P. N. Elrod

P. N. Elrod
Born Patricia Nead Elrod
Occupation Writer
Nationality American
Genre Fantasy, horror, mystery
Subject Vampires
Website
www.vampwriter.com

Patricia Neal Elrod is an American novelist specializing in urban fantasy. She's written in the mystery, romance, paranormal, and historical genres with at least one foray into comedic fantasy. Elrod is also an editor, having worked on several collections for Ace Science Fiction, DAW, Benbella Books, and St. Martin's Griffin. She self-published a signed, limited edition novel under her own imprint, Vampwriter Books.

In 2010, she was nominated for the RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award in Urban Fantasy.[1]

In 2011, she was presented with the RT Book Reviews Pioneer Achievement Award in Vampire Fiction.[2]

Her suspense short story, Beach Girl, won the 2011 Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.[3]

Overview

P. N. Elrod's start in professional writing began at TSR doing gaming modules.[4] She has published more than twenty novels, beginning in 1990 with her Vampire Files urban fantasy series, featuring hard-boiled PI Jack Fleming and his partner, Charles Escott, his girlfriend, Bobbi Smythe, and other recurring characters. The 12 books and counting are set in 1930s Chicago. Jack's first case was solving his own murder.[5]

Next came the Jonathan Barrett, Gentleman Vampire series, set during the American Revolution. The series has been re-released by BenBella Books, with all new material added. The twist on these historicals is that Barrett and his family are on the side of the British throughout the revolution, offering a unique point of view of the times.

Another series co-authored with actor Nigel Bennett, who played the evil yet seductive LaCroix on the television show Forever Knight, is of a very different character, but still features a good guy vampire. The three book Lord Richard, Vampire series from Baen Books are set in a different universe than the Files & Barrett books, but this "James Bond with fangs" maintains Elrod's premise that there are different breeds of vampires co-existing out there.

Using this premise, she has linked her universe to that of Bram Stoker with her sequel to Dracula, Quincey Morris, Vampire. Quincey was killed at the end of Dracula, but is resurrected as a vampire himself, albeit a different breed than the infamous count. Lord Richard makes a brief cameo appearance in the story, and Morris' vampiric state is attributed to a previous blood-sharing with Nora Jones from Elrod's Jonathan Barrett series.

Also quite different, and qualifying as horror, are the Dungeons & Dragons-related books in the Ravenloft world featuring the dark and sinister vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich. These books, I, Strahd: Memoirs of a Vampire, and its sequel, I, Strahd: The War With Azalin, have garnered her critical acclaim from mainstream reviewers.

With The Adventures of Myhr she broke into the humorous fantasy genre. Myhr is half-man, half-cat and all adventure, magically jumping from world to world spreading the good news about pizza and Beatles karaoke. His partner is a cranky wizard fond of techno raves and obscene T-shirt art.

Elrod has authored around two dozen short stories in the fantasy, romance, science fiction, mystery, and horror genres, and edited several collections including Time of the Vampires, Dracula's London, and with Roxanne Conrad (aka Rachel Caine) Stepping Through the Stargate: The Science, Archaeology, and Military of Stargate SG-1 The latter is non-fiction and has contributions from world-famous scientists, doctors, the USAF military, FX wizards, and actors from the TV series.

In 2006, she edited an anthology of supernatural romance stories, My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, which made the USA Today Bestseller list, and won the 2006 P.E.A.R.L. Awards for best anthology.

She followed it with My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon released in January 2008 from St. Martin's Griffin.[6] It made the New York Times Bestseller extended list[7] and won honorable Mention in the 2007 Pearl Awards for best anthology.[8]

The anthology, Strange Brew, from St. Martin's, also reached the New York Times extended bestseller list in July 2009.

Her collection Dark and Stormy Knights, also with St. Martin's Griffin, was released in July 2010.

Her next collection, Hex Symbols, was released by St. Martin's in June 2012.

Also sold, a new steampunk series, On Her Majesty's Psychic Service, to Tor Books in 2010.

In April 2011, Elrod was presented with the RT Book Review's Pioneers of Genre Fiction Award for "Forging the Way in Vampire Fiction Since 1990."[9]

Her short story, "Beach Girl", published in the November edition of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, was presented with first place for their annual Readers' Choice Award.[3]

Bibliography

Jonathan Barrett, Gentleman Vampire

Ravenloft

Vampire Files

Vampire Files collection

All volumes available in e-book editions

Other novels

Co-writing with Nigel Bennett

Editor/co-editor

Short Stories

Full list, including reprints are on the vampwriter.com website

References

  1. ↑ "RT Career Achievement Awards". Retrieved November 24, 2010.
  2. ↑ http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/rt-booklovers-convention-2011-we-honor-outstanding-books-and-authors-2010. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 1 2 3 "2011 Readers Award". Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. 139 (6). May 2012. p. 75.
  4. ↑ "P.N. Elrod". Archived from the original on Feb 24, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Super-Fangs; Author's vampire novels take new twist". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. June 17, 1992. p. 4. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
  6. ↑ "My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon (Book review)". Publishers Weekly. November 12, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Best Sellers: Paperback Trade Fiction". The New York Times. January 20, 2008.
  8. ↑ "My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon". ParaNormalRomance. February 20, 2009.
  9. ↑ http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/rt-booklovers-convention-2011-we-honor-outstanding-books-and-authors-2010
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