Patricia Briggs
Encyclopedia
Patricia Briggs is an American author
, well-known for the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy
series. Briggs was born in Butte, Montana
, and lived in various cities in the Pacific Northwest. She now resides in Washington state.
While sales on her first book were poor, she was able to sell her next book Steal the Dragon which garnered better sales and editorial reviews.
Briggs began writing multi-book stories. Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood share both the same world and the same characters, though both are complete stories. Raven's Shadow and Raven's Strike are a duology, with a single story line spanning both novels. One hallmark of Briggs' books is that each is a stand-alone story, and the reader is never left with a cliffhanger
ending.
Her editor asked her to write an urban fantasy
. The genre was showing promising growth, and the publisher wanted to expand their offerings. She accepted, signing a contract for three books, and penned Moon Called, which sold far better than her previous novels, making it to the USA Today
bestseller lists. The second book in the series, Blood Bound hit The New York Times Best Seller list. The third book, Iron Kissed was a number one New York Times bestseller.
A Mercy Thompson graphic novel was released on August 25, 2009: Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
An edited version of her first novel, Masques, has been republished, along with a previously unpublished sequel.
Now Briggs begins an extraordinary new series set in Mercy Thompson’s world – but with rules of its own. Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member – and as his mate.
Anna travels to Montana with the seriously wounded Charles while trying to understand the mate connection of their wolves which has not yet bonded the humans, only to find a dangerous situation with a rogue wolf and a witch in the high country with a centuries old connection to the oldest wolf in the pack. She learns the power of the pack bond in desperate conditions and the power of being an Omega.
Mated to werewolf Charles Cornick, son of the leader of the North American werewolves, Anna Latham now knows how dangerous being a werewolf is, especially when a werewolf who opposes Charles and his father, is struck down. Charles’s reputation makes him a suspect and the penalty for the crime is death. Now Anna and Charles must hunt down the real killer before Charles takes the fall. Features the Beast of Gévaudan
of French legend, as well as Tom Franklin and Wendy Moira Keller from the short story "Seeing Eye".
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:...
, well-known for the Mercy Thompson urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
series. Briggs was born in Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
, and lived in various cities in the Pacific Northwest. She now resides in Washington state.
Writing history
Briggs began writing in 1990, and published her first novel Masques in 1993.While sales on her first book were poor, she was able to sell her next book Steal the Dragon which garnered better sales and editorial reviews.
Briggs began writing multi-book stories. Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood share both the same world and the same characters, though both are complete stories. Raven's Shadow and Raven's Strike are a duology, with a single story line spanning both novels. One hallmark of Briggs' books is that each is a stand-alone story, and the reader is never left with a cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
ending.
Her editor asked her to write an urban fantasy
Urban fantasy
Urban fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy defined by place; the fantastic narrative has an urban setting. Many urban fantasies are set in contemporary times and contain supernatural elements. However, the stories can take place in historical, modern, or futuristic periods...
. The genre was showing promising growth, and the publisher wanted to expand their offerings. She accepted, signing a contract for three books, and penned Moon Called, which sold far better than her previous novels, making it to the USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
bestseller lists. The second book in the series, Blood Bound hit The New York Times Best Seller list. The third book, Iron Kissed was a number one New York Times bestseller.
A Mercy Thompson graphic novel was released on August 25, 2009: Mercy Thompson: Homecoming
An edited version of her first novel, Masques, has been republished, along with a previously unpublished sequel.
Sianim Series
- Masques (1993)
- Steal the Dragon (1995)
- When Demons Walk (1998)
- Wolfsbane (November 2010)
Hurog Duology
- Dragon Bones (2002)
- Dragon Bones is scheduled to be released in audio late 2010. It is voiced by Joe ManganielloJoe ManganielloJoseph Michael "Joe" Manganiello is a classically-trained American film and theatre actor. He holds a BFA in acting from the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama...
(who is currently playing Alcide HerveauxAlcide HerveauxAlcide Herveaux is a fictional character from the The Southern Vampire Mysteries / Sookie Stackhouse Novels by author Charlaine Harris. He is a Were who owns a surveying company with his father in Shreveport, LA...
in True BloodTrue BloodTrue Blood is an American television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It is based on The Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris, detailing the co-existence of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a fictional, small town in the state of Louisiana...
), and is produced by Buzzy MultimediaBuzzy MultimediaBuzzy Multimedia is an independent publishing company producing unabridged science-fiction and fantasy audiobooks.- External links :* — Buzzy Multimedia home page* * * * * * *...
.
- Dragon Bones is scheduled to be released in audio late 2010. It is voiced by Joe Manganiello
- Dragon Blood (2003)
The Mercy Thompson Series
- Moon Called (2006)
- Mercy must rescue the Alpha of the local werewolfWerewolfA werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
pack and his young daughter, after they are taken by a band of humans and werewolves who are testing new medical drugs on werewolves. While helping Adam she must ask the Marrok, the leader of all North American werewolves, for help and encounters an old flame, Samuel Cornick, who decides to move back to the Tri-Cities with Mercy in an effort to win her back.- Blood Bound (2007)
- Mercy accompanies her vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
friend Stefan on a task and encounters an evil demon-possessed vampire sorcerer who is on a killing rampage. She learns that only she can stop the sorcerer, and with everyone she cares for missing she must take out the sorcerer before he destroys her friends. Amidst all this chaos she is also caught between her feelings for the Alpha of the local werewolf pack, Adam Hauptman, and her old flame Samuel Cornick, who is currently living with her while he battles internally with his wolf.- Iron Kissed (2008)
- Mercy is requested by her friend and old boss Zee to investigate some murders on the faeFairyA fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
reservation near her home. During the investigation Zee is framed as a murderer and Mercy must work to free him from human prison. During the book she finally chooses between Samuel and Adam.- Bone Crossed (2009)
- Mercy has been marked an enemy of the local seethe for killing the right hand man of the head mistress, Marsillia. She becomes mated to Adam and in an effort to save her friends and get away from Marsillia, Mercy travels to SpokaneSpokaneSpokane is a city in the U.S. state of Washington.Spokane may also refer to:*Spokane *Spokane River*Spokane, Missouri*Spokane Valley, Washington*Spokane County, Washington*Spokane-Coeur d'Alene-Paloos War*Spokane * USS Spokane...
to help her friend rid her house of a ghost. Once there Mercy uncovers a much bigger problem than a ghost and is captured by a powerful vampire on a quest to keep Mercy for her skills as a walker.- Silver Borne (2010)
- In an attempt to return a book she once borrowed from a fae friend, Mercy discovers that something bad has happened to him and she has the reason why in her possession. While she attempts to find her fae friend, Adam's pack is in an upheaval about Mercy being added to the pack without their consent, so they attempt to sabotage her and Adam's relationship.
- River Marked (March 2011)
- Finally hitched, Mercy and Adam vacation on their honeymoon. The honeymoon ends quickly when people start dying in the river. It is up to Mercy and her new friends to stop the monster who is killing. Mercy learns about her heritage and her real father.
Alpha and Omega Series
Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series- "Alpha and Omega" (novellaNovellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
, published in On the Prowl (2007))
Now Briggs begins an extraordinary new series set in Mercy Thompson’s world – but with rules of its own. Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member – and as his mate.
- Cry Wolf (2008)
Anna travels to Montana with the seriously wounded Charles while trying to understand the mate connection of their wolves which has not yet bonded the humans, only to find a dangerous situation with a rogue wolf and a witch in the high country with a centuries old connection to the oldest wolf in the pack. She learns the power of the pack bond in desperate conditions and the power of being an Omega.
- Hunting Ground (2009)
Mated to werewolf Charles Cornick, son of the leader of the North American werewolves, Anna Latham now knows how dangerous being a werewolf is, especially when a werewolf who opposes Charles and his father, is struck down. Charles’s reputation makes him a suspect and the penalty for the crime is death. Now Anna and Charles must hunt down the real killer before Charles takes the fall. Features the Beast of Gévaudan
Beast of Gévaudan
The Beast of Gévaudan is a name given to man-eating wolf-like animals alleged to have terrorized the former province of Gévaudan , in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France from 1764 to 1767 over an area stretching . The beasts were consistently described by eyewitnesses as having...
of French legend, as well as Tom Franklin and Wendy Moira Keller from the short story "Seeing Eye".
- Fair Game (January 2012)
Anthology contributions
- "The Price" in Silver Birch, Blood Moon (by Terri WindlingTerri WindlingTerri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award...
and Ellen DatlowEllen DatlowEllen Datlow is an American science fiction, fantasy, and horror editor and anthologist.-Biography:Datlow was the fiction editor of Omni magazine and Omni Online from 1981 through 1998, and edited the ten associated Omni anthologies...
) - "Alpha and Omega" in On the Prowl (2007) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series)
- "Star of David" in Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series)
- "Seeing Eye" in Strange BrewStrange Brew (book)Strange Brew is an urban fantasy short story anthology, edited by P.N. Elrod. It reached the NYTimes extended bestseller list in July 2009.-Stories:#"Seeing Eye", by Patricia Briggs#"Last Call", by Jim Butcher#"Death Warmed Over", by Rachel Caine...
(2009) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series) - "Fairy Gifts" in Naked City (2011) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series)
- "Gray" in Home Improvement (2011) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series)
- "In Red, With Pearls" in Down These Strange Streets (2011) (Set in the same world as The Mercy Thompson Series)