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Lewis Shiner (born December 30, 1950 in
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...
) is an American writer. Shiner began his career as a
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
writer, and then identified with
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian Futurism, futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of low-life, lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial in ...
. He later wrote more mainstream novels, albeit often with
magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
and
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and drama ...
elements. He was formerly a resident of
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(and a member of the
Turkey City Writer's Workshop Turkey City Writer's Workshop is a peer-to-peer, professional science fiction writer's workshop in Texas. Founded in 1973 and still ongoing today, it was consciously modeled after the east coast Milford Writer's Workshop.North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
.


Life and career

Shiner graduated from
Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , pr ...
in 1973. Several of his novels have
rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...
as a theme or main focus, especially the musicians of the late 1960s; for example, Shiner's 1993 novel ''Glimpses'' considers the great never-recorded albums of
The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...
,
Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
,
The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
and Jimi Hendrix. ''Say Goodbye: The Laurie Moss Story'' (1999) focuses on a fictional up-and-coming female musician and her subsequent fall back down. ''Slam'' (1990) is immersed in
skate punk Skate punk (also known as skatecore and skate rock) is a skater subculture and punk rock subgenre that developed in the 1980s. Originally a form of hardcore punk that had been closely associated with skate culture, skate punk evolved into a m ...
and
anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...
culture. Perhaps because novels with music as a major theme are not generally considered mainstream genre material, his work has frequently been overlooked. He is a contributing author to the George R. R. Martin-edited anthology ''
Wild Cards ''Wild Cards'' is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors (referred to as the "Wild Cards Trust") and are edited by George ...
'', notably creating that universe's most powerful character, the tantric sex magic wielding pimp, Fortunato. In July 2007 Shiner created the web site Fiction Liberation Front (FLF) as a venue for his short stories. The stories are released under the
Creative Commons license A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...
and are available in
HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...
and
PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
formats. Since 2006, Shiner has been a card-carrying member of the radical labor union, the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines gener ...
. On July 22, 2007,
The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...
began publishing a weekly column by Shiner, titled "Graphic Scenes", about comics.


Bibliography


Novels

*''Frontera''. Riverdale, NY, USA: Baen, 1984 (paper). *''Deserted Cities of the Heart''. New York, NY, USA: Doubleday, 1988. *''Slam''. New York, NY, USA: Doubleday, 1990. *''Glimpses''. New York, NY, USA: William Morrow & Co., 1993. (
World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...
winner) *''Say Goodbye''. New York, NY, USA: St Martin's, 1999. *''Black & White''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2008. *''Dark Tangos''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2011. *''Outside the Gates of Eden''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2019.


Collections

*''Nine Hard Questions about the Nature of the Universe''. Eugene, OR, USA:
Pulphouse Publishing Pulphouse Publishing was an American small press publisher based in Eugene, Oregon, and specializing in science fiction and fantasy. It was founded by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch in 1988. The press was active until 1996. Over that ...
, 1991. No ISBN (''Author's Choice Monthly'' #4) *''The Edges of Things''. Baltimore, WA, USA: Washington Science Fiction Association, 1991. *''Twilight Time''. Eugene, OR, USA: Pulphouse Publishing, 1991. No ISBN *''Private Eye Action As You Like It'' with
Joe R. Lansdale Joe Richard Lansdale (born October 28, 1951) is an American writer and martial arts instructor. A prose writer in a variety of genres - Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense - he's also written comic books and screenplays. Se ...
. Holyoke, MA, USA: Crossroads Press, 1998. *''Love in Vain''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2001. *''Shades of Gray'' (chapbook available with the signed, numbered limited edition of ''Black and White''). Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2008. *''Love in Vain'' (Australian edition, includes previously uncollected novellas "Perfidia" and "Primes"). Greenwood, WA, Australia:
Ticonderoga Publications Ticonderoga Publications is an Australian independent publishing house founded by Russell B. Farr in 1996 and now run by Farr and Liz Grzyb. The publisher specializes in collections of science fiction short stories. History and current Tico ...
, 2009. *''Collected Stories''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2009. *''Widows & Orphans'' (chapbook available with the signed, numbered limited edition of ''Collected Stories''). Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2009. *''Heroes and Villains''. Burton, MI, USA: Subterranean Press, 2017.


Wild Cards

* Wild Cards I: Wild Cards - contains the short stories "The Long Dark Night of Fortunato" and "Epilogue: Third Generation" written by Shiner in 1986 * Wild Cards II: Aces High - contains the short story "Pennies from Hell" written by Shiner in 1987 * Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild - contains segments of the character "Fortunato" written by Shiner in 1987 * Wild Cards IV: Aces Abroad - contains the short story "Zero Hour" written by Shiner in 1988


Editor

*''Modern Stories #1'' (April, 1983): A self-published
fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share t ...
featuring original fiction by
William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, hi ...
,
Howard Waldrop Howard Waldrop (born September 15, 1946) is a science fiction author who works primarily in short fiction. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2021. Personal life Though born in Houston, Mississippi, Waldrop has spent ...
, and
Joe R. Lansdale Joe Richard Lansdale (born October 28, 1951) is an American writer and martial arts instructor. A prose writer in a variety of genres - Western, horror, science fiction, mystery, and suspense - he's also written comic books and screenplays. Se ...
, among others. *''When The Music's Over'' ( anthology featuring alternatives to war) (Nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Anthology)


Comics

* ''Time Masters'' (with Bob Wayne) Art by Art Thibert and Jose Marzan Jr. (
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
February 1990 - September 1990) *"Scales" Art by Carlos Kastro (adaptation of the short story of the same name) in ''Omnibus: Modern Perversity'' (Blackbird Comics January 1992) *'' The Hacker Files'' Art by
Tom Sutton Thomas F. Sutton (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2002) He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after graduating from high school in 1955, and worked on art projects while stationed at Fort Francis E. Warren, near Laramie, Wyoming. Later, stationed at Itam ...
(
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...
August 1992 - July 1993) *"Steam Engine Time" Art by Doug Potter (adaptation of the short story of the same name) in ''Wild West Show'' ( Mojo Press 1996)


References


External links


Official WebpageFiction Liberation Front (FLF)
*
''Austin Chronicle'' article about the Fiction Liberation FrontInterview on The Next Track podcastInterview on sfss.space
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiner, Lewis 1950 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers Living people American atheists American male novelists Cyberpunk writers Industrial Workers of the World members Novelists from North Carolina World Fantasy Award-winning writers Chapbook writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers