Sherrilyn Kenyon (born December 11, 1965) is a US writer. Under her former married name, she wrote both urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She is best known for her Dark Hunter series. Under the pseudonym Kinley MacGregor she writes historical fiction with paranormal elements.[1] Kenyon's novels have sold over 70 million copies in print in over 100 countries.[2] Under both names, her books have appeared at the top of the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today lists, and they are frequent bestsellers in Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
Biography
Sherrilyn Kenyon was born on 11 December 1965 in Columbus, Georgia.[3] The fourth child in a family of five children, her parents, Harold and Malene Woodward, divorced when she was eight, at which point she lived with her grandparents. She describes her childhood as defined by abuse and poverty,[4] but she remained close to her mother, who encouraged and shared her interest in horror, the paranormal and science fiction.[3][5]
Kenyon started writing while in high school, in part as therapy to escape other aspects of her life.[4] She went to Georgia College in the 1980s, and there she met her future husband, Lawrence Kenyon.[4][6][7] They married in 1990, and they moved to Jackson, Mississippi, while he studied law.[4][7] Although money was already tight, after their first child was born and he graduated they lost their house, subsequently forcing them to live out of their car until they were able to secure an apartment some months later.[4][6]
Once in an apartment Kenyon was able to return to writing. Previously, Kenyon had published her first story in 1975, and in the mid-1980s she was a writer for the science fiction magazine, Cutting Edge.[7] She had sold a number of books in the early 1990s, prior to the birth of her daughter, but her big break came in 1999 when the first two books of her "Dark-Hunter" sequence were picked up by St. Martin's Press as part of a three-book deal.[6][7] She had started the series with short stories that she had written in 1984, and had started development on the novels in 1986, but it took until the late 1990s before she had the opportunity to complete them.[7]
Accusations and divorce
On January 7, 2019, Kenyon filed a lawsuit against her husband and his assistants, claiming they had poisoned her over a number of years in order to sabotage her health to his financial gain. After her husband filed for divorce in March 2018, the suit alleges that tests concluded her levels of lithium, tin, barium, thorium and other metals were at a dangerous level of toxicity, indicating that they had "systematically poisoned her since 2015".[8] However, the test results had not been interpreted by a toxicologist.[6] Her husband's statement about the lawsuit called her "a brilliant fiction writer who has made it apparent that she cannot discern between fiction and reality".[9] She dropped her lawsuit on July 26, 2019.[6]
Bibliography
Novels and short stories may be listed repeatedly because many of her series share the same fictional universe.
Dark Bites (St. Martin's Press, Jan 21, 2014)[12] – A collection of the short stories/novellas that Kenyon has written for St. Martin's Press, featuring Fear the Darkness, with Nick as the lead, and updates on other characters. Available in print in mass market paperback.
House of the Rising Son – Dark Hunter Universe #26.5. Dream-Hunter #5.5
The story of Aricles & Bathymaas (more about them in Styxx's book)
Phantom Lover – V'Aidan's story that was first in "Midnight Pleasures"
Winter Born – Dante & Pandora (Were-Panthers) that was first in "Stroke of Midnight"
A Dark-Hunter Christmas – Gallagher (Dark-Hunter) originally posted online
Until Death Do We Part – originally published in "Love At First Bite" anthology
A Hard Day's Night Searcher – originally published in "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding" anthology
Shadow of the Moon – (Fury the wolf) originally published in Dead After Dark
Fear The Darkness – originally a digital download for fans. It is a little piece of Nick after his mother died.
Where Angels Fear to Tread – originally published in the "Blood Lite" anthology
Love Bytes – originally published in "Naughty or Nice"
Santa Wears Spurs – originally published in All I Want for Christmas anthology. Written as Kinley MacGregor
Knight of Darkness, (2006) (ISBN0-06-079662-6) (as Kinley MacGregor)
Darkness Within (2012)
Son of No One (St. Martin's Press, 2014) (ISBN978-1250029911) (as Sherrilyn Kenyon) (Sherrilyn explained at a Q & A that the LoA book Darkness Within morphed into Son of No One.)
The Chronicles Of Nick take place well before the first Dark Hunter novel (Fantasy Lover) and follows one of the series' main characters: Nick Gautier.
Dark Hunter Universe – Shadows of Fire series (young adult)
Shadows of Fire is a four book continuation of CON. After this is finished there will be an as of yet untitled adult trilogy that will finish the story line.
Sabotage (2023)
Last Christmas (novella) (2023)
Savage (2024)
Simi (2024)
Sanctify (TBD)
Dark Hunter Universe – extras
Audio books
All books in the Dark Hunter series are available on Audio. (Macmillan Audio, Unabridged edition, as of June 30, 2014)
Dark-Hunter: An Insider's Guide, an enhanced ebook (Vook Inc., 2010) (ISBN978-1-936321-32-2)
Manga and graphic novels
Lords of Avalon Graphic Novels:
Sword of Darkness co-written by Robin Furth (Marvel) (Hardcover ISBN0-7851-2766-6, September 18, 2008) (Paperback ISBN0-7851-2767-4 ISBN August 12, 2009)
Knight of Darkness written by Robin Furth (Marvel) (Hardcover ISBN0-7851-2768-2, September 9, 2009)
The Dark Hunters Manga:
The Dark Hunter: Vol. 1 (St. Martin's Griffin, July 7, 2009) (ISBN0-312-37687-1)
The Dark Hunter: Vol. 2 (St. Martin's Griffin, March 2, 2010) (ISBN0-312-55400-1)
The Dark Hunter: Vol. 3 (St. Martin's Griffin, September 28, 2010) (ISBN0-312-37688-X)
The Dark Hunter: Vol. 4 (St. Martin's Griffin, March 1, 2011) (ISBN0-312-55401-X)
Comics
Sword of Darkness (6 issues)
Knight of Darkness (6 issues)
Omnibuses and boxed sets
Night Pleasures and Night Embrace (St. Martin's Griffin, September 29, 2005) (ISBN978-0-312-35563-0)
The Dark-Hunter Novels Boxed Set (Night Pleasures, Night Embrace, and Dance with the Devil) (St. Martin's Paperbacks, October 3, 2006) (ISBN978-0-312-94221-2)
The Dark-Hunter Novels Boxed Set (Night Pleasures, Night Embrace, Dance with the Devil, Kiss of the Night, and Night Play) (St. Martin's Paperbacks, September 28, 2010) (ISBN978-0-312-53783-8)
Phantom in the Night, co-author Dianna Love (Pocket Star Books, June 10, 2008) (ISBN1-4165-0357-9)
Whispered Lies, co-author Dianna Love (Pocket Books, May 12, 2009) (ISBN1-4165-9742-5)
Silent Truth, co-author Dianna Love (Pocket Books, April 20, 2010) (ISBN1-4165-9745-X)
Short stories
BAD to the Bone, in the anthology Big Guns Out of Uniform (2005) (ISBN1-4165-0967-4)
Captivated By You, in the anthology Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down: Three Tales of Erotic Romance (2005) (ISBN1-4165-0159-2)
Turn Up the Heat, in the anthology Playing Easy to Get (Pocket, 2006) (ISBN1-4165-1087-7)
Just Bad Enough, short story, co-author Dianna Love, in anthology Deadly Promises (Pocket Star, 2010) (ISBN978-1-4391-9111-8)
BAD Mission, short story in the anthology Thriller 3: Love is Murder (Mira, May 29, 2012) (ISBN0-7783-1344-1)
Omnibuses
Born to Be B.A.D., a reprint of the BAD stories (BAD to the Bone and 'Captivated' by You) PLUS a new short story called One BAD Night (Pocket Books, August 30, 2005) (ISBN1-4165-0750-7)
A B.A.D. Collection includes eBooks of Phantom in the Night, Whispered Lies, Silent Truth, and an excerpt from Alterant (Pocket Books, July 26, 2011) (ISBN1-4516-5204-6)
The League series is divided into two generations. Generation 1 is Nemesis Rising. Generation 2 is Nemesis Legacy. This series combines the two to tell a story. It is recommended that you read them in the order listed below.
Combined reading order
Born of Night: The League - Nemesis Rising (St. Martin's Press, Oct 2009) (ISBN0-312-94230-3)
Fire and Ice (short story) in the anthologyMan of My Dreams, published by Penguin Group US (2004, ISBN1-101-09827-9); re-written & re-released in the anthologyIn Other World, published by Penguin Group (2010, ISBN1-101-45766-X)
Fire and Ice (short story) in the anthologyMan of My Dreams, published by Penguin Group US (2004, ISBN1-101-09827-9); re-written & re-released in the anthologyIn Other World, published by Penguin Group (2010, ISBN1-101-45766-X)
Sins of the Night was #5 on Amazon.com's bestselling books of 2005. Fantasy Lover and Night Pleasures are #6 and #7 respectively for the best of the decade so far.
Devil May Cry was #2 on 'New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List (week ended August 11, 2007)[26]
No Mercy on the New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Fiction List[27]
^ abcdeBonds Staples, Gracie (September 8, 2018) "Author's dark tales an escape from darkness in her own life", The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, p D1.