Kristine Kathryn Rusch Photo stolen from the ISFDB, who got it from Amazon
Today is Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s birthday. Where I come from, it isn’t polite to ask a lady her age, so I’m not going to say what year she was born. And, yes, she’s very much alive and still writing, so this is another exception to my informal policy of birthday posts for writers who are no longer with us.
I’m hoping Kris is with us for a long time. She writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery, and she’s outstanding at all of them. She also writes romance, but I’ve not read much of her work in that field because it’s genre I’ve never really been able to get into. I have enjoyed the few romance stories she’s written that have been in some of the Fiction River volumes, so if you like romance, by all means check out her work.
Kris is a consummate pro who writes consistently. I met her and her husband Dean Wesley Smith at (I think) a Galaxy Fair in Dallas back in 19[redacted]. She asked the audience at a panel if they had written. When most of the audience raised their hands, she added “today”. Most of the hands went down. That’s the kind of professionalism I’m talking about.
Kris has been writing a business blog for several years now, with new posts appearing every Thursday. Here’s today’s post on book promotions. If you’re a writer, you’ll want to check it out. All of her business posts are on her site for free, or if you want to read them in book form, they are available, just check the sidebar on her website.
Normally, I would review a story by the author who is the subject of a birthday post, but my son is graduating tomorrow morning (outside, at the football stadium). I have to get the house cleaned for incoming family and go to work this afternoon. So I’m going to leave you with an encouragement to read something of Kris’s and an anecdote.
Kris was editing F&SF when I met her, and I started submitting stories. (I stopped when my advisor suggested I change the genre in which I was writing to “dissertation”.) Although she never bought one(and looking back, I can’t blame her), I do have several personal rejection letters from her, not simply form rejections.
Happy birthday, Kris! May there be many more.
“No Woman Born” was first published in the December 1944 issue of Astounding. It is the story of a dancer and singer named Deidre who has been badly burned in a fire. The story opens a year later, when everyone thinks she is dead.
