Elizabeth Engstrom
Elizabeth Engstrom | |
|---|---|
| Pen name | Elizabeth Engstrom, Liz Cratty |
| Occupation | Writer, Teacher |
| Nationality | United States |
| Genre | Speculative fiction, Horror fiction, Fantasy |
| Website | |
| http://www.elizabethengstrom.com | |
Elizabeth Engstrom is best known as a speculative fiction writer. She was born Bette Lynn (Betsy) Gutzmer, but she legally changed her name to Elizabeth Engstom a few years after publishing her first novel under that pseudonym. She is married to Al Cratty, and sometimes writes under the name Liz Cratty as well. She was nominated for a 1992 Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection fo her book Nightmare Flower. Her anthology Dead on Demand: The Best of Ghost Story Weekend spent six months on the Library Journal "Best Seller List." Her short story, "Crosley", was picked to be included in The Thirteenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, and "Riding the Black Horse" appeared in The Fourteenth Annual Year's Best Fantasy and Horror by the same editor. Her work has been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Horror Show, American Fantasy Magazine, and Cemetery Dance among others.
Elizabeth Engstrom also gives writing seminars on subjects like Structural Fiction, Sensual Fiction, Kick Start Your Novel, and The Architecture of Fiction. She runs the very popular Ghost Story Weekend writing workshop, which has expanded to include Fantasy Story Weekend and Science Fiction Story Weekend. She was the owner of TripleTree Publishing, but she sold the business to Richard Ramsey in 2007. Under Engstrom's aegis, TripleTree published 19 books and put more than 200 authors in print for the first time.
She was an instructor and eventually Director of the Maui Writers Retreat and its Department of Continuing Education. She has her Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Writing, a Master's in Applied Theology and a Certificate of Pastoral Care and Ministry, all from Marylhurst University. She served eight years as a journalist in the United States Naval Reserves, including seven months at the Joint Combat Camera Center in the Pentagon during Operation Desert Storm.
She gives a large portion of book sales on her website to the Melanoma Research Foundation and has recently initiated Love and Mercy Ministries in Eugene, Oregon. She currently teaches online classes at University of Phoenix.
Selected bibliography
Novels
- Lizzie Borden
- When Darkness Loves Us (Foreword by Theodore Sturgeon) (Hardcover 1985, William Morrow; Paperback 1986, Tor Books; [Trade paper Apex Books 2009])
- Black Ambrosia (1986, Tor Books)
- Lizard Wine ISBN 0-9666272-1-0
- Black Leather ISBN 0-9716638-5-8
- Candyland (Kindle only)
- The Northwoods Chronicles ISBN 978-1-59414-705-0
- York's Moon (February, 2011)
Short Story Collections
- The Alchemy of Love (introduced by Jack Ketchum and illustrated by Alan M. Clark)
- Nightmare Flower (Tor Books)
- Suspicions ISBN 0-9666272-9-6
Anthologies
- Mota 9: Addiction
- Imagination Fully Dilated co-edited with Alan M. Clark
- Imagination Fully Dilated Volume II co-edited with Alan M. Clark
- Dead on Demand: The Best of Ghost Story Weekend
Nonfiction
- The Maui Writers Conference Presents: Word by Word: An Inspirational Look at the Craft of Writing co-authored with John Tullius (also features Terry Brooks, Jackie Collins, Michael Eberhardt, Richard Paul Evans, Ernest J. Gaines, Julie Garwood, Elizabeth George, David Guterson, Tony Hillerman, Susan Isaacs, Ridley Pearson, Nicholas Sparks, Mitch Albom, Kenneth C. Davis, Ron Howard, Ron Bass, Mike Scully and many more). ISBN 0-9666272-6-1
Lectures on audio
Elizabeth Engstrom has made some of her seminars available on CD and cassette
- The Art of the Short Story
- Writing a Well-Crafted Sex Scene
- Creating Memorable Characters