Roberta Ann MacAvoy, who goes by R.A. MacAvoy, is a fantasy and science fiction author based in the United States. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 13, 1949, to parents Helen and Francis MacAvoy. MacAvoy attended Case Western Reserve University, where she received her BA in 1971.
Before turning to full-time writing in 1982, MacAvoy worked as an assistant to the financial aid officer of Columbia College of Columbia University from 1975 to 1978 and as a computer programmer at SRI International from 1978 to 1982. In 1978, she married Ronald Allen Cain. MacAvoy's writing is known for drawing on Celtic and Taoist themes, and she won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1984.
In addition to her work as an author, MacAvoy has had a varied and interesting life. She has been a diver in Northern Pacific waters, where she learned night diving, mixed gasses, and rescue diving. MacAvoy has also spent a significant amount of time studying martial arts, with a focus on self-defense rather than competition. She has woven a great deal of clothing and decorative hangings over the years and has grown orchids.
MacAvoy's writing career has spanned four decades, and she has been a prolific and successful author. She was given the John W. Campbell Award in 1983 for her first novel in the Speculative Fiction Field, and she has also received the inaugural Phillip K. Dick Award. MacAvoy's work has been on the New York Times Bestseller list multiple times. She is known for killing off her heroes in her novels, but she does so in a way that is not depressing, as she does not want to depress her readers. Her latest book, Albatross, is a collaboration with Nancy Palmer and is wildly genre-bending. The sequel, Shimmer, is expected to be even wackier.