Durgin, Doranna 1960–

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Durgin, Doranna 1960–

PERSONAL:

Born July 25, 1960, in Pittsburgh, PA. Ethnicity: "Plain white." Education: Ohio State University, B.A. Politics: "Reasonable." Religion: "Protestant and open-minded." Hobbies and other interests: Dog training, horseback riding and training (dressage), painting, photography.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Northern Arizona. Agent— Lucienne Diver, Spectrum Literary Agency, 320 Central Park W., Ste. 1-D, New York, NY 10025. E-mail—doranna@sff.net.

CAREER:

Author. Also designer of Internet Web pages.

MEMBER:

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Award for best first science fiction/fantasy/horror book, Baltimore Science Fiction Society, 1995, for Dun Lady's Jess.

WRITINGS:

FICTION

Dun Lady's Jess ("Changespell Saga"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 1994.

Changespell ("Changespell Saga"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Touched by Magic ("King's Wolf Saga"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Barrenlands ("Changespell Saga"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Wolf Justice ("King's Wolf Saga"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Wolverine's Daughter, Baen Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Seer's Blood, Baen Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Tooth and Claw (Star Trek: The Next Generation #60), Pocket Books (New York, NY), 2001.

A Feral Darkness, Baen Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict—Heritage, Tor (New York, NY), 2001.

Changespell Legacy ("prequel" to "Changespell Legacy"), Baen Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Angel: Impressions, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2003.

Angel: Fearless, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2003.

Dark Debts, Del Rey (New York, NY), 2003.

Shaken and Stirred (novella), Silhouette (Buffalo, NY), 2003.

(With Meredith Fletcher and Virginia Kantra) Femme Fatale, Silhouette (Buffalo, NY), 2003.

Exception to the Rules, Silhouette Bombshell (Buffalo, NY), 2004.

Checkmate: Athena Force# 12, Silhouette Bombshell (Buffalo, NY), 2005.

Beyond the Rules, Silhouette Bombshell (Buffalo, NY), 2005.

Nose for Trouble (mystery), Five Star Publishing (New York, NY), 2005.

Chameleon (novella), Silhouette Signature (Buffalo, NY), 2005.

(With Meredith Fletcher and Vicki Hinze) Smokescreen, Silhouette (Buffalo, NY), 2005.

Survival Instinct, Silhouette Bombshell (Buffalo, NY), 2006.

Comeback, Silhouette Bombshell (Buffalo, NY), 2006.

Heavy Metal Honey (e-book), eHarlequin (Buffalo, NY), 2006.

Hidden Steel, Five Star Expressions (New York, NY), 2008.

Scent of Danger, Five Star Publishing (New York, NY), 2008.

OTHER

Work represented in anthologies, including Highwaymen: Rogues and Robbers, edited by J. Roberson, DAW Books (New York, NY), 1997; The Chick Is in the Mail, edited by Esther Freisner, Baen (New York, NY), 2000; Tales of the Slayer, edited by L. Clancy, Simon Pulse (New York, NY), 2001; Farscape Forever, edited by Glenn Yeffeth, BenBella Books, 2007; and Under Cover of Darkness, edited by Julie Czerneda and Janice Paniccia, DAW Books (New York, NY), 2007. Contributor to periodicals, including SFWA Bulletin.

SIDELIGHTS:

Doranna Durgin has written several science fiction/fantasy novels that draw upon her strong knowledge of horses and dogs, producing a winning combination of action-packed fantasy stories grounded in realistic details of human and animal psychology. Durgin's first book, the award-winning Dun Lady's Jess, exemplifies this strategy. In this story, a messenger bearing a magic spell in an alternate world is ambushed and he and his horse, Dun Lady's Jess, escape to a forest in Ohio. In the process, however, Dun Lady's Jess is transformed into a woman. Ingrid von Hausen commented favorably upon Durgin's evident knowledge of horses and horsemanship in a Kliatt review, predicting that Dun Lady's Jess "will be of particular interest to horse lovers of all ages." The novels Changespell and Changespell Legacy feature the same cast of characters. Other fantasy novels, such as Wolf Justice, Wolverine's Daughter, and A Feral Darkness, combine classic fantasy elements with plots that pivot upon dog characters. For example, in A Feral Darkness a young woman must drive back the advance of a deadly plague with the help of a strange man and a stray dog.

In 2001, Durgin published her first Star Trek novel, titled Tooth and Claw. In this story, featuring the crew of the Starship Enterprise, the population of a planet whose sun is failing must be rescued with the help of the Tsorans, a skeptical people from a nearby planet. Commander Will Riker is despatched with a Tsoran prince to an exclusive hunting ground as a goodwill gesture, but the shuttle crash lands on the planet, and Riker and his charge must battle the planet's deadly predators without the aid of tricorders or phasers in the technology-damped arena. As a footnote, Durgin's Web site adds, "What else can you expect from an author with a dog named Jean-Luc Picardigan?"—a reference to the captain of the Enterprise in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series, Jean-Luc Picard.

Durgin also wrote a novel based on Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict television series. Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict—Heritage is a story about Liam Kincaide, a human double agent assigned by the Earth Resistance to infiltrate the Taelon invaders. While among the Taelon he learns of a plot to poison humans with a virus that could either kill them or transform them into a new race with psychic powers. The change could potentially empower humanity to throw off the Taelon yoke—or not. Booklist reviewer Roland Green called Gene Roddenberry's Earth "one of the more intelligent … entries in the series" of Earth: Final Conflict novels. A Publishers Weekly contributor felt that Gene Roddenberry's Earth would be appreciated most by readers already familiar with the television series from which it sprang.

Durgin once commented to CA that she has "written across genres and has no intention of stopping."