Author Spotlight: Kathy Tyers, Christian Sci-Fi Writer

Kathy Tyers is an author who has become widely respected in both the science fiction and Christian fiction markets. She is best know for her contributions to Del Rey Publications' Star Wars Expanded Universe, but she has also written several original novels and short stories as well as a travel book, and she also collaborated with guitarist Christopher Parkening on his autobiography Grace Like a River.

Tyers' love of writing began during her childhood. The first heroes she knew were Peter Pan, Robin Hood, Paul McCartney and J.R.R. Tolkien. Kathy took up writing as a hobby, first in the second and third grades, then again in junior high school and into high school. She loved to write adventure stories. But as school work and various interests began to demand more of her time, Kathy put her writing aside.

As a student at Montana State University, Kathy met her future husband Mark Tyers. She finished her first degree in microbiology. After she and Mark were married, Kathy returned to college and became certified to teach grades kindergarten through twelve. When her church opened a private school, she took over the lower grades.

Kathy Tyers retired from teaching in 1979 so that she and her husband could start a family. Their son Matthew was born in 1981. In 1983, Kathy began writing again. Her son would take long naps and liked to play alone. So she got out her typewriter and began to work on a book. The result was Firebird, her first novel, which she sold to Banta Spectra in 1986.

Released the following year, Firebird told the story of Lady Firebird Angelo, a "wastling" born into the royal family on her homeworld of Netaia. Netaia's heir limitation policies require Firebird, the third child in the family, to commit ritual suicide after the birth of her eldest sister's second child. She is given the chance to die honorably in battle when Netaia attacks a neighboring planet.

But Firebird is captured during the invasion, and her captor, Colonel Brennan Caldwell, offers her political asylum within the Federacy. Caldwell is a member of a race of telepaths who are members of the Federacy. Firebird tentatively accepts the offer of asylum, while still hoping for an honorable death. When her family learns Firebird has survived, her sister Phoena begins plotting her younger sister's assassination while developing plans to use an environmental weapon against the Federacy.

Kathy Tyers followed Firebird with a sequel, Fusion Fire, in 1988. The continued the story of Lady Firebird, now married to Brennan Caldwell and awaiting the birth of twins, while facing threats from both her own family on Netaia and enemies of her husband's family. 1989 saw the release of Crystal Witness, the story of a woman who awakens is awakened after twenty years in suspended animation and can only recall portions of her life prior to going into stasis. Kathy also released two folk music albums with her husband Mark during this time.

Tyers released two books in 1991. The first was the nonfiction travel book Exploring the Northern Rockies. The second was a return to science fiction, titled Shivering World, the story of Graysha Brady-Phillips, a scientist who is dying of a rare disease. Graysha journeys to Goddard, a colony where the average lifespan has been lengthened to about one hundred fifty years in hope of being cured.

Following the use of Shivering World, Kathy was approached to contribute writings to the Star Wars Expanded Universe. She jumped at the opportunity, and in 1994, The Truce of Bakura was released. The novel continued the adventures of George Lucas' classic characters from the popular film trilogy, picking up where the movie Return of the Jedi left off. The Truce at Bakura has been recognized as Tyers' most successful release, and it's probably the title she's become best known for. Tyers also wrote three short stories, which were included in Star Wars anthologies released in 1995 and 1996.

1996 also saw the release of the novel One Mind's Eye, a space opera about a young woman's fight to become independent of a controlling, overbearing guardian/therapist who has had her committed to a mental ward. The story is set against a science fiction background with plotlines involving interplanetary politics, scheming families and the threat of an alien attack.

During the mid-1990's, Kathy Tyers took a sabbatical from writing partly due to family reasons, but also for spiritual reasons due to a crisis of conscience. As a Christian, Kathy wanted to be am more responsible storyteller, and she wanted to produce writings that would reflect her faith and shine the Light that Christ had lit within her. It was a rough time, and she did emerge from it deeply wounded, but Kathy also drew closer to God during her sabbatical.

Upon her return to writing, she began to target the Christian fiction market, only to find that Christian publishers were not interested in Christian science fiction at that time. After a few attempts at writing a "contemporary women's novel" for the Christian market, Tyers focused her attention and energy on another project: revisiting the Firebird series. In 1999, she released a rewritten version of Firebird through Bethany House Publishers, a Christian publishing company. The new Firebird had much more faith-based than the original version. The race of telepaths (called "Ehretans") bears a strong resemblance to the Jews of the latter centuries of the Old Testament, exiled from their homeland and waiting to return. They also seem to be going through a similar cycle of sin and repentance to that of Israel during Old Testament times. And the Ehretans are also awaiting the arrival of a Messiah.

Bethany House also released a faith-based rewrite of Fusion Fire in 2000. That same year, Kathy followed up with Crown of Fire, the long-awaited third Firebird novel. She was approached about writing for Star Wars once again. Tyers accepted, and in 2000, Balance Point was released as part of Del Rey's Star Wars: New Jedi Order series. Bethany House released a new edition of Shivering World to the Christian market in 2004.

Following her revision of Shivering World, Kathy took another break from writing to take care of her ailing husband. Mark Tyers passed away in early 2004, and since then Kathy has remained on sabbatical from writing fiction. "Their New Masters," a short story set in the Firebird universe, was published as part of the science fiction anthology Eat My Martian Dust, released in 2005. Kathy also collaborated with classical guitarist Christopher Parkening on his autobiography Grace Like a River, released by Tyndale House Publishers in 2006. She remains active in her church. Kathy Tyers has plans to write future novels and short stories, but those plans are currently on hold while she remains on sabbatical.