Lawrence Watt-Evans (born 1954) is one of the
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s of American
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 ...
author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer).
Biography
Born in
Arlington, Massachusetts
Arlington is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census.
History ...
, as the fourth of six children, he made his first attempts at professional writing when he was eight.
After graduating from
Bedford High School in
Bedford, Massachusetts
Bedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Bedford was 14,383 at the time of the 2020 United States Census.
History
''The following compilation comes from Ellen Abrams (1999) based on information ...
, he attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
but left without a degree. By the rules of Princeton, he could not reapply for a year, during which he began to seriously try to sell his writing, but he sold nothing significant until ''The Lure of the Basilisk'' in 1979 (published 1980); he began then writing full-time. Despite having sold a short story and several articles under his real name, he initially submitted his first novel under a pseudonym. It was the editor of that novel,
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey (June 2, 1915 – May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science ...
, who first demanded for him to use his real name, and del Rey added the hyphen to create the name Lawrence Watt-Evans. Evans had insisted on including his middle name to avoid confusion with a contemporary nonfiction writer, also named
Lawrence Evans, and del Rey had then added the hyphen "to make it more distinctive".
Watt-Evans was president of the
Horror Writers Association
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of Horror and Dark fantasy writers.
Overview
HWA was formed in 1985 with t ...
from 1994 to 1996, and has also served as Eastern Regional Director and treasurer of
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...
. From 1995 to 1997, he was half of a partnership known as
Malicious Press (with screenwriter
Terry Rossio
Terry Rossio (born July 2, 1960) is an American screenwriter. He co-wrote the films ''Aladdin'', ''Shrek'', and all five of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Shrek' ...
), which published ''
Deathrealm'' magazine, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey and he was the managing editor of the
webzine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer magaz ...
''
Helix SF'' for its entire run of ten quarterly issues.
In April 2005, Watt-Evans announced that the first draft of his latest Ethshar novel, ''
The Spriggan Mirror'', would be made available online as a
serial, using a modified version of the
Street Performer Protocol
The threshold pledge or fund and release system is a way of making a fundraising pledge as a group of individuals, often involving charitable goals or financing the provision of a public good. An amount of money is set as the goal or ''threshold'' ...
. The draft has since been finished and was previously available in its entirety on one of Watt-Evans' websites. However, a revised version has now been published commercially in both electronic and paper editions, so the free version has been removed. He since completed several online serials, all using that same method: ''
The Vondish Ambassador
''The Vondish Ambassador'' (2007) is a fantasy novel by American writer Lawrence Watt-Evans set in his Ethshar universe. He serialized it with a variant of the Street Performer Protocol
The threshold pledge or fund and release system is a way of ...
'' in 2007, ''
Realms of Light'' started November 2008 (his only non-Ethshar serial, a sequel to ''
Nightside City
Nightside may refer to:
*''Nightside with Dan Rea'', talk radio show hosted by Dan Rea
*''The Nightside'', hosted by Mark Elliot
*'' NBC Nightside'', an American overnight television news program on NBC
* ''Nightside'' (book series), a series of f ...
''), ''
The Final Calling
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' started in June 2010 (later published as ''
The Unwelcome Warlock
''The Unwelcome Warlock'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Lawrence Watt-Evans, the eleventh book in the Legends of Ethshar series. It was produced as a serial under the name ''The Final Calling'' making it the latest of the four such novels ...
''). In April–July 2012 he did a 5th serial, ''
The Sorcerer's Widow
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''.
In June 2013 Watt-Evans began a crowd-funding campaign for his unpublished
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 ...
novel ''
Vika's Avenger'', a story unrelated to his previous works, and in July he started a sixth Ethshar serial, ''Ishta's Companion''. In 2014 he announced that, as the response to the campaign for ''Ishta's Companion'' had been disappointing, he would stop writing online serials. The book was published as ''
Relics of War
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
''.
List of works
References
External links
*
The Ethshar Home Page*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watt-Evans, Lawrence
1954 births
Living people
American fantasy writers
American science fiction writers
Hugo Award-winning writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male novelists
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers