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Lucia St. Clair Robson is an American historical novelist.

Literary biography

"Along with my library degree I learned one of life's great truths: you don't have to know all the answers, you just have to know where to find them. As a public librarian in Maryland I gave book-related programs in the local schools. While gathering material for the talks, I ran across the story of Cynthia Ann Parker's life with the Comanches. I told the kids that this was a more fascinating story than anyone could make up.

"Shortly after that I went to a science fiction convention and met Brian Daley, author of the Han Solo books. I mentioned Cynthia Ann's story to Brian and his editor who referred me to Pamela Strickler of Ballantine Books. She advised me to, "Write the best story you can, from the heart, to please yourself."

In 1982, Ballantine published Ride the Wind, which made the New York Times best sellers list. It also won the Western Writers of America's Golden Spur Award for Best Historical Novel of the year. Now in its 26th printing, WIND was included in the top 100 westerns of the 20th century, and has garnered more than 120 5-star reviews in Amazon, compared to only a single 1-Star review.

”I've written seven other historical novels that feature people and times seldom mentioned in history texts. …A historical novelist must do more than list which generals fought where and when. She tries to re-create the society in which people lived, and she has to make it so vivid that readers can feel as though they're living there too. I no longer collect a paycheck as a librarian, but my library training helps me find out what people wore, what jokes they told, how they insulted each other, what they ate, how they amused themselves, what diseases laid them low and how they tried to cure them.

"As a writer of historical fiction, it's my job to create a plausible reality in a time long gone. A descendant of one of my characters once asked me where I got the stories I told in my book about her family. I told her I had either read them or made them up. She said I couldn't have because those were stories only the family knew. I blamed it on coincidence, but sometimes I do believe that novelists can "predict" the past."

Lucia was partners with the late science fiction writer Brian Daley for fourteen years.

Works

1. Shadow Patriots, a Novel of the Revolution - The story of George Washington's spies, including a lady known only as "355", operating out of New York City.
2. Ghost Warrior - The story of the Apaches and Lozen, revered warrior and shaman.
3. Ride the Wind - Cynthia Ann Parker's life with the Comanches. This Best Selling novel won the Golden Spur Award for best Western in 1982, was chosen as a top 100 westerns of the 20th century, and is in its 24th printing.
4. The Tokaido Road - A famous revenge story set in feudal Japan.
5. Mary's Land - Two British sisters and a wench in the rowdy Maryland frontier in 1638.
6. Fearless, A Novel of Sarah Bowman - Six-foot tall Sarah Bowman makes a name for herself in the Mexican War.
7. Walk in My Soul - When the young Sam Houston lived with the Cherokees, he was known as Raven and had a wife, Tiana Rogers.
8. Light a Distant Fire - Osceola and the Seminoles fight the U.S. Army to a standstill.

Awards

True West Magazine* named Lucia as Best Living Western Historical Novelist in 2003: "Beginning with her first book, Ride the Wind (about Comanche captive Cynthia Ann Parker), through her latest, Ghost Warrior: Lozen of the Apaches, Lucia combines a historian's knowledge of facts with a novelist's understanding of the human condition. As a result, she's able to transport her readers to a world that is so real, they can smell the sweat." *50th Anniversary Special Issue - Best of the West 2003

External links

• Lucia's website: www.luciastclairrobson.com

Articles and Interviews

• Talking with...Lucia St. Clair Robson, by John Coyne, Peace Corps Writers.
• Novelist Taps History for Story Set in 17th Century Maryland by L. Peat O'Neil, Washington Post, September 14, 1995.