The creation of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to helping developing writers of fantastic fiction improve their work, has been a dream of Jeanne's which she has worked to make a reality.
Jeanne is a writer, editor, scientist, and teacher. She began her professional life as an astrophysicist and mathematician, teaching astronomy at Michigan State University and Cornell University, and working in the Astronaut Training Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
But soon her love of science fiction led her to earn her MFA in creative writing. She moved into a career in publishing, becoming a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where she created and launched the Abyss imprint of innovative horror and the Cutting Edge imprint of noir literary fiction. She also ran the science fiction/fantasy publishing program. In addition, she edited a wide range of fiction and nonfiction. She worked with such authors as William F. Nolan, Joan Vinge, Robert Anton Wilson, Dennis Etchison, Tanith Lee, Kathe Koja, Poppy Z. Brite, J. M. Dillard, David Wingrove, Barry Gifford, Patrick McCabe, and Peter Dickinson. In her eight years in New York publishing, she edited numerous award-winning and best-selling authors and gained a reputation for discovering and nurturing new writers. Jeanne won the World Fantasy Award for her editing.
Jeanne left New York to find a balance that would allow her to do her own writing and work in a more in-depth way with writers.
Jeanne is a bestselling author with seven books published by major publishers. Her last novel to hit the stores was Invoking Darkness, the third volume in her best-selling trilogy The Passing of the Techno-Mages (Del Rey), set in the Babylon 5 universe. The Sci-Fi Channel called the trilogy "A revelation for Babylon 5 fans. . . . Not 'television episodic' in look and feel. They are truly novels in their own right." Her book The Science of Star Wars (St. Martin's) was chosen by the New York Public Library for its recommended reading list. The Science of The X-Files (Berkley) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Jeanne is currently writing a near-future science thriller about genetic manipulation, titled Fatal Spiral.
Jeanne has published short fiction and nonfiction in many magazines and anthologies. She has also ghostwritten several bestselling books.
The Many Faces of Van Helsing (Berkley), an anthology edited by Jeanne, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. The editors at Barnes and Noble called it "brilliant. . . . Arguably the strongest collection of supernatural stories to be released in years."
Since she loves working with developing writers, Jeanne founded Odyssey in 1996. She created and serves as primary instructor at Your Personal Odyssey Writing Workshop, an innovative program that combines advanced lectures, expert feedback, and deep mentoring, and provides a personalized, one-on-one online experience responsive to each writer's needs. In 2010, Jeanne launched Odyssey Online Classes to help writers improve their skills in specific, targeted areas. Jeanne oversees the courses offered and teaches every few years. In 2015, Jeanne was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for her work as Odyssey director and instructor, and in 2024, she and Odyssey won the Locus Special Award for “Fostering Excellence in Craft and Career.”.
Jeanne has spoken widely on writing, publishing, science, and science fiction at venues as varied as the Smithsonian Institute, the Air Force Revolutionary Technologies Division, the Intel International Science Fair, the American Chemical Society, Dartmouth College, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the Science Channel, Turner Entertainment, the Art Bell radio program, and many radio shows, bookstores, and conventions.
Carrie Vaughn: Instructor
Carrie Vaughn's work includes the Philip K. Dick Award-winning novel Bannerless, the New York Times bestselling Kitty Norville urban fantasy series, over twenty novels and upwards of 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. Her latest novels are historical fantasies, The Naturalist Society and The Glass Slide World, about 19th century ornithologists and the magic of binomial nomenclature. She graduated from the Odyssey Writing Workshop in 1998, and has frequently returned to the workshop as a lecturer, critiquer, and writer-in-residence. An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado.
Lane Robins: Instructor
Lane Robins is a 1999 Odyssey graduate with a degree in Creative Writing from Beloit College. She is the author of Maledicte (Del Rey) and its sequel, Kings and Assassins. She has also written a psychic romance, Renovation, published at Blind Eye Books. Under the name Lyn Benedict, she wrote the Shadows Inquiries series (Ace), which includes the novels Sins & Shadows, Ghosts & Echoes, Gods & Monsters, and Lies & Omens.
Her short fiction can be found at Strange Horizons, Translunar Travelers Lounge, New Myths, Nightmare Magazine, Andromeda Spaceways, and Electric Spec.
She writes secondary-world fantasy, urban fantasy, science fiction and anything else that pops into her head, and reads across most genres.
Since 2009, Lane has been providing feedback and guidance to writers through the Odyssey Critique Service and through Odyssey Consultations. Above all, she loves storytelling and helping other writers improve their storytelling abilities.
The creation of the Odyssey Writing Workshops Charitable Trust, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to helping developing writers of fantastic fiction improve their work, has been a dream of Jeanne's which she has worked to make a reality.
