Craig Crawford

-ABOUT ME-

I live in Iowa City, Iowa, having graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English. My writing journey actually began in junior high as the result of two related incidents. The first involved meeting my best friend, who wrote stories in those cheap bookstore journals. It didn’t even take an arm twist to hook me. The second was getting into the science fiction and fantasy genre, which I fell head over heels for. It wasn’t long before I started knocking out stories. Hhonestly, I wrote my first novel when I was thirteen—it was superheroes and pretty thin, but it was a novel nonetheless…

In high school, I traveled farther down the writing road, getting involved in RPG’s, taking writing classes (and there were four distinct teachers who encouraged and prodded me), and participating in drama. During my university days, I continued taking writing courses, looking at the process from the creative side, as well as the grammatical end. I danced with many literature courses, ranging from Beowulf to Russian science fiction.

After college I was left to my own devices.

I did get published in the 90’s, but it wasn’t fiction. I snagged a work-for-hire gig with a gaming company organizing their source materials into an index. The success of the first led to a second stint with them. Those experiences gave me my first taste of publishing, but I also realized I preferred fiction and turned my writing efforts toward a novel.

That crashed and burned after less than a hundred pages. I shoved it in a drawer and went back to playing with short stories. Then, in 2000, the Fates gave me a shove and I dug the fractured manuscript back out and reworked it. I ditched all but five pages of the original, and proceeded to write two books worth of story. That led to another series.

Over the last few years, I’ve discovered that having more than one project going at a time helps fuel my creativity.

-MY STUFF-

All of this leads to my present story about the Black Lion and my partnership with Wolf-Pirate. I’ve always liked stories about heroes, especially anti-heroes, and the world of Cy is a venue to put my twist on the subject. If you enjoy fantasy with a slathering of horror, come check it out.

My goal as a writer—first and foremost—is to give as good as I’ve gotten. While I certainly haven’t arrived, I’m feeling tougher than ever on that front, and Wolf-Pirate has been a big part of that process. Writing is a life-long labor, and the fantasy genre is so open and unlimited that I keep getting pulled back in again and again.

Currently juggling a full time job and a family, I’m working on the next book.

My wife, who occasionally refers to herself as a computer widow, is indefatigably (sorry—private joke) patient with my late-night sabbaticals. I have a seven-year-old that pulls me away from the screen to build Legos, watch Scooby Doo, and to wrestle. I also have a lug of a dog whose primary goal is to pester me.

Thanks for checking out my page. Feel free to give me a shout if you’ve a mind to—about writing, good fiction, or just to heckle me.

Theheroesofcy@gmail.com

CC

My favorite books & authors:

• The Amber Series by Roger Zelazny (incidentally, he stiffed me on the sequel to The Changeling and Mad Wand, and don’t think I’ve forgotten…)
• Liege Killer by Christopher Hinz. An awesome sci-fi and still one of my favorite books of all time
• The Black Oak Series by Charles L. Grant (yeah, he hooked me in for five books and then danced out the door of life—no good-bye, no tip of the hat, nothing).
• The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher and Novels of the Night Side by Simon Green. They both blend fantasy, horror, and humor as well as anyone
• I also give credit to authors like Julian May, Patricia Wrede, Fritz Leiber, and Joel Rosenberg who entertained and inspired me to no end. Thanks!

Hobbies: Running, horror movies, cryptozoology, cooking, traveling, and all things seven-year-olds like to do … not necessarily in that order on any given day.