Nebula Awards Showcase 2013 (61 page)

Propped against the bookcase in Catherine Asaro's home office is the framed diploma of her Harvard doctoral degree in chemical physics. Nearby, dangling from the doorknob, is a bag stuffed with the workout clothes she wears for dance classes when she pulls herself away from her writing. A former professional dancer, this California native has little time for the ballet barre these days. The author of more than twenty-five books, her work includes science fiction, fantasy, and near-future thrillers. She has twice won a Nebula® Award, once for the novel
The Quantum Rose
and again for the novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab Readers' Choice Award from
Analog
and a three-time recipient of the
RT
Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Her most recent books are the anthology
Aurora in Four Voices
and the novel
Lightning Strike, Book One
, and
Lightning Strike, Book Two
.

When she isn't writing, Catherine teaches in the Physics Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has also coached secondary school students in math competitions, including the nationally ranked Howard Area Homeschoolers and Chesapeake ARML team. Her students have placed at the top levels in numerous competitions, such as the USA Math Olympiad and USA Math Talent Search. In addition, she is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security. She also served two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

As a dancer and musician, Catherine has performed with troupes and in musicals on both coasts and in Ohio. She founded and served as artistic director for two groups at Harvard: the Mainly Jazz Dance Company and the Harvard University Ballet. After she graduated, her undergraduates took over Mainly Jazz and made it into a college club. She has released two music CDs and is working on her third. Her first CD,
Diamond Star
, is the soundtrack for her novel of the same name. She appears as a vocalist at cons, clubs, and other venues in the United States and abroad, including as the guest of honor at the Denmark and New Zealand National Science Fiction Conventions. Visit her at
www.facebook.com/Catherine.Asaro
.