James Lowder
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James Lowder (born January 2, 1963) is an American author and editor, working most often within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres. His earliest novels were part of the Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft shared universe book lines, but beginning in the late 1990s he turned his attention more often to creator-owned projects. Some of his short stories have been cited in the honorable mention list of the annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. He was an Origins Award finalist in the Best Short Fiction category for his 2003 novella, "The Night Chicago Died," a story that featured the debut of his mystery man character, The Corpse. His novels have been translated into more than ten languages.
As an editor, Lowder directed several best-selling book lines for TSR, Inc. in the early 1990s. He has subsequently served as executive editor for Green Knight Publishing's line of Arthurian fiction — the Pendragon fiction series — and as a consulting editor for CDS Books on their City of Heroes novels. Lowder has edited several anthologies, with subjects ranging from King Arthur to superheroes to zombies. Though many of these anthologies have been published in connection with role-playing game product lines, they often contain only creator-copyrighted stories. This makes them rather unusual, as game publishers frequently insist on work for hire contracts for such projects.
Lowder's critical essays and film and book reviews have appeared in such publications as Amazing Stories and Polyhedron, the latter of which featured his long-running video review column "Into the Dark" from 1991 to 1994. He has occasionally penned comic book scripts, including the short work "Lost Loves" for the Moonstone Monsters: Demons anthology. The story was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award in 2004 for Best Illustrated Narrative. He has written support material for various role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu, but he is primarily known for writing and editing fiction.
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[edit] Notable Works
[edit] Novels
- Crusade (TSR, 1991).
- Knight of the Black Rose (TSR, 1991).
- The Ring of Winter (TSR, 1992).
- Prince of Lies (TSR, 1993).
- Name Your Nightmare (Random House Sprinter, 1995); written as J.D. Lowder.
- Spectre of the Black Rose (Wizards of the Coast, 1999); with Voronica Whitney-Robinson.
[edit] Anthologies (as editor)
- Realms of Valor (TSR, 1993).
- Realms of Infamy (TSR, 1994).
- The Doom of Camelot (Green Knight Publishing, 2000).
- — includes the poem "Surrendering the Blade" by Marcie Tentchoff, which won the Best Short Form Aurora Award for 2001.
- The Book of All Flesh (Eden Studios, 2001).
- — includes the story "Prometheus Unwound" by Matt Forbeck, which won the Best Short Fiction Origins Award for 2001.
- Legends of the Pendragon (Green Knight Publishing, 2002).
- The Book of More Flesh (Eden Studios, 2002).
- — finalist for the 2002 International Horror Guild Award for Best Anthology and the 2002 Origins Award for Best Long-Form Fiction.
- The Book of Final Flesh (Eden Studios, 2003).
- — winner of the 2003 Origins Award for Best Long-Form Fiction.
- Path of the Just (Guardians of Order, 2003).
- Path of the Bold (Guardians of Order, 2004).
- — winner of the 2004 Origins Award for Best Fiction Product.
- Astounding Hero Tales (Hero Games, 2007).
[edit] Novels (as editor)
- The Web of Arachnos (CDS Books, 2005).
- — extension of City of Heroes computer game
- The Freedom Phalanx (CDS Books, 2006).
- — extension of City of Heroes computer game
[edit] External links
- Interview at Flames Rising, a Horror & Dark Fantasy website (Oct 2006)
- Interview at Candlekeep, a Forgotten Realms fansite
- Interview at Fraternity of Shadows, a Ravenloft fansite
- Biography at Wizards of the Coast's website
- Publication List at Pen & Paper RPG website
- James Lowder at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
