Tim Waggoner is an American author of novels and short stories in 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, ...

, horror, and thriller genres.

Education

Waggoner graduated from Wright State University in 1989 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in English with a

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

Concentration. He holds BS ed. and MA degrees from Wright State University.

Career

Waggoner has written and published novels for both adult and young readers, including ''

Temple of the Dragonslayer ''Temple of the Dragonslayer'' (ISBN 0-7869-3321-6) is a young adult fantasy novel by Tim Waggoner published by in July 2004 by Mirrorstone Books. The novel, the first in the ''Dragonlance: The New Adventures'' series, is set in the fantasy role- ...

'' and '' Return of the Sorceress'' (both for

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (WotC or Wizards) is an American game Publishing, publisher, most of which are based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy ...

), ''Dark Ages: Gangrel'' and ''Exalted: A Shadow Over Heaven's Eye'' (both White Wolf), ''Nekropolis'' (Five Star), and ''Defender: Hyperswarm'' (I-Books). He is also the author of the short story collection ''All Too Surreal'' (Prime Books). He has published numerous short stories in the fantasy and horror genres, and his articles on writing have appeared in '' Writer's Digest'', ''Writers' Journal'', ''New Writer's Magazine'', ''Ohio Writer'', '' Speculations'', and ''Teaching English in the Two-Year College''. He has also written the ''Nekropolis'' series of urban fantasies and the ''Ghost Trackers'' series written in collaboration with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the '' Ghost Hunters'' television show. His books for writers include ''The Art of Writing Genre Fiction'', written in collaboration with Michael Knost, and ''Writing in the Dark,'' a guide to writing horror and dark fantasy fiction. A number of his stories have received honorable mentions in various editions of '' The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror''. He won first place in the 1998 Authorlink! New Author Awards Competition and was a finalist for the Darrell Award for Best MidSouth Short Story in 1999. His novella ''The Men Upstairs'' was nominated for the 2011 Shirley Jackson Award, and his short story "How to be a Horror Writer" was nominated for the 2018 Shirley Jackson Award. His novella ''The Winter Box'' won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Best Long Fiction. His how-to-write-horror book ''Writing in the Dark'' won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction, and his article "Speaking of Horror" won the 2020 Bram Stoker Award for Best Short Non-Fiction.

Teaching

He serves as a professor of English and teaches composition and creative writing at Sinclair Community College in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

. Waggoner also taught creative writing for many years at Seton Hill University,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, in an innovative low-residency

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree program in Writing Popular Fiction.

Personal life

Waggoner grew up in the

, area. In addition to writing fiction, Waggoner has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, and copy editor. He has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Bibliography

Standalone novels

*''Dying for It'' (2001) *''The Harmony Society'' (2003) *''Necropolis'' (2004) (Rewritten as ''Nekropolis'' in 2009) *''Like Death'' (2005) *''Pandora Drive'' (2006) *''Darkness Wakes'' (2006) *''Cross County'' (2008) *''Last of the Lycans'' (2010) *''Beneath the Bones'' (2012) e-issue of Cross County*''The Way of All Flesh'' (2014) *''Eat the Night'' (2016) *''Teeth of the Sea'' (2017) *''The Mouth of the Dark'' (2018) *''Blood Island'' (2019) *''They Kill'' (2019) *''The Forever House'' (2020) *''Your Turn to Suffer'' (2021) *''We Will Rise'' (2022) * ''A Hunter Called Night'' (May 9, 2023) * ''Lord of the Feast'' (April 16, 2024)

Series

Ghost Trackers

*''Ghost Trackers'' with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (2011) *''Ghost Town'' with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (2012)

Godfire

*''Orchard of Dreams'' (2006) *''Heart's Wound'' (2006)

Nekropolis

*''Nekropolis'' (2009) *''Dead Streets'' (2010) *''Dark War'' (2011) *''The Nekropolis Archives'' (2012) (Omnibus edition of above novels and the short stories "Disarmed and Dangerous," "The Midnight Watch," and "Zombie Interrupted")

Shadow Watch

*''Night Terrors'' (2014) *''Dream Stalkers'' (2014)

Custodians of the Cosmos

*''The Atrocity Engine'' (April 30, 2024) *''The Book of Madness'' (July 30, 2024) *''The Desolation War'' (October 2024)

Collections

*''All Too Surreal'' (2002) *''Broken Shadows'' (2009) *''Bone Whispers'' (2013) *''Cemetery Dance Select: Tim Waggoner'' (2017) *''Dark And Distant Voices'' (2017) *''Love, Death, and Madness'' (2018) *''A Little Aqua Book of Marine Tales'' (2019) *''Old Monsters Never Die: A Story Collection'' (May 24, 2024)

Media tie-ins

*''Defender: Hyperswarm'' (2004), after the '' Defender'' video game *''Gangrel'' (2004), from the '' Dark Ages: Vampire'' role-playing game *'' A Nightmare on Elm Street: Protégé'' (2005), after the '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' films *''Exalted 5: A Shadow Over Heaven's Eye'' (2005), after the '' Exalted'' role-playing game *''Stargate SG-1: Valhalla'' (2009), after the ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrig ...

'' television series *''Lady Ruin'' (2010), from the Eberron '' Dungeons and Dragons'' role-playing game campaign setting *''Grimm: The Killing Time'' (2014), after the '' Grimm'' television series *''Alien: Prototype'' (2019), after the ''Alien'' franchise *''Zombicide Invader: Planet Havoc'' (2022), from the '' Zombicide'' board game

The Blade of the Flame

From the Eberron '' Dungeons and Dragons'' role-playing game campaign setting *''Thieves of Blood'' (2006) *''Forge of the Mind Slayers'' (2007) *''Sea of Death'' (2008)

Dragonlance: the New Adventures

Set in the ''

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...

'' shared universe. *''

'' (2004) *'' Return of the Sorceress'' (2004)

Supernatural

After the ''

Supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

'' television series. *''Supernatural: Carved in Flesh'' (2013) *''Supernatural: The Roads Not Taken'' (2013) *''Supernatural: Mythmaker'' (2016) *''The Men of Letters Bestiary: Winchester Family Edition'' (2017) *''Supernatural: Children of Anubis'' (2019)

Film novelizations

*'' xXx: Return of Xander Cage - The Official Movie Novelization'' (January 24, 2017) *''Resident Evil: the Final Chapter'' (2017), novelization of the film of the same name *''Kingsman: the Golden Circle'' (2017), novelization of the film of the same name *''Halloween Kills'' (2021), novelization of the slasher film * '' Terrifier 2: The Official Movie Novelization'' (2024)

X series

Novelizations of the X film series * '' X: The Official Novelization'' (2024) * ''

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

: The Official Novelization'' (2024) * '' MaXXXine: The Official Novelization'' (2025)

Books on Writing

*''The Art of Writing Genre Fiction'' (2018), with Michael Knost *''Writing in the Dark'' (2020) *''Writing in the Dark: The Workbook'' (2022) *''Let Me Tell You a Story (Writing in the Dark)'' (October 5, 2023) *''Just Add Writer'' (2025) Tim Waggoner arm on tree

References

External links

Tim Waggoner's Official WebsiteTim Waggoner's Official Blog
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Waggoner, Tim 1964 births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American horror writers American male novelists Living people Seton Hill University Wright State University alumni Writers from Dayton, Ohio