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Sherwood Smith

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Sherwood Smith
Born (1951-05-29) May 29, 1951 (age 73)
Glendale, California, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, retired teacher
EducationUniversity of Southern California (BA)
University of California, Santa Barbara (MA)
GenreFantasy, science fiction, historical romance
Website
sherwoodsmith.net

Sherwood Smith (born May 29, 1951) is an American fantasy and science fiction writer for young adults and adults. Smith is a Nebula Award finalist and a longtime writing group organizer and participant.

Smith's works include the YA novel Crown Duel. Smith also collaborated with Dave Trowbridge in writing the Exordium series and with Andre Norton in writing two of the books in the Solar Queen universe.

In 2001, her short story "Mom and Dad at the Home Front" was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Short Story. Smith's children's books have made it on many library Best Books lists. Her Wren's War was an Anne Spencer Lindbergh Honor Book,[1] and it and The Spy Princess were Mythopoeic Fantasy Award finalists.[2] Smith was formerly an officer of the Mythopoeic Society under her birth name, Christine Ione Smith, but prefers "Sherwood" both personally and professionally.

Biography

Sherwood Smith was born May 28, 1951, in Glendale, California.[2][3] On her website, Smith describes herself as a middle-aged woman who has been married for over thirty years. Besides writing, she taught part-time at an elementary school, though she is now retired.[4] She has "two kids, rescue dogs, and a house full of books."[5]

Smith began making books out of taped paper towels when she was five years old.[2] When she was 8, she started writing about another world, Sartorias-deles, though she soon switched to making comic books of her stories, which she found to be easier. Although she first tried to send out her novels when she was 13, nothing sold. However, some of the novels Smith first wrote as a teen, including Wren to the Rescue, were sold after she learned to rewrite.[5]

In the years it took her to learn to rewrite, Smith "went to college, lived in Europe, came back to get [her] masters in History, worked in Hollywood, got married, started a family and became a teacher."[5] She received her degrees from the University of Southern California (B.A.) in 1973 and the University of California, Santa Barbara (M.A.) in 1977.[3] In 2010 she became a member of Book View Cafe.

Smith currently resides in California.[2]

Partial bibliography

Smith has co-written The Change Series with Rachel Manija Brown.

Books written under other pseudonyms

Smith has written some of the books in the Planet Builders series as Robyn Tallis.[6] She has also written four books in the Nowhere High series as Jesse Maguire and one book in the Horror High series as Nicholas Adams.[7]

Novels

Wren books

Sartorias-deles

Sartorias-deles is the name of the fictitious world that is the setting for many of the books by Sherwood Smith. It is one of four inhabited planets in the Erhal system.[8] According to Smith, humans first arrived on Sartorias-deles through world gates untold millennia ago. Occasionally, still more humans arrive. However, in non-canon commentaries the author informs readers that most of the early human history on Sartorias-deles has been lost since the so-called Fall of Sartor approximately 4,000 years before the events of the books such as Senrid.[8] Smith does indeed appear to intend these humans be portrayed as having been Terrans prior to their immigration to the Erhal system. For example, in numerous references throughout the stories, they appear to have brought with them several domesticated animal species, including cattle, horses, and dogs, as well as many foods such as coffee, rice, the tomato,[9] and concepts such as the seven-day week.[10]

Other:

Exordium

Andre Norton's Solar Queen universe

Andre Norton's Time Traders universe

Oz series

Planet Builders Series

TV tie-in novels

Short stories

References

  1. ^ "Previous Winners". The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. Archived from the original on April 11, 2007. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sherwood Smith". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Sherwood Smith", Contemporary Authors Online, Detroit, MI: Gale, 2015, retrieved December 8, 2019
  4. ^ "Sherwood Smith", The Writers Directory, Detroit, MI: Gale, 2018, retrieved December 8, 2019
  5. ^ a b c "Frequently Asked Questions". Sherwood Smith's Website. Archived from the original on January 1, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  6. ^ Weiner, Laurence (1989). ""The Cause and Effect of Daydreaming"". The Mythic Circle. 20 (8). Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  7. ^ "Featured Review: The Crown and Court Duet". SF Site. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Sartorias-deles: The Underlying Concept". Official Sherwood Smith Site. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
  9. ^ Wren to the Rescue, page 38, paragraph 7 (2004 Firebird edition)
  10. ^ "Sherwood Smith's Website: The Inda Books". Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  11. ^ "News". From the Desk of Sherwood Smith. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
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