Chelsea Quinn Yarbro | |
|---|---|
 Yarbro in 2009 | |
| Born | Karen Erickson[1] (1942-09-15)September 15, 1942 Berkeley, California, U.S. |
| Died | August 31, 2025(2025-08-31) (aged 82) San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S. |
| Pen name | Quinn Fawcett, Trystam Kith, Terry Nelson Bonner, T. C. F. Hopkins, Camellia Gabor, Vanessa Pryor |
| Occupation | Author |
| Language | English |
| Education | San Francisco State College |
| Genre | Science fiction,horror |
| Notable works | The Saint-Germain Cycle |
| Spouse | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (September 15, 1942 – August 31, 2025) was an American writer. She was known for her series of historical horror novels aboutCount Saint-Germain.
Yarbro was born inBerkeley, California, on September 15, 1942. She attended Berkeley schools through high school followed by three years atSan Francisco State College (now University).
Writing for over 45 years, Yarbro worked in a wide variety of genres, fromscience fiction to westerns, from young adult adventure to historicalhorror. She was the author of over 70 novels and numerous short stories. In addition to the Count Saint-Germain novels, she also published numerous volumes in a popular series of channeledwisdom from the entityMichael in the Messages from Michael series.
Yarbro's contribution to the horror genre has been recognised in a variety of ways: she was named aGrand Master at the World Horror Convention in 2003, and in 2005 theInternational Horror Guild named her a "Living Legend".[2] She has received the Knightly Order of the Brasov Citadel from theTransylvanian Society of Dracula.[3] In 2009 the Horror Writers' Association presented Yarbro with theBram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement.[4] In 2014, she was honored with theWorld Fantasy Award for Life Achievement.[5] Additionally, two of her novels,The Palace (1979) andAriosto (1980) were nominated for theWorld Fantasy Award, neither winning.[6]
In 2016, she reported that on average, she wrote three to four books and one or two short stories and/or essays a year. She wrote six hours per day, six days per week except when traveling. Five days a week she spent three to four hours doing research.[7]
Aside from writing, she worked as a cartographer,read tarot card and palms, and composed music. Over the years she studied seven instruments, voice, and musical theory: composition, voice, and piano continued to be active interests for her. The newsletter,Yclept Yarbro, about her and her writings was published by Lindig Hall Harris until Harris's death; then a newsletter was issued irregularly via Yarbro's website.[8] She played a major role in popularizingThe Eye of Argon, a novella that became part of widespreadscience fiction convention reading game.[9]
In November 1969, she married Donald Simpson and divorced in February 1982. She had no children.
Yarbro died on August 31, 2025, 15 days before her 83rd birthday.[10]
Messages from Michael is the first in a series of four books recounting three-decade-long "conversation" between a group of friends centered around Sarah Chambers (1937≠1998) with a channeled entity and spiritual teacher that has come to be known asMichael. As of September 2013 this conversation continues, as the Michael group continues to conduct closed sessions in the San Francisco Bay Area. A core concept of the teachings is "all choices made are equally valid."
Yarbro's book presented a heavily fictionalized version of Sarah Chambers' group, which gave Chambers the alias of "Jessica Lansing". The three subsequent books contain more editedchanneling transcripts, along with background material.
