Priest, Cherie

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Priest, Cherie

PERSONAL: Born in Tampa, FL; partner's name, Aric. Education: Southern Adventist University, B.A., 1998, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, M.A., 2002.

ADDRESSES: Home—Chattanooga, TN. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Tor Books, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Novelist. Writer for an electronics company in Chattanooga, TN.

WRITINGS:

Four and Twenty Blackbirds (gothic novel), Marietta Publishing (Marietta, GA), 2003, revised edition, Tor (New York, NY), 2005.

Wings to the Kingdom, 2006.

Writer for role-playing projects, including GhostOrb and Gnostica.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A sequel to Wings to the Kingdom.

SIDELIGHTS: Cherie Priest created a modern Southern gothic in the classic tradition with her book Four and Twenty Blackbirds. In the story, a young woman named Eden Moore begins a search for her origins that eventually takes her on a journey across the South. She visits a swamp filled with the dead, the ruins of an old sanitarium, and other unsettling locations as she strives to discover the secret of her family's heritage. Eden has psychic visions, which seem to show her events from the past. Meanwhile, in the present she is stalked by a cousin whose mother is deeply involved in a cult of black magic practitioners. Events build to a "supernatural crescendo," according to a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. While offering the opinion that Priest adds "little new" to the world of gothic fiction, the reviewer stated that she crafts a story that will especially appeal to "postadolescent horror fans."

Four and Twenty Blackbirds was originally published in a briefer form, then revised and expanded for publication by Tor Books. The story is continued in Wings to the Kingdom.