Female authors of gothic, horror, fantasy & science fiction (part 5)

We now enter the 50s and early 60s, which is bringing some authors that are very popular right now:

Charlaine Harris (1951-) - Having experimented with poems about ghosts in her early writings and then moving into writing mysteries, Charlaine hit the big time when her Sookie Stackhouse series (2001-2013) gained wide exposure by being the basis of the TV show True Blood. Harris stuck with a supernatural edge in her follow up Harper Connelly Mysteries series (2005-2009), about a young woman able to locate dead bodies and see their last moments through their eyes.

Margaret Ogden aka Robin Hobb aka Megan Lindholm (1952-) - During the 80s, Margaret wrote contemporary fantasy under the name Megan Lindholm. However, she is most well known as Robin Hobb and for writing fantasy epics such as the Farseer Trilogy (1995-1997), Liveship Traders Trilogy (1998-2000) and The Tawny Man Trilogy (2001-2003). If you even have a passing interest in epic fantasy, then I highly recommend Robin to you. I’ve read all three trilogies above (which have sold over a million copies) and they really are immersive, intriguing adventures.

Suzanne Collins (1962-) - I’m not sure how many people know her name yet, but you will no doubt know her work. Suzanne wrote the Hunger Games Trilogy (2008-2010), which has been turned into a very successful film franchise. Suzanne began her career by writing children’s television, which led to writing children’s fiction in The Underland Chronicles (2003-2007). This influence carried through into Hunger Games, as did her understanding of the effects of war through her father, a US Air Force officer in the Vietnam War.

Laurell K Hamilton (1963-) - May be slightly under the popular radar at the moment, but Laurell’s Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series (1993-) has well over 6 million copies in print! While these have made her name, she is also writing the Merry Gentry series (2000-) about a Faerie Princess private detective under constant threat of assassination. I’m intrigued by how Laurell’s schooling at an Evangelical Christian college led her to write about faeries and necromancer vampire executioners…

As always, feel free to leave comments. Tune in next week for some more authors born in the 60s.