Quick Facts
Biography
Kara Mia Dalkey (born 1953) is an American author of young adult fiction and historical fantasy.
Personal life
She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the Heian period of Japan.
She was married to author John Barnes; they divorced in 2001.She is a member of the Pre-Joycean Fellowship and of the Scribblies.
Education
She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.
Literary work
Her works include The Sword of Sagamore, Steel Rose, Little Sister and The Nightingale.The latter book is part of Terri Windling's Fairy Tale Series.Her short stories are featured in the Liavek anthologies, Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Firebirds Rising.Liavek was a shared-world series edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly. Ace Books published Liavek and thus many of the Scribblies' first short stories.
Her Water Trilogy is a blend of the Atlantis myth with Arthurian legends.
Musical background
She is also a musician and has gigged extensively on electric bass (which she plays left-handed) and harmony vocals, with such bands as Runestone, the Albany Free Traders, and Nate Bucklin and the Ensemble (in Minnesota) and Relic and Voodoo Blue (in Seattle.)At different times she has also played drums, banjo and acoustic guitar.She is a songwriter, but her total output is low, and no CD or other album is in the works.
Award nominations
- The Nightingale - Nominee - 1989 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for fantasy novel
- Heavenward Path - Nominee - 1999 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for children's literature
- "Lady of the Ice Garden" - Short list - The 2003 James Tiptree, Jr. Award