Sara Douglass

{{short description|Australian writer}} {{For|other people with a similar name|Sarah Douglas (disambiguation){{!}}Sarah Douglas}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}} {{Infobox writer | name = Sara Douglass | image =  | pseudonym = Sara Douglass | birth_name = Sara Warneke | birth_date = {{birth date|1957|07|02|df=y}} | birth_place = Penola, South Australia, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|09|27|1957|07|02|df=y}} | death_place = Hobart, Tasmania, Australia | occupation = | nationality = Australian | ethnicity = | citizenship = | period = 1995–2011 | genre = Fantasy | awards = '''Aurealis Award'''<br>{{Awards|award=Fantasy division|year=1996|title=Enchanter & StarMan|year2=2001|title2=The Wounded Hawk}} | website = {{URL|https://www.saradouglassworlds.com/}} }}

'''Sara Warneke''' (2 July 1957 – 27 September 2011),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sara Douglass |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A22300 |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=AustLit: Discover Australian Stories |publisher=The University of Queensland}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://nonsuchkitchengardens.com/ "Notes from Nonsuch in Tasmania"]</ref>

In 2008, Douglass was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.<ref>[http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/australian-fantasy-writer-sara-douglass-dies-of-ovarian-cancer/story-e6frf7jx-1226147916645 Australian fantasy writer Sara Douglass dies of ovarian cancer]</ref> She underwent treatment, but in late 2010 the cancer returned.<ref>[http://nonsuchkitchengardens.com/wordpress/?p=606 Douglass' writings about dying]</ref> She died on 27 September 2011, aged 54.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/australian-fantasy-writer-sara-douglass-dies-of-ovarian-cancer/story-e6frf7jx-1226147916645|title=Australian fantasy writer Sara Douglass dies of ovarian cancer|last=Chapman|first=Jennifer|date=27 September 2011|work=heraldsun.com.au|accessdate=27 September 2011}}</ref>

==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<ref name="AAFD EAS">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis1997.html|title=1996 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref> and ''Battleaxe'' was nominated for the 1995 award.<ref name="AAFD B">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis1996.html|title=1995 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AAFD S">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis1998.html|title=1997 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref><ref name="AAFD P">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis1999.html|title=1998 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref><ref name="AAFD C">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis2000.html|title=1999 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref>

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<ref name="AAFD TND">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis2001.html|title=2000 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref><ref name="AAFD TCAAHD">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis2003.html|title=2003 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref> and ''The Wounded Hawk'' winning the award in 2001.<ref name="AAFD TWH">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis2002.html|title=2001 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref> ''Hades' Daughter'' and ''Darkwitch Rising'' from ''The Troy Game'' also were finalists in the Fantasy division.<ref name="AAFD TCAAHD"/><ref name="AAFD DR">{{cite web|url=http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Aurealis2006.html|title=2005 Aurealis Awards|publisher=The Locus Index to SF Awards|accessdate=2008-08-07}}</ref>

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

==Bibliography== '''Note''': In the US, and most European countries, ''The Axis Trilogy'' and ''The Wayfarer Redemption'' have been combined into one six-book series, ''Wayfarer Redemption''.

===''The Axis Trilogy''=== {{main|Wayfarer Redemption#The Axis trilogy|l1=The Axis trilogy}} In the United States, these novels were published as the first three books of the Wayfarer Redemption series. *''Battleaxe'' (1995) (published as ''The Wayfarer Redemption'' in the United States) *''Enchanter'' (1996) *''StarMan'' (1996)

===''The Wayfarer Redemption''=== {{main|Wayfarer Redemption#The Wayfarer Redemption trilogy|l1=The Wayfarer Redemption}} *''Sinner'' (1997) *''Pilgrim'' (1998) *''Crusader'' (1999)

===''The Crucible''=== {{main|The Crucible (trilogy)|l1=The Crucible}} * ''The Nameless Day'' (2000) * ''The Wounded Hawk'' (2001) * ''The Crippled Angel'' (2002)

===''The Troy Game''=== {{main|The Troy Game}} * ''Hades' Daughter'' (2002) * ''Gods' Concubine'' (2004) * ''Darkwitch Rising'' (2005) * ''Druid's Sword'' (2006)

===''Darkglass Mountain''===

*''The Serpent Bride'' (2007) *''The Twisted Citadel'' (2008) *''The Infinity Gate'' (2010)

Prequels to 'Darkglass Mountain' trilogy * ''Beyond the Hanging Wall'' (1996) - set just prior to the events in the trilogy. * ''Threshold'' (1997) - set approximately 2,000 years before the events in the trilogy.

'''Note''': The ''Darkglass Mountain'' series, is a sequel to the ''Axis Trilogy'' and the ''Wayfarer Redemption''.

===Other=== * ''The Devil's Diadem'' (2011) * ''The Hall of Lost Footsteps'' (a collection of stories, Ticonderoga Publications, due 2011)

===Short stories=== * "Of Fingers and Foreskins" (1996) in ''Eidolon'' #21 and The Best of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy 1996 (ed. Jonathan Strahan and Jeremy Byrne) * "The Evil Within" (1998) in ''Dreaming Down-Under'' (ed. Janeen Webb and Jack Dann) and ''The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror'' (ed. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling) * "The Field of Thorns" (2000) in ''Australian Women's Weekly'' * "St Uncumber" (2001) in ''Australian Women's Weekly'' * "The Mistress of Marwood Hagg" (2003) in ''Gathering the Bones'' (ed. Dennis Etchison, Ramsey Campbell & Jack Dann) * "This Way to the Exit" (2008) in ''Dreaming Again'' (ed. Jack Dann)

===Non-fiction=== * ''Images of the Educational Traveller in Early Modern England'' (E. J. Brill, 1995) * ''The Betrayal of Arthur'' (1998)

==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)<ref name="Aust Shadows">{{cite web|url=http://www.australianhorror.com/index.php?view=151|title=2008 Australian Shadows Award|publisher=Australian Horror Writers Association|date=2008-02-13|accessdate=2009-02-14}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060202064228/http://saradouglass.com/|title=Archive of official website}} *[http://www.nonsuchkitchengardens.com/ Sara's home at Nonsuch] * [http://www.sffworld.com/interview/24p0.html Interview with Sara Douglass] at [http://www.sffworld.com SFFWorld.com] *{{ISFDB name|id=Sara_Douglass|name=Sara Douglass}} *{{OL author|194880A}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglass, Sara}} Category:1957 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Australian fantasy writers Category:People from Penola, South Australia Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in Australia Category:Deaths from cancer in Tasmania Category:20th-century Australian novelists Category:Australian women science fiction and fantasy writers Category:Australian science fiction writers Category:20th-century Australian women novelists Category:20th-century pseudonymous women writers Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers