Kimberly, Gail

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KIMBERLY, Gail

(Alix Andre, Dayle Courtney)

PERSONAL: Born in New York, NY; daughter of Wilbert R. (an architect) and Evelyn (a real estate agent; maiden name, Cox) Kimberly; married Antonius J. Van Achthoven, February 8, 1951 (divorced, 1973); married Kellin Francis (in chemical sales), November 14, 1980; children: (first marriage) Leslie Achthoven Cordova, Eric, Michelle Achthoven Bergstrom, Judi Achthoven Palmer. Education: Attended Pasadena City College.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Kirby McCauley Ltd., 310 East 46th St., New York, NY 10017. E-mail—GKfrancis@ aol.com.

CAREER: Columbia Broadcasting System, Los Angeles, CA, secretary, 1957-60; Brown Brothers Adjusters, Pasadena, CA, secretary, 1963-67; University of California, College of Medicine, Orange, secretary, 1967-69; Milliman & Robertson (actuarial consultants), Pasadena, secretary, 1971-74; writer, beginning 1974.

MEMBER: Science Fiction Writers of America, Society of Children's Books Authors and Illustrators, California Writers Club.

WRITINGS:

Flyer (science-fiction novel), Popular Library (New York, NY), 1972.

Dracula Began (horror novel), Pyramid Publications (New York, NY), 1973.

Star Jewel (juvenile science fiction), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1975.

Goodbye Is Just the Beginning (romance fiction), Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1978.

Pavan for a Dead Marriage (novel), Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1979.

Secret at the Abbey (mystery fiction), Harlequin (Buffalo, NY), 1980.

Child of Faerie (juvenile fantasy fiction), Scholastic (New York, NY), 1993.

Work represented in anthologies, including The Other Side of Tomorrow, Random House (New York, NY), 1973; The Far Side of Time, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY) 1974; and Dystopian Visions, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1975. Contributor of stories to adult and juvenile magazines in the United States and England, including Galaxy, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Gothic Stories. Some writings appear under the pseudonyms Alix Andre and Dayle Courtney.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Kitling, science fiction; Birthmark, an occult romance.

SIDELIGHTS: Gail Kimberly once told CA: "I started writing when I was seven years old, turning out poetry and fantastic tales with wild abandon. My parents thought they were great, but nobody else seemed interested in my writing until high school.

"When my two children were small, I wrote during their nap time, one to two hours every afternoon. When they were in school, I usually held down full-time jobs and wrote evenings and weekends. After I had sold several science-fiction short stories to one editor, he requested that I write a novel for him. His request came at the same time as my separation from my husband, and although I had six months to write the novel, I found my personal life interfering so much with my writing time that I had to ask for an extension. He gave me three weeks. Flyer was written in those three weeks, and while it was subsequently published, I'd hate to try doing that again.

"Since I was raised in Canada, many of my stories have a Canadian background. I've traveled across Canada and the United States, and made a camping tour of Europe that lasted six months. I lived for a year in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, and wrote a science-fiction novel there, set in the Hawaii of the future.

"I've written both juvenile and adult stories, and my favorite genre, to read and write, is science fiction/fantasy, although I love mysteries, occult stories, and adventure yarns."