Tamora Pierce

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Tamora Pierce was born on December 13, 1954, in South Connellsville, Pennsylvania. An avid reader from a young age, she devoured fantasy books such as JRR Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, and began making up her own fantasy stories around the same time. She published her first quartet of books, 'The Song of the Lioness', whilst studying at the University of Pennsylvania, and has since gone on to produce more than 25 best-selling fantasy novels for young adults. Tamora's books are best known for their strong female heroines and the positive relationships between human characters and their animal companions. She currently resides with her husband and their multitude of pets in Syracuse, New York.

Author's Comment: My dad heard me telling myself stories as I did dishes, and he suggested that I try to write some of them down. He even gave me an idea to start with, a book about travels in a time machine (we both loved history and television shows like the original "Star Trek," so he knew what would grab me). The next year, as I was still scribbling my own stories, my English teacher introduced me to The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein. I got hooked on fantasy, and then on science fiction, and both made their way into my stories. I tried to write the kind of thing I was reading, with one difference: the books I loved were missing teen-aged girl warriors. I couldn't understand this lapse of attention on the part of the writers I loved, so until I could talk them into correcting this small problem, I wrote about those girls, the fearless, bold, athletic creatures that I was not, but wanted so badly to be.

Nationality: American