Unfettered II: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy
Fiction, fantasy, general, Fiction, science fiction, general
Shawn Speakman, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Peter Orullian, Naomi Novik, Charlaine Harris, Mark Lawrence, Brandon Sanderson, Bradley P. Beaulieu, Sarah Beth Durst, David Farland, Erin Lindsey, Seanan McGuire, Aidan Moher, John A. Pitts, Anthony Ryan, Scott Sigler, Michael J. Sullivan, Django Wexler, Janny Wurts, Lauran Paine, Janny Wurtz
"Jim Butcher is a martial arts enthusiast with fifteen years of experience in various styles including Ryukyu Kempo, Tae Kwon Do, Gojo Shorei Ryu, and a sprinkling of Kung Fu. He is a skilled rider and has worked as a summer camp horse wrangler and performed in front of large audiences in both drill riding and stunt riding exhibitions.

Jim enjoys fencing, singing, bad science fiction movies and live-action gaming. He lives in Missouri with his wife, son, and a vicious guard dog.

Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990′s when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist.

All the same, he refuses to change his nickname."
[Jim-Butcher.com][1]


  [1]: http://www.jim-butcher.com/jim || American writer || Mark Lawrence was born in 1966, in the United States. While he was still young, his parents moved to the United Kingdom.

Lawrence has a degree in physics and holds a PhD in mathematics.

He is married and has four children. Lawrence is the primary carer of his disabled child Celyn, and for this reason he does not travel to promote his books or attend conventions. He works as a novelist and was a research scientist in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments.

Since 2015, Lawrence operates the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, a literary contest intended to bring greater visibility to self-published English-language fantasy authors.

Source: Wikipedia || Brandon Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author known for his intricate and imaginative works in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, Sanderson developed a passion for writing at a young age. He attended Brigham Young University, where he studied English and later earned a master's degree in creative writing.

Sanderson is best known for creating the Cosmere, a vast fictional universe that encompasses many of his fantasy novels, where they share subtle connections and a common mythology, including the *Mistborn* series and *The Stormlight Archive*. The *Mistborn* trilogy, starting with the novel [*Mistborn: The Final Empire*][3], is a thrilling fantasy heist story set in a dystopian world ruled by a tyrannical lord. *The Stormlight Archive*, starting with the novel [*The Way of Kings*][8], is an epic fantasy series that combines political intrigue, war, and extensive world-building.

In addition to his work within the Cosmere, Sanderson completed [Robert Jordan's][4] epic fantasy series "The Wheel of Time" after Jordan's passing. He has also authored several young adult series, such as *The Reckoners* and the *Skyward* series.

Sanderson's analytical approach to world-building includes his "Sanderson's Laws of Magic," which distinguish between "hard" and "soft" magic systems in fantasy literature. His ability to create immersive worlds and compelling characters has earned him a dedicated fan base and numerous accolades, including the Hugo Award in 2013 for his novella [*The Emperor's Soul*][5], the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award for his novels [*Elantris*][6] in 2005, and [The Hero of Ages][7] in 2008, as well as David Gemmell Legend Awards in 2011 for [*The Way of Kings*][8] and in 2015 for [*Words of Radiance*][9]. In 2022, Sanderson's Kickstarter campaign for four secret novels became the most successful in history, raising over $41 million.

As of 2022, he is a co-creator and former host of the *Writing Excuses* podcast, an educational podcast for writers by writers that was started in 2008.

(Sources: [1][1],[2][2])

[1]: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/pages/hello-my-names-brandon
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_Sanderson
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5738148W
[4]: https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL233594A
[5]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19960448W
[6]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5738147W
[7]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5738154W
[8]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15358691W
[9]: https://openlibrary.org/works/OL16813053W || See http://seananmcguire.com/bio.php

Seanan McGuire won the John W. Campbell award for the best new writer at the 2010 Hugo Awards.  She uses the pseudonym Mira Grant to write science fiction/horror and the pseudonym A. Deborah Baker to write the "Up-and-Under" children's portal fantasy series. || botanist || Lauran Bosworth Paine (born Lawrence Kerfman Duby Jr., in Duluth, Minnesota) was an American writer. He wrote over 1000 books, including hundreds of Westerns as well as romance, science fiction, and mystery novels. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books on the Old West, military history, witchcraft, and other subjects. Because his publishers only accepted a limited number of books under a single author's name, Paine adopted dozens of pseudonyms.

Youthful experiences in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even as a movie cowboy -- along with listening to the old timers around him -- have lent an unmistakable authenticity to his stories of the west.