Greg van Eekhout is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

writer. His "In the Late December" (2003) was nominated for the

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

, and his middle-grade fantasy novel ''The Boy at the End of the World'' was nominated for the 2012

Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the ...

for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Biography and career

Van Eekhout's parents are of

Indo Indo may refer to: * Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent * Indonesia, a country in Asia ** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines ** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry ** Indo cuisine, fusion ...

(

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n) extraction. His last name (meaning "of Oakwood") is pronounced "like this: Van, as in the kind of thing you drive, eek, as in, 'Eek, killer robots are stomping the rutabagas!' and hout, like 'out' with an h in front of it. The emphasis is on the Eek." He grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he received a Bachelor's in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He earned a Master's in Educational Media and Computers at

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, and worked for a time at ASU designing

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

. He attended the

writing workshop A writing circle is a group of like-minded writers needing support for their work, either through writing peer critiques, workshops or classes, or just encouragement. There are many different types of writing circles or writing groups based on lo ...

Viable Paradise Viable Paradise is an annual one-week residential writing workshop held each autumn on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts and is focused on speculative fiction. The workshop began in 1997, as part of a science fiction convention pre ...

in 1999. His first professionally published story, "Wolves Till the World Goes Down," (2001) appeared in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

'' Starlight 3'' and was later reprinted in ''Fantasy: The Best of 2001''. His story "In the Late December" (2003) was nominated for

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

for Best Short Story. His work has also appeared in a number of other places, including ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...

'', ''

Realms of Fantasy ''Realms of Fantasy'' was a professional bimonthly fantasy speculative fiction magazine published by Sovereign Media, then Tir Na Nog Press, and Damnation Books, which specialized in fantasy fiction (including some horror), related nonfiction (wit ...

'', the ''

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiva ...

'', and ''

Strange Horizons ''Strange Horizons'' is an online speculative fiction magazine. It also features speculative poetry and nonfiction in every issue, including reviews, essays, interviews, and roundtables. History and profile It was launched in September 2000, and ...

''. His first novel, ''

Norse Code Greg van Eekhout is a science fiction and fantasy writer. His "In the Late December" (2003) was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story, and his middle-grade fantasy novel ''The Boy at the End of the World'' was nominated for the 2012 ...

'', an adult

urban fantasy Urban fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy which places imaginary and unreal elements in an approximation of a contemporary urban setting. The combination provides the writer with quixotic plot-drivers, unusual character traits, and a platform for cl ...

, was published by

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. ...

in May 2009. His second novel, a middle-grade fantasy titled '' Kid Vs. Squid'', was released by

Bloomsbury Children's USA Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest m ...

on May 11, 2010. ''The Boy at the End of the World'', also a middle-grade fantasy, was released in June 2011 by Bloomsbury Children's USA. His fourth novel, ''California Bones'', was published by Tor Books on June 10, 2014. It is the first in a planned

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

based on his 2006 short story "The Osteomancer’s Son", anthologized in ''Year’s Best Fantasy 7'' and ''Best Fantasy of the Year: 2007''.Writing and Snacks - New book deal!
The second in the series, ''Pacific Fire'', was published on January 27, 2015. He currently lives in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

Bibliography

Novels

* ''

'' (Bantam Books, May 2009) * ''Kid Vs. Squid'' (Bloomsbury Children's USA, May 2010) * ''The Boy at the End of the World'' (Bloomsbury Children's USA, June 2011) * ''

California Bones California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

'' (

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, June 2014) * ''Pacific Fire'' (Tor Books, 2015) * ''Dragon Coast'' (Tor Books, 2015) * ''Voyage of the Dogs'' (HarperCollins Childrens, September 2018) * ''COG'' (HarperCollins Childrens, October 2019) * ''Weird Kid'' (HarperCollins Childrens, July 2021) * ''Fenris & Mott'' (HarperCollins Childrens, August 2022)

Short fiction

* "Wolves Till the World Goes Down", ''Starlight 3'' (2001); included in ''Fantasy: The Best of 2001'' * "Show and Tell", ''Strange Horizons'' (June 2002) * "Will You Be an Astronaut?", ''Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (September 2002) * "In the Late December", ''Strange Horizons'
(online)
(Dec 2003) * "Robots and Falling Hearts" (with Tim Pratt), ''Realms of Fantasy'' (April 2005); ''Year’s Best Fantasy 6'' * "Anywhere There’s a Game", ''Realms of Fantasy'' (April 2006) * "The Osteomancer’s Son", ''Asimov’s Science Fiction (April/May 2006); ''Year’s Best Fantasy 7'', ''Best Fantasy of the Year: 2007'' * "The Holy City and Em’s Reptile Farm", ''Other Earths'' (DAW BOOKS, April 2009) * "Last Son of Tomorrow", ''Tor.com''
online
(May 2009) * "On the Fringes of the Fractal", ''2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush'' (2016); ''The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy: 2017'' * "The Wolf and the Manticore", ''The Book of Magic'' (2018) * "Polly Wanna Cracker", ''Wastelands: the New Apocalypse'' (2019) * "Big Box", ''Uncanny Magazine'' (July 2019) * "Spaceship October", ''Escape Pod'' (2020)

References

External links

*, the author's official site. Includes his blog, bibliography, and links to some of his stories online. * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Eekhout, Greg 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American male novelists American science fiction writers American people of Dutch-Indonesian descent University of California, Los Angeles alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Indo people American male short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American male writers