Ann C. Crispin
Quick Facts
Biography
Ann Carol Crispin (April 5, 1950 – September 6, 2013) was an American science fiction writer, the author of twenty-three published novels. She wrote several Star Trek novelizations and created an original science fiction series called Starbridge.
Career
Crispin's writing career began in 1983. As a writer of "tie-in" novels she was known for developing the backgrounds and emotional lives of on-screen characters.
Two of her Star Trek novels — Yesterday's Son and Time for Yesterday — were direct sequels to the third-season episode "All Our Yesterdays", and detail Spock and Zarabeth's son. Yesterday's Son was the first non-novelization Star Trek novel to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list. Her later Star Trek works included the novel Sarek, which takes place after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Her best-known Star Wars work, The Han Solo Trilogy, chronicles the life of Han Solo prior to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Crispin also wrote the novelizations for The V miniseries and the film Alien: Resurrection, as well as Sylvester, a girl and horse film starring Melissa Gilbert.
She also created her own Starbridge series of novels, aimed primarily at young readers.
Crispin served as Eastern Regional Director, and then Vice President, of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. With Victoria Strauss, she founded Writer Beware, a "watchdog" group that is part of SFWA that warns aspiring writers about the dangers of scam agents, editors, and publishers. Writer Beware was founded in 1998, and has assisted law enforcement and civil authorities in tracking and shutting down writing scams.
On April 19, 2013, Crispin was named the 2013 Grandmaster by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW).
Personal life
On September 3, 2013, StarTrek.com posted Crispin's farewell message after her prolonged battle with cancer deteriorated and became terminal. In the message Crispin said, "I want to thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. I fear my condition is deteriorating. I am doing the best I can to be positive but I probably don't have an awful lot of time left. I want you all to know that I am receiving excellent care and am surrounded by family and friends."
She died only three days later, at 63.
Works
- The Han Solo Trilogy
- Star Wars short stories
- "Play It Again, Figrin D'an" (in Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina, 1995)
- "Skin Deep" (in Tales from Jabba's Palace, 1996)
- Starbridge novel series
- Star Trek
- Yesterday's Son (1983)
- Time for Yesterday (1988)
- The Eyes of the Beholders (1990)
- Sarek (1994)
- Star Trek: Enter the Wolves (2001) (with Howard Weinstein)
- Sand and Stars: Signature Edition (2004)
- Witch World
- Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) (with Andre Norton)
- Songsmith (1992) (with Andre Norton)
- V
- V (1984)
- V: East Coast Crisis (1984) (with Howard Weinstein)
- V: Death Tide (1984) (with Deborah A. Marshall)
- The Exiles of Boq’urain
- Storms Of Destiny (2005)
- Future projects: Exiles of Boq'urain Trilogy · Book 2 & 3
- Miscellaneous
- Sylvester (1985)
- Alien: Resurrection (1997) (with Kathleen O'Malley)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom (2011)