Illinois Authors

The Illinois Center for the Book banner

Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet

Born: 1953 in Illinois
Pen Name: Pamela Dean

Connection to Illinois: Pamela Dean was born in Illinois and raised in Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska

Biography: Pamela decided to be a writer in the fifth grade. Her first idea was to be a poet, and her first published piece of work was a poem called “After Sorcery,” which appeared in Seventeen Magazine sometime around 1969. However, when she realized that, at the age of thirty, she was still writing very good poetry for a fifteen-year-old, she gave up the idea.She has a B.A. in English from Carleton College and an M.A. from SUNY-Binghamton, and quotes too much as a result. She wrote her master’s thesis on Shakespeare’s problem plays, and has never really been free of Shakespeare since. Fortunately, he is an enjoyable ghost to have haunting one. She enjoys hiking, gardening, cooking, being an intermittent part of local science-fiction fandom, and attending the theater. She lives in Minneapolis.


Awards:

Primary Literary Genre(s): Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers; Young adult readers

Email: pddb@demesne.com
Website: http://pddb.demesne.com
Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=pamela+dean+dyer-bennet+


Selected Titles

Juniper, gentian, and rosemary.
ISBN: 0312859708 OCLC: 42004650

Tor ; New York : 1999.

Tam Lin /
ISBN: 014240652X OCLC: 71326116

Firebird, New York : ©2006.

This Scottish-based tale for adults offers a pregnant heroine who must rescue the man who seduced her in the woods from his captor, the Fairie Queen.

The Dubious hills /
ISBN: 0812523628 OCLC: 29427950

Tor, New York : 1994.

The setting is a land where peace is maintained by limiting knowledge, a sort of paradise before The Fall. But as happened in paradise, someone comes along to ruin it. In this case it is not a serpent but wolves. By the author of Tam Lin.

The hidden land /
ISBN: 0142501433 OCLC: 58976186

The five cousins are still trapped in the Secret Country, and must play their parts. When the King is poisoned, Ted, Prince Edward, must take the throne, even though he has no idea how to rule a country, battle magic, or inspire followers. Soon enough he will have to do all three because the Country is on the verge of war with the treacherous Dragon King.

The secret country /
ISBN: 0142501530 OCLC: 53401392

For the past nine years, cousins Patrick, Ruth, Ellen, Ted and Laura have played at "The Secret"--A game full of witches, unicorns, a magic ring and court intrigue. In the secret, they can imagine anything into reality, and shape destiny. Then the unbelievable happens: by trick or by chance, they find themselves in the Secret Country, their made-up identities now real. They have arrived at the start of their game, with the country on the edge of war. What was once exciting and wonderful now looms threateningly before them and no one is sure how to stop it ... or if they will ever get back home.

The whim of the dragon /
ISBN: 0142501611 OCLC: 53973425

Three things have the power to destroy the Secret Country: the Border Magic, the Crystal of Earth, and the whim of the dragon. The cousins have faced the first two; now they face the third. The Country's most trusted counselors know that the five are impostors, but no one knows who has been playing with their destinies. They must find and speak with Chryse the unicorn and Belaparthalion the dragon in order to learn the truth.

 

 

Accessibility