Connie Willis was born on December 31, 1945, in Denver, Colorado. Today she lives in Greeley, Colorado, with her husband. She has a daughter. Her favorite book is Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter.
Ms. Willis is one those amazing writers that can leave you laughing hysterically (any scene featuring sheep in Bellwether) or crying miserably (the end of Doomsday Book). She blends science fiction with history, in part to prove her point that, "the schism between science and the humanities is the most dangerous development of the twentieth century," but mostly to tell a story.
She's also my favorite author, but if you don't want to take my word for it, here's a list of the awards she's won:
- Hugo Award, 1982 "Fire Watch" (novelette)
- Hugo, 1983 "A Letter From the Clearys" (short story)
- Hugo, 1988 "The Last of the Winnebagos" (novella)
- Hugo, 1993 Doomsday Book (novel)
- Hugo, 1993 "Even the Queen"
- Hugo, 1994 "Death on the Nile"
- Nebula Award, 1982 "Fire Watch" (novelette)
- Nebula, 1982 "A Letter from the Clearys" (short story)
- Nebula, 1988 "The Last of the Winnebagos" (novella)
- Nebula, 1990 "At the Rialto" (novelette)
- Nebula, 1992
Doomsday Book (novel)
- Nebula, 1992 "Even the Queen"
- John W. Campbell Award, 1988 Lincoln's Dreams (novel)
And finally, a list of her books-- novels and short story collections. She has also published numerous short stories, and most of the newer ones are in Asimov's Science Fiction magazine (www.asimovs.com).
And books written with Cynthia Felice:
Thanks to www.asimovs.com, http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue17/interview.html, and http://www.geocities.com/wellesley/5595/willis/willis.html