Elaine Cunningham

Elaine Cunningham (born August 12, 1957 in New York City) is an American fantasy and science fiction author, especially known for her contributions to the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game campaign setting of Forgotten Realms, including the realms of Evermeet, Halruaa, Ruathym and Waterdeep.

Elaine Cunningham grew up in New York state and New England. She earned a degree in music, taught Music and History for several years, and then went back to grad school. Her interests include Celtic and Renaissance music, folklore and mythology, costuming, living history, and travel. Trained primarily as a singer, she has taken up Irish fiddle and harp.

Cunningham started writing when her oldest son was a baby. She has written a number of novels set in the Forgotten Realms. Her first book was titled Elfshadow: "Even though its my first book and admittedly has some rough spots, I think that Elfshadow [1991] remains my favorite." Cunningham grew fond of the book's stars, Arilyn Moonblade, a half-elf with blood ties to the royal family, and a bard named Danilo Thann. "I’ve written two sequels (Elfsong [1994] and Silver Shadows [1996]) and several short stories... I really enjoy time spent with them." Her 1998 book Evermeet: Island of Elves chronicles the whole history of Evermeet and features the return of Arilyn and Danilo: "Evermeet still terrifies me, but I think it turned out to be a good story. It adds a bit more color and dimension to Toril's elves and perhaps suggests a few new ways to think about them."

Amongst Cunningham's most popular characters are the half-elf Arilyn Moonblade, the bard Danilo Thann, the quirky drow wizard Liriel Baenre, her companion the Rashemi berserker Fyodor, and Elaith "The Serpent" Craulnober (created by Ed Greenwood).

Cunningham is also the New York Times bestselling author of Dark Journey, book 10 from the Star Wars New Jedi Order saga.

Cunningham lives in New England with her husband and their two sons.

• (From Candlekeep web forums): Ravens and crows will also interact with humans. Occasionally they'll imitate human behavior (such as helping gardeners pull weeds.) Sometimes they're willing to cut a deal. I've got one going with the local "raven mafia." They always gather on trash pickup day, but in exchange for some "protection bread," they'll leave my trash alone and even chase other birds away from it.
• (From Elaine Cunningham's website, on the subject of author photos): I find this sort of thing unnecessary and irrelevant.It's like that scene from "Wizard of Oz," when the wizard admonishes Dorothy and company, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!"It's the illusion—in this case, the story—that matters.What difference does it make if an author is male or female, young or old, or for that matter, a Caucasian human or a sentient dolphin?