Laura Hickman

Laura Curtis was born on December 7, 1956, in Long Beach, California. She married Tracy Hickman in 1977.{{cite journal|last=Varney|first=Allen|author-link=Allen Varney|date=August 1998|title=ProFiles: Tracy Hickman|url=https://annarchive.com/files/Drmg250.pdf|journal=Dragon|location=Renton, Washington|publisher=Wizards of the Coast|issue=#250|page=120}} They have four children. Laura Hickman is a member of the LDS Church.{{Cite web|title=Laura Curtis Hickman|url=https://mormonarts.lib.byu.edu/people/laura-curtis-hickman/|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Mormon Literature and Creative Arts Database}}

File:Tracy Hickman with Nathan Fillion and Laura Hickman.jpg (left) and Nathan Fillion (right)]]

Early on in her marriage, Hickman introduced her husband, Tracy, to the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.{{Cite news|last=Nahrung|first=Jason|date=2008-06-28|title=Dragonlance duo step in|work=The Courier-Mail|publication-place=Brisbane|access-date=}} The two co-wrote modules for the game while living in Provo,{{cite news|last=Hickman|first=Tracy|title=Tracy Hickman's Works with Laura Curtis|publisher=TRHickman.com|url=http://www.trhickman.com/Intel/HandC.html|url-status=dead|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726054507/http://www.trhickman.com/Intel/HandC.html|archive-date=July 26, 2009}} resulting in the original versions of the modules Rahasia and Pharaoh,{{cite journal|last=Weis|first=Margaret|author-link=Margaret Weis|date=April 1987|title=TSR Profiles|url=https://annarchive.com/files/Drmg120.pdf|journal=Dragon|location=Lake Geneva, Wisconsin|publisher=TSR, Inc.|issue=#120|pages=91}} which the Hickmans self-published through DayStar West Media in 1980.{{Cite book|author=Appelcline|first=Shannon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8HWqjgEACAAJ|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-907702-58-7}}{{rp|15}} Their adventure modules began as "photocopied pages with covers [they] would staple together on the card table in [their] kitchen." These early modules were a significant innovation for fantasy RPG modules, since they had an interesting story with an objective that was achievable in one or two sessions, as well as dungeons that were based in the architecture of a possible location.

File:Laura Hickman 01.JPG 2008]]

During the early 1980s, the Hickmans were living in Logan, Utah, and were struggling financially after Tracy's business associate left him with $30,000 in debt. Upon hearing that the Dungeons & Dragons publisher, TSR, would pay $500 for new modules, the Hickmans decided to send Rahasia and Pharaoh to the company. TSR agreed to publish the Hickmans' modules.

The Hickmans started working at TSR and moved to Wisconsin, developing their idea for Dragonlance during the drive there. Laura was the inspiration for the character Laurana Kanan. Dragonlance became "the first project TSR, Inc. had undertaken that would include adult novels as well as games, calendars, and other spin-off products." The Dragonlance universe, supported by many writers and artists at TSR, become very popular, with half a million game modules and two million books sold by 1987. While at TSR, the Hickmans wrote the popular and innovative Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft (1983) module. Polygon writer Charlie Hall described the module as "the first story-based D&D campaign".{{cite web |last1=Hall |first1=Charlie |title=D&D's Ravenloft returns with the help of its original creators |url=https://www.polygon.com/2016/1/18/10777502/d-ds-ravenloft-returns-with-the-help-of-its-original-creators |website=Polygon |language=en |date=18 January 2016}} The book Dungeon Master For Dummies chose the module as one of the ten best classic adventures and praised the detailed yet concise plot and isometric maps. The book also claims that Ravenloft "inspired game designers and Dungeon Masters to take the art of adventure to the next level." Ravenloft inspired a campaign setting of the same name.{{cite book|last1=Slavicsek|first1=Bill|author-link=Bill Slavicsek|first2=Rich|last2=Baker|author-link2=Richard Baker (game designer) |first3=Jeff|last3=Grubb|author-link3=Jeff Grubb |title=Dungeon Master For Dummies|publisher=For Dummies|year=2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pSG3zxln4FUC&q=ravenloft&pg=PA321|access-date=February 12, 2009 |pages=10, 320 |isbn= 978-0-471-78330-5}}

The Hickmans published the Bronze Canticles series together, starting with Mystic Warrior in 2004.{{Cite book|last=Hickman|first=Tracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ta_wGAAACAAJ|title=Hobby Games: The 100 Best|publisher=Green Ronin Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-932442-96-0|editor-last=Lowder|editor-first=James|editor-link=James Lowder|pages=21–23|contribution=Battle Cry}} Tracy and Laura hosted a podcast called DragonHearth until December 2010.{{Cite web|title=DragonHearth Podcast Feed|url=https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/dragonhearth-podcast-feed-tracy-and-laura-qrgY5olKX7s/|access-date=2021-08-16|website=Listen Notes|date=23 December 2010 }} They also wrote the adventure Out in the Black (2006) for the Serenity Role Playing Game for Margaret Weis Productions.{{rp|353}} The Whitney Awards gave an Outstanding Achievement award to the Hickmans for having "paved the way in out-of-the-box publishing methods".{{Cite web|title=Outstanding Achievement Winners: Tracy and Laura Hickman|url=http://whitneyawards.com/outstanding-achievement-winners-tracy-and-laura-hickman/|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Whitney Awards}} Hickman has been involved at writing conferences such as Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers.

In 2010, the Hickmans launched a direct-to-internet serialized fantasy series, "Dragon's Bard".{{cite web|website=Dragon's Bard Website. |date=2010|url=http://dragonsbard.com/about/ |title=Dragons Bard|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808062149/http://www.dragonsbard.com/about/ |archive-date=August 8, 2014 }}

Co-written with Tracy Hickman.

For Dungeons & Dragons:

• Rahasia (1979)
• Pharaoh (1980)

For Advanced Dungeons & Dragons:

• Ravenloft (1983)
• Dragons of War (1984){{cite web |title=Dragons of War catalog record |url=https://app.lib.byu.edu/marcrecord/bib/6141770 |publisher=BYU Library}}
• Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill (1986) - outline and plot{{cite web| last =Rateliff| first =John D.| author-link =John D. Rateliff| title =Introduction to Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill| publisher =Wizards of the Coast| year =2004| url =http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x9| archive-url =https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20090603211124/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x9| url-status =dead| archive-date =June 3, 2009| access-date =March 6, 2007}}

For the Serenity Role Playing Game:

• Out in the Black (2006){{cite web |title=Out in the Black - Serenity from Margaret Weis Productions |url=https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147366395/Out-in-the-Black |website=Noble Knight Games |language=en}}

• Dragonlance series
• "Heart of Goldmoon" published in Love and War (Dragonlance) (1987) (co-written with Kate Novak){{Cite web|title=Title: Heart of Goldmoon|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?789709|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Internet Speculative Fiction Database}}

• Bronze Canticles series{{Cite web|title=Summary Bibliography: Laura Hickman|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?9135|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Internet Speculative Fiction Database}}
• Mystic Warrior (2004)
• Mystic Quest (2005)
• Mystic Empire (2006)
• Tales of the Dragon's Bard series
• Eventide (2010)
• Blackshore (2013)
• Moredale (unpublished){{cite web |title=Title: Moredale |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1843967 |website=www.isfdb.org}}
• St. Nicholas and the Dragon (2012)
• Swept Up By the Sea: A Romantic Fairy Tale (2013){{Cite web|title=Title: Swept Up By the Sea: A Romantic Fairy Tale|url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1600069|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Internet Speculative Fiction Database}}
• Sojourner Tales (2014)
• The Nightbirds series
• Unwept (2014)
• Unhonored (2016)

• Baking Outside the Box: Volume 1 The Goody Mix

{{reflist}}

{{commons}}

• [http://www.bakingoutsidethebox.com Baking Outside the Box Website]
• {{ISFDB name|id=9135|name=Laura Hickman}}
• [http://archives.lib.byu.edu/repositories/14/resources/11273 Tracy and Laura Hickman papers, MSS 8180] at [https://sites.lib.byu.edu/sc/ L. Tom Perry Special Collections], Brigham Young University

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Category:1956 births

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:American women novelists

Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:Dungeons & Dragons game designers

Category:Latter Day Saints from California

Category:Latter Day Saints from Utah

Category:Living people

Category:Novelists from Utah

Category:Provo High School alumni

Category:Writers from Long Beach, California

Category:Writers from Provo, Utah