Nancy Kress

Nancy Kress lives in Silver Spring, Maryland with her husband, Charles Sheffield. In 1990, she wrote her first science fiction novella, Beggars in Spain. She has earned her Masters degrees in education and english from State University of New York, Brockport and taught there occassionally between 1984 and 1990. Nancy started her writing career in the fantasy genre but now produces science fiction, usually about genetic engineering. She regularly serves as a teacher and mentor of aspiring science fiction writers at summer conferences such as Clarion and at the Bethesda Writing Center during the rest of the year. She writes the "Fiction" column for Writer's Digest magazine. "She has won two Nebulas and a Hugo, and lost over a dozen more of these awards."

Nancy advises novice writers that the best point of view is,

"...usually third person limited--limited to one character. This is easiest because there's only one character to keep track of. You don't have to be inside his head or reproduce his diction the way you would in first person. You can use standard English.

'Third person limited' means limited to one character, 'third person multiple,' to more than one. You're limited to only what he, she, or they see. Each point of view also has distance: close, distant, or omniscient."

Nancy Kress is the author of fourteen books: three fantasy novels, six SF novels, two thrillers, two collections of short stories, and two books on writing fiction. She is perhaps best known for the "Sleepless" trilogy that began with BEGGARS IN SPAIN. Her most recent book is STINGER (Tor). Kress's short fiction has appeared in all the usual places, including Omni, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and Analog. She has won three Nebulas: in 1985 for Out Of All Them Bright Stars, in 1991 for the novella version of Beggars In Spain, which also won a Hugo, and in 1998 for The Flowers of Aulit Prison.

BOOKS

• YANKED, Avon, June, 1999
• DYNAMIC CHARACTERS, Writer's Digest Books, June, 1998
• BEAKERS DOZEN(short story collection), Tor, summer, 1998
• STINGER, Forge Books, fall, 1998
• MAXIMUM LIGHT, Tor, January, 1998
• BEGGARS RIDE, Tor, November, 1996
• OATHS AND MIRACLES, Forge, January, 1996. Paperback, 1997
• BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS, Tor, 1994. Paperback, 1995
• THE ALIENS OF EARTH (short story collection), Arkham House, 1993
• BEGGARS IN SPAIN, Avon, 1993

Short Fiction

• "Steamship Soldier on the Information Front," FUTURE HISTORIES, ed. Stephen McClelland, Horizon House (U.K.), 1997, reprinted in ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, April, 1998
• "Always True to Thee, In My Fashion," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, January, 1997
• "The Flowers of Aulit Prison," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF MAGAZINE, Oct/Nov 1996
• "Marigold Outlet," CAT TAILS, ed. Ellen Datlow, Avon, 1996
• "Steadfast," BLACK SWAN, WHITE RAVEN, ed. Ellen Datlow, Avon, 1997
• "Sex Education," INTERSECTIONS: THE SYCAMORE HILL ANTHOLOGY, ed. John Kessel, Tor, 1996
• "Hard Drive," KILLING ME SOFTLY, ed. Gardner Dozois, HarperPrism, 1995
• "Feigenbaum Number," OMNI, December, 1995
• "Unto the Daughters," SISTERS IN FANTASY, ed. Susan Schwartz and Martin Greenberg, 1995
• "Evolution," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, October, 1995
• "Fault Lines," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, August, 1995
• "Summer Wind," RUBY SLIPPERS, ed. Ellen Datlow, Avon, 1995
• "Margin Of Error," OMNI, October, 1994
• "Words Like Pale Stones," Black Thorn, White Rose, ed. Ellen Datlow, Avon, 1994
• "Ars Longa," ALTERNATE CELEBRITIES, Bantam, ed. Mike Resnick 1994
• "Grant Us This Day," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF MAGAZINE, Sept, 1993
• "Dancing On Air," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF MAGAZINE, July, 1993
• "Martin On A Wednesday," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF MAGAZINE, March 1993
• "The Battle of Long Island," OMNI, February, 1993
• "The Death of John Patrick Yoder," FULL SPECTRUM IV, ed. Lou Aronica, Amy Stout, Betsy Mitchell, Bantam, 1993
• "Stalking Beans," SNOW WHITE, BLOOD RED, ed. Ellen Datlow, Avon, 1993
• "To Scale," XANADU, ed. Jane Yolen and Martin Greenberg, ROC, 1993
• "Eoghan," ALTERNATE KENNEDYS, ed. Mike Resnick and Martin Greenberg, 1992
• "Birthing Pool," in MURASAKI, ed. Robert Silverberg, Bantam, 1992
• "The Mountain to Mohammed," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, April, 1992
• "And Wild For To Hold," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION MAGAZINE, July 1991
• "Beggars In Spain," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, April, 1991 Simultaneous publication: Axolotl Press, 1991
• "Peace of Mind," WHEN THE MUSIC'S OVER, ed. by Lewis Shiner, Bantam, 1991
• "Touchdown," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, October, 1990. This short story has been adapted for a star show at Strasenburgh Planetarium in Rochester, NY
• "Inertia," ANALOG, January, 1990 Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, #8, ed. Gardner Dozois
• "Renaissance," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, mid-December, 1989
• "People Like Us," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, September, 1989.
• "The Price of Oranges," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, April, 1989. Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, #7, ed. Gardner Dozois. Hugo nominee.
• "In A World Like This," OMNI, October, 1988
• "In Memoriam," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, June, 1988. Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, #6, ed. Gardner Dozois
• "Spillage," FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, April, 1988. Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY, ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling
• "Craps," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, March, 1988
• "Philippa's Hands," FULL SPECTRUM, ed. Shawna McCarthy et. al., Bantam, 1988
• "Glass," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, September, 1987
• "Cannibals," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, May, 1987
• "Training Ground," LIAVEK: WIZARD'S ROW, ed. Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, Ace, 1987
• "Phone Repairs," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, December, 1986
• "Down Behind Cuba Lake," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, August, 1986
• "Out Of All Them Bright Stars," FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, March, 1985. Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, ed. Gardner Dozois. Nebula winner, Best Short Story, 1985.
• "Birth Luck," LIAVEK, ed. Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, Ace, 1985
• "Trinity," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, October, 1984. Reprinted in THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION ed. Gardner Dozois, and in TERRY CARR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR (Tor). Nebula nominee.
• "Ten Thousand Pictures, One Word," TWILIGHT ZONE, August, 1984
• "Explanations, Inc." FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, July, 1984
• "Borovsky's Hollow Woman," OMNI, October, 1983
• "Night Win," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, September, 1983
• "With The Original Cast," OMNI, May, 1982. Reprinted in THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION OF THE YEAR 12, ed. Terry Carr, Timescape
• "Talp Hunt," UNIVERSE 12, ed. Terry Carr, 1982
• "A Little Matter of Timing," FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, September, 1982
• "Green Thumb," TERRORS, ed. Charles L. Grant, Playboy Press, 1982
• "Casey's Empire," FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, November, 1981
• "Shadows On A Cave Wall," UNIVERSE 11, ed. Terry Carr, 1981
• "Against A Crooked Stile," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, May, 1979
• "And Whether Pigs Have Wings," OMNI, January, 1979
• "A Delicate Shade of Kipney," ISAAC ASIMOV'S SF, Jan-Feb, 1978
• "The Earth Dwellers," GALAXY, December, 1976

[Editor's Note (Gz): added several links 5/27/2002.]