Occasionally I get a bug up my butt.

This is a very unprofessional way of me saying that sometimes I get these harebrained ideas and I act on them with very little forethought. This basically sets the whole stage for why I contacted Elizabeth Bear about participating in this anthology. You see, there are a few authors out there who I admire so much I’m too terrified to actually talk to them (Call it intimidation. That makes me feel better.). Elizabeth Bear is one of them. She’s just amazing, with this incredible talent that always floors me.

So I saw her on Twitter, and I was half asleep. I was watching her say something to someone and I thought, “You know what would be cool? If Elizabeth-freaking-Bear participated in the anthology.”

With just about that much thought, I sent her an email telling her about it. She responded in about 2 seconds flat asking for more information at which point I started kind of giggling like a werido. I wrote her back this fangirl spasm which said something that roughly translated into, “I CAN’T BELIEVE ELIZABETH BEAR EMAILED ME BACK!” … and then I got Ryan to (professionally) give her the details.

After work tonight, I was delighted to see her contribution to the anthology in my inbox and so I figured I’d officially announce this speculative fiction powerhous’s participation in Triumph Over Tragedy.

As always, please check out our IndieGoGo page to contribute or preorder a copy of this book. 

About the Author (In her words)

I was born on the same day as Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, but in a different year (I can only hope that this presages that I, too, will live to be eleventy-one) — but because my parents were hippies, I was nearly named after Peregrin Took. With the exception of seven years in Faerie, or perhaps Las Vegas (they are not so different, really) I have been a New Englander all my life — Connecticut, Vermont, and now Massachusetts. I serve as an alloparent to two amazing (very) young men, Sunil and Naveen, from whom I am constantly learning new and amazing things.

I share my living quarters in a drafty Victorian (which, as of this writing, has just celebrated its eleventy-first) with a giant, ridiculous dog (he happens to be a Briard). I am a terrible but enthusiastic guitarist, a reasonably good and even more enthusiastic cook, and a hobby outdoorswoman. My sports are hiking, running, yoga, archery, kayaking, and rock climbing (sport and top rope, though someday I hope to learn trad).

I am the author of a number of novels and short stories in the science fiction and fantasy genre, and have been fortunate to receive a good deal of recognition for that work including two Hugo Awards, the John W. Cambell Award for Best New Writer (2005), a Sturgeon Award, a Locus Award, an Asimov’s Reader’s Choice award, a Spectrum Award, and an honorable mention for the Philip K. Dick Award. I have also been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the British Science Fiction Award, the Lambda Award, the Romantic Times Reader’s Choice Award, and several others.

My work has been translated into Japanese, Italian, Spanish, Czech, Russian, Polish, and Portuguese, among other languages.

I enjoy teaching workshops, and have done instructor stints at Clarion, Clarion West, the WisCon Writer’s Respite, and Odyssey. I am a regular instructor at Viable Paradise.

My partner is a fantasy novelist who lives in Wisconsin. Nope, not that one.

…I spend a lot of time on planes.

——

You can learn more about the esteemed Elizabeth Bear on her website and follow her on Twitter.

Credit where credit is due – The About the Author portion was taken directly from her own About the Author page (Obviously. I think officially stating that makes me seem less of a thieving psycho… or something.)