Cherie Priest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Cherie Priest | |
|---|---|
| Image:Authorcpriest.jpg Cherie Priest, 2008, by Aric Annear |
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| Born | July 30, 1975 Florida, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Genres | Horror, Southern Gothic, Science Fiction |
Cherie Priest (born 30 July 1975) is an American novelist who best known for her debut novel Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which was published in 2003. In addition to her novels Priest publishes two online blogs: one personal, one professional, and is at the head of the growing presence of authors online, being in contact with many others via their blogs. It is partially due to this online networking that her first novel was such a cult success, having been pushed by many authors to their readers.
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[edit] Biography
Priest is a Florida native, born in 1975. In 2001 she left the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with an M.A. in Rhetoric/Professional writing, and in 1998 she graduated with a B.A. from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband.
In addition to her novels, Priest is a reviewer for the Bram Stoker award-winning website Chiaroscuro, and she also reviews books for Publishers Weekly. She is a regular attendee and panelist at DragonCon and Norwescon. She is also known for giving talks and writing articles about the hobby of urban exploration.
[edit] Style
Priest's published writing style thus far falls into the Southern Gothic genre as well as the Horror genre. She has also written several short stories, most of which can be categorized as Horror or Science fiction.
The 2005 edition of her book Four and Twenty Blackbirds, represents an example of the emerging genre of blog fiction, because a substantial part of the work was serialized and promoted on her blog at LiveJournal. It was through this serialization that she obtained a large amount of interest in her work from both fans and industry professionals. It is common for Priest to post teasers of work in progress, or whole chapters of finished work, on her blog to promote her work.
[edit] Writing
In 2003 her first novel Four & Twenty Blackbirds was published by Marietta Publishing. This first edition featured a short story entitled Horror at Snodgrass Hill, which the author says was added after layout changes to the first edition required more text. After signing a three book deal with Tor Books, in October of 2005 the novel was re-released in a revised and expanded edition by Tor; and a second novel, the sequel Wings to the Kingdom, appeared in October of 2006. A third novel Not Flesh Nor Feathers completed the trilogy in '07.
She has sold two other novels to Tor that are separate to her initial three book contract: an urban fantasy called Fathom and a steampunk alternate history tale, The Boneshaker.
A "mosaic novel" for Subterranean Press was released in 2007. Dreadful Skin was Priest's first hardcover, in a limited edition (1500 copies), signed by the author. It features eight full-page black-and-white illustrations by Mark Geyer (The Green Mile).
[edit] Eden Moore Trilogy
The three books she initially sold to Tor Books, including Four & Twenty Blackbirds compose what she and her fans call The Eden Moore Trilogy, although there is not a clearly defined trilogy story arc, after the lead character of the novels. Eden is a psychic who possesses various abilities, chief amongst them the ability to see, and communicate with, ghosts. The first novel deals with her understanding and realizing her gifts by solving a mystery related to her ancestry, and the quest to find out more information about her mother and her father.
The novels all, so far, feature cover artwork by John Jude Palencar, with the 2003 edition of Four and Twenty Blackbirds featuring a photographic cover by Aric Annear.
[edit] Four & Twenty Blackbirds
The first novel introduces us to Eden, first as a child, later as a 20-something adult. We are shown her abilities when, as a child, she sees the ghosts of three sisters. These three spirits appear to try to protect and guide her through-out her journey in the novel, a journey that she takes to find out her unknown ancestry and discover her deceased mothers story. Her quest takes her to the swamps of Florida via Monks, crotchety old women, witchcraft, and voodoo.
[edit] Wings To The Kingdom
Wings to the Kingdom centers around a murder and a monster mystery at the Chickamauga Battlefield in North Georgia. A local legend, Old Green Eyes, has abandoned his post as caretaker of the battlefield, and mute ghosts pester the living in search of answers.
[edit] Not Flesh Nor Feathers
Not Flesh Nor Feathers features a supernatural flood that all but destroys Chattanooga, Tennessee with water and zombies. A madwoman's ghost in an old hotel may hold the key to the events, which were prompted by a hundred-year-old hate crime. This book tentatively concludes the Eden Moore trilogy, though the author has not ruled out more Eden books in the future.
[edit] Awards
In March 2006, the novel was shortlisted for the fiction category of the 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize[1]: a literary prize, sponsored by Lulu.com, for books based on blogs, or blooks. The novel won[2], and became the first ever winner in that category. Her 2006 short story "Wishbones" was part of the Aegri Somnia anthology by Apex Digest, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Novels
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds, 2003 Marietta Publishing. ISBN 1-892669-22-6
- Four and Twenty Blackbirds, re-released in a revised, expanded edition 2005 Tor. ISBN 0-7653-1308-1
- Wings to the Kingdom, released October 2006, Tor Books. ISBN 0-7653-1309-X
- Dreadful Skin, released March 2007, Subterranean Press. ISBN 1-59606-080-8
- Not Flesh Nor Feathers, Tor. ISBN 0-7653-1310-3
- Fathom, sold to Tor Books. Expected 2008.
- The Boneshaker, sold to Tor Books. Expected 2009
[edit] Short Stories & Other Work
- The Heavy, a short story. Published in Apex Digest Issue #12, March 2008.
- The Target Audience, a short story. Published in Noctem Aeternus January, 2008.
- Following Piper, a short story. Published in Subterranean Digest issue #6.
- Little Wards, a short story. Published in Edge of Propinquity. June 2006
- The Immigrant, a short story, part of Mythic #2, October 2006 Mythic Delirium Books. ISBN 0-8095-5756-8
- Bad Sushi, a short story. Published in Apex Digest, Issue #10.
- Wishbones, a short story, part of Aegri Somnia. December 2006 Apex Digest. ISBN 0-9788676-2-9 (paperback), ISBN 0-9788676-3-7 (hardback)
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Cherie Priest's Official Site
- Cherie Priest's LiveJournal
- Editorial Reviews on Amazon.com
- Reviews at Barnes & Noble
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Priest, Cherie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 30 July 1975 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Florida, U.S. |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
