Marilyn Lorraine "Lynn" Abbey (born September 18, 1948) is an American fantasy author.

Background

Born in

Peekskill, New York Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fro ...

, Abbey was daughter of Ronald Lionel (an insurance manager) and Doris Lorraine (a homemaker; maiden name, De Wees). She attended the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

, where she began as an

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

major. She earned a A.B. (1969) and an M.A. (1971) in

European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500 to AD 1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early ...

, but shifted to

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...

as a profession "when my advisor pointed out that, given the natural rise and fall of demographic curves, tenured university faculty positions were going to be as scarce as hen's teeth for the next twenty-five years and my education was turning into an expensive hobby. (He was right, too.)" She had married Ralph Dressler July 14, 1969; they were divorced October 31, 1972. During this period she also became a member of

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

Move to Michigan; accident and aftermath

In 1976, after a stint as a programmer for insurance companies, and work on the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

task force involved in documenting the New York City bankruptcy crisis, she moved to

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

. In January 1977, she was injured in an automobile accident while going to pick up

Gordon R. Dickson Gordon Rupert Dickson (November 1, 1923 – January 31, 2001) was a Canadian-American science fiction writer. He was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Dickson was born in Edmonton, Alberta, ...

, who was to be a Guest of Honor at that year's

ConFusion In medicine, confusion is the quality or state of being bewildered or unclear. The term "acute mental confusion"

. The guilt-ridden Dickson volunteered to assist her by reading and critiquing her work (she'd been writing since childhood). The manuscript he helped her with became ''Daughter of the Bright Moon''.

Publication and marriage

Abbey began publishing in 1979 with ''Daughter of the Bright Moon'' and the short story "The Face of Chaos," in ''

Thieves' World Thieves' World is a shared world fantasy series created by Robert Lynn Asprin in 1978. The original series comprised twelve anthologies, including stories by science fiction authors Poul Anderson, John Brunner, Andrew J. Offutt, C. J. Cherr ...

'', the first part of the '' Thieves World''

shared world A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...

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 ...

. On August 28, 1982 she married

Robert Asprin Robert Lynn Asprin (June 28, 1946 – May 22, 2008) was an American science fiction and fantasy author and active fan, known best for his humorous series '' MythAdventures'' and '' Phule's Company''. Background Robert Asprin was born in St. J ...

, editor of the Thieves World books, and became his co-editor. She also contributed to other shared world series during the 1980s, including '' Heroes in Hell'' and '' Merovingen Nights''. She began writing for

TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...

around 1994 while continuing to write novels and editing anthologies. Her works for TSR include stories set in the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as ...

and the

Dark Sun ''Dark Sun'' is an original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. ''Dark Sun'' featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take o ...

settings. Lynn Abbey wrote for TSR's Dark Sun series starting with ''The Brazen Gambit''. Further novels in the series include ''The Rise and Fall of a Dragon King'', a novel exploring the topic of genocide, a central theme in the ancient history of

Athas ''Dark Sun'' is an original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (D&D) campaign setting set in the fictional, post-apocalyptic desert world of Athas. ''Dark Sun'' featured an innovative metaplot, influential art work, dark themes, and a genre-bending take ...

, the world on which the Dark Sun setting takes place. Along with ''Cinnabar Shadows'', all three of Abbey's books written for the

ian setting take place in and around the

City-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Urik.

Divorce and moves

Abbey and Asprin divorced in 1993 and Abbey moved to

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. She continued to write novels during this period, including original works as well as tie-ins to

role playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

for TSR. In 2002, she returned to Thieves World with the novel ''Sanctuary'' and also began editing new anthologies, beginning with ''Turning Points''. In 2006, she was a writer on

Green Ronin Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos, they have published several role-playing game–related products. They won several awards for their games includi ...

's version of ''Thieves World''. She has lived in Leesburg, Florida since 1997.

References

External links

Facebook page
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbey, Lynn 1948 births 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American book editors American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women novelists Living people People from Leesburg, Florida People from Peekskill, New York Science fiction fans University of Rochester alumni Women print editors Women science fiction and fantasy writers Women speculative fiction editors