Name Sharon Lee | Role Author | |
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Nominations Goodreads Choice Awards Best Science Fiction Books I Dare, Dragon Ship, Conflict of Honors, Scout's Progress, Local Custom | ||
Sharon Lee (born September 11, 1952) is an American science fiction, fantasy and mystery author who lives in Winslow, Maine since 1988. She is the co-author (with Steve Miller) of the Liaden universe novels and stories, as well as other works, and individually the author of two mystery novels.
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Background
Born Sharon Lee Backof in Baltimore, Maryland, Lee graduated from Parkville Senior High School in 1970, and attended University of Maryland, Baltimore County during the late 1970s while employed as Administrative Aide to the Dean of the School of Social Work and Community Planning at the UMAB Professional Schools in downtown Baltimore.
Throughout her life, Lee has been employed as various flavors of secretary, as well as advertising copywriter, call-in talk hostess, nightside news copy editor, freelance reporter, photographer, book reviewer, and deliverer of tractor trailers. Beginning in August 1997, she served three years as the executive director of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and was subsequently elected vice president, then president of that organization.
Lee's first professional fiction publication was "A Matter of Ceremony," Amazing Stories, 1980. In addition to her contributions to the Liaden universe, she has written two Maine-based mystery novels—Barnburner and Gunshy, published by SRM Publisher, Ltd—and more than a dozen short stories.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller were married in 1980. In 1988, they relocated to central Maine, and now live in Winslow.
On fan fiction
Lee and Miller strongly oppose fan fiction written in their universe. "I don’t want “other people interpreting” our characters. Interpreting our characters is what Steve and I do; it’s our job. Nobody else is going to get it right. This may sound rude and elitist, but honestly, it’s not easy for us to get it right sometimes, and we’ve been living with these characters... for a very long time... We built our universes, and our characters; they are our intellectual property; and they are not toys lying about some virtual sandbox for other kids to pick up and modify at their whim. Steve and I do not sanction fanfic written in our universes; any such work that exists, exists without our permission, and certainly without our support."