Emma Bull


Emma Bull is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novels include the Hugo- and Nebula-nominated Bone Dance and the urban fantasy War for the Oaks. She is also known for a series of anthologies set in Liavek, a shared universe that she created with her husband, Will Shetterly. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, she has been a member of the Minneapolis-based folk/rock bands Cats Laughing and The Flash Girls.

Early years

Emma Bull was born in Torrance, California. She attended Beloit College in Wisconsin, and graduated in 1976 in English Literature and Composition. After graduating, she worked for a while as a journalist and graphic designer.

Career

Emma Bull's best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy.
, 2006
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies, which included her husband, Will Shetterly, as well as Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and Steven Brust.
With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity, an epistolary novel set during the 19th century Chartist movement of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Shared universes

Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
Bull has also participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder.

Music

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Bull sang in the Minneapolis-based rock-folk band Cats Laughing. She also reunited with the band for two concerts in 2015, including a reunion show at the Minicon 50 science fiction convention. Bull appears on Cats Laughing's two studio albums, and on the forthcoming live CD and reunion concert DVD Cats Laughing: A Long Time Gone.
From the early 1990s to 2001, Bull also both sang and played guitar in the "goth-folk" duo The Flash Girls, with whom she recorded three albums.

Screenwriting

Bull wrote a screenplay for War for the Oaks, which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and Will Shetterly directed.
She is Executive Producer and one of the writers for Shadow Unit, along with Shetterly, Elizabeth Bear, Sarah Monette, and Amanda Downum.

Personal life

Bull and Shetterly live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Novels

Double Feature from NESFA Press
With Cats Laughing:
With The Flash Girls