Lisa Smedman is the author of the New York Times–bestselling War of the Spider Queen novel, Extinction, as well as one Lady Penitent book and five Shadowrun novels. She was one of seven authors selected by TSR/Wizards of the Coast to write a short story and novel for The Halls of Stormweather, an anthology set in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms universe. She has also had a number of short science fiction and fantasy stories published in various magazines and anthologies. She lives in British Columbia, Canada.