Stephanie Burgis - Magical Books for Ages Ten to Fifteen

In this section, you can find downloadable author photos and bios of varying lengths. I plan to also add some key facts about me and my book soon, as well as sample interview questions. I hope you'll find the information you need. If you can't, please contact me for help.

Biographies

50-word bio:

Stephanie Burgis was born in East Lansing, Michigan, but now lives in Wales with her British husband, baby and border collie. She has published almost thirty short stories for adults. The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, Book One: A Most Improper Magick is her first published novel.

100-word bio:

Stephanie Burgis was born in East Lansing, Michigan, but now lives in Wales with her British husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, their baby and their border collie mix, Maya. She studied music history as a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna, Austria, earned a Master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh, and worked as a website editor for a British opera company before she began to write fulltime. She has now published almost thirty short stories for adults. The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, Book One: A Most Improper Magick is her first published novel.

500-word bio:

Stephanie Burgis was born in East Lansing, Michigan and grew up addicted to the Regency romantic comedies of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, and the fantasy adventures of JRR Tolkien. She sold her first poem at age seven and her first short story at age fifteen.

She earned her Bachelor's degree in music history and performance at the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music before winning a Fulbright Scholarship to study music history in Vienna, Austria. She met her husband, fellow writer Patrick Samphire, at the Clarion West Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing workshop in 2001, and after earning her Master's degree in music history at the University of Pittsburgh, she moved to Yorkshire, England to be with Patrick while continuing her studies.

Now she lives in Wales with her husband, their baby and their border collie mix, and she has been a dual American-British citizen since 2008. She has published almost thirty short stories for adults, and The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, Book One: A Most Improper Magick is her first published novel. It is the first in a trilogy of books for ages ten to fifteen, and it mingles her two favorite genres: Regency romantic comedy and fantasy adventure.

The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson trilogy is set in an alternate version of Regency England in which magic is the greatest scandal of all. The three books chart the adventures of Kat Stephenson, a strong-minded twelve-year-old determined to win eligible spouses for all three of her older siblings, even if she has to fight highwaymen, wild magic, and even ghosts along the way.

Stephanie wrote the first book, A Most Improper Magick, while living in Yorkshire, where the novel is set. She had recently been forced to give up her job after a diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalitis (M.E.) (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, C.F.S.), a chronic and disabling condition that cannot be cured. Until that point, she had been writing darker novels and short stories for a long time, but after she was diagnosed with M.E., she turned for comfort to her favorite genres from childhood, Regency romantic comedy and lighthearted fantasy adventure.

Writing Kat's brave, reckless, and above all fun adventures was her emotional escape from the physical reality of her condition, as she was unable to leave the house or even to stand up from the couch without help on her worst days. She has written a blog entry on her livejournal about how writing A Most Improper Magick saved her during the darkest time of her life.

Since having her baby, Stephanie's M.E. has undergone a partial remission, and she is now able to travel and to appear at public events, both to research her books and to promote them. You can contact her through this website or via her agent or her publisher.