Margaret Weis
Margaret Edith Weis (/waɪs/; born March 16, 1948) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.
Margaret Weis
March 16, 1948
Independence, Missouri, U.S.
Novelist
1984–present
Fantasy, science fiction
- Robert William Baldwin
(1970–1982) - Donald Bayne Stewart Perrin
(1996–2003)
2
Early life[edit]
Margaret Weis was born on March 16, 1948, in Independence, Missouri,[1] where she was raised.[2] She discovered heroic fantasy fiction while studying at the University of Missouri (MU). She said, "I read Tolkien when it made its first big sweep in the colleges back in 1966. A girlfriend of mine gave me a copy of the books while I was in summer school at MU. I literally couldn't put them down! I never found any other fantasy I liked, and just never read any fantasy after Tolkien."[2] She conscientiously avoided buying unauthorized publications of his work, and she related the wars in his fictional world to those in the real world of the 1960s.[3]
She graduated from the University of Missouri in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing and literature.[4]
Personal life[edit]
Weis met her future husband in high school, married after college, and had two children.[5][28] The mentality of a professional writer strained those relationships. After publication of her first book and ten years of marriage, they divorced due to that stress and to different personalities.[5]
In 1983, she moved to the resort city of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to work for TSR,[7][3] living in a house converted from a barn.[5] She said she always avoided reading fantasy books[29] since Tolkien[3] to avoid influencing her work, but favored classics like Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Sherlock Holmes in any spare time.[5] She often played games at her co-owned store, Game Guild. She cooked for relaxation, and collected cookbooks in her travels, such as recipes of drinks from Dickens books.[7]
In 1993, Weis was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent successful chemotherapy.[6][30] She stayed busy writing The Seventh Gate during treatment.[30]
In 1996, Weis married writer/game designer Don Perrin;[6][31] the two later divorced.[28]
