“It’s thrilling to win the award and be recognized by my writing peers,” Snyder said. “This is my fifth Stoker, and winning this time for ‘While the Black Stars Burn’ was just as thrilling as it was to win the first time.”
“In some ways, it was more exciting,” she added, “simply because I was able to attend the awards ceremony. The Stoker weekend when I won the first award for my poetry collection, ‘Chimeric Machines,’ was in Brighton, England, and I just couldn’t make it to the convention.”
What makes Snyder’s achievements even more impressive is the fact that she is technically a freelance writer. She has a full-time job helping build online courses at the International Institute for Innovative Instruction at Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, and is an adjunct faculty member in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Penn. She also writes a regular column for Horror World magazine and will graduate in June with an M.F.A. in creative writing from Goddard College.
“Add all that to my writing and I’ve been incredibly busy the past few years!” Snyder said. “I still hope to be able to write full time someday, but since I’m the primary earner for my household, I’m not sure when that will be feasible.”
“My biology studies at ASU have influenced many of my stories and novels. The courses I took gave me a great foundation for world-building and monster-making.”
“In the meantime,” she added, “I set a goal for myself to sell at least one book a year, and so far I’ve been able to meet that goal. Since 2007, I’ve had three novels and seven collections released by different publishers. If all goes according to plan, my fourth novel, ‘Devils’ Field,’ will be out in December 2016.”
“Devils’ Field” will be the fourth in a series of novels that follow the adventures of young sorceress Jessie Shimmer and her friends in a modern America penetrated by magic. The first book in the series, “Spellbent,” was selected for the 2009 Locus Recommended Reading List and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. It has also been translated for sale in French and Russian.
Snyder has also published more than 90 short stories, over 60 poems and over 160 non-fiction articles on everything from faeries to medical botany to Ethernet switches. She earned her ASU bachelor’s degree in biology, holds a master’s degree in journalism from Indiana University and is a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop.
Snyder lives in Worthington, Ohio, with her husband and occasional co-author, Gary A. Braunbeck, who has also won multiple Bram Stoker Awards (7). Her books are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many other book sellers—and several of her books are available for check-out from ASU’s Porter Henderson Library.
Lucy A. Snyder—I Chose Angelo State
Why did you choose to attend ASU?
I chose to attend ASU because of the very generous Carr Scholarship I received. I also knew other students who had attended ASU, and I knew that the school offered high-quality classes and instructors.
What academic and/or career opportunities did ASU provide for you?
Name a professor who made a difference in your education.
Where was your favorite place on campus and why?
The Porter Henderson Library was one of my favorite places. I’m a huge book nerd and I need a lot of quiet, so I’d often hide in the stacks to write or study.
What student groups or activities were you involved with as a student?
Aside from Oasis, I was in the Ram Band my first year, and I was also active in the Tri-Beta biology honor society, Alpha Chi honor society, Sigma Tau Delta (English) and the University Center’s film club. I remember how packed the theater was the night we showed “Silence of the Lambs”!
What was one of your most memorable experiences as a student?
In my junior year, I took an ecology class with Dr. Robert Dowler. He decided to take us on a Saturday field trip to help his graduate students explore the scientific mysteries of the wily armadillo. We all piled into cars to caravan to the field site several miles outside town. My friend Debbie and I amused ourselves by playing Roadkill Bingo as we drove. Soon, we saw the relatively intact carcass of an armadillo. “Whoo, Dr. Dowler won’t be able to resist that one!” Debbie joked. And sure enough, his truck swerved off the road and screeched to a halt in front of the hapless armadillo. He grabbed the carcass, put it in the bed of his truck, and drove on.