Kate Elliott

Kate Elliott is the pen name of American fantasy and science fiction writer Alis A. Rasmussen (born 1958).

Career

Although Rasmussen's first four novels, including The Labyrinth Gate (1988) and The Highroad (1990), were not bestsellers, additional publishers liked her manuscripts. However, they wanted a fresh name unconnected with the sales figures of the previous books. Starting in 1992 under the new name of Kate Elliott, her sales improved.

Elliott published the first of her Jaran series in 1992, although she began the first draft in 1980. Heather Massey's review of Jaran describes it as "a science fiction romance classic," while Todd Richmond in an SF Site review calls the series "an epic masterpiece." The previously published Highroad trilogy (written as Alis Rasmussen) is set in the same universe as the Jaran books.

The 1996 collaboration between Elliott, Melanie Rawn, and Jennifer Roberson on The Golden Key was coordinated primarily via fax machine. It was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award—Novel.

Her book King's Dragon was a finalist for the 1997 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

Her 2015 book Court of Fives was shortlisted for the Andre Norton Award. Also in 2015, she released Black Wolves, the first book in a planned sequel trilogy to the Crossroads series. The publisher, Orbit Books, cancelled the series while Elliott was writing the second book.

In 2020, Elliott published Unconquerable Sun, the first novel in a gender-bending space opera trilogy based on Alexander the Great.

Personal life

A native of Junction City, Oregon, Rasmussen moved to Oakland, California, to attend Mills College. There she became active in the Society for Creative Anachronism, where she pursued medieval sword fighting.

Rasmussen, lives with her husband, archeologist Jay Silverstein, and their three children in Hawaii.