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elements. There was no overall plot, just a series of loosely linked episodes—a chapter about the boys and girls digging competing tunnel systems under the house would be followed by one in which they got infected by some weird flu strain and started passing out in the halls. Periodically I’d set
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ancestry. His father was a hospital chaplain, and his maternal grandfather was a missionary. At the age of 5, he decided he wanted to be a fiction writer. He spent his childhood and adolescence learning how to tell stories. In elementary school, he wrote a number of short stories, many of them
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starring his classmates in scenarios cribbed from movies or TV. Ruff has said that reading these aloud in
English class was his first experience performing in front of an audience and his first solid evidence that he had what it took to entertain people with his storytelling.
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Ruff's first sustained effort at a novel was a soap opera–like story about a family with a lot of children (having only older half siblings, Ruff was fascinated by the concept of siblings). He wrote it in the 1970s, but never published it. Describing it, Ruff said "Think
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and junior years at
Cornell. It had upwards of 400 pages, which Ruff wrote in three months. Ruff based a character in the story on a female student in his class, and gave her a copy of the finished manuscript.
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Many adults around him attempted to persuade him to choose a different career, but Ruff's mother was supportive of his hope to become a writer; for one of Ruff's birthdays, she bought him an
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story set in Queens called "Today's Tom Sawyer", over the summer between his
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novel that he never completed. Between 1982 and 1984, Ruff wrote a
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aside what I’d written and start the whole thing over again".
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579:""An Interesting Moral Education" | bymattruff.com"
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His father died after Ruff's first novel was published.
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James
Tiptree Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
792:
Mostlyfiction.com interview with Matt Ruff, author of
618:"Unpublished works and ephemera | bymattruff.com"
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HarperCollins
Publishers: World-Leading Book Publisher
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The
Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country
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Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works
Trilogy
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Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works
Trilogy
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247:In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Ruff wrote a
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194:. From third to eighth grade, Ruff attended a
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158:, the latter having been adapted in 2020 by
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593:"Author Listings: HarperCollins Publishers"
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1028:Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation
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1212:Cloud and Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales
981:The Memoirs Of Elizabeth Frankenstein
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782:Internet Speculative Fiction Database
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473:International Dublin Literary Award
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1496:Novelists from Washington (state)
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1019:"Travels With The Snow Queen" by
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236:, who helped Ruff find an agent.
1481:American science fiction writers
833:/James Tiptree Jr. Award Winners
1491:Novelists from New York (state)
1456:21st-century American novelists
1451:20th-century American novelists
721:National Endowment for the Arts
535:in 2017 in the Novel category.
491:Literature Fellowship in Prose
489:National Endowment for the Arts
228:During Ruff's last semester at
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312:dissociative identity disorder
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632:"An Interview with Matt Ruff"
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471:was long-listed for the 2005
855:Walk to the End of the World
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501:Washington State Book Award
485:Washington State Book Award
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903:A Woman of the Iron People
290:Risley Residential College
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170:Early life and education
1471:American male novelists
746:Sidewise Award Nominees
634:. Bookslut. August 2007
469:Set This House in Order
1338:When the Moon Was Ours
723:. 2006. Archived from
531:was nominated for the
519:was nominated for the
265:In 1985, Ruff wrote a
200:Stuyvesant High School
1234:Baba Yaga Laid an Egg
1152:Catherynne M. Valente
1092:"Stories for Men" by
1038:The Conqueror's Child
787:Goodreads Author page
253:semi-autobiographical
62:, New York City, U.S.
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1302:The Girl in the Road
1256:Redwood and Wildfire
949:The Matter of Seggri
925:China Mountain Zhang
727:on December 23, 2005
282:Ruff's first novel,
1348:Who Runs the World?
1342:Anna-Marie McLemore
990:"Mountain Ways" by
654:www.fantastinet.com
533:World Fantasy Award
140:Matthew Theron Ruff
1283:Kiini Ibura Salaam
1273:Caitlín R. Kiernan
1180:The Carhullan Army
1123:Not Before Sundown
1042:Suzy McKee Charnas
1014:Candas Jane Dorsey
1004:Mary Doria Russell
959:Larque on the Wing
860:Suzy McKee Charnas
558:"About the author"
499:received the 2008
243:Unpublished novels
230:Cornell University
72:Cornell University
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1268:The Drowning Girl
992:Ursula K. Le Guin
953:Ursula K. Le Guin
930:Maureen F. McHugh
871:Ursula K. Le Guin
703:www.goodreads.com
679:Missing or empty
528:Lovecraft Country
475:and won the 2007
404:Lovecraft Country
295:His second book,
174:Ruff was born in
155:Lovecraft Country
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88:Lovecraft Country
53:September 8, 1965
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1238:Dubravka Ugrešić
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1389:2021–present
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1328:Lizard Radio
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1307:Monica Byrne
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1295:N. A. Sulway
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1278:
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1202:Filter House
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1196:Patrick Ness
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729:. Retrieved
725:the original
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681:|title=
660:. Retrieved
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636:. Retrieved
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79:Notable work
37:Ruff in 2018
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1436:1965 births
1416:(2021, tie)
1404:(2021, tie)
1334:(2015, tie)
1332:Pat Schmatz
1321:(2014, tie)
1309:(2014, tie)
1285:(2012, tie)
1275:(2012, tie)
1230:(2009, tie)
1218:(2009, tie)
1208:(2008, tie)
1198:(2008, tie)
1166:(2006, tie)
1154:(2006, tie)
1140:Geoff Ryman
1130:(2004, tie)
1118:(2004, tie)
1096:(2002, tie)
1094:John Kessel
1089:(2002, tie)
1075:Hiromi Goto
1052:Molly Gloss
1023:(1997, tie)
1016:(1997, tie)
1006:(1996, tie)
999:The Sparrow
994:(1996, tie)
987:(1995, tie)
977:(1995, tie)
965:(1994, tie)
955:(1994, tie)
920:(1991, tie)
914:White Queen
910:(1991, tie)
886:Joanna Russ
849:Motherlines
794:Bad Monkeys
731:November 1,
699:"Matt Ruff"
662:February 6,
638:October 31,
496:Bad Monkeys
364:Bad Monkeys
124:.bymattruff
1430:Categories
1409:Sorrowland
1362:Freshwater
1206:Nisi Shawl
1184:Sarah Hall
1111:Camouflage
1021:Kelly Link
1010:Black Wine
539:References
516:The Mirage
509:Alex Award
451:(2023) – (
443:0062854674
429:(2020) – (
421:0062292064
407:(2016) – (
383:(2012) – (
380:The Mirage
373:0061240419
367:(2007) – (
351:(2003) – (
337:(1997) – (
323:(1988) – (
182:family of
149:The Mirage
84:The Mirage
49:1965-09-08
1402:Ryka Aoki
1319:Jo Walton
1248:2011–2020
1159:Half Life
1104:Matt Ruff
1062:2001–2010
1048:Wild Life
895:1991–2000
778:Matt Ruff
507:, and an
271:sophomore
204:Manhattan
164:TV series
99:Lisa Gold
25:Matt Ruff
937:Ammonite
773:Homepage
749:Archived
672:cite web
483:, and a
427:88 Names
260:Minister
257:Lutheran
180:Lutheran
176:Brooklyn
1290:Rupetta
841:winners
780:at the
249:fantasy
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