Biography
Early years
Childhood
Sherrilyn Kenyon was born in Columbus, Georgia while her father was stationed at Ft. Benning, GA. Kenyon's father abandoned the family when she was eight (he returned to the family her senior year of high school), leaving her mother to raise Kenyon, her younger brother, and her older sister, Trish, who has severe cerebral palsy, alone. Kenyon's brother was sent to live with their grandparents in Atlanta, Georgia while Kenyon stayed in Columbus to help care for her sister. After 18 months of separation, the family was reunited when Kenyon and her mother and sister moved to Atlanta also. Kenyon's first recognition for her writing came when she won a contest in third grade by writing an essay about her single mother for Mother's Day and it was followed a year later when she won a DAR Award for a historical story she wrote about a girl living in Colonial Virginia.
Kenyon was raised in the middle of eight boys, but only two of them were actually her brothers. The other six were her cousins who, due to family crisis, lived with her family off an on most of her early life and young adulthood. She also has two older sisters.
Even as a child Kenyon knew that she wanted to be a writer as it provided her an escape from an abusive childhood. She is a big advocate against child abuse and participates in fundraisers to help other victims. In kindergarten, she wrote in her Brownie manual that she wanted to be a writer and a mother when she grew up. Yet neither of those ever came easy for her. At age seven she wrote and illustrated her first novel, Sharron's Secret, a horror story about a girl who uses her psychic powers to kill her brothers and takeover her school. At fourteen Kenyon made her first professional sale, and continued to write for school newspapers, yearbooks, local papers and magazines throughout high school and college. She gained her love of horror, zombies and paranormal films and novels from her mother, who never censored what movies the young girl was allowed to watch. Her mother even took her to see Night of the Living Dead at a drive-in theater when she was only four years old.
College Years
Kenyon originally intended to major in art in college so that she could become a comic book developer. She was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design, but was unable to afford the tuition to attend. She entered a state college instead where she majored in English, hoping to be admitted into the Creative Writing program. Her first semester of college, she was placed in a remedial English course due to her dyslexia which resulted in a low score on the placement test. The first day of class, her professor realized the mistake and had her placed in an advanced English class that the professor taught. Kenyon spent two years as an English major and as an editor for the school paper. She applied three times for admission to the Creative Writing program, but was never admitted. After her third attempt, the professor asked her not to apply again as the program was designed for students who had a serious future in publishing. Disheartened, Kenyon tried to switch her major to journalism, but was unable to be admitted there because she couldn't pass the typing test required of all students. Kenyon's right hand is partially paralyzed, making it difficult for her to type on a typewriter. With those doors closed to her, Kenyon switched majors to history. Kenyon graduated with an interdisciplinary major that combined medieval history and language with Classical Studies. She had enough credits to also earn minors in philosophy, psychology, and French, and to earn a certificate of Medieval Studies.
When Kenyon was 20, she decided it was time to take her experience writing for magazines and parlay it into the book market. Just as she finished her manuscript and prepared to send it to publishers, her older brother who was a staunch supporter of her work died, and a devastated Kenyon lost the desire to write. That same brother had borrowed a typewriter from his roommate over the Christmas break at school so that she could type up her manuscript for submission. His last words to her about her writing were, "I know this one's a winner, baby. I can't wait to see it in print." That manuscript later become her novel, Born of Night.
Resuming Writing
Three years later, Kenyon moved to Richmond, Virginia to marry her longtime boyfriend. While moving her things in, her husband came across her old novels and writings, and asked her why she didn't write anymore. Kenyon told him her desire to write had died with her brother and packed her manuscripts away. Due to the recession, Kenyon was unable to find a job of any kind. A childhood friend mentioned that the magazine she was editing needed several articles written and offered them to Kenyon. Although Kenyon had not written a word of fiction since her brother's death, Kenyon agreed to write the articles. As soon as she began the work she once again began feeling that writing was something she had to do. Even though they had very little money, as soon as her husband found out that she was writing again he immediately bought her a Brother word processor. He set it up in a corner of their apartment on a card table and with a ten dollar steno chair.
Two years later Kenyon sold her first book, Born of Night, with five more sales coming quickly. She won several awards and made several bestseller lists, but after the publication of her sixth novel she found herself unable to get another writing contract. For a total of four and a half years (1994 - 1998), Kenyon was unable to sell any of her manuscripts.
Hardships
While her career plummeted, Kenyon was in the midst of a great deal of turmoil in her personal life. Her father died in February 1995 from cancer. A very difficult pregnancy cost her her job. The baby arrived seven weeks early and was forced to spend six weeks in the neo-natal intensive care unit, and Kenyon barely survived this delivery. Because her husband was just finishing school, and with her inability to work and their high medical bills, the family "lost everything [we] had which wasn't much." As a result, the couple and their severely ill son were forced to live out of their car in the parking lot of a hotel in Columbus, MS until they were finally able to find lodging in a rundown apartment. Later that same year, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and Kenyon became pregnant again. This second pregnancy resulted in serious medical issues as well, causing Kenyon to be hospitalized for the majority of the time. With her mother unable to visit because of her condition, her son restricted from visiting, and her husband spending most of his time taking care of their son and his medical issues, Kenyon turned again to her fiction where she wrote the two books that would ultimately relaunch her career.
Once her second baby was born and she was able to work again, Kenyon took a minimum wage job teaching computers. From there she worked as a web designer, still writing at every spare moment. Her agent, who'd stayed with her through all the years she hadn't been selling, continued to submit her work but every submission was turned down.
Career
Fiction
In 1997, Kenyon received the rejection she credits with relaunching her career and forever changing the course of her writing style. At that time, the hottest novels being published on the market were Regency-set historical romances. Since her critique partners at the time were well-known authors in the field, Kenyon sat down and wrote such a novel. Her agent and critique partners loved it, yet it was the manuscript that garnered her the worst rejection of her career. "No one at this publishing house will ever be interested in this author. Do not submit her work to us again." Kenyon was again devastated. Since they were still living in poverty, Kenyon promised her husband that she would never spend another cent on chasing a dream that obviously wasn't meant to be.
But she couldn't stop writing. That rejection spurred her to stop paying attention to what was selling to New York. She spent the next few months writing books for herself while listening to the characters and not the market reports. When it was done, Kenyon sent her latest work to her agent who did not like the manuscript at all and declined to further represent her. Believing her career was over and with no money left to pursue it on her own, Kenyon set her work aside.
A few weeks later, Kenyon saw a notice in a writing magazine that Laura Cifelli at HarperCollins was looking for manuscripts. Since Cifelli had been Kenyon's agent at the beginning of her career, Kenyon sent a single query letter to her. Kenyon offered Cifelli two books. The first in the Dark-Hunter series and the one her agent had left her over. Cifelli declined the paranormal idea because there was no market for those story lines. But she asked to see the historical. Kenyon borrowed money from a neighbor to send that manuscript to New York and Cifelli offered Kenyon a three book contract. . Since the historical was very different from the paranormals and science fiction novels of her early career, Cifelli asked if Kenyon would mind using a pseudonym. Kenyon who was now superstitious over her real name since her initial foray had been so short-lived, chose Kinley MacGregor (the irony here is that even though the MacGregor name appeared on all the bestseller lists first, it would be under the Kenyon name that she would gain her greatest accolades). The MacGregor part pays tribute to Kenyon's Scottish ancestry and to her family who, there for a time, was forbidden to use their real names because of their conflict with a rival clan. The name seemed more than fitting for her to use to rebuild her career.
Even as Kenyon submitted her Kinley MacGregor manuscripts, she continued to work on her vampire stories. At the urging of her editor, she contracted with a new agent in late 1998. Even though that agent had never represented paranormal before and was reluctant to do so because there was no market for that style of novel, Kenyon convinced her to submit them. The Dark-Hunter novels were turned down by every house. Some even more than once. But by that summer the agent found a home for them at St. Martin's Press when Jennifer Enderlin bought them. It was almost ten years to the day from the time Kenyon had submitted the first Dark-Hunter novel to the day one was contracted.
Kenyon is best known for her Dark-Hunter series, which comprise the Dark-Hunters, Were-Hunters and Dream-Hunters stories. The books deviate from traditional vampire stories in that the vampires, called Daimons, only live twenty-seven years due to a curse from the god Apollo who appears frequently in the series. To elongate their lives, the Daimon vampires are forced to take human souls in order to live. Apollo's sister, the goddess Artemis, set up an army of immortal warriors called the Dark-Hunters to kill the Daimons and free the human souls before the souls die. A few of the original Dark-Hunter heroes were taken out of fantasy stories Kenyon wrote in middle and high school.
During the mid-1980s, while working for a small science fiction magazine called The Cutting Edge, her boss asked her to write a long-running serial for the magazine. She brought many of her favorite characters from her previous fantasies into one larger series. This was the start of the Dark-Hunter world. In this series, which has now been percolating for over twenty years, Kenyon has created an entire universe, the rules of which are maintained solely in her head.
Non-Fiction
In addition to her successful fiction career, Kenyon has also written several non-fiction books. She wrote the Character-Naming Sourcebook, which was finally purchased and published by Writer's Digest. Writer's Digest was interested in launching a new series of books, and, because of Kenyon's background in studying the Middle Ages, she was asked to write Everyday Life in the Middle Ages. When the line was looking for a writer for their Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, they again turned to Kenyon.
The Character Naming Source Book, has its roots in Kenyon's childhood. When Kenyon began writing her own stories as a small child, she began keeping a list of names that she liked for future use. As she aged, she continued to develop the list, eventually organizing it by origin, so that if she were writing a French character she could easily find a French name. When fellow author Cathy Maxwell saw the list, she insisted that Kenyon should submit it for publication, as other writers would find it invaluable.
Graphic novels
Because of her lifelong love of comic books, graphic novels and manga (Kenyon credits her ability to read to her older brother who used Spiderman comics to teach her), in May 2006, Dabel Brothers Productions ("DB Pro"), then in partnership with Marvel Comics, announced the signing of an exclusive contract with Kinley MacGregor (a.k.a. Sherrilyn Kenyon), to adapt the novels in her Arthurian fantasy series, Lords of Avalon.
Lords of Avalon was intended to be produced as a monthly comic starting summer 2007, with a script adapted by Roynne Gillespie (The Burning Man) and artwork by Tommy Ohtsuka. A graphic novel edition of Sword of Darkness, the first novel in the series, was originally supposed to have been available in Summer 2007 but was delayed as Dabel Brothers and Marvel Comics ended their partnership. Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness was eventually published by Marvel Comics, rather than Dabel Brothers, with a cover date of November 2008.
Though Kenyon was in contract discussions with St. Martin's Press to have a Dark-Hunter manga adaptation as far back as 2003, it wasn't until 2006 when St. Martin's brought in Dabel Brothers Productions ("DB Pro") to be the packager of the books that they were able to move forward. Because Kenyon credits herself with being an Otaku (in the American sense of the word), it would be several months before an artist could be found that Kenyon approved of. Claudia Campos who is known for her work with Tokyopop was chosen. The first Dark-Hunter manga artwork appeared in Kenyon's nonfiction compendium, The Dark-Hunter Companion, in November 2007. It would take another year before Kenyon approved a writer for the adaption of her words, Joshua Hale Fialkov of Afro-Samurai, Elk's Run, Cyblade, Vampirella and Alibi fame. The Dark-Hunter manga will finally debut May 2009.
E-Books
As a result of her love of technology, Kenyon had one of the first e-books published by the now defunct Dreams Unlimited. She was the first New York published author to contract in this emerging medium.
Family Life
Kenyon is severely dyslexic. She is also ambidextrous. Kenyon can write a first draft of a novel in three to four weeks, although she has been known to completely finish a novel in less than four weeks. Her usual time for a novel, however, is four to nine months. In her spare time, Kenyon plays the guitar, flute, piano, and the drums. As a child and young woman, she was a sparring partner for two Golden Glove boxers. She was also a football quarterback and an award-winning cook. A past member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, she is currently a member of Horror Writers of America, the Science Fiction Writers of America, and the Romance Writers Association.
Kenyon jokingly states that she only owns three pieces of clothing that are not black (a white chemise for Ren faires and two pairs of jeans) and fans have noted her obsession with this wardrobe choice. She has described her personal style as what happens to Goth when you get older, and claims that her obsession with wearing all black happened when her mother refused to buy her a black velvet dress when she was in first grade.
Over the years and due to what she humorously calls "her children's need to eat," Kenyon has worked a variety of jobs: D.J., photographer (her publishing credits include the Washington Post), store clerk, cook, baker, dollmaker, painter, camerawoman, freelance journalist, janitor, waitress, teacher, ditch-digger, psychic, web designer, programmer, and bookseller.
Kenyon is married and has three sons. The family lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with a menagerie of pets that include dogs, cats, fish, chickens, rabbits and reptiles..
Bibliography
As Sherrilyn Kenyon
The League Series
"Born of the Night," (Pinnacle, 1996) (ISBN 0-78600-222-0)
"Born of Fire," (ebook Dreams Unlimited, 1997) (ISBN 1-89252-004-4)
"Paradise City," (Love Spell, 1994) (ISBN 0-50551-969-0)
"Fire & Ice," in the anthology "Man of My Dreams" (Jove, 2004) (ISBN 0-51513-793-6)
Dark-Hunter series
The Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors pledged to the Greek goddess Artemis and dedicated to defending mankind against Daimons (vampires) and other assorted enemies: including a couple of rogue gods and goddesses.
Fantasy Lover, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002) (ISBN 0-31297-997-5)
"The Beginning" , also in the back of Sins of the Night early print editions (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
"Dragonswan", in the anthology Tapestry, published by Jove (2002, ISBN 0-51513-362-0) and reprinted singly by Berkley (2005, ISBN 0-51514-079-1)
Night Pleasures, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002) (ISBN 0-31297-998-3)
Amanda Devereaux has a crazy family. Her mother and older siblings are witches and psychics, and her twin sister is a vampire hunter. All Amanda wants is a quiet, normal life. Only when she finds herself the target of an attack meant for her twin, she wakes to find herself handcuffed to a sexy, blonde stranger.
He is Kyrian of Thrace. And while Amanda's first thought is that this might be another of her sister's attempt at extreme match-making, it soon becomes clear that Kyrian is not boyfriend material.
He is a Dark-Hunter: an immortal warrior who has traded his soul for one moment of vengeance upon his enemies. Kyrian spends his eternal days hunting the vampires and daimons that prey upon mankind. He is currently on the hunt for a very old and dealy daimon called Desiderius who has deemed it sport to handcuff Kyrian to a human while he hunts him. Now Kyrian and Amanda must find a way to break their bond lest they give into their dangerous attraction to one another. Or Desiderius kills them both.
Night Embrace, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-482-0)
"Phantom Lover", in the anthology Midnight Pleasures (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-762-5)
Dance with the Devil, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-483-9)
"A Dark-Hunter Christmas", , also in the back of Dance with the Devil early print editions (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
Kiss of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-241-6)
Night Play, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-242-4)
"Winter Born", in the anthology Stroke of Midnight (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-876-7)
Seize the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31299-243-2)
Valerius isn't a popular dark-hunter-he's a Roman, which means that the largely Greek Hunters have a major grudge against him and his civilisation for superseding them. To make things worse , he's very conscious of his aristocratic background and breeding. So it serves him right when he runs into Tabitha Devereaux. She's sassy, sexy and completely unwilling to take him seriously. (Not to mention Tabitha is also the sister in law of Kyrian, a former Dark-Hunter and Val's mortal enemy.)
What Tabitha does take seriously is hunting and killing vampires, and soon she and Val have to grapple with the deadliest of all daimons-one who's managed to come back from the dead, and one who holds a serious grudge against both of them. To win against evil, Val will have to loosen up, learn to trust and put everything on the line to protect a man he hates and a woman who drives him nuts.
Sins of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31293-432-7)
"Second Chances", in Exclusive Dark-Hunter Collectible Booklet (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005), free giveaway
Unleash the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31293-433-5)
Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin's Press, 2006, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)(HB ISBN 0-31235-743-5, PB ISBN 0-31293-434-3)
"A Hard Day's Night-Searcher", in the anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (St. Martin's Griffin, 2006) (ISBN 0-31234-360-4)
"Until Death We Do Part", in the anthology Love At First Bite (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2006) (ISBN 0-31234-929-7)
"Fear the Darkness", free ebook (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
The Dream-Hunter (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007) (ISBN 0-31293-881-0)
Devil May Cry (St. Martin's Press, 2007, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2008) (HB ISBN 0-31236-950-6, PB ISBN 0-31294-686-4)
Upon the Midnight Clear (St. Martin's Paperback, 2007) (ISBN 0-31294-705-4)
The Dark-Hunter Companion, co-author Alethea Kontis (St. Martin's Griffin, 2007) (ISBN 0-31236-343-5)
Dream Chaser (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008) (ISBN 0-31293-882-9)
Acheron (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-312-36215-3)
One Silent Night (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-31294-706-2)
"Shadow of the Moon", in the anthology Dead After Dark (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-31294-798-4)
Dream Warrior (St. Martin's Press, 2009) (ISBN 0-31293-883-7)
Bad Moon Rising (St. Martin's Press, 2009)
B.A.D. Agency Series
Published by Simon & Schuster
"BAD to the Bone", in the anthology Big Guns Out of Uniform (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-967-4)
"Captivated By You", in the anthology Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Three Tales of Erotic Romance (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-159-2)
Bad Attitude, (2005) (HB ISBN 1-41650-356-0, PB ISBN 1-41652-029-5)
Born to Be B.A.D., a reprint of the BAD stories PLUS a new short story called "One BAD Night" (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-750-7)
"Turn Up the Heat", in the anthology Playing Easy to Get (Pocket, 2006) (ISBN 1-41651-087-7)
Phantom of the Night, (2008) (ISBN 1-41650-357-9)
"Whispered Lies," (2009) (ISBN 9-781416-597421)
Nevermore Series
TBA/2007
Other Novels and Novellas
Daemon's Angel, (Leisure, 1995) (ISBN 0-50552-026-5)
"Love Bytes", in the anthology Naughty or Nice (St. Martin's Press, 2000) (ISBN 0-31298-102-3)
"Knightly Dreams", in the anthology What Dreams May Come (Penguin Group, 2005) (ISBN 0-42521-085-5)
Essays
"The Search of Spike's Balls", in Seven Seasons of Buffy edited by Ben Bella (ISBN 1-93210-008-3)
"Parting Gifts", in Five Seasons of Angel edited by Glenn Yeffeth (ISBN 1-93210-033-4)
Non-Fiction
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages, (Writer's Digest, 1995)
The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference: An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic, (Writer's Digest, 2000)
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, with Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet (ISBN 0-89879-632-6)
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (ISBN 1-58297-295-8)
Writing as Kinley MacGregor
Published by Avon (HarperCollins Publishers) unless noted otherwise.
The Sea Wolves Series
Master of Seduction, (2000) (ISBN 0-06108-712-2)
A Pirate of Her Own, (2004) (ISBN 0-06108-711-4)
The MacAllisters Series
Master of Desire, (2001) (ISBN 0-06108-713-0)
Claiming the Highlander, (2002) (ISBN 0-38081-789-6)
Born in Sin, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-790-X)
Taming the Scotsman, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-791-8)
"Midsummer's Knight", in the anthology Where's My Hero? (2003) (ISBN 0-06050-524-9)
The Warrior, (2007)
Brotherhood of the Sword Series
Born in Sin, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-790-X)
Taming the Scotsman, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-791-8)
"Midsummer's Knight", in the anthology Where's My Hero? (2003) (ISBN 0-06050-524-9)
A Dark Champion, (2004) (ISBN 0-06056-541-1)
Return of the Warrior, (2005) (ISBN 0-06056-543-8)
The Warrior, (2007) (ISBN 0-06079-667-7)
Lords of Avalon Series
Sword of Darkness, (2006)(ISBN 0-06056-544-6)
Knight of Darkness, (2006) (ISBN 0-06079-662-6)
"The Wager", in the anthology Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy (Tor Books, 2006)
Other Novels and Novellas
"Santa Wears Spurs", in the anthology All I Want for Christmas (St. Martin's Press, 1999) (ISBN 0-31297-680-1)
Awards
Sherrilyn Kenyon has received numerous nominations and awards both under her name and as Kinley MacGregor.
Past Awards
Maggie Award of Excellence
MARA Award
Holt Medallion
Heart Rate Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award
Amazon.com's Hot 100
Amazon.com's Movers & Shakers
Amazon.com's Best Seller for 2001
RT Kiss Award
Fool For Love
Affaire de Coeur Reader's Choice
Sapphire Award
RT Reviewer's Choice Awards
2002
Top Ten Books of the Year from RWA (Romance Writer's Association) - Fantasy Lover
Prism
Best Fantasy - Fantasy Lover
Best Light Paranormal - Night Pleasures
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover were finalists in the Aspen Gold contest.
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover were finalists in the GRW Maggie Award.
Night Pleasures won the HOLT Medallion.
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2002)
Best Shape-Shifter - Night Pleasures
Best Fantasy/Magical - Fantasy Lover
Best Novella or Short Story - Dragonswan
Best Anthology - Tapestry, with Madeline Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning
Best Overall Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Fantasy Lover
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover are double finalists in the Holt Medallion Award.
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (20023)
Favorite Anthology - Tapestry
Favorite Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Fantasy Lover
Laurel Wreath Award for Night Pleasures
Love Romances 2002 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Best Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
Best Paranormal Romance (Honorable Mention) - Fantasy Lover
Best Novella (Honorable Mention) - Dragonswan
Best Romanctic Anthology (Honorable Mention) - Tapestry
Best Medieval Romance - Claiming the Highlander
Best Time Travel (Honorable Mention) - Dragonswan
Best Romantic Sci-Fi Fantasy - Fantasy Lover
RT Booklovers Reviewer's Choice
Best Historical Anthology, Nominee - Tapestry
Best Vampire Romance - Night Pleasures
Best Scottish Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
2002 RBL Hughie Awards:
Best Anthology - Tapestry
Best New to You Author - Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor
Favorite Secondary Character (Male) Talon (Night Pleasures)
Funniest Scene: The handcuffs scene (Night Pleasures)
Best Line or Quote - "Be kind to Dragonswans, for thou art gorgeous when naked and taste good with Cool Whip." (Dragonswan)
Best Medieval Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
2003-2004
Prism (2004)
Best Dark Paranormal - Dance with the Devil
Best Light Paranormal - Night Embrace
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (2003)
Favorite Paranormal - Dance With The Devil
The Golden Quill for Best Paranormal, Dance with the Devil
The Bookseller's Best Award for Born in Sin, Best Long Historical and Dance with the Devil for Best Paranormal (Night Embrace was second)
Night Embrace won the Contemporary category of the Scarlet Letter award and is named Grand Champion of all the winners.
Night Embrace and Born in Sin won the HOLT Medallion
Night Embrace won the Laurie
Born in Sin won the Beacon for Best Historical
Born in Sin won the Yellow Rose for Best Historical
Sapphires for Dance with the Devil and "Phantom Lover".
Love Romances 2003 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Born In Sin - Kinley MacGregor - Best Historical Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Paranormal Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Vampire Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Book Cover- Artist Unknown
"Phantom Lover" (Midnight Pleasures) - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Novella
Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon- Honorable Mention Best Shapeshifter Romance
2003 RBL Hughie Awards:
Best Scottish Historical Romance - Born In Sin by Kinley MacGregor
Best Paranormal Romance (time travel, futuristic, fantasy, etc.) Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Anthology - Midnight Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, and Rhonda Thompson and Where's My Hero? by Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and Kinley MacGregor
Best Cover - Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Author - Sherrilyn Kenyon (Kinley MacGregor)
Favorite Secondary Character (Male) - Acheron (Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Favorite Secondary Character (Female) - Simi, the Charonte Demon (Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Funniest Scene - Sin meeting the MacAllister brothers after he marries Callie (Born In Sin by Kinley MacGregor)
Best Line or Quote - "You know, Sunshine, you need to find a man like that to marry. Someone so well-hung that even after three or four kids, he still be wall to wall." (Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Night Pleasures won the Laurel Wreath Award with Fantasy Lover coming in a close second
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2003)
Best Shape-Shifter, Honorable Mention - Dance With The Devil
Best Novella or Short Story, Honorable Mention - "Phantom Lover"
Best Anthology, Honorable Mention - Midnight Pleasures, with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, and Rhonda Thompson
Favorite Overall Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Dance With the Devil
2005-2006
Darrell Awards (2006)
Best Novel - Sins of the Night
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (2005)
Favorite Paranormal - Seize the Night
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2005)
Best Paranormal Over All - Sins of the Night
Best Paranormal Over All, Honorable Mention - Unleash the Night
Best Anthology - What Dreams May Come
Best Erotic - Unleash the Night
Best Shapeshifter - Sins of the Night
Sins of the Night was #5 on Amazon.com's bestselling books of 2005. Fantasy Lover and Night Pleasures are #6 and #7 respectively for the best of the decade so far.
Love Romances 2005 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Best Historical - A Dark Champion - Kinley MacGregor
Best Novella - "Winter Born" - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Vampire - Seize the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Shapeshifter - Night Play - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Couple - Vane & Bride in Night Play - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Cover - Kiss of the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
2007
Devil May Cry was #2 on New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List (week ended August 11, 2007)
References
^ a b "Sherrilyn's Cyberhome". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com/sherrilyn/intro.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kenyon, Sherrilyn. "About Me". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/aboutme.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ Kenyon, Sherrilyn. "In Memoriam". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com/sherrilyn/mom.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Smith, Lodeen. "An Interview with Sherrilyn". Sherrilynn Kenyon official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/interview.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "Promo Items". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/daylife.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b c d e f g h "Interview with our Author of the Month Sherrilyn Kenyon a.k.a. Kinley MacGregor". A Romance Review. 2002. http://www.aromancereview.com/interviews/sherrilynkenyon.phtml. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Ward, Jean Marie (1998). "Sherrilyn Kenyon: Coloring Outside Traditional Romance Lines". Crescent Blues. http://www.crescentblues.com/6_8issue/int_kenyon.shtml. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "DBPRO to Adapt Kinley MacGregor's Lords of Avalon". Dabel Brothers Production. May 7, 2006. http://www.sfwa.org/pressbook/06/0508a-Macgregor-Avalon.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Anderson, Marcia (September 29, 2005). "Dark-Hunter series author keynotes COFW conference". ThisWeek Newspapers. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/092905-News-17825.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "RBL Presents! Sherrilyn Kenyon". 2002. RBL Romantics. 2002. http://www.geocities.com/rblinterviews2/kenyoninterview.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "Sherrilyn Kenyon". Fantastic Fiction. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/sherrilyn-kenyon/. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "The Beginning"
^ "A Dark-Hunter Christmas"
^ a b c d "Writing Awards". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//hunter/writingawards.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
External links
Sherrilyn Kenyon Book Reviews
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Official Site
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Podcast
Bibliography at SciFan
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Official myspace
Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Kenyon, Sherrilyn
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Novelist
DATE OF BIRTH
1965
PLACE OF BIRTH
Columbus, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Categories: American fantasy writers | American romantic fiction writers | American novelists | Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) | Writers from Tennessee | People from Columbus, Georgia | People from Tennessee | 1965 births | Living peopleHidden categories: Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from January 2008 | All articles needing copy edit
Early years
Childhood
Sherrilyn Kenyon was born in Columbus, Georgia while her father was stationed at Ft. Benning, GA. Kenyon's father abandoned the family when she was eight (he returned to the family her senior year of high school), leaving her mother to raise Kenyon, her younger brother, and her older sister, Trish, who has severe cerebral palsy, alone. Kenyon's brother was sent to live with their grandparents in Atlanta, Georgia while Kenyon stayed in Columbus to help care for her sister. After 18 months of separation, the family was reunited when Kenyon and her mother and sister moved to Atlanta also. Kenyon's first recognition for her writing came when she won a contest in third grade by writing an essay about her single mother for Mother's Day and it was followed a year later when she won a DAR Award for a historical story she wrote about a girl living in Colonial Virginia.
Kenyon was raised in the middle of eight boys, but only two of them were actually her brothers. The other six were her cousins who, due to family crisis, lived with her family off an on most of her early life and young adulthood. She also has two older sisters.
Even as a child Kenyon knew that she wanted to be a writer as it provided her an escape from an abusive childhood. She is a big advocate against child abuse and participates in fundraisers to help other victims. In kindergarten, she wrote in her Brownie manual that she wanted to be a writer and a mother when she grew up. Yet neither of those ever came easy for her. At age seven she wrote and illustrated her first novel, Sharron's Secret, a horror story about a girl who uses her psychic powers to kill her brothers and takeover her school. At fourteen Kenyon made her first professional sale, and continued to write for school newspapers, yearbooks, local papers and magazines throughout high school and college. She gained her love of horror, zombies and paranormal films and novels from her mother, who never censored what movies the young girl was allowed to watch. Her mother even took her to see Night of the Living Dead at a drive-in theater when she was only four years old.
College Years
Kenyon originally intended to major in art in college so that she could become a comic book developer. She was accepted into the Savannah College of Art and Design, but was unable to afford the tuition to attend. She entered a state college instead where she majored in English, hoping to be admitted into the Creative Writing program. Her first semester of college, she was placed in a remedial English course due to her dyslexia which resulted in a low score on the placement test. The first day of class, her professor realized the mistake and had her placed in an advanced English class that the professor taught. Kenyon spent two years as an English major and as an editor for the school paper. She applied three times for admission to the Creative Writing program, but was never admitted. After her third attempt, the professor asked her not to apply again as the program was designed for students who had a serious future in publishing. Disheartened, Kenyon tried to switch her major to journalism, but was unable to be admitted there because she couldn't pass the typing test required of all students. Kenyon's right hand is partially paralyzed, making it difficult for her to type on a typewriter. With those doors closed to her, Kenyon switched majors to history. Kenyon graduated with an interdisciplinary major that combined medieval history and language with Classical Studies. She had enough credits to also earn minors in philosophy, psychology, and French, and to earn a certificate of Medieval Studies.
When Kenyon was 20, she decided it was time to take her experience writing for magazines and parlay it into the book market. Just as she finished her manuscript and prepared to send it to publishers, her older brother who was a staunch supporter of her work died, and a devastated Kenyon lost the desire to write. That same brother had borrowed a typewriter from his roommate over the Christmas break at school so that she could type up her manuscript for submission. His last words to her about her writing were, "I know this one's a winner, baby. I can't wait to see it in print." That manuscript later become her novel, Born of Night.
Resuming Writing
Three years later, Kenyon moved to Richmond, Virginia to marry her longtime boyfriend. While moving her things in, her husband came across her old novels and writings, and asked her why she didn't write anymore. Kenyon told him her desire to write had died with her brother and packed her manuscripts away. Due to the recession, Kenyon was unable to find a job of any kind. A childhood friend mentioned that the magazine she was editing needed several articles written and offered them to Kenyon. Although Kenyon had not written a word of fiction since her brother's death, Kenyon agreed to write the articles. As soon as she began the work she once again began feeling that writing was something she had to do. Even though they had very little money, as soon as her husband found out that she was writing again he immediately bought her a Brother word processor. He set it up in a corner of their apartment on a card table and with a ten dollar steno chair.
Two years later Kenyon sold her first book, Born of Night, with five more sales coming quickly. She won several awards and made several bestseller lists, but after the publication of her sixth novel she found herself unable to get another writing contract. For a total of four and a half years (1994 - 1998), Kenyon was unable to sell any of her manuscripts.
Hardships
While her career plummeted, Kenyon was in the midst of a great deal of turmoil in her personal life. Her father died in February 1995 from cancer. A very difficult pregnancy cost her her job. The baby arrived seven weeks early and was forced to spend six weeks in the neo-natal intensive care unit, and Kenyon barely survived this delivery. Because her husband was just finishing school, and with her inability to work and their high medical bills, the family "lost everything [we] had which wasn't much." As a result, the couple and their severely ill son were forced to live out of their car in the parking lot of a hotel in Columbus, MS until they were finally able to find lodging in a rundown apartment. Later that same year, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and Kenyon became pregnant again. This second pregnancy resulted in serious medical issues as well, causing Kenyon to be hospitalized for the majority of the time. With her mother unable to visit because of her condition, her son restricted from visiting, and her husband spending most of his time taking care of their son and his medical issues, Kenyon turned again to her fiction where she wrote the two books that would ultimately relaunch her career.
Once her second baby was born and she was able to work again, Kenyon took a minimum wage job teaching computers. From there she worked as a web designer, still writing at every spare moment. Her agent, who'd stayed with her through all the years she hadn't been selling, continued to submit her work but every submission was turned down.
Career
Fiction
In 1997, Kenyon received the rejection she credits with relaunching her career and forever changing the course of her writing style. At that time, the hottest novels being published on the market were Regency-set historical romances. Since her critique partners at the time were well-known authors in the field, Kenyon sat down and wrote such a novel. Her agent and critique partners loved it, yet it was the manuscript that garnered her the worst rejection of her career. "No one at this publishing house will ever be interested in this author. Do not submit her work to us again." Kenyon was again devastated. Since they were still living in poverty, Kenyon promised her husband that she would never spend another cent on chasing a dream that obviously wasn't meant to be.
But she couldn't stop writing. That rejection spurred her to stop paying attention to what was selling to New York. She spent the next few months writing books for herself while listening to the characters and not the market reports. When it was done, Kenyon sent her latest work to her agent who did not like the manuscript at all and declined to further represent her. Believing her career was over and with no money left to pursue it on her own, Kenyon set her work aside.
A few weeks later, Kenyon saw a notice in a writing magazine that Laura Cifelli at HarperCollins was looking for manuscripts. Since Cifelli had been Kenyon's agent at the beginning of her career, Kenyon sent a single query letter to her. Kenyon offered Cifelli two books. The first in the Dark-Hunter series and the one her agent had left her over. Cifelli declined the paranormal idea because there was no market for those story lines. But she asked to see the historical. Kenyon borrowed money from a neighbor to send that manuscript to New York and Cifelli offered Kenyon a three book contract. . Since the historical was very different from the paranormals and science fiction novels of her early career, Cifelli asked if Kenyon would mind using a pseudonym. Kenyon who was now superstitious over her real name since her initial foray had been so short-lived, chose Kinley MacGregor (the irony here is that even though the MacGregor name appeared on all the bestseller lists first, it would be under the Kenyon name that she would gain her greatest accolades). The MacGregor part pays tribute to Kenyon's Scottish ancestry and to her family who, there for a time, was forbidden to use their real names because of their conflict with a rival clan. The name seemed more than fitting for her to use to rebuild her career.
Even as Kenyon submitted her Kinley MacGregor manuscripts, she continued to work on her vampire stories. At the urging of her editor, she contracted with a new agent in late 1998. Even though that agent had never represented paranormal before and was reluctant to do so because there was no market for that style of novel, Kenyon convinced her to submit them. The Dark-Hunter novels were turned down by every house. Some even more than once. But by that summer the agent found a home for them at St. Martin's Press when Jennifer Enderlin bought them. It was almost ten years to the day from the time Kenyon had submitted the first Dark-Hunter novel to the day one was contracted.
Kenyon is best known for her Dark-Hunter series, which comprise the Dark-Hunters, Were-Hunters and Dream-Hunters stories. The books deviate from traditional vampire stories in that the vampires, called Daimons, only live twenty-seven years due to a curse from the god Apollo who appears frequently in the series. To elongate their lives, the Daimon vampires are forced to take human souls in order to live. Apollo's sister, the goddess Artemis, set up an army of immortal warriors called the Dark-Hunters to kill the Daimons and free the human souls before the souls die. A few of the original Dark-Hunter heroes were taken out of fantasy stories Kenyon wrote in middle and high school.
During the mid-1980s, while working for a small science fiction magazine called The Cutting Edge, her boss asked her to write a long-running serial for the magazine. She brought many of her favorite characters from her previous fantasies into one larger series. This was the start of the Dark-Hunter world. In this series, which has now been percolating for over twenty years, Kenyon has created an entire universe, the rules of which are maintained solely in her head.
Non-Fiction
In addition to her successful fiction career, Kenyon has also written several non-fiction books. She wrote the Character-Naming Sourcebook, which was finally purchased and published by Writer's Digest. Writer's Digest was interested in launching a new series of books, and, because of Kenyon's background in studying the Middle Ages, she was asked to write Everyday Life in the Middle Ages. When the line was looking for a writer for their Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, they again turned to Kenyon.
The Character Naming Source Book, has its roots in Kenyon's childhood. When Kenyon began writing her own stories as a small child, she began keeping a list of names that she liked for future use. As she aged, she continued to develop the list, eventually organizing it by origin, so that if she were writing a French character she could easily find a French name. When fellow author Cathy Maxwell saw the list, she insisted that Kenyon should submit it for publication, as other writers would find it invaluable.
Graphic novels
Because of her lifelong love of comic books, graphic novels and manga (Kenyon credits her ability to read to her older brother who used Spiderman comics to teach her), in May 2006, Dabel Brothers Productions ("DB Pro"), then in partnership with Marvel Comics, announced the signing of an exclusive contract with Kinley MacGregor (a.k.a. Sherrilyn Kenyon), to adapt the novels in her Arthurian fantasy series, Lords of Avalon.
Lords of Avalon was intended to be produced as a monthly comic starting summer 2007, with a script adapted by Roynne Gillespie (The Burning Man) and artwork by Tommy Ohtsuka. A graphic novel edition of Sword of Darkness, the first novel in the series, was originally supposed to have been available in Summer 2007 but was delayed as Dabel Brothers and Marvel Comics ended their partnership. Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness was eventually published by Marvel Comics, rather than Dabel Brothers, with a cover date of November 2008.
Though Kenyon was in contract discussions with St. Martin's Press to have a Dark-Hunter manga adaptation as far back as 2003, it wasn't until 2006 when St. Martin's brought in Dabel Brothers Productions ("DB Pro") to be the packager of the books that they were able to move forward. Because Kenyon credits herself with being an Otaku (in the American sense of the word), it would be several months before an artist could be found that Kenyon approved of. Claudia Campos who is known for her work with Tokyopop was chosen. The first Dark-Hunter manga artwork appeared in Kenyon's nonfiction compendium, The Dark-Hunter Companion, in November 2007. It would take another year before Kenyon approved a writer for the adaption of her words, Joshua Hale Fialkov of Afro-Samurai, Elk's Run, Cyblade, Vampirella and Alibi fame. The Dark-Hunter manga will finally debut May 2009.
E-Books
As a result of her love of technology, Kenyon had one of the first e-books published by the now defunct Dreams Unlimited. She was the first New York published author to contract in this emerging medium.
Family Life
Kenyon is severely dyslexic. She is also ambidextrous. Kenyon can write a first draft of a novel in three to four weeks, although she has been known to completely finish a novel in less than four weeks. Her usual time for a novel, however, is four to nine months. In her spare time, Kenyon plays the guitar, flute, piano, and the drums. As a child and young woman, she was a sparring partner for two Golden Glove boxers. She was also a football quarterback and an award-winning cook. A past member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, she is currently a member of Horror Writers of America, the Science Fiction Writers of America, and the Romance Writers Association.
Kenyon jokingly states that she only owns three pieces of clothing that are not black (a white chemise for Ren faires and two pairs of jeans) and fans have noted her obsession with this wardrobe choice. She has described her personal style as what happens to Goth when you get older, and claims that her obsession with wearing all black happened when her mother refused to buy her a black velvet dress when she was in first grade.
Over the years and due to what she humorously calls "her children's need to eat," Kenyon has worked a variety of jobs: D.J., photographer (her publishing credits include the Washington Post), store clerk, cook, baker, dollmaker, painter, camerawoman, freelance journalist, janitor, waitress, teacher, ditch-digger, psychic, web designer, programmer, and bookseller.
Kenyon is married and has three sons. The family lives outside of Nashville, Tennessee, with a menagerie of pets that include dogs, cats, fish, chickens, rabbits and reptiles..
Bibliography
As Sherrilyn Kenyon
The League Series
"Born of the Night," (Pinnacle, 1996) (ISBN 0-78600-222-0)
"Born of Fire," (ebook Dreams Unlimited, 1997) (ISBN 1-89252-004-4)
"Paradise City," (Love Spell, 1994) (ISBN 0-50551-969-0)
"Fire & Ice," in the anthology "Man of My Dreams" (Jove, 2004) (ISBN 0-51513-793-6)
Dark-Hunter series
The Dark-Hunters are immortal warriors pledged to the Greek goddess Artemis and dedicated to defending mankind against Daimons (vampires) and other assorted enemies: including a couple of rogue gods and goddesses.
Fantasy Lover, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002) (ISBN 0-31297-997-5)
"The Beginning" , also in the back of Sins of the Night early print editions (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)
"Dragonswan", in the anthology Tapestry, published by Jove (2002, ISBN 0-51513-362-0) and reprinted singly by Berkley (2005, ISBN 0-51514-079-1)
Night Pleasures, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002) (ISBN 0-31297-998-3)
Amanda Devereaux has a crazy family. Her mother and older siblings are witches and psychics, and her twin sister is a vampire hunter. All Amanda wants is a quiet, normal life. Only when she finds herself the target of an attack meant for her twin, she wakes to find herself handcuffed to a sexy, blonde stranger.
He is Kyrian of Thrace. And while Amanda's first thought is that this might be another of her sister's attempt at extreme match-making, it soon becomes clear that Kyrian is not boyfriend material.
He is a Dark-Hunter: an immortal warrior who has traded his soul for one moment of vengeance upon his enemies. Kyrian spends his eternal days hunting the vampires and daimons that prey upon mankind. He is currently on the hunt for a very old and dealy daimon called Desiderius who has deemed it sport to handcuff Kyrian to a human while he hunts him. Now Kyrian and Amanda must find a way to break their bond lest they give into their dangerous attraction to one another. Or Desiderius kills them both.
Night Embrace, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-482-0)
"Phantom Lover", in the anthology Midnight Pleasures (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-762-5)
Dance with the Devil, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-483-9)
"A Dark-Hunter Christmas", , also in the back of Dance with the Devil early print editions (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003)
Kiss of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-241-6)
Night Play, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-242-4)
"Winter Born", in the anthology Stroke of Midnight (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2004) (ISBN 0-31299-876-7)
Seize the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31299-243-2)
Valerius isn't a popular dark-hunter-he's a Roman, which means that the largely Greek Hunters have a major grudge against him and his civilisation for superseding them. To make things worse , he's very conscious of his aristocratic background and breeding. So it serves him right when he runs into Tabitha Devereaux. She's sassy, sexy and completely unwilling to take him seriously. (Not to mention Tabitha is also the sister in law of Kyrian, a former Dark-Hunter and Val's mortal enemy.)
What Tabitha does take seriously is hunting and killing vampires, and soon she and Val have to grapple with the deadliest of all daimons-one who's managed to come back from the dead, and one who holds a serious grudge against both of them. To win against evil, Val will have to loosen up, learn to trust and put everything on the line to protect a man he hates and a woman who drives him nuts.
Sins of the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31293-432-7)
"Second Chances", in Exclusive Dark-Hunter Collectible Booklet (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005), free giveaway
Unleash the Night, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2005) (ISBN 0-31293-433-5)
Dark Side of the Moon (St. Martin's Press, 2006, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007)(HB ISBN 0-31235-743-5, PB ISBN 0-31293-434-3)
"A Hard Day's Night-Searcher", in the anthology My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (St. Martin's Griffin, 2006) (ISBN 0-31234-360-4)
"Until Death We Do Part", in the anthology Love At First Bite (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2006) (ISBN 0-31234-929-7)
"Fear the Darkness", free ebook (St. Martin's Press, 2007)
The Dream-Hunter (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2007) (ISBN 0-31293-881-0)
Devil May Cry (St. Martin's Press, 2007, reprinted by St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2008) (HB ISBN 0-31236-950-6, PB ISBN 0-31294-686-4)
Upon the Midnight Clear (St. Martin's Paperback, 2007) (ISBN 0-31294-705-4)
The Dark-Hunter Companion, co-author Alethea Kontis (St. Martin's Griffin, 2007) (ISBN 0-31236-343-5)
Dream Chaser (St. Martin's Paperback, 2008) (ISBN 0-31293-882-9)
Acheron (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-312-36215-3)
One Silent Night (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-31294-706-2)
"Shadow of the Moon", in the anthology Dead After Dark (St. Martin's Press, 2008) (ISBN 0-31294-798-4)
Dream Warrior (St. Martin's Press, 2009) (ISBN 0-31293-883-7)
Bad Moon Rising (St. Martin's Press, 2009)
B.A.D. Agency Series
Published by Simon & Schuster
"BAD to the Bone", in the anthology Big Guns Out of Uniform (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-967-4)
"Captivated By You", in the anthology Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Three Tales of Erotic Romance (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-159-2)
Bad Attitude, (2005) (HB ISBN 1-41650-356-0, PB ISBN 1-41652-029-5)
Born to Be B.A.D., a reprint of the BAD stories PLUS a new short story called "One BAD Night" (2005) (ISBN 1-41650-750-7)
"Turn Up the Heat", in the anthology Playing Easy to Get (Pocket, 2006) (ISBN 1-41651-087-7)
Phantom of the Night, (2008) (ISBN 1-41650-357-9)
"Whispered Lies," (2009) (ISBN 9-781416-597421)
Nevermore Series
TBA/2007
Other Novels and Novellas
Daemon's Angel, (Leisure, 1995) (ISBN 0-50552-026-5)
"Love Bytes", in the anthology Naughty or Nice (St. Martin's Press, 2000) (ISBN 0-31298-102-3)
"Knightly Dreams", in the anthology What Dreams May Come (Penguin Group, 2005) (ISBN 0-42521-085-5)
Essays
"The Search of Spike's Balls", in Seven Seasons of Buffy edited by Ben Bella (ISBN 1-93210-008-3)
"Parting Gifts", in Five Seasons of Angel edited by Glenn Yeffeth (ISBN 1-93210-033-4)
Non-Fiction
The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages, (Writer's Digest, 1995)
The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference: An Indispensable Compendium of Myth and Magic, (Writer's Digest, 2000)
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, with Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet (ISBN 0-89879-632-6)
The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook, 2nd ed. (ISBN 1-58297-295-8)
Writing as Kinley MacGregor
Published by Avon (HarperCollins Publishers) unless noted otherwise.
The Sea Wolves Series
Master of Seduction, (2000) (ISBN 0-06108-712-2)
A Pirate of Her Own, (2004) (ISBN 0-06108-711-4)
The MacAllisters Series
Master of Desire, (2001) (ISBN 0-06108-713-0)
Claiming the Highlander, (2002) (ISBN 0-38081-789-6)
Born in Sin, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-790-X)
Taming the Scotsman, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-791-8)
"Midsummer's Knight", in the anthology Where's My Hero? (2003) (ISBN 0-06050-524-9)
The Warrior, (2007)
Brotherhood of the Sword Series
Born in Sin, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-790-X)
Taming the Scotsman, (2003) (ISBN 0-38081-791-8)
"Midsummer's Knight", in the anthology Where's My Hero? (2003) (ISBN 0-06050-524-9)
A Dark Champion, (2004) (ISBN 0-06056-541-1)
Return of the Warrior, (2005) (ISBN 0-06056-543-8)
The Warrior, (2007) (ISBN 0-06079-667-7)
Lords of Avalon Series
Sword of Darkness, (2006)(ISBN 0-06056-544-6)
Knight of Darkness, (2006) (ISBN 0-06079-662-6)
"The Wager", in the anthology Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy (Tor Books, 2006)
Other Novels and Novellas
"Santa Wears Spurs", in the anthology All I Want for Christmas (St. Martin's Press, 1999) (ISBN 0-31297-680-1)
Awards
Sherrilyn Kenyon has received numerous nominations and awards both under her name and as Kinley MacGregor.
Past Awards
Maggie Award of Excellence
MARA Award
Holt Medallion
Heart Rate Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award
Amazon.com's Hot 100
Amazon.com's Movers & Shakers
Amazon.com's Best Seller for 2001
RT Kiss Award
Fool For Love
Affaire de Coeur Reader's Choice
Sapphire Award
RT Reviewer's Choice Awards
2002
Top Ten Books of the Year from RWA (Romance Writer's Association) - Fantasy Lover
Prism
Best Fantasy - Fantasy Lover
Best Light Paranormal - Night Pleasures
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover were finalists in the Aspen Gold contest.
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover were finalists in the GRW Maggie Award.
Night Pleasures won the HOLT Medallion.
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2002)
Best Shape-Shifter - Night Pleasures
Best Fantasy/Magical - Fantasy Lover
Best Novella or Short Story - Dragonswan
Best Anthology - Tapestry, with Madeline Hunter, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Lynn Kurland, Karen Marie Moning
Best Overall Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Fantasy Lover
Night Pleasures and Fantasy Lover are double finalists in the Holt Medallion Award.
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (20023)
Favorite Anthology - Tapestry
Favorite Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Fantasy Lover
Laurel Wreath Award for Night Pleasures
Love Romances 2002 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Best Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
Best Paranormal Romance (Honorable Mention) - Fantasy Lover
Best Novella (Honorable Mention) - Dragonswan
Best Romanctic Anthology (Honorable Mention) - Tapestry
Best Medieval Romance - Claiming the Highlander
Best Time Travel (Honorable Mention) - Dragonswan
Best Romantic Sci-Fi Fantasy - Fantasy Lover
RT Booklovers Reviewer's Choice
Best Historical Anthology, Nominee - Tapestry
Best Vampire Romance - Night Pleasures
Best Scottish Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
2002 RBL Hughie Awards:
Best Anthology - Tapestry
Best New to You Author - Sherrilyn Kenyon/Kinley MacGregor
Favorite Secondary Character (Male) Talon (Night Pleasures)
Funniest Scene: The handcuffs scene (Night Pleasures)
Best Line or Quote - "Be kind to Dragonswans, for thou art gorgeous when naked and taste good with Cool Whip." (Dragonswan)
Best Medieval Historical Romance - Claiming the Highlander
2003-2004
Prism (2004)
Best Dark Paranormal - Dance with the Devil
Best Light Paranormal - Night Embrace
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (2003)
Favorite Paranormal - Dance With The Devil
The Golden Quill for Best Paranormal, Dance with the Devil
The Bookseller's Best Award for Born in Sin, Best Long Historical and Dance with the Devil for Best Paranormal (Night Embrace was second)
Night Embrace won the Contemporary category of the Scarlet Letter award and is named Grand Champion of all the winners.
Night Embrace and Born in Sin won the HOLT Medallion
Night Embrace won the Laurie
Born in Sin won the Beacon for Best Historical
Born in Sin won the Yellow Rose for Best Historical
Sapphires for Dance with the Devil and "Phantom Lover".
Love Romances 2003 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Born In Sin - Kinley MacGregor - Best Historical Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Paranormal Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Vampire Romance
Dance With The Devil - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Book Cover- Artist Unknown
"Phantom Lover" (Midnight Pleasures) - Sherrilyn Kenyon - Best Novella
Night Embrace - Sherrilyn Kenyon- Honorable Mention Best Shapeshifter Romance
2003 RBL Hughie Awards:
Best Scottish Historical Romance - Born In Sin by Kinley MacGregor
Best Paranormal Romance (time travel, futuristic, fantasy, etc.) Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Anthology - Midnight Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, and Rhonda Thompson and Where's My Hero? by Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and Kinley MacGregor
Best Cover - Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Author - Sherrilyn Kenyon (Kinley MacGregor)
Favorite Secondary Character (Male) - Acheron (Dark Hunter Series by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Favorite Secondary Character (Female) - Simi, the Charonte Demon (Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Funniest Scene - Sin meeting the MacAllister brothers after he marries Callie (Born In Sin by Kinley MacGregor)
Best Line or Quote - "You know, Sunshine, you need to find a man like that to marry. Someone so well-hung that even after three or four kids, he still be wall to wall." (Night Embrace by Sherrilyn Kenyon)
Night Pleasures won the Laurel Wreath Award with Fantasy Lover coming in a close second
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2003)
Best Shape-Shifter, Honorable Mention - Dance With The Devil
Best Novella or Short Story, Honorable Mention - "Phantom Lover"
Best Anthology, Honorable Mention - Midnight Pleasures, with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Ashley, Maggie Shayne, and Rhonda Thompson
Favorite Overall Paranormal, Honorable Mention - Dance With the Devil
2005-2006
Darrell Awards (2006)
Best Novel - Sins of the Night
RIO (Reviewers International Organization) (2005)
Favorite Paranormal - Seize the Night
PEARL (Paranormal Excellence Award in Romantic Literature) (2005)
Best Paranormal Over All - Sins of the Night
Best Paranormal Over All, Honorable Mention - Unleash the Night
Best Anthology - What Dreams May Come
Best Erotic - Unleash the Night
Best Shapeshifter - Sins of the Night
Sins of the Night was #5 on Amazon.com's bestselling books of 2005. Fantasy Lover and Night Pleasures are #6 and #7 respectively for the best of the decade so far.
Love Romances 2005 Golden Rose Reader Choice Awards Winner:
Best Historical - A Dark Champion - Kinley MacGregor
Best Novella - "Winter Born" - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Vampire - Seize the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Shapeshifter - Night Play - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Couple - Vane & Bride in Night Play - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Best Cover - Kiss of the Night - Sherrilyn Kenyon
2007
Devil May Cry was #2 on New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List (week ended August 11, 2007)
References
^ a b "Sherrilyn's Cyberhome". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com/sherrilyn/intro.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kenyon, Sherrilyn. "About Me". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/aboutme.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ Kenyon, Sherrilyn. "In Memoriam". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com/sherrilyn/mom.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Smith, Lodeen. "An Interview with Sherrilyn". Sherrilynn Kenyon official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/interview.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "Promo Items". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/daylife.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b c d e f g h "Interview with our Author of the Month Sherrilyn Kenyon a.k.a. Kinley MacGregor". A Romance Review. 2002. http://www.aromancereview.com/interviews/sherrilynkenyon.phtml. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Ward, Jean Marie (1998). "Sherrilyn Kenyon: Coloring Outside Traditional Romance Lines". Crescent Blues. http://www.crescentblues.com/6_8issue/int_kenyon.shtml. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "DBPRO to Adapt Kinley MacGregor's Lords of Avalon". Dabel Brothers Production. May 7, 2006. http://www.sfwa.org/pressbook/06/0508a-Macgregor-Avalon.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ a b Anderson, Marcia (September 29, 2005). "Dark-Hunter series author keynotes COFW conference". ThisWeek Newspapers. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//sherrilyn/092905-News-17825.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "RBL Presents! Sherrilyn Kenyon". 2002. RBL Romantics. 2002. http://www.geocities.com/rblinterviews2/kenyoninterview.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "Sherrilyn Kenyon". Fantastic Fiction. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/k/sherrilyn-kenyon/. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
^ "The Beginning"
^ "A Dark-Hunter Christmas"
^ a b c d "Writing Awards". Sherrilyn Kenyon Official Website. http://www.dailyinquisitor.com//hunter/writingawards.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.
External links
Sherrilyn Kenyon Book Reviews
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Official Site
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Podcast
Bibliography at SciFan
Sherrilyn Kenyon's Official myspace
Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Kenyon, Sherrilyn
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Novelist
DATE OF BIRTH
1965
PLACE OF BIRTH
Columbus, Georgia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Categories: American fantasy writers | American romantic fiction writers | American novelists | Writers from Georgia (U.S. state) | Writers from Tennessee | People from Columbus, Georgia | People from Tennessee | 1965 births | Living peopleHidden categories: Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from January 2008 | All articles needing copy edit
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