Sarah Zettel

Zettel's first short story Driven by Moonlight was written in 1986, and was published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1991.{{cite web |url=https://www.locusmag.com/1998/Issues/01/Zettel.html |title= Sarah Zettel: Matters of Faith |date=January 1998 |website=Locus Magazine |access-date=April 5, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://lib.msu.edu/branches/vvl/writers/spring01/021601.jsp |title=Science Fiction Writer Sarah Zettel |date=February 16, 2001 |website=Michigan State University |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Her first novel Reclamation was published in 1996; this was followed by Fool's War in 1997. Zettel wrote many science-fiction short stories for Analog and other publications. Stanley Schmidt, the editor of Analog, sent her work back multiple times to fix problems; in 1998, Zettel said she regarded Schmidt "as a really great teacher, and I think that experience is what led me directly to be able to write Reclamation".

{{As of|2021}}, Zettel has written 35 novels in genres that include horror, fantasy, romance, thriller/suspense, and young adult. She said "every genre gives you a different view into the art of storytelling".{{cite web |url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/2020/04/28/sarah-zettel-creates-strong-female-protagonist-a-mothers-lie/3035819001/ |title=Sarah Zettel creates strong female protagonist for 'A Mother's Lie' |last=Krug |first=Kurt Anthony |date=April 28, 2020 |website=The Detroit News |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Of all of her novels, A Mother's Lie "holds a special place in her heart" because "I wanted a chance to write a suspense book in which the mother gets to be the hero, and the strength of the relationship between mother and daughter gets to be at the center of the story in a positive way".{{cite web |url=https://www.thebigthrill.org/2020/03/up-close-sarah-zettel/ |title=Up Close: Sarah Zettel |last=Hast |first=Millie Naylor |date=March 31, 2020 |website=The Big Thrill |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Zettel writes regency mysteries and romances under the pseudonym Darcie Wilde.{{cite web |url=http://www.darciewilderomance.com/ |title=About Darcie Wilde |website=Darcia Wilde |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Among Zettel's favorite science-fiction authors are Ursula Le Guin – who inspired her to become an author – and Octavia Butler, Mary Doria Russell, and Terry Prachett. Zettel said her ideas come from current events, her earlier reading material, and memoirs based around science.{{cite web |url=https://www.sffworld.com/2000/01/interview-with-sarah-zettel/? |title=Interview with Sarah Zettel |last=Rambraut |first=Dag |date=January 1, 2000 |website=SFFWorld. |access-date=April 5, 2021}}

Sarah Zettel's first novel Reclamation was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award in 1997 and won the Locus Award for Best First Novel the same year.{{cite web |url=http://www.sfadb.com/Sarah_Zettel |title=Sarah Zettel |website=Science Fiction Awards Database |access-date=April 5, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://openroadmedia.com/contributor/sarah-zettel |title=Sarah Zettel |website=Open Road Media |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Writing as C. L. Anderson, her novel Bitter Angels won the 2010 Philip K. Dick award for best science-fiction paperback.{{cite web |url=http://www.sarahzettel.com/about-me/about-cl-anderson/ |title=About CL Anderson |website=Official website |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Her novel Fool's War became a New York Times Notable Book in 1997. The American Library Association said Playing God is "one of the Best Books for Young Adults of 1999". Kirkus Reviews and the American Library Association said her novel Dust Girl is one of that year's "best young adult books".

Professor and media scholar Henry Jenkins wrote; "Sarah Zettel's 1997 novel, Fool's War makes an important contribution to the growing body of feminist literature about artificial intelligence, taking the relationship between bodies and information as one of its core themes".{{cite web |url=https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-and-research/directories/a-z/profile/?id=49 |title=Henry Jenkins |website=University of Southern California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102193418/https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-and-research/directories/a-z/profile/?id=49 |access-date=April 5, 2021|archive-date=January 2, 2019 }}{{cite web |url=https://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/science_fiction/profiles/zettel.html |title=Sarah Zettel |last=Jenkins |first=Henry |date=1998 |website=Media in Translation |access-date=April 5, 2021}} John R. Alden of The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed Fool's War, stating; "Sarah Zettel's thought-provoking tale offers an energetic plot and a cast full of appealing characters".{{cite news |date=April 20, 1997 |title=Fool's War |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75120168/the-philadelphia-inquirer/ |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |via=Newspapers.com}} A Publishers Weekly review of Playing God says; "Readers will embrace this complex, multidimensional saga (Zettel's hardcover debut, and the best of her three novels) not only for its depiction of exotic alien civilization and its action-packed plot but also for its pertinent themes of tribalism, intolerance and ecological disaster".{{cite web |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780446523226 |title=Playing God |website=Publishers Weekly |access-date=April 5, 2021}}

Fool's War was included in Book Riot's list titled "10 Chillingly Possible Sci-Fi Books About AIs Taking Over" and says, "This book does a fantastic job of capturing the tipping point that exists right before an AI wakes up and starts taking some sweet revenge for all those years of servitude".{{cite web |url=https://bookriot.com/books-about-artificial-intelligence/ |title=10 Chillingly Possible Sci-Fi Books Abouts AIs Taking Over |last=Gooding-Call |first=Ann |date=June 21, 2009 |website=Book Riot |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Dust Girl, in which the main character is of mixed race and is half-fairy, was included in a Bustle's list titled "12 Awesome YA Novels Featuring POC Protagonists".{{cite web |url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/150069-12-young-adult-novels-with-poc-protagonists |title=12 Awesome YA Novels Featuring POC Protagonists |last=Kovach |first=Catherine |date=March 25, 2016 |website=Bustle |access-date=April 5, 2021}}

Major awards and nominations in the science fiction and fantasy field:

• Sidewise Awards, works of alternate history, for "The Persistence of Souls" (The Shadow Conspiracy), nomination, 2010
• James Tiptree Jr. Memorial Award, for Playing God, shortlist, 1999
• Locus Award, for Fool's War, 8th place, 1998
• Locus Award, for Reclamation, first novel category, winner (tie), 1997
• Locus Award, for "Under Pressure" (Analog Apr 1996), short story category, finalist, 1997
• Philip K. Dick Award, for Reclamation, finalist, 1997
• Analog readers Poll, aka the AnLab, for "Driven by Moonlight" (Analog Dec 1991), best short story, 5th place, 1992

Sarah Zettel was born in Sacramento, California, on December 14, 1966.{{Cite web |url=http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?Sarah_Zettel |publisher=Internet Speculative Fiction Database |title=Sarah Zettel – Summary Bibliography |access-date=March 19, 2012}} Her mother Gail Beavers is a retired teacher and social worker; her father Leonard Francis Zettel Jr. is a retired engineer and programmer. When she was 13, Zettel decided she wanted to write in multiple genres. While Zettel was at university, she created "shared worlds" in notebooks with her friends.{{cite web |url=https://www.michigandaily.com/arts/a-conversation-with-sarah-zettel-on-women-suspense-and-the-other-sister/ |title=A conversation with Sarah Zettel, on women, suspense and 'The Other Sister' |last=Rose |first=Tessa |date=November 6, 2018 |website=The Michigan Daily |access-date=April 5, 2021}} Zettel obtained a B.A. in Communication from the University of Michigan.[http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/authors/84/183/index.html Biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307151246/http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/authors/84/183/index.html |date=March 7, 2008 }} at Hachette Book Group website She is married to a rocket scientist and currently lives in Michigan. She named her cat Buffy the Vermin Slayer.{{cite web |url=https://www.hmhbooks.com/author/Sarah-Zettel/12965787 |title=Sarah Zettel |website=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |access-date=April 5, 2021}}

Zettel has written multiple books.{{cite web |url=https://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/sarah-zettel/ |title=Order of Sarah Zettel Books |website=Order Of Books |access-date=April 5, 2021}}{{cite web |url=https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author/darcie-wilde/ |title=Darcie Wilde |website=Kensington Books |access-date=April 5, 2021}}

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• Reclamation (1996)
• Fool's War (1997)
• Playing God (1998)
• The Quiet Invasion (2000)
• Kingdom of Cages (2001)
• Bitter Angels (2009)

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• Isavalta series
• A Sorcerer's Treason (2002)
• The Usurper's Crown (2003)
• The Firebird's Vengeance (2004)
• Sword of the Deceiver (2007)

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• Camelot series
• In Camelot's Shadow (2004)
• For Camelot's Honor (2005)
• Under Camelot's Banner (2006)
• Camelot's Blood (2008)

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• The American Fairy Trilogy
• Dust Girl (2012)
• Golden Girl (2013)
• Bad Luck Girl (2014)

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• Vampire Chef series
• A Taste of the Nightlife (#1) (2011)
• Let Them Eat Stake (#2) (2012)

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• Palace of Spies (2013)
• Dangerous Deceptions (2014)
• Assassin's Masque (2016)

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• Rosalind Thorne series (as Darcie Wilde)
• A Useful Woman (2016)
• A Purely Private Matter (2017)
• And Dangerous to Know (2020)

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{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.sarahzettel.com}}
• {{isfdb name|id=Sarah_Zettel}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020124170354/http://scifan.com/writers/zz/ZettelSarah.asp Bibliography] on SciFan
• [http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-golden-girl-by-sarah-zettel Story behind Golden Girl – essay] on Upcoming4.me

{{Philip K. Dick Award}}{{Locus Award Best First Novel}}

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Category:1966 births

Category:Living people

Category:University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni

Category:20th-century American novelists

Category:21st-century American novelists

Category:American fantasy writers

Category:American science fiction writers

Category:American women short story writers

Category:American women novelists

Category:Writers from Sacramento, California

Category:Novelists from Michigan

Category:American women science fiction and fantasy writers

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:21st-century American women writers

Category:20th-century American short story writers

Category:21st-century American short story writers

Category:Pseudonymous women writers

Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers

Category:21st-century pseudonymous writers