Paula Volsky is an American

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 ...

author.

Biography

Paula Volsky was born in

Fanwood, New Jersey Fanwood is a borough in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,774, an increase of 456 (+6.2%) from the 2010 census count of 7,318, which in turn reflected an increa ...

. She majored in English literature at liberal arts college, Vassar, in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

, where she became friendly with

Esther Friesner Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...

and Jane Bishop. Together, they wrote at least one film script for student production, ''Lavinia: a Girl of the Street'', which demonstrated Volsky's trademark tongue-in-cheek style. At the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, England, she received an M.A. in Shakespearian studies. Before writing fantasy, she sold real estate and also worked for the

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Urb ...

. After releasing novels regularly for nearly twenty years, Volsky published no new work for nearly a decade, even though ''Locus'' had reported her sale of a "new fantasy trilogy" to

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 mid-2000. After a long delay, the publisher announced that the final volume had been completed, and that it would issue the books beginning in late 2011.

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoke ...

described Volsky as "a reliably entertaining storyteller.""Summation 1994: Fantasy," ''

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror ''Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' was a reprint anthology published annually by St. Martin's Press from 1987 to 2008. In addition to the short stories, supplemented by a list of honorable mentions, each edition included a number of retrospective e ...

: Eighth Annual Collection'', p.xix All her novels written under her own name take place within the same fictional world, often with fantasy plot-lines inspired by historical events.

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Curse of the Witch-Queen''. Ballantine, 1982. * ''Sorcerer'' series **''The Sorcerer's Lady''. Ace, 1986. **''The Sorcerer's Heir''. Ace, 1988. **''The Sorcerer's Curse''. Ace, 1989. *''The Luck of Relian Kru''. Ace, 1987. *''Illusion''. London: Gollancz, 1991. *''The Wolf of Winter''. Bantam Spectra, 1993. *''The Gates of Twilight''. Bantam Spectra, 1996. *''The White Tribunal''. Bantam Spectra, 1997. *''The Grand Ellipse''. Bantam Spectra, 2000. * ''The Veiled Isles Trilogy'' **''The Traitor's Daughter''. Bantam Spectra, 2011. (as Paula Brandon) **''The Ruined City''. Bantam Spectra, 2012. (as Paula Brandon) **''The Wanderers''. Bantam Spectra, 2012. (as Paula Brandon)

Short stories

*'The Traditions of Karzh' in ''Songs of the Dying Earth'', ed.

George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...

and

Gardner Dozois Gardner Raymond Dozois ( ; July 23, 1947 – May 27, 2018) was an American people, American science fiction author and editing, editor. He was the founding editor of ''The Year's Best Science Fiction'' anthologies (1984–2018) and was editor of ...

, Subterranean Press, 2009. *'Giant Rat of Sumatra' in ''Resurrected Holmes'', ed. Marvin Kaye, St. Martin's.

References

External links

House/Spectra's author page
(mailing address on the discussion page) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Volsky, Paula 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers American women short story writers American women novelists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Vassar College alumni Alumni of the University of Birmingham Women science fiction and fantasy writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers