Michael A. Stackpole
Encyclopedia
Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 and fantasy author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 best known for his Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

 and Battletech
BattleTech
BattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2000, and owned since 2003 by Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech by Jordan Weisman and L...

 book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

s. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...

, but raised in Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

. He has a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 from the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...

.

Game design career

From 1977 on, he worked as a designer of role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

s for various gaming companies, and wrote dozens of magazine articles with limited distribution within the industry. During this time, in response to the accusations of Patricia Pulling
Patricia Pulling
Patricia A. Pulling was an anti-occult campaigner from Richmond, Virginia, and the founder of Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons , an advocacy group that was dedicated to the regulation of the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons and other such games.-Biography:Pulling formed the organization...

 (among others) who felt that the "occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...

" elements of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 were driving people to Satanism
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

, perhaps even as part of a vast Satanic ritual abuse
Satanic ritual abuse
Satanic ritual abuse refers to the abuse of a person or animal in a ritual setting or manner...

 conspiracy
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...

, Stackpole did a research study on all American legal cases where injury or death had been attributed to gaming. He found that not only were the links to gaming very weak, but that even if all of the reports had been valid, they showed that gamers were violent or suicidal far less often than the general public (see External links below).

In the 1980s, Stackpole began designing computer games for Coleco
Coleco
Coleco is an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as "Connecticut Leather Company". It became a highly successful toy company in the 1980s, known for its mass-produced version of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar and...

 and then Interplay Productions. His work at Interplay included Bard's Tale III
Bard's Tale III
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate is a computer fantasy role-playing game created by Interplay Productions in 1988. It is the second sequel to The Bard's Tale. It was designed by "Burger" Bill Heineman , Bruce Schlickbernd, and Michael A. Stackpole...

, Wasteland, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites
Star Trek: Judgment Rites
Star Trek: Judgment Rites is a computer game first produced by Interplay in 1993, featuring the original cast of the classic Star Trek in a series of new adventures, including one featuring Trelane, the omnipotent child from the original episode "The Squire of Gothos"...

. He also created the role-playing game Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes is a role-playing game designed and written by Michael A. Stackpole and first published in April 1983 by Blade, a division of Flying Buffalo, Inc. A second edition was later published by Sleuth Publications, but Flying Buffalo continues to distribute the game...

, which provided the game mechanics for Wasteland.

Stackpole loaned his image to Decipher
Decipher, Inc.
Decipher, Inc. is an American gaming company based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. They began with three puzzles called "Decipher" then moved on to party games and Pente sets, but since 1994 produced collectible card and role-playing games. Their longest-running offering is the How to Host a Murder...

 for the image of Corran Horn used in their Star Wars Customizable Card Game
Star Wars Customizable Card Game
Star Wars: Customizable Card Game is a customizable card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produced the Star Trek Customizable Card Game and The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. The game was produced from December 1995 until December...

expansion "Reflections 2". Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...

 did likewise for the character Talon Karrde.

Stackpole teamed up with Decipher again, helping them write the background story to their WARS TCG, including e-books and other writing tie-ins for the expanded universe
Expanded Universe
The term Expanded Universe is generally used to denote the 'extension' of a media franchise with other media...

.

Writing career

In 1986 Stackpole wrote his first novel, the fantasy story Talion: Revenant. However, the manuscript would not be published until 1997 by Bantam Books. His editors believed that a 175,000 word book was too long for an unknown author and that the story wasn't particularly engaging. The story remained unpublished for the next 11 years until reworked by Stackpole's editor, Anne Lesley Groell. Stackpole clarifies these issues himself in the afterword of the published version of Talion.

Stackpole has found his greatest success in serialed works that continue the characters and plot lines developed by other authors. In 1987 he began writing novels set in the BattleTech universe for FASA Corporation, and became one of the most popular authors in that genre. Some of his Battletech books were used as the source for a televised
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 series. He was then selected to write several novels in the Star Wars universe for Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

. He also wrote several comics based in the Star Wars universe for Dark Horse Comics. Initially these covered the period just before his X-Wing novels. Later he also covered the marriage of Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...

 and Mara Jade
Mara Jade
Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in Star Wars Expanded Universe books, comic books, and computer games. She is also wife to Luke Skywalker, and mother to Ben Skywalker. In the different video games, she is voiced by Heidi Shannon and Kath Soucie.-Concept and development:Mara Jade was...

 in Union and collaborated with Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...

 on Mara Jade's early career.

In addition, he has written several novels and short stories with original settings. One of his recent series is the DragonCrown War Cycle. These books attempt to break fantasy conventions, including the introduction of firearms in a fantasy setting which is not universally considered a positive advancement.

Stackpole contributed one of the four stories in Roger Zelazny
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...

's shared world anthology called Forever After. Baen Books
Baen Books
Baen Books is an American publishing company established in 1983 by long time science fiction publisher and editor Jim Baen. It is a science fiction and fantasy publishing house that emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, military science fiction, and fantasy...

 published Forever After in 1995. He was also a contributor in the 1998 anthology Lord of the Fantastic
Lord of the Fantastic
Lord of the Fantastic is a festschrift, or an anthology that memorializes someone's art, usually written by colleagues. Subtitled "Stories in Honor of Roger Zelazny." The title Lord of the Fantastic is both a play off his novel Lord of Light and yet another homage...

commemorating Zelazny.

The Age of Discovery trilogy is his latest complete series, with A New World released mid-2007. The trilogy is set in a fantasy world, with an attempt at an unconventional approach to magic and mastery.

The Crown Colonies is a new original trilogy that re-imagines the events of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

. The first book, At The Queen's Command, was released in November, 2010, with the other two books due to be released in 2011 and 2012.

In the foreword to his book Outbound Flight
Outbound Flight
Outbound Flight is a novel set in the Star Wars galaxy that was released on January 31, 2006. It is written by Timothy Zahn, bestselling author of the popular Thrawn Trilogy, to which this novel is a prequel. The book was released by Del Rey, first in hardcover, then in paperback in January 2007...

, Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...

 thanks Stackpole and issues a challenge at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...

.

Newsletter

Michael Stackpole also writes and publishes an online
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....

 newsletter
Newsletter
A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newspapers and leaflets are types of newsletters. Additionally, newsletters delivered electronically via email have gained rapid acceptance for the same reasons email in...

 titled The Secrets, which offers tips, tricks, and tidbits about fiction writing (focusing on, but not limited to, science fiction and fantasy). It is aimed towards the serious fan fiction writer and some casual writers, and includes information about getting books published..

Topics discussed in the newsletter range from how to beat writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...

 to how to build a world, and even how to manage writing as a career.

The Secrets newsletter requires a subscription, and issues are released every two weeks.

Podcast

The Secrets Newsletter has an "audio companion" in The Secrets Podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...

. The first ten podcasts were based on material from the first ten issues of The Secrets newsletter. After the first series ended, the content of the podcast diverged from the newsletter. The podcasts average twenty-five minutes long and are voiced and produced by Stackpole.

The podcasts are free and require no subscription, but older episodes have been retired and are no longer available on the main archive.

Stackpole is also one of the main hosts on The Dragon Page Cover to Cover, a book review and interview show dealing mainly with fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 and sci fi
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 publications, together with Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga
Michael R. Mennenga founded FarPoint Media in early 2006 and currently serves as its President, COO, and primary audio engineer. In addition, Michael is a co-host of the “Slice of SciFi” and “The Dragon Page Cover to Cover” podcasts, and contributor to many other Farpoint Programs.Michael’s...

.

Skepticism

Stackpole has been the executive director of the Phoenix Skeptics since 1988 and is listed as the contact for the group in the magazine Skeptical Inquirer
Skeptical Inquirer
The Skeptical Inquirer is a bimonthly American magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry with the subtitle: The magazine for science and reason....

.

Asteroid

An outer main-belt asteroid discovered March 23, 2001 by David H. Healy was named 165612 Stackpole
165612 Stackpole
Asteroid 165612 Stackpole is a main belt asteroid which was discovered on March 23, 2001 by D. Healy at Junk Bond Observatory.It is named in honor of Michael Stackpole, a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books....

.

DragonCrown War

Published by Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...

.
  • 2000 The Dark Glory War
  • 2001 Fortress Draconis
  • 2002 When Dragons Rage
  • 2003 The Grand Crusade

Age of Discovery

Published by Bantam Books.
  • 2005 A Secret Atlas
    A Secret Atlas
    A Secret Atlas is the first book in the Age of Discovery series of fantasy novels by Michael Stackpole. It was published by Bantam Books in 2005.-Background:...

  • 2006 Cartomancy
  • 2007 The New World

The Crown Colonies

Published by Night Shade Books
Night Shade Books
Night Shade Books is an independent publishing company based in San Francisco, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was started in 1997 by Jason Williams, with Jeremy Lassen coming on board as a partner shortly after the company's founding...

.
  • 2010 At The Queen's Command.
  • 2011 Of Limited Loyalty. (Due to be published October, 2011)
  • 2012 Ungrateful Rabble. (Due to be published October, 2012)

BattleTech

Originally Published by FASA Corporation. Later published by Penguin Group
Penguin Group
The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...

/Roc Books
Roc Books
Roc Books is a fantasy imprint of Penguin Group, as part of their New American Library. The imprint was launched in April 1990 after Penguin Chairman, Peter Mayer, asked John Silbersack, the editor in chief of New American Library's science fiction program, to launch a new imprint that would draw...

 until 2007. Catalyst Game Labs
Catalyst Game Labs
Catalyst Game Labs was created in May 2007 by InMediaRes Productions, LLC for the purpose of publishing print Classic BattleTech and Shadowrun sourcebooks...

 in June 2008 announced Stackpole would be publishing new Core Line - Battletech novel in 2009.

Warrior
  • 1988 Warrior: En Garde
  • 1988 Warrior: Riposte
  • 1989 Warrior: Coupé


Blood of Kerensky Trilogy
  • 1989 Lethal Heritage (FASA)
  • 1990 Blood Legacy (FASA)
  • 1991 Lost Destiny (FASA)


BattleTech Core Novels
  • 1992 Natural Selection (novel) (FASA/ROC)
  • 1993 Assumption of Risk (ROC/FASA)
  • 1994 Bred For War (ROC/FASA)
  • 1996 Malicious Intent (ROC/FASA)
  • 1997 Grave Covenant (ROC/FASA)
  • 1998 Prince of Havoc (ROC/FASA)


Mechwarrior: Dark Age
  • 2002 Ghost War (ROC/WizKids
    WizKids
    WizKids, Inc. is an American New Jersey-based company that first made its mark in the game industry producing collectible miniatures wargames. WizKids was purchased by and is a subsidiary of National Entertainment Collectibles Association. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a...

    )
  • 2007 Masters of War (ROC/WizKids)

Star Wars

  • 1996 X-Wing: Rogue Squadron
    Rogue Squadron (novel)
    Rogue Squadron is the first novel in the Star Wars: X-wing series. It was written by Michael A. Stackpole. It is set at the beginning of the New Republic era of the Star Wars universe and centers on the creation of a new Rogue Squadron by legendary Rebel Alliance pilot Wedge Antilles...

    (Bantam Books)
  • 1996 X-Wing: Wedge's Gamble
    Wedge's Gamble
    Wedge's Gamble is the second novel in the Star Wars: X-wing series. It was written by Michael A. Stackpole. It is set at the beginning of the New Republic era of the Star Wars universe and tells the story of Rogue Squadron's covert intelligence mission to Coruscant as a first wave for the Rebel...

    (Bantam Books)
  • 1996 X-Wing: The Krytos Trap
    The Krytos Trap
    The Krytos Trap is the third novel in the Star Wars: X-wing series. It was written by Michael A. Stackpole. It is set at the beginning of the New Republic Era in the Star Wars universe and focuses on the problems the New Republic has in occupying Coruscant.-Plot:The plot focuses on three key...

    (Bantam Books)
  • 1997 X-Wing: The Bacta War (Bantam Books)
  • 1998 I, Jedi
    I, Jedi
    I, Jedi is a novel, written by Michael A. Stackpole that is set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was the first Star Wars novel written in the first-person perspective of a character never seen in the movies....

    (Bantam Books)
  • 1999 X-Wing: Isard's Revenge
    Isard's Revenge
    Isard's Revenge is the eighth novel in the Star Wars: X-wing series. It marks a return by writer Michael A. Stackpole to the series he created, after a hiatus of three novels by Aaron Allston...

    (Bantam Books)
  • 2000 The New Jedi Order - Dark Tide I: Onslaught
    Dark Tide: Onslaught
    Dark Tide: Onslaught is the first novel in a two-part story by Michael A. Stackpole. Published and released in 2000, it is the second installment of the New Jedi Order series set in the Star Wars universe.-Summary:In the aftermath of the Second Battle of Helska, the New Republic believes that the...

    (Del Rey Books
    Del Rey Books
    Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn since 1998, by Bertelsmann AG. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It specializes in science fiction and fantasy...

    )
  • 2000 The New Jedi Order - Dark Tide II: Ruin
    Dark Tide: Ruin
    Dark Tide: Ruin is the second novel in a two-part story by Michael A. Stackpole. Published and released in 2000, it is the third installment of the New Jedi Order series set in the Star Wars galaxy....

    (Del Rey Books)

Dark Conspiracy

Published by GDW.
  • 1991 A Gathering Evil
  • 1991 Evil Ascending
  • 1992 Evil Triumphant

Others

  • 1994 Once a Hero (Bantam Books)
  • 1994 Dementia (Roc/Target)
  • 1997 Talion: Revenant (Bantam Books)
  • 1997 A Hero Born (HarperPrism)
  • 1998 An Enemy Reborn (HarperPrism)
  • 1998 Wolf and Raven (Roc/FASA)
  • 1998 Eyes of Silver (Bantam Books)
  • 2010 In Hero Years I'm Dead (Stormwolf.com)
  • 2011 Conan the Barbarian
    Conan the Barbarian (2011 novel)
    Conan the Barbarian is a fantasy novel written by Michael A. Stackpole featuring Robert E. Howard's seminal sword and sorcery hero of the same name, a novelization of the feature film of the same title. It was first published in paperback by Berkley Books in 2011. An earlier novel of the same title...

    (Berkley Books)

Other publications

  • 1989 Game Hysteria and the Truth
  • 1990 The Pulling Report
  • 1991 (with co author Loren K. Wiseman) and Answers about Role Playing Games Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA)
  • 1994 GAMA News, Model Retailer, March, 98-99
  • 2010 Steampunk'd (Edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg), 'Chance Corrigan and the Tick Tock King of the Nile'

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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