Mur Lafferty (born July 25, 1973) is an American podcaster and writer based in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. She was the editor and host of '' Escape Pod'' from 2010, when she took over from Steve Eley, until 2012, when she was replaced by

Norm Sherman Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...

. She is also the host and creator of the podcast ''I Should Be Writing''. Until July 2007, she was host and co-editor of Pseudopod. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Escape Artists short fiction magazine ''Mothership Zeta'' until it went on hiatus in 2016.

Education

Lafferty attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated with a degree in English. In 2014, she received her MFA from the University of Maine's Stonecoast program.

Podcasting

Early contributions

A friend introduced Lafferty to podcasting in October 2004. She immediately seized on the medium as a novel opportunity to publish her essays on geekdom. Her first podcast, ''Geek Fu Action Grip'', launched in December 2004. Early topics included her obsession with Alton Brown and her uncomfortable crushes on the hosts of her child's TV shows, and expanded to discussions of games, movies, and television shows. In later episodes she began podcasting her fiction, most notably her serialized novels ''Heaven'' and ''Heaven Part 2: Hell''. ''Geek Fu Action Grip'' ceased production as of episode 103. Lafferty's essays also led to her becoming an early contributor to Wingin' It: a sci-fi variety show podcast hosted by Michael R. Mennenga and

Evo Terra Travis Unwin (born June 10, 1968), known professionally as Evo Terra, is an American podcaster, author, radio broadcaster, and businessman based in Bangkok, Thailand. Terra is the author of ''Podcasting For Dummies'', originator of ''The Beer Di ...

. While she is no longer a regular, her essay produced during their 2006 Dragon*Con show is considered one of her best. In September 2006, Lafferty, along with Michael R. Mennenga and Tracy Hickman, founded the Parsec Awards, which recognize excellence in science fiction podcasting. After a general nomination period, the Steering Committee compiles a shortlist, from which an independent panel of judges selects the winner of each category. The awards are presented yearly at Dragon*Con.

''I Should Be Writing''

Lafferty's second podcast arose from her desire to share her experiences as a struggling fiction writer. ''I Should Be Writing'' is a self-described "podcast for wannabe fiction writers." Each show covers a specific topic about the writing world, from battling self-doubt to crafting queries and cover letters, interspersed with interviews with published professionals. ''I Should Be Writing'' won the 2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Podcast.

''Escape Pod'' and ''Pseudopod''

From May 2010 to December 2012, she was the editor and host of the sci-fi podcast magazine '' Escape Pod'', taking over from former editor and founder Steve Eley. Under her editorship, ''Escape Pod'' began paying SFWA pro rates for the first time. Lafferty was also co-founder, along with Steve Eley and co-editor Ben Phillips, of '' Pseudopod'', a spin-off of ''Escape Pod'' presenting "the best in audio horror." In July 2007 she stepped down as co-editor of ''Pseudopod''.

Ditch Diggers

In January 2015, Lafferty started a new podcast with a recurring ''I Should Be Writing'' guest host

Matt Wallace Matt Wallace is an American record producer. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley,Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for Best Fancast in 2018, having been a finalist the year before.

Writing

Early career

Lafferty's early career began with her writing for White Wolf and other

role-playing game 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 ...

companies, and she has expanded to writing about games for such publications as ''

Scrye ''SCRYE'' (''Scrye Collectible Card Game Checklist and Price Guide'') was a gaming magazine published from 1994 to April 2009 by Scrye, Inc. It was the longest-running periodical to have reported on the collectible card game hobby. It was also t ...

'', '' Knights of the Dinner Table'', '' Anime Insider'', ''

Games Quarterly A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...

'', and '' The Escapist''. Her

podcast novel A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...

''Playing For Keeps'' was published by Swarm Press on August 25, 2008. She has also written essays for the online magazine ''Grumble'', many of which have ended up on Geek Fu Action Grip and published fiction in ''Hub'' magazine. Her short story "1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur" (published in ''The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities'') qualified her for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, which she won in 2013.

''The Shambling Guides''

In May 2013, Orbit Books released the first in Lafferty's urban fantasy series: ''The Shambling Guide to New York City''. It received favorable reception; ''Kirkus Reviews'' stated: "The hip, knowing and sometimes hysterically funny narrative, interspersed with excerpts from the guide of the title, lurches along in splendid fashion… The result is irresistible." The second novel in the series, ''A Ghost Train to New Orleans'', was published on March 4, 2014.

Awards and honors

*Member of the Podcast Pickle Hall of Fame *One of the Top Ten Savvy Women in Podcasting, 2006 *''Tricks of the Podcasting Masters'' was named one of the top reference books for 2006 by Amazon.com. *2007 Parsec Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form): ''I Look Forward To Remembering You'' *2007 Parsec Award for Best Writing Related Podcast: ''I Should Be Writing'' *2008 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Heaven – Season Four: Wasteland'' *2008 Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Long Form): ''Playing for Keeps'' *2010 Parsec Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Heaven – Season Five: War'' *2011 Parsec Nomination for Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form): ''Marco and the Red Granny'' *2012 Nomination for John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer *2013 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer *2018 Nomination for Hugo Award for Best SemiProzine as editor of ''Escape Pod''

Selected bibliography

Novels

*''Playing for Keeps'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Playing for Keeps'' (2008, Swarm Press; ) *''Nanovor: Hacked'' (2010, Running Press Kids) *'' Six Wakes'' (2017, Orbit; ) *''Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition'', (film

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

; 2018, Del Rey; ) *''Station Eternity'' (2022, Ace; )

The Shambling Guides

*''A Shambling Guide to New York'' (2013, Orbit Books; ) *''The Ghost Train to New Orleans'' (2014, Orbit Books; )

Novellas

*''Heaven - Season One'' (2006, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Two: Hell'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Three: Earth'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Four: Wasteland'' (2007, Podiobooks.com) *''Heaven - Season Five: War'' (2009, Podiobooks.com) *''Marco and the Red Granny'' (2010, Hub Magazine)

Short fiction

*"I Look Forward To Remembering You" (2006, Escape Pod) *"1963: The Argument Against Louis Pasteur", ''The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities'' (ed.

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and

Jeff VanderMeer Jeff VanderMeer (born July 7, 1968) is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. The tr ...

) *"Produce 1:1-10" (2014, Daily Science Fiction)

Serial fiction

* ''Bookburners'' (created by Max Gladstone) ** ''Bookburners'' Season One (with Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and

Brian Francis Slattery Brian Francis Slattery is an American writer and an editor at '' The New Haven Review''. He has published three novels, ''Spaceman Blues: A Love Song'' (Tor, 2007), '' Liberation: Being the Adventures of the Slick Six After the Collapse of the Unit ...

) *** Episode 4: "A Sorcerer's Apprentice" (2015) *** Episode 8: "Under My Skin" (2015) *** Episode 11: "Shore Leave" (2015) *** Episode 13: "Keeping Friends Close" (2015)

Anthologies

*''Voices: New Media Fiction'' (editor; 2006, Podiobooks.com)

Non-fiction and essays

*''Tricks of the Podcasting Masters'' (with Robert Walch) Que 2006 *''Lessons From a Geek Fu Master'', (2006, Lulu)

RPGs

*''D20 Fright Night Haunted School'' (2004,

Hogshead Publishing Hogshead Publishing was a British game company that produced role-playing games and game supplements. History In October 1994, James Wallis founded Hogshead Publishing, a company which specialised in role-playing and storytelling games. Wallis ba ...

)

Magazines

*''Mothership Zeta'' (2015–2016,

Escape Artists Escape Artists Productions, LLC, commonly known as Escape Artists, is an independently financed motion picture and television production company with a first look non-exclusive deal at Sony Pictures Entertainment, headed by partners Steve Ti ...

; Editor-in-Chief)

References

External links

*
RPG writing credits

Audio interview on the Comic Geek Speak podcast

Interview on Books and Ideas Podcast (2008)
*
Mur Lafferty
at '' The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''
Essay on story behind The Shambling Guide to New York City
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafferty, Mur Living people 1973 births 21st-century American novelists American podcasters American women podcasters American science fiction writers American women short story writers American women novelists Novelists from North Carolina Women science fiction and fantasy writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American short story writers University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni