	Event Calendar	Books for Sale	Support Authorfest
	School Schedule	Contact Authorfest

Pamela Service

I was never a very athletic kid, but I was always willing to trudge up the four flights of stairs to the Children's Room in the Berkeley, California, Public Library. Once there, I usually picked up science fiction or fantasy, but one time I checked out Mara, Daughter of the Nile by Eloise McGraw. From that time on, I added history, particularly that of ancient Egypt, to my wildly mixed bag of interests.

One of those other interests was storytelling. Even when I was little, I would weave long fantastic tales to entertain myself and anyone else who would listen. But I never considered writing stories as a real career goal. After all, writing was fun and a real job ought to be work. So I followed other interests, getting a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.A. in African Archaeology from the University of London. Then after settling in Bloomington , Indiana, with my husband and daughter, I found jobs touching both fields by becoming a museum curator and being repeatedly elected to the city council.

Pamela Service talks with students at Jefferson Elementary School in Eureka during the 2003 Humboldt County Children's Author Festival.

But writing was still there whispering to me. I began writing science fiction tales and sending them to publishers. The steady stream of rejections kept me quiet about this bizarre habit, but slowly I was learning the craft. The, after fourteen years and only one published short story, came the first beg acceptance for a children's fantasy novel. Other acceptances followed.

So, suddenly I was proudly admitting that I write for kids. And I began to realize that though I enjoy the other things I do, and use them in my books, it is the writing that I really love.

Pamela Service has written everything from a picture book retelling of the legend of Merlin to Young Adult novels involving time travel and creatures from outer space.

Her titles include:

Winter of Magic's Return

Tomorrow's Magic

When the Night Wind Howls

The Reluctant God

Vision Quest

Weirdos of the Universe, Unite!

Phantom Victory

Stinker from Space

Stinker's Return

Being of Two Minds

Under Alien Stars

Wizard of Wind and Rock

All's Faire

Storm at the Edge of Time

Ms. Service is currently working on a series called Alien Agent for Lerner Publications.

Pamela Service and her husband now make their home here in Eureka and they may be seen in local theater productions and at the Clarke Museum, where Pam now works as curator.