Vera Nazarian

File:Nazarian-Dreams.jpg

Dreams of the Compass Rose by Vera Nazarian.

Vera Nazarian (born 1966 in Moscow, Russia) is an Armenian-Russian (by ethnicity) American writer of fantasy, science fiction and other "wonder fiction" including Mythpunk, an artist, and the publisher of Norilana Books. She is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the author of two novels, Dreams of the Compass Rose, a "collage" novel structured as a series of related and interlinked stories similar in arabesque flavor to The One Thousand and One Nights, and Lords of Rainbow, a standalone epic fantasy about a world without color.

Crowdfunding controversy

In 2014 controversy erupted when she started an Indiegogo campaign to try to raise money for her authors; although the campaign was canceled after three days. As a result of "personal misfortunes", she had stopped paying royalties to the authors publishing books with Norilana Books, and hoped to raise enough money to pay what she owed them through the crowdfunding campaign. This generated discussion and criticism questioning to which extent small businesses should use Indiegogo or other similar crowdfunding sites to pay off business debt, and also resulted in criticism against her handling of the matter. A similar fundraiser was carried out successfully in 2008 for the same reasons, which resulted in donations of $19.000 to cover the debt she owed her authors, as well as to support herself.

Selected Works

Novels

• Dreams of the Compass Rose ("collage" novel), Wildside Press, May 2002. Nebula Award Preliminary Ballot 2002 nominee.
• Lords of Rainbow, or, The Book of Fulfillment, Betancourt & Company, an imprint of Wildside Press, March 2003.

Novellas

• The Clock King and the Queen of the Hourglass, PS Publishing, UK, October 2005, with an introduction by Charles de Lint, on the Locus Recommended Reading List 2005.
• The Duke in His Castle, Norilana Books, June 2008. Nebula Award 2008 Finalist.

Collections

• Salt of the Air, Prime Books, September 2006, with an introduction by Gene Wolfe. Debut collection of author's fantasy short fiction, spanning 20 years of her career, including works from 1985 to 2005. Expanded and reissued definitive edition, Norilana Books, April 2009.
• After the Sundial, Norilana Books, August 2010.

Miscellaneous in Book Form

• Hell Week at Grant-Williams High (two-novella omnibus)

Short Stories

• "The Story of Love," Best New Romantic Fantasy #2, edited by Paula Guran, Juno Books, June 2007. Nebula Award 2007 Finalist.
• "The Ballad of Universal Jack," New Writings in the Fantastic, edited by John Grant, Pendragon Press, September 2007.
• "I Want To Paint The Sky," Bli Panika, reprint translated into Hebrew, December 2005.
• "Halloween at Grant-Williams High," Fictionwise.com, original novelette, July 2003.
• "The Young Woman in a House of Old," Strange Pleasures #2, Prime Books, June 2003, edited by John Grant and Dave Hutchinson.
• "Lady of the Castle," Bookface.com, July 2000.
• "Mount Dragon," Talebones, Issue #14, January 1999.
• "A Dance for Darkover," Leroni of Darkover, DAW Books 1991 (co-written with Diana Perry).
• "The Balance," Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine, Issue 9, Summer 1990.
• "The Jackal," Four Moons of Darkover, cover story, DAW Books 1988.
• "Kihar," Red Sun of Darkover, DAW Books 1987.
• Several entries in the Sword and Sorceress series, DAW Books 1985.

Non-Fiction Articles

• "Home Improvement in Magic Land," pop culture essay appearing in the BenBella Books SmartPop Series anthology Totally Charmed: Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three based on the TV show Charmed, edited by Jennifer Crusie, November 2005.
• "Publicity and Self-Promotion Nouveau: Doing It With Class," article on publicity and self-promotion for writers, appearing in Speculations Issue Forty-Six, edited by Susan Fry, April 2002.

External links

• Vera Nazarian's Webpage - official author website.