Hi, I’m Dr. Liz J. Andersen, and I’m a science fiction author. Sounds like an AA intro, but if I’m only addicted to SF, I must be okay.
As I told Richard A. Lovett, the author of my “Biolog” in Analog (ASF Double Issue 7-8/15), writing must be in my DNA. My father’s father shipped over from Denmark not knowing any English, but studied hard, earned his doctorate in English, and became an English professor. As a young girl, I had no idea my grandfather came from a foreign land, because he had no accent. Now I still have his unpublished but vivid novel, based on his early experiences on the homesteads of South Dakota.
One of his brothers was an artist, and I must have inherited from him too, because I developed an early interest in art. You can see some of my 6th grade samples in my gallery, along with animals that have inspired my stories. (Later I illustrated other sf stories for a college publication, which you can also see in my gallery.)
Early on I wanted stories for my art, and I began to write.
My mother had also earned her masters degree in English at Stanford, and whenever I complained that I felt bored, she’d hand me a book from her college collection. My father met my mother at Stanford while earning his masters in physics, so I guess science got into my blood too. (Can you guess I grew up in Silicon Valley?)
A kind school librarian introduced our class to SF, I quickly shared it with my mother, and we critiqued it together. I also subscribed to Analog.
I earned awards in English and physics in high school, but really wanted to learn deep biology, and disappointed my English teacher when I told him I yearned to become a veterinarian. (Too bad no vet school could teach me how to work on alien life!) None of my teachers knew that by the time I finished high school, I’d already written two SF novels. I just set them aside to learn more science at U.C. Davis.
Somehow as an Animal Physiology major, I also managed to take everything from ecology to calculus, physics, and astronomy. Then, against heavy odds, I got into vet school. You can see proof of my graduation in my picture gallery. My vet school profs, of course, never knew they were also teaching me how to write SF.
I have always loved animals, and wanted to give back to them what they’d given me. But it was Andre Norton who first showed me that animals could play an integral role in SF. And a high school English teacher, Mr. Warner, introduced me to Alexei Panshin’s Rite of Passage, revealing that girls didn’t have to be left out of all the good stories.
I can’t thank any of them enough, and I did get a chance to thank Ms. Norton before she died. We exchanged letters, she read a longer version of my first book and liked it a lot, and I still miss her terribly.
But writing books before publishing short stories is a backward approach to marketing. Finally I attended one of Elizabeth Engstrom’s SF & F short story writing weekends.
I was the only attendee without a laptop—mine had just broken—and out of sheer terror (Engstrom threatened to make us write about goats in space, if we couldn’t come up with any ideas), I furiously wrote a humorous piece which eventually made it into Analog, thanks to Stanley Schmidt. Now I have Trevor Quachri to thank, for taking the reins of this excellent magazine.
So, to make a long story short, I have published two short stories and one novelette in Analog Science Fiction and Fact (see publishing history below). Want to find out how Dr. Tajen Jesmuhr decided to become a vet? You can now order Some of My Best Friends Are Human as a print or ebook from any major book outlet. It's a coming-of-age book adults also enjoy. Now I'm working on novels that follow Taje's unusual training. Just expect more adventure than humor, unlike my Analog stories. And please don't tell me about the small error in my first cover, if you see it. I rushed to print so my dying sister could see it in time.
And contrary to common belief, I am not Taje! Yes, we both have red hair, but only because I got tired of reading about redheaded villains. And Taje gets into way too much trouble to be anything like me.
But I will admit veterinary medicine is ripe for humor. One moment you think you have your dear friend’s iguana under general anesthesia for a dead toe amputation, and the next moment you’re both trying to pull the critter off the wall!
Sincerely,
Liz J. Andersen, DVM
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Short Stories:
Scary Monsters: Analog December 2012
Creatures from a Blue Lagoon: Analog September 2013
Novella:
The Smell of Blood and Thunder: Analog July/August 2015
Writing Biography by Richard A. Lovett:
Analog Biolog: July/August 2015
Novel:
Some of My Best Friends Are Human: Labbwerk Publishing 2019
As I told Richard A. Lovett, the author of my “Biolog” in Analog (ASF Double Issue 7-8/15), writing must be in my DNA. My father’s father shipped over from Denmark not knowing any English, but studied hard, earned his doctorate in English, and became an English professor. As a young girl, I had no idea my grandfather came from a foreign land, because he had no accent. Now I still have his unpublished but vivid novel, based on his early experiences on the homesteads of South Dakota.
One of his brothers was an artist, and I must have inherited from him too, because I developed an early interest in art. You can see some of my 6th grade samples in my gallery, along with animals that have inspired my stories. (Later I illustrated other sf stories for a college publication, which you can also see in my gallery.)
Early on I wanted stories for my art, and I began to write.
My mother had also earned her masters degree in English at Stanford, and whenever I complained that I felt bored, she’d hand me a book from her college collection. My father met my mother at Stanford while earning his masters in physics, so I guess science got into my blood too. (Can you guess I grew up in Silicon Valley?)
A kind school librarian introduced our class to SF, I quickly shared it with my mother, and we critiqued it together. I also subscribed to Analog.
I earned awards in English and physics in high school, but really wanted to learn deep biology, and disappointed my English teacher when I told him I yearned to become a veterinarian. (Too bad no vet school could teach me how to work on alien life!) None of my teachers knew that by the time I finished high school, I’d already written two SF novels. I just set them aside to learn more science at U.C. Davis.
Somehow as an Animal Physiology major, I also managed to take everything from ecology to calculus, physics, and astronomy. Then, against heavy odds, I got into vet school. You can see proof of my graduation in my picture gallery. My vet school profs, of course, never knew they were also teaching me how to write SF.
I have always loved animals, and wanted to give back to them what they’d given me. But it was Andre Norton who first showed me that animals could play an integral role in SF. And a high school English teacher, Mr. Warner, introduced me to Alexei Panshin’s Rite of Passage, revealing that girls didn’t have to be left out of all the good stories.
I can’t thank any of them enough, and I did get a chance to thank Ms. Norton before she died. We exchanged letters, she read a longer version of my first book and liked it a lot, and I still miss her terribly.
But writing books before publishing short stories is a backward approach to marketing. Finally I attended one of Elizabeth Engstrom’s SF & F short story writing weekends.
I was the only attendee without a laptop—mine had just broken—and out of sheer terror (Engstrom threatened to make us write about goats in space, if we couldn’t come up with any ideas), I furiously wrote a humorous piece which eventually made it into Analog, thanks to Stanley Schmidt. Now I have Trevor Quachri to thank, for taking the reins of this excellent magazine.
So, to make a long story short, I have published two short stories and one novelette in Analog Science Fiction and Fact (see publishing history below). Want to find out how Dr. Tajen Jesmuhr decided to become a vet? You can now order Some of My Best Friends Are Human as a print or ebook from any major book outlet. It's a coming-of-age book adults also enjoy. Now I'm working on novels that follow Taje's unusual training. Just expect more adventure than humor, unlike my Analog stories. And please don't tell me about the small error in my first cover, if you see it. I rushed to print so my dying sister could see it in time.
And contrary to common belief, I am not Taje! Yes, we both have red hair, but only because I got tired of reading about redheaded villains. And Taje gets into way too much trouble to be anything like me.
But I will admit veterinary medicine is ripe for humor. One moment you think you have your dear friend’s iguana under general anesthesia for a dead toe amputation, and the next moment you’re both trying to pull the critter off the wall!
Sincerely,
Liz J. Andersen, DVM
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Short Stories:
Scary Monsters: Analog December 2012
Creatures from a Blue Lagoon: Analog September 2013
Novella:
The Smell of Blood and Thunder: Analog July/August 2015
Writing Biography by Richard A. Lovett:
Analog Biolog: July/August 2015
Novel:
Some of My Best Friends Are Human: Labbwerk Publishing 2019
