Donna McMahon
"Born in 1959, I am a rare creature -- a native of
North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. I grew up in the
Upper Lonsdale area, half a block from the house
my grandfather built. My father (born in 1908)
grew up in the same neighbourhood, but in the
intervening 50 years almost everything about the
area had changed so much that it might almost
have been a different planet. Who knows, maybe
that's what inspired my interest in science fiction.
I graduated from Carson Graham Secondary School, Capilano College, and Simon Fraser
University (B.A. in History). In the intervening years I have worked in public relations (for
Capilano College), been a freelance medical writer, and done a lot of tedious but essential
office work for a wide variety of organizations (including the Vancouver Art Gallery,
Petro-Canada, Reid Crowther, and the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities). I currently
work for QLT, a cutting edge biotech company.
Apart from three years in Calgary (1988-90), I have lived in the Vancouver area all my life. In
particular, four years in a crumbling high rise in the seething, fascinatingly diverse West End
inspired much of Dance of Knives. My partner, Clint, and I currently lead a bipolar commuting
lifestyle. During the week we inhabit the basement of an old mansion in Shaughnessy (urban
Vancouver), where the cafes are full of people talking on cell phones, and on weekends we go
back to our trailer park home near the small fishing village of Gibson's Landing, where the
Bargain Store parking lot is full of pick-up trucks.
In 1977 I attended my first science fiction convention (Westercon 30 in Vancouver) and that
started a serious habit. I joined the B.C. Science Fiction Association and began attending
conventions up and down the West Coast and across Western Canada. I have chaired two
conventions and worked on a number of others, including Vancouver's annual convention,
V-Con (see links page), Banffcon and Westercon.
As a freelance journalist, I have written articles for newspapers and magazines, including the
Vancouver Sun, the Medical Post, and American Libraries Journal. I have also written and
edited plain language legal publications for the People's Law School and the Representation
Agreement Resource Centre. Several years ago I began writing SF book reviews which
appeared in Tomorrow SF magazine. These days my monthly review column can be found at
On Spec magazine's web site (see links). My most recent short story "Squat" appeared in the
Spring 2000 issue of On Spec. I am a member of SFWA (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of
America) and SF Canada.
Dance of Knives is my first novel. I am working on a sequel, Second Childhood".
Books:
Dance of Knives, 2001
Author's Homepage:
www.donna-mcmahon.com
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