Patricia Anne McKillip was born in Salem, Oregon (USA) on February 29, 1948 – a leap year baby! She started writing at 14, and according to the notes in the Riddlemaster trilogy, “she has been writing ever since – except for a brief detour when she thought she would be a concert pianist.” The House on Parchment Street has a neat quote about how she started writing – “In a fit of boredom one day when she was fourteen, she sat down in front of a window overlooking a stately medieval church and its graveyard and produced a thirty-page fairy tale.”
She went to the College of Notre Dame, Belmont, and San Jose University where she earned a BA in English. She then went on for a MA at the San Jose State University. McKillip then moved to San Francisco, then to the Catskill Mountains in NY, then Roxbury, NY and now lives in Oregon.
She won the World Fantasy Award in 1975 for The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, the Locus Award in 1980 for Harpist in the Wind, and the Balrog award in 1985 in the short fiction category for “A Troll and Two Roses”.
She is, very fittingly, married to a poet – David Lunde. You can read about him and his works on his web page at http://www.davidlunde.com, the only thing his page won’t tell you is that he is a gentleman and a very kind person.
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult Fantasy
Series
Quest of the Riddle-Master
1. The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976)
2. Heir of Sea and Fire (1977)
3. Harpist in the Wind (1979)
1. The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976)
2. Heir of Sea and Fire (1977)
3. Harpist in the Wind (1979)
Quest of the Riddle-Master Omnibus
Riddle of stars (1979)
Riddle-Master (1981)
aka The Chronicles of Morgon, Prince of Hed
Quest of Riddlemasters (1982)
The Quest of the Riddlemaster (1983)
Riddle of stars (1979)
Riddle-Master (1981)
aka The Chronicles of Morgon, Prince of Hed
Quest of Riddlemasters (1982)
The Quest of the Riddlemaster (1983)
Novels
The House on Parchment Street (1973)
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974)
The Night Gift (1976)
Stepping from the Shadows (1982)
Fool's Run (1987)
The Changeling Sea (1988)
The Book of Atrix Wolfe (1995)
Song for the Basilisk (1998)
The Tower at Stony Wood (2000)
Ombria in Shadow (2002)
In the Forests of Serre (2003)
Alphabet of Thorn (2004)
Od Magic (2005)
The Bell at Sealey Head (2008)
The Bards of Bone Plain (2010)
Wonders of the Invisible World (2012)
Kingfisher (2016)
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (1974)
The Night Gift (1976)
Stepping from the Shadows (1982)
Fool's Run (1987)
The Changeling Sea (1988)
The Book of Atrix Wolfe (1995)
Song for the Basilisk (1998)
The Tower at Stony Wood (2000)
Ombria in Shadow (2002)
In the Forests of Serre (2003)
Alphabet of Thorn (2004)
Od Magic (2005)
The Bell at Sealey Head (2008)
The Bards of Bone Plain (2010)
Wonders of the Invisible World (2012)
Kingfisher (2016)
Omnibus
Patricia A McKillip SF Gateway Omnibus Volume One (2015)
Patricia A McKillip SF Gateway Omnibus Volume Two (2015)
Patricia A McKillip SF Gateway Omnibus Volume Two (2015)
Collections
To Weave a Web of Magic (2004) (with Claire Delacroix, Lynn Kurland and Sharon Shinn)
Harrowing the Dragon (2005)
Dreams of Distant Shores (2016)
Harrowing the Dragon (2005)
Dreams of Distant Shores (2016)
Novellas
Series contributed to
Anthologies containing stories by Patricia A McKillip
Elsewhere Two (1982)
Imaginary Lands (1985)
Full Spectrum 2 (1989)
Tales of the Witch World 3 (1990)
Strange Dreams (1993)
Christmas Forever (1993)
Xanadu 2 (1994)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Seventh Annual Collection (1994)
The Armless Maiden (1995)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Eighth Annual Collection (1995)
Year's Best SF (1995)
Sisters in Fantasy 2 (1996)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Ninth Annual Collection (1996)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Tenth Annual Collection (1997)
The Essential Bordertown (1998)
Not of Woman Born (1999)
Silver Birch, Blood Moon (1999)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Twelfth Annual Collection (1999)
A Wolf At the Door (2000)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Thirteenth Annual Collection (2000)
Imaginary Lands (1985)
Full Spectrum 2 (1989)
Tales of the Witch World 3 (1990)
Strange Dreams (1993)
Christmas Forever (1993)
Xanadu 2 (1994)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Seventh Annual Collection (1994)
The Armless Maiden (1995)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Eighth Annual Collection (1995)
Year's Best SF (1995)
Sisters in Fantasy 2 (1996)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Ninth Annual Collection (1996)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Tenth Annual Collection (1997)
The Essential Bordertown (1998)
Not of Woman Born (1999)
Silver Birch, Blood Moon (1999)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Twelfth Annual Collection (1999)
A Wolf At the Door (2000)
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Thirteenth Annual Collection (2000)
Short stories
The Harrowing of the Dragon of Hoarsbreath (1982) | |||
The Old Woman and the Storm (1985) | |||
A Doorkeeper of Khaat (1989) | |||
Fortune's Children (1990) | |||
Lady of the Skulls (1993) | |||
The Snow Queen (1993) | |||
Xmas Cruise (1993) | |||
Transmutations (1994) | |||
The Lion and the Lark (1995) | |||
Wonders of the Invisible World (1995) | |||
The Witches of Junket (1996) | |||
Oak Hill (1998) | |||
A Gift to Be Simple (1999) | |||
Toad (1999) | |||
The Twelve Dancing Princesses (2000) |
Awards
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Patricia A McKillip recommends

Dragonfield (1985)
Jane Yolen
"Jane Yolen's stories have become deeper and more complex, but still entertain, amaze, teach and enlighten. I strongly recommend this collection of dragon and faerie stories to old and young alike."

Except the Queen (2010)
Midori Snyder and Jane Yolen
"Fast-paced and powerful... lovely, unpredictable."

Desdemona and the Deep (2019)
C S E Cooney
"Dense with poetry, festooned to the eyelids...with fantastic imagery."

The Four Profound Weaves (2020)
(Birdverse, book 1)
R B Lemberg
"R. B. Lemberg’s The Four Profound Weaves tells the journey of a pair of aged and appealing wanderers searching for magic, art, identity, and peace. Thought-challenging points-of-view weave together stark violence, intricate powers, and the musings of long and complicated lives. The Four Profound Weaves contains imagery that glows on the page."
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