Margaret Weis

Margaret Weis
Margaret Weis (right) and Tracy Hickman at Gen Con Indy 2008
Born	(1948-03-16) March 16, 1948 Independence, Missouri
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	United States of America
Period	1984-Present
Genre	Fantasy fiction/Science fiction
Spouse	Don Perrin (married 1996, later divorced)
Website
http://www.margaretweis.com

Margaret Edith Weis (born March 16, 1948 in Independence, Missouri, United States) is a fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, is one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world and has written numerous novels and short stories set in fantastic worlds.

Early life

Margaret Weis was born March 16, 1948 in Independence, Missouri, and later attended the University of Missouri, Columbia, where she graduated in 1970, with a Bachelor of Arts, Major in Creative Writing and Literature. She discovered heroic fantasy fiction while in college, "I read Tolkien when it made its first big sweep in the colleges back in 1966. A girlfriend of mine gave me copy of the books while I was in summer school at MU. I literally couldn't put them down! I never found any other fantasy I liked, and just never read any fantasy after Tolkien." She went to work for a small publishing company in Independence and became an editor there. She worked as the Advertising Director for Herald Publishing House in Independence, Missouri from 1972 to 1983, and as the Division Director for Independence Press, the trade division of Herald Publishing House from 1981 to 1983. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Weis wrote children's books, including a biography of notorious frontier bandits Jesse and Frank James. Weis wrote about subjects such as computer graphics, robots, the history of Thanksgiving, and an adventure book written at a 2nd-grade reading level (intended for prisoners), but eventually decided she needed a change.

Soon she discovered what would become her real career: "I did see the beginnings of the D&D game — all of the little books — but was pretty much occupied by marriage, kids, and a career, and just didn't pursue it." Eventually, she saw an advertisement for an editorial position at TSR in Publishers Weekly and sent in her resume.

Career

Dragonlance

TSR turned Weis down for the position of games editor, but they hired her as a book editor. In 1983, Weis took a staff job in TSR's book department. She was an editor in the book division of TSR Inc., from 1983 to 1986. One of her first assignments was to help coordinate the new Dragonlance project. Weis was assigned to edit "Project Overlord," as it was initially called, a novel intended to be coordinated with a trilogy of AD&D modules. Weis and her new partner, Tracy Hickman, worked to plot the novel; they had hired an author, who didn't work out, but by that time, Weis and Hickman were so into the project that they felt they had to write it. "We can write this book," Margaret told Hickman in January 1983. "It's our story. Nobody knows it the way we do. Nobody else can tell it right." "Project Overlord" grew into a trilogy of novels (Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning, from 1984–85) and 15 linked modules, and it got a new name: Dragonlance. Weis recalled having a wonderful time working on Dragonlance: "To my mind, what made the project so successful was that everyone was involved in it, excited about it, and believed in it." Hickman and Weis as a writing team produced several projects based on the popular Dragonlance saga, which included novels, short stories, art books, calendars in the product line.

Post-TSR

Weis and Hickman later left TSR, and wrote the Darksword trilogy (1986–87) and the seven-book Deathgate Cycle (1988–94) for Bantam Books. Weis also wrote the space opera Star of the Guardians novels, which she calls her favorite of her series. Weis was diagnosed with breast cancer, and recovered in 1993. She published a game based on Mag Force 7 from 1994–96, and married writer/game designer Don Perrin in 1996. Weis returned to Dragonlance in 1995 with Dragons of Summer Flame, written with Hickman, and her next project was a solo novel called The Soulforge, based on her favorite character from the trilogy, the dark wizard Raistlin. In 1998, she began working with Hickman on Sovereign Stone, a fantasy trilogy in a setting created by artist Larry Elmore, and published by Del Rey.

Most recently, she has completed the third novel in the Dragonvarld trilogy for Tor, Master of Dragons. Her third novel in the Dark Disciple series, Amber and Blood, was released to stores on May 6, 2008. She has finished work on the first novel in the Lost Chronicles series with co-author Hickman, entitled Dragons of the Dwarven Depths, which was released in July 2006.

Margaret Weis at the Lucca convention in October 2005.

In 1999 Pyramid magazine named Margaret Weis as one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons "at least in the realm of adventure gaming." The magazine stated that Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre." Weis was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in 2002, recognized in part for "one game line turned literary sensation: Dragonlance."

In addition to her writing career, Margaret serves as the owner and chief officer of two publishing companies, including Sovereign Press, Inc., a game publisher based in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The company used to own the license to Larry Elmore's Sovereign Stone RPG world, hence the name of the company. It now produces the Dragonlance line of game products, licensed from Wizards of the Coast. Her newest company, Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd, publishes RPG line based on several licenses including Serenity and Battlestar Galactica as well as Ed Greenwood's new solo venture into roleplaying, Castlemourn.

Personal life

Despite her fame as a fantasy author, she claims not to read fantasy books.

On a personal level, Weis is a mother of two (David (deceased) and Elizabeth (Lizz) Baldwin) from her first marriage. She has also divorced her second husband, Canadian-born author Don Perrin.

Weis is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed in 1993 and underwent successful chemotherapy. She kept herself busy writing The Seventh Gate during her treatment. Weis now lives in southern Wisconsin in a converted barn.

Bibliography

Dragonlance

Main article: Dragonlance

• Chronicles:
  1. Dragons of Autumn Twilight¹ (1984), ISBN 0-7869-1574-3
  2. Dragons of Winter Night¹ (1985)
  3. Dragons of Spring Dawning¹ (1985), ISBN 0-7869-1589-7

• Legends:
  1. Time of the Twins¹ (1986), ISBN 0-7869-1804-7
  2. War of the Twins¹ (1986)
  3. Test of the Twins¹ (1986)

• The Second Generation¹ (1994)

• Dragons of Summer Flame¹ (1996)

• Kang's Regiment:
  1. The Doom Brigade² (1996)
  2. Draconian Measures² (2000)

• The Raistlin Chronicles:
  1. The Soulforge (1998)
  2. Brothers in Arms² (1999)

• The War of Souls:
  1. Dragons of a Fallen Sun¹ (2000) (Winner of the 2000 Origins Award for Best Game-Related Novel)
  2. Dragons of a Lost Star¹ (2001)
  3. Dragons of a Vanished Moon¹ (2002)

• The Dark Disciple:
  1. Amber and Ashes (2004)
  2. Amber and Iron (2006)
  3. Amber and Blood (2008)

• The Lost Chronicles:
  1. Dragons of the Dwarven Depths¹ (2006)
  2. Dragons of the Highlord Skies¹ (2007)
  3. Dragons of the Hourglass Mage¹ (2009)

¹ (co-author Tracy Hickman)
² (co-author Don Perrin)

Endless Quest

Main article: Endless Quest

1. The Endless Catacombs (1984)

Darksword

Main article: Darksword

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. Forging the Darksword (1987)
2. Doom of the Darksword (1988)
3. Triumph of the Darksword (1988)
4. Legacy of the Darksword (1997)
5. Darksword Adventures (1988)

Rose of the Prophet

Main article: Rose of the Prophet

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. The Will of the Wanderer (1988)
2. Paladin of the Night (1989)
3. The Prophet of Akhran (1989)

Star of the Guardians

Main article: Star of the Guardians

1. The Lost King (1990)
2. King's Test (1991)
3. King's Sacrifice (1991)
4. Ghost Legion (1993)

The Death Gate Cycle

Main article: The Death Gate Cycle

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. Dragon Wing (1990)
2. Elven Star (1991)
3. Fire Sea (1992)
4. Serpent Mage (1993)
5. The Hand of Chaos (1993)
6. Into the Labyrinth (1994)
7. The Seventh Gate (1995)

Mag Force 7

Main article: Mag Force 7

(co-author Don Perrin)

1. The Knights of the Black Earth (1995)
2. Robot Blues (1996)
3. Hung Out (1997)

Starshield

Main article: Starshield

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. Starshield: Sentinels (1996)
2. Nightsword (1998)

Dragon's Disciple

(co-author David Baldwin, her son)

1. Dark Heart (1998)

Sovereign Stone

Main article: Sovereign Stone

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. Well of Darkness (2000)
2. Guardians of the Lost (2001)
3. Journey into the Void (2003)

Dragonvarld

Main article: Dragonvarld

1. Mistress Of Dragons (2003)
2. The Dragon's Son (2004)
3. Master of Dragons (2005)

Angel Series

(co-author, Lizz Weis her daughter)

1. Warrior Angel (2007)
2. Fallen Angel (2008)

Dragonships of Vindras

Main article: Dragonships

(co-author Tracy Hickman)

1. Bones of the Dragon (2009)
2. Secret of the Dragon (March 16, 2010)
3. Rage of the Dragon (April 24, 2012)

Dragon Brigade

(co-author Robert Krammes)

1. Shadow Raiders (May 2011)
2. Storm Riders (July 2013)

External links

• Margaret Weis's homepage
• Margaret Weis at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Official Margaret Weis podcast
• Interview with the Scifi channel