Loading ...Very short biography:
Sheri Tepper was born Sheri J. Stewart in Littleton Colorado in 1929.
She started out writing childrens stories, and released her first adult book in 1982. In 1991 she released the novel “Beauty” for which she won the Locus award for Best Fantasy Novel. She also wrote as E E Horlak, B J Oliphant and A J Orde.
She is now a great grandmother and currently lives with her husband Gene of 50 years in Santa Fe, NM, where the climate is warmer and kinder to arthritic bones than was her former residence in Larkspur, Colorado, which is high altitude and high snow bank country.
She is currently working on a sequel to three former writings:
- The True Game books, all nine of them.
- Plague of Angels.
- The Waters Rising.
If anyone is wondering what happened to Maven Manyshaped, who was petrified into stone for a thousand years, this book —Fish Tales— will answer the question.
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An Interview with Sheri S. Tepper – By Neal Szpatura – 21 July 2008
Sheri S. Tepper is unapologetic about the label “ecofeminist.” Author of nearly forty novels, she creates complex, well-rounded characters in elegant blends of science fiction, fantasy, ecological alarum, and feminist fable. She writes what she cares about deeply, hoping to awaken readers to the hard realities of history and our times. She argues for a truly long view regarding our use of the Earth and its creatures—including each other—if we mean to survive…. read more
I just wanted Ms Tepper to know that her books have been such a powerful infuence on my life, especially “Grass” what a book! I want to read everything by Ms Tepper, and I will do my best to do so.
Much love and respect from a real fan.
I have to confess The Waters Rising didn’t “do the magic” for me, though I love Plague of Angels. I very much look forward to Fish Tales – perhaps that will knock Waters into the right mental spot for me.
“Ecofeminist”? You go, girl!
hello, i’m studying sheri s tepper’s novel “Grass” at the moment for my final year extension english major work, and i’m also a fan of her
i wonder if you woule be able to link or send me some informaion of her? a biography of ms. tepper, or some contextual information from 1989 that influenced Grass (if you know anything)
thank you! your site is a good reference ^_^
From Ms. Tepper…
My bio won’t help a bit, that’s writing to order, literary order. The teacher has asked certain questions. Never mind whether those questions are relevant to the particular author. “What influenced the author to write this?” “what episodes in the author’s life can be said to have had an affect upon this writing.” “What situations in the environment at that time may have guided the plotting (or character, or descriptions, etc.) of this work.”
The truth is I have no idea what influenced any of my books particularly. I start writing about a situation, or a person, or a place, and it spins from there. It’s like going on a walking tour, you don’t know what’s over the hill until you get there. I know this isn’t a neat, nice way of doing things, but it’s the only way I can.
Some authors don’t write analytically. Then, when people try to analyze, they don’t get very far. People who “learn to write” properly can produce works that fit the mold. Here’s my plot. Here’s my subplot. Here’s my sub text. Here’s my character development. Here’s my denouement. See, it fits the pattern.”
After half a day of traveling I see the sign of the dragon in Old Town. Inside, the communal slow shuffling with eyes averted brings me to the right section. Hands are shaking when I bring it past the gatepost, papers in order and the item concealed in a drab paper bag. Chatting with Controllers and fellow commuters is a necessary diversion, but in the evening it finally rests on a low table in the main room. Seated in front of it, the heels of my hands dig white sparks into my tired eyesockets. Should I start now? But once begun it is too soon over. I resolve to wait a full fortnight to savor the occasion. The cycle of waiting and will begin again, after.
The book is The waters rising.
The sign of the dragon is above She Sci-Fi & Fantasy bookshop in the medieval Old Town of Stockholm.
I travel bi-monthly 4hrs from rural Sweden to the capital.
I am a very big fan of your work since reading “Grass” a few years ago. I’m now reading “Decine and Fall” and am full of trepidation
so excited to hear that mavin will be in fish tales
ms tepper, thank you for the conviction of your voice, and your damn fine writing
While visiting my mother I ran across and old copy of Beauty, I remembered I had liked it quite a lot and decided to read it again. I have just finished it for the second time and I must say it means a lot more to me now than it did when I first read it in high school. I never realized how much the book may have changed my way of thinking during my teen years. Although it may not have changed it outright it may have lent me the strength to think as I already did. I am happy to say that I stayed true to myself and have recently graduated with a dual degree in fisheries and wildlife, and forestry. I have also worked as a naturalist, a nature camp counselor and nature guide over the years. Having reread the book I was surprised to see many of my own thoughts, ideals and worries mirrored by the characters in the book along with my own sense of right and wrong. Thanks for helping out a kid who might not have had the strength to endure the desire to follow the crowd.
I found your blog via a link from Goodreads. I read hundreds of books every year and have done so for decades, but your book, The Gate To Women’s Country, which I read when it was first published is one that has stayed with me when hundreds of others have been forgotten. Thanks for writing it! I’ve read all your other SF with great pleasure too. A Plague of Angels is my second most favorite. I am so pleased to discover it has a sequel.
I would love to know when the sequel Fish Tales will be published.
Could you please put me out of my misery?
Thanks
Ms. Tepper, Thank you thank you for writing Beauty. Not all humans are lucky enough to find reality that resonates with them and encourages change, let alone a gorgeous work of fiction that can touch reality. Beauty is a book I bury myself in regularly when I believe that I am taking too much for granted. I’ve gifted it many times over and now my own daughter and her friends are reading it.
The book always reminds me of the fragile concept of magic, imagination and the need to create beauty in any definition. I’ve taught my children to avoid enjoyment of gratuitous violence and fear and to hunt and more, create, good. That magic is contagious, as is evil – you must make a choice and you must embrace that choice with your heart and not just believe it but live it…and quite honestly, Ms. Tepper, this is a result of your words and how they resonate.
Far, far more than a lovely fairy tale, and far more than a prognostic, and more and more accurate, view of tomorrow, you inspired me like no other to focus on today and the magic it brings. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
T
[...] reminded me of these two wonderful quotes from Sheri S. Tepper‘s book Six Moon Dance. We are made of the stuff of stars, given our lives by a living world, [...]