[close] Susan Fletcher is the author of a popular trilogy that includes the books Dragon's Milk, Flight of the Dragon Kyn, and Sign of the Dove, as well as of several other novels for young readers. With a medieval setting inspired by pictures of the Welsh countryside from where Fletcher traces her roots, the trilogy features Fletcher's imaginative, dragon-centered plots, which have won praise from reviewers and readers alike. Calling 1993's Flight of the Dragon Kyn "a joy to read," Booklist contributor Deborah Abbott added: "Fletcher pens some of the best yarns around."

Born in Pasadena, California, in 1951, Fletcher and her family moved to Ohio when she was seven years old. She had dreamed of being a writer ever since she entered the third grade. "Back then my name was Susan Clemens," she once explained. "One day my teacher told us about a famous author named Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, whose daughter's name was Susan. It was fate, I thought. I decided not to become the daughter of a famous author (which is impossible to arrange), but to become a famous author myself (which is difficult enough)."

Returning to California in sixth grade, Fletcher graduated from high school in 1969, having spent her senior year as fiction editor of her school's literary magazine. She enrolled at the University of California at Santa Barbara and earned her bachelor's degree in English. She then moved to Michigan, where she earned her master's degree in English from the University of Michigan. Moving again to Colorado, Fletcher got a job with a local advertising agency and met her soon-to-be husband, Jerry; they were married in June of 1977. Moving again, this time to Minneapolis, Minnesota, she put her writing talent to work creating copy for radio advertisements, which she enjoyed and was good at. When her husband relocated to Portland, Oregon, Fletcher planned to look for a similar position, but those plans changed when she discovered that she and her husband would soon be having a child. Magazine writing became her new focus--it was something Fletcher could do from home--and from there it was a short step to becoming a children's book writer.

Fletcher's first novel for young readers, 1988's The Haunting Possibility, was inspired by Oregon's Lake Oswego area and the practice of draining the lake each winter to allow dock repairs to be made. Learning the nuances of characterization and plotting as she went, Fletcher completed the manuscript and sent it to almost twenty publishers before it was accepted. She quickly involved herself in a local group of children's writers, meeting several editors and gaining constructive criticism of her work in the process. [close]