Laura Curtis was born in Long Beach, California to Clarence and Jenny Curtis. She grew up in Southern California until her parents moved to Provo, Utah just prior to her entering Junior High School. There while she was in 7th grade, she met Tracy Hickman in the lunch room of Farrer Junior High School. They dated off-and-on through their years at Provo High School until Tracy left to serve a church mission in Indonesia in 1975. Like her husband Tracy, Laura is a Latter-day Saint. Tracy served two years of service as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Hickman and Curtis were married in 1977. They were married three months after his return on June 17, 1977.
Career
Tracy and Laura Hickman wrote the original versions of the modules Rahasia and Pharaoh together, and privately published them. The Hickmans published Pharaoh through DayStar West Media in 1980. Tracy went into business, but his associate left the Hickmans with $30,000 in bad checks to cover. Driven into bankruptcy, Tracy sent Rahasia and Pharaoh to TSR, "literally so that I could buy shoes for my children". TSR wanted the modules, but hired Tracy as well: “They said it would be easier to publish my adventures if I was part of the company. So, we made the move from Utah to Wisconsin.” The Hickmans also designed I6: Ravenloft for TSR. The Hickmans co-created Dragonlance and Laura was the inspiration for Laurana Kanan. They also wrote the adventure Out in the Black for the Serenity Role Playing Game for Margaret Weis Productions. The Hickmans have been publishing game designs together for over twenty-five years, including the popular and innovative Advanced Dungeons & DragonsRavenloft module in 1983. They published their first joint novel, Mystic Warrior, in 2004. Tracy and Laura have been producing their DragonHearth podcast since December 2005. In 2010, Tracy and Laura Hickman launched a direct-to-internet serialized fantasy series, "Dragon's Bard" which introduced the concept of "novel as souvenir" where subscribers could download periodical ebook chapters as the book was written and then receive a copy of the physical book upon the completion of the subscription.
