Bio:Ardath Mayhar

Ardath Frances Mayhar was a multitalented "little old lady". She wrote in many genre, from fantasy and horror, to mystery and historical fiction. In the western genre, where women writers are not generally accepted, she wrote as Frank Cannon and John Kildeer (a pseudonym she shared with at least one someone-else; she wrote 6 of these Mountain Man westerns). When she couldn't find an appropriate publisher, she was more than happy to self-publish books like Slewfoot Sally and Mean Little Old Lady at Work.

Her novel The World Ends in Hickory Hollow was nominated for a Nebula--one of many awards she was nominated for and won.

For many years she taught through-the-mail (later email) Writers' Digest classes and mentored several prospective authors including Dave Feintuch. She also provided book doctoring services until the late '90s.

She was greatly honored to have such great artists as Larry Elmore and Michael Whelan paint covers for some of her books.

Her sense of humor pervaded much of her work.

An accomplished watercolorist, her pastel-type watercolors often reflect her love Speculative Fiction.

One of the e-book pioneers, much of her earlier works were represented by Alexandrea Literature Project (AlexLit) then by Fictionwise. In the days after her husband's death she began working with Wildside and Borgo Press to release almost all of her unpublished as well as previously published prose and some of her poetry.

After the passing of her late husband Joe, she closed their beloved Used Bookstore and did not write anything new for almost 10 years. She started re-editing old unpublished material for Borgo release in about 2006 and wrote her first new short story in 2009.

Declining health reduced her social activity, but thanks to the help of several local East Texas friends, including Joe Lansdale, she was able to remain somewhat active until the Fall before she passed.