Catherine Asaro

Catherine Asaro is an accomplished author of science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as a scholar and scientist. She is best known for her Saga of the Skolian Empire series, and also wrote the Lost Continent romantic fantasy series. Asaro's love for writing is matched by her passion for science, which is evident in her academic background. She earned her Ph.D in chemical physics and her M.A. in physics from Harvard University, as well as her B.S. in chemistry with highest honors from UCLA. In addition to writing, Asaro teaches math, physics, and chemistry. She is also the daughter of Frank Asaro, who was part of the team that brought up the theory of the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Asaro is married to NASA astrophysicist John Kendall Cannizzo and they have an adult daughter.

Asaro is not only a scientist and scholar but also a talented musician and dancer. She has two music CDs out and has performed as a vocalist at various venues in the US and abroad. Asaro is also a jazz and ballet dancer and has incorporated her love for music and dance into her writing through a multimedia project that mixes literature, dance, and music. Asaro's fiction combines exciting adventure, science, world-building, romance, and strong characterization. She has won numerous awards for her writing, including the Nebula Award for her novel "The Quantum Rose" and her novella "The Spacetime Pool." She has also been a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine and a three-time recipient of the RT BOOKClub Award for "Best Science Fiction Novel." Her most recent novel, "Carnelians," was published in 2011, and her short fiction has appeared in various anthologies and Analog magazine. Asaro is also a theoretical physicist with a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard and is currently Director of the Chesapeake Math Program.