R. A. MacAvoy
AUTHOR

R. A. MacAvoy

Hello, all. I write under the name R.A. MacAvoy, although my call-name has always been Bertie. I have been writing for publication for some forty years. I was given the John W. Campbell Award in 1983, for my first novel in the Speculative Fiction Field, much to my astonishment. That year I also was granted the inaugural Phillip K. Dick Award, which still was a piece of hand-calligraphed paper without a frame. I was overwhelmed by that one, actually, as I think Phillip Dick was a very important writer and I'm glad they thought of me.

For me, now, to describe what I do as a hobby and where I live, is somehow meaningless. I can mention I once ran a small stable, called Shanachie Stables, raising a few good Connemara Ponies, just as I am now running a very small House, called Shanachie Press, hoping for a few good books. I was a diver in Northern Pacific waters for years, learning night diving, mixed gasses and rescue diving. Much of my life has been spent in the martial arts, with emphasis on self-defense rather than competition. Shall I say that I wove a great deal of clothing and decorative hangings over the years? Or that I grow orchids? I mean - forty years? I don't know where to begin.

And by now I have had so many polished author photos that I am here only including a snapshot my husband, Ron, took of me on our upper storey deck.

Oh! I have also been on the New York Times Bestseller list many times. But then, it is really not so hard to get on the New York Times Best Seller List. Stephen King wrote a very funny article about that.

If you are young to the S.F. field and don't know who I am, I will prep you by warning that I often kill off my heroes, sometimes at the most unexpected times. But never in a depressing manner. I've never wanted to depress my readers. My outlook is essentially comic.

My latest book, just released, is a collaboration with Nancy Palmer, called Albatross. It is wildly genre-bending. Breaking, perhaps. The sequel, Shimmer, is expected to be wackier.
I can only hope you enjoy my work. That's what writers do hope, after all.

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Best Sellers

    • Lens of the World

    • Lens of the World, Book 1
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
    • Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 34
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 25
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 25

    Lens of the World is the story of a prodigious life....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Beautifully told coming of age story

    • By Kat Hooper on 12-13-12

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Belly of the Wolf

    • Lens of the World, Book 3
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
    • Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 13
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 11
    • Story
      5 out of 5 stars 11

    Living in exile with his daughter, a now aged Nazhuret learns of King Rudof's death and journeys back to his homeland to intercede in a rebellion led by an old rival....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • A slow, deliberate, contemplative work

    • By Katherine on 03-20-15

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • The Grey Horse

    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Steve Coulter
    • Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 48
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 43
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 43

    Into the Irish town of Carraroe, a magnificent, completely grey stallion appears. The horse brings with him the promise of better times and magical happenings....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • A good enough irish tale

    • By Ellenaeddy on 03-20-13

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Tea with the Black Dragon

    • Black Dragon, Book 1
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Megan Hayes
    • Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 96
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 88
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 89

    Martha Macnamara knows that her daughter Elizabeth is in trouble, she just doesn't know what kind....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • My favorite dragon book

    • By Ellenaeddy on 08-08-15

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • King of the Dead

    • Lens of the World, Book 2
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
    • Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 11
    • Performance
      4.5 out of 5 stars 11
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 11

    An attack by paid assassins sets diminutive philosopher Nazhuret and his lady, Arlin, on the road to Rezhmia, a fearsome neighboring kingdom to which Nazhuret is tied by ancient blood....

    • 3 out of 5 stars

    • It's more about the journey than the destination.

    • By Katherine on 03-20-15

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Twisting the Rope

    • Black Dragon, Book 2
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Megan Hayes
    • Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 30
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 28
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 27

    In this sequel to Tea With the Black Dragon, Mayland Long is once again thrust into a maelstrom of mysterious happenings....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Petty Bickering

    • By Bruce on 07-02-18

    Regular price: $17.96

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Death and Resurrection

    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: James Chen
    • Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4.5 out of 5 stars 4
    • Performance
      5 out of 5 stars 4
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 4

    The award-winning writer of Tea With the Black Dragon and other acclaimed novels returns to fantasy....

    Regular price: $24.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Damiano's Lute

    • Damiano, Book 2
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky
    • Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 8
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 8
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars 8

    Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance this alternate history takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists....

    • 5 out of 5 stars

    • loved it

    • By Karla Hopton on 05-13-16

    Regular price: $24.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Damiano

    • Damiano, Book 1
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky
    • Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 17
    • Performance
      3.5 out of 5 stars 16
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 14

    Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance, this alternate history takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists....

    • 4 out of 5 stars

    • Historical fantasy set in Renaissance Italy

    • By Kat Hooper on 11-21-12

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

    • Raphael: Lessons Along a Minor String

    • Damiano, Book 3
    • By: R. A. MacAvoy
    • Narrated by: Nicholas Tecosky
    • Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
    • Unabridged
    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars 7
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars 7
    • Story
      4.5 out of 5 stars 7

    Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Italian Renaissance this alternate history takes place in a world where real faith-based magic exists....

    Regular price: $19.95

    Free with 30-day Trial

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