoming series, she said "This series is a spin-off of the Weather Warden series, and will follow the story of a Djinn who's been cut off from her fellows, and must rely on the goodwill of a Warden partner for her very existence. Along the way, she has to face enemies and challenges that the Djinn can't, or won't face themselves." The series was published yearly in February since 2009.

The Revivalist (Adult Urban Fantasy)

The Great Library (Young Adult)

Stillhouse Lake

In 2017, Caine began publication of an intense new thriller series about Gwen Proctor, the ex-wife of an infamous serial killer who is constantly on guard for her kids against Internet trolls and real-life stalkers. When a body turns up in the lake outside their front door, and it appears to be connected to her ex-husband's methods, the spotlight's now on Gwen and her kids ... and she might never escape it again. 'Stillhouse Lake' is one of five finalists for the IATWA Thriller Awards 2018.

The Honors

Co-authored by

Ann Aguirre Ann Aguirre (born August 27, 1970) is an American author of speculative fiction. She writes urban fantasy, romantic science fiction, apocalyptic paranormal romance (with co-author Carrie Lofty as Ellen Connor), paranormal romantic suspense (as A ...

Short stories

As Roxanne Longstreet

As Roxanne Conrad

Stargate SG-1

As Ian Hammel

As Julie Fortune

Anthologies and collections

References

*
Interview
with Michael A. Ventrella, April 4, 2010. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caine, Rachel 1962 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers Writers from El Paso, Texas Texas Tech University alumni Rawls College of Business alumni Urban fantasy writers Novelists from Texas American writers of young adult literature American mystery writers American women science fiction and fantasy writers American women mystery writers American women novelists American women writers of young adult literature American romantic fiction writers Deaths from cancer in the United States Deaths from soft-tissue sarcoma Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers