Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce was born in Fayette County Pennsylvania, in 1954. Her father worked for the telephone company while her mother went to college for her degree in English, intending to become a teacher. Pierce grew up surrounded by books — World Book encyclopedias, Winnie the Pooh books and lots of Dr. Seuss. As a young person, Pierce wrote "Star Trek" stories, "Here Come the Bride" stories, "Time Tunnel" stories and when one of Pierce's English teachers introduced her to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, she was hooked on Fantasy.

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Psychology, Pierce moved to Manhattan to work in publishing and on her own writing. To help make ends meet, Pierce earned extra money doing all sorts of odd jobs — reviewing martial arts movies; editing Silhouette Romances; and writing, acting and directing programs for a radio company. In 1992 Pierce's books had developed such an following that she was able to quit her other jobs and focus on her writing full-time.

In contrast to a lot of science fiction and fantasy, Pierce's books, like Trickster's Queen, The Will of the Empress, and The Song of the Lioness quartet, include females characters who are fearless, bold, athletic creatures, not powerless victims or love interests.

Pierce relishes her book tours and the chance to meet her fans and thank them in person for reading her books.