John Michael Scalzi
USABiography of John Michael Scalzi
John Michael Scalzi is an American science fiction writer and online author, best known for his science fiction novel "Old Man's War," published in January 2005 and nominated for the Hugo Award, as well as his blog Whatever, which he has been writing daily since 1998. He has also written a number of non-fiction books.
Early Life and Education
Scalzi was born in California and spent his childhood primarily in the suburbs of Los Angeles: Covina, Glendora, and Claremont. He attended the Webb School of California and went on to study at the University of Chicago, where his classmate was David Auburn, a Pulitzer Prize winner. After graduating from university in 1991, Scalzi worked as a film critic for the Fresno Bee newspaper and also started writing a humor column. In 1996, he became a staff writer and editor at America Online. Since 1998, Scalzi has been an independent writer. He currently resides in Ohio.
Writing Career
Scalzi's first publication was the novel "Old Man's War," in which 75-year-old Earth residents are recruited into the defense forces of human colonies in space. Scalzi acknowledged the similarities between his book and Robert Heinlein's novel "Starship Troopers." "Old Man's War" was initially published online, with Scalzi serializing the book on his website in December 2002. The editor-in-chief of Tor Books, Patrick Nielsen Hayden, then offered to publish the book. The hardcover edition was released in January 2005. The novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in March 2006.
His second published novel was called "Agent to the Stars." In reality, the novel was written before "Old Man's War" (in 1997) and made available for free download on the author's website in 1999. The limited edition was released in July 2005. In February 2006, Scalzi released "The Ghost Brigades," a sequel to "Old Man's War." In October of the same year, he published another science fiction novel, "Android's Dream." In March 2006, Scalzi was nominated for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 2005.
In April 2007, his third novel set in the "Old Man's War" universe, titled "The Last Colony," was released.
