Sara Douglass

Sara Warneke (2 July 1957 – 27 September 2011), better known by her pen name Sara Douglass, was an Australian fantasy writer who lived in Hobart, Tasmania. She was a recipient of the Aurealis Award for best fantasy novel.

Biography

A great-granddaughter of psychic Robert James Lees, Douglass was born in Penola, South Australia. She attended Annesley College, in Wayville, a suburb of Adelaide. She studied for her BA while working as a registered nurse, and later completed her PhD in early modern English History. She became a lecturer in medieval history at La Trobe University, Bendigo. While there she completed her first novel, BattleAxe, which launched her as a popular fantasy author in Australia, and later as an international success.

Until the mid-2000s, Douglass hosted a bulletin board on her website, with the aim of encouraging creative thinking and constructive criticism of others' work. She maintained an online blog about the restoration project of her house and garden entitled Notes from Nonsuch in Tasmania.

In 2008, Douglass was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She underwent treatment; however, in late 2010 the cancer returned. She died on 27 September 2011, aged 54.

Works

Fantasy fiction

Douglass mainly focused her efforts on fantasy writings. Her first trilogy, The Axis Trilogy, is set in the fantasy world of Tencendor. Of The Axis Trilogy, Enchanter and StarMan won the 1996 Aurealis Fantasy division award and Battleaxe was nominated for the 1995 award. Douglass's second series, The Wayfarer Redemption, two stand alone novels and her most recent series, Darkglass Mountain also focus on the fantasy world used in The Axis Trilogy. The Wayfarer Redemption also did well in the Aurealis Fantasy division with all three novels reaching the finals for their published years.

In addition to the fantasy novels set in the world of Tencendor and Escator, Douglass wrote two unrelated historical fantasy series, The Crucible trilogy and The Troy Game. Some of these novels also reached the Aurealis Fantasy division finals with The Nameless Day and The Crippled Angel from The Crucible finishing as finalists and The Wounded Hawk winning the award in 2001. Hades' Daughter and Darkwitch Rising from The Troy Game also were finalists in the Fantasy division.

Other works

Douglass also wrote a non-fiction book, The Betrayal of Arthur, and several short stories.

Awards and nominations

Aurealis Awards

Fantasy division

Finalist: Battleaxe (1995)

Won: Enchanter and Starman (1996) tie with Jack Dann's The Memory Cathedral

Finalist: Sinner (1997)

Finalist: Pilgrim (1998)

Finalist: Crusader (1999)

Finalist: The Nameless Day (2000)

Won: The Wounded Hawk (2001)

Finalist: The Crippled Angel (2002)

Finalist: Hades' Daughter (2002)

Finalist: Darkwitch Rising (2005)

Australian Shadows Award

Finalist: "This Way to the Exit" (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann, HarperVoyager 2008)