Kathryn Lance
Kathryn Lance (1943 -- El Paso, Texas) is an American writer in many fields of fiction and non-fiction under her own name and various pseudonyms, as well as being the ghostwriter for numerous books purportedly written by other people. As Lynn Beach, particularly, she has written dozens of young adult novels in the science-fiction, mystery, and horror genres, many of them in series. She has also written magazine articles and stories for both adults and children. Those topics include diet, sports, fitness, sexuality, and biotechnology, in both corporate publications and such national periodicals as Family Circle, Parade, Self, Town & Country, Ladies Home Journal, and Writer's Digest.
Growing up in Tucson, Arizona, Lance was an undergraduate at the University of Arizona, then received a Master's Degree in Russian from the same school. After living in New York City for nearly 20 years, she returned to Tucson in 1989 and still lives there with her husband and four cats.
While in New York, from 1970 through 1973, she wrote hundreds of scripts for the television soap operas Another World, Somerset, All My Children, and One Life to Live, then worked for Scholastic Magazines as associate editor until 1976. While there, she created and wrote The Halls of Haywood High, a successful teenage soap opera published biweekly in Senior Scholastic Magazine. In 1976 she published her first book, Running for Health and Beauty, which sold 500,000 copies in all editions. The first mass-market book about running, it is widely considered to have helped start the fitness boom.
Quit working at Scholastic to freelance fulltime. Wrote dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction, First science fiction novel for adults, Pandora’s Genes, was named to the Locus Recommended list, 1986, and chosen Best New Science Fiction of 1985 by Romanatic Times.
Returned to Tucson, 1989. Continued to write books, articles and stories, taught novel writing and other writing courses. Semi-retired, 2009. Still writing fiction; currently a docent at Tohono Chul Park, leading nature walks. (Wikipedia link)
Lance is a current member of Science Fiction Writers of America and Author’s Guild, and a past member and Board member of American Society of Journalists and Authors.