Willis is a 1967 graduate of Colorado State College, now theUniversity of Northern Colorado, where she completed degrees in English and Elementary Education.[11][12] She lives inGreeley, Colorado, with her husband Courtney Willis, a former professor of physics at the University of Northern Colorado. They have one daughter, Cordelia.[13]
In a 1996 interview Willis said, "I sing soprano in aCongregationalist church choir. It is my belief that everything you need to know about the world can be learned in a church choir."[14]
Willis's first published story was "The Secret of Santa Titicaca" inWorlds of Fantasy, Winter 1970 (December).[15] At least seven stories followed (1978–81) before her debut novel,Water Witch by Willis andCynthia Felice, published byAce Books in 1982.[15] After receiving aNational Endowment for the Arts grant that year, she left her teaching job and became a full-time writer.[16]
ScholarGary K. Wolfe has written, "Willis, the erstwhile stand-up superstar ofSF conventions—having her as your MC is like gettingBilly Crystal back as host of theOscars—and the author of some of the field's funniest stories, is a woman of considerably greater complexity and gravity than her personal popularity reflects, and for all her facility at screwball comedy knock-offs and snappy parody, she wants us to know that she's a writer of some gravity as well."[17]
Willis is known for writing "romantic 'screwball' comedy in the manner of 1940s Hollywood movies."[18]
Much of Willis's writing explores the social sciences. She often weaves technology into her stories in order to prompt readers to question what impact it has on the world. For instance,Lincoln's Dreams plumbs not just the psychology of dreams, but also their role as indicators of disease. The story portrays a young man's unrequited love for a young woman who might or might not be experiencing reincarnation or precognition, and whose outlook verges on suicidal. Similarly,Bellwether is almost exclusively concerned with human psychology.
At the 2006 Hugo Awards ceremony, Willis presented writerHarlan Ellison with a special committee award. When Ellison got to the podium, Willis asked him "Are you going to be good?" When she asked the question a second time, Ellison put the microphone in his mouth, to the crowd's laughter. He then momentarily put his hand on her left breast.[19][20][21] Ellison subsequently complained that Willis refused to acknowledge his apology.[19]
Doomsday Book (ISBN 0-553-56273–8, Bantam Spectra, 1992) – Nebula Awardwinner, BSFA Award nominee, 1992;[34]Hugo andLocus SF Awardswinner,Clarke Award nominee, 1993[23]
Even the Queen and Other Short Stories (1998) – sound recording of five stories read by Connie Willis including "Even the Queen", "Death on the Nile", and "At the Rialto"
The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories: A Connie Willis Compendium (2007)
Time is the Fire: The Best of Connie Willis (2013), Hugo and Nebula award-winning short fictionISBN978-0-575-13114-9
A Lot Like Christmas: Stories (2017) – Omnibus edition combiningMiracle and Other Christmas Stories, several additional short stories, and the novellasAll About Emily andAll Seated On The Ground.
Terra Incognita (2018) – Collected edition ofUncharted Territory,Remake, andD.A..
"Samaritan" (1978) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Capra Corn" (1978) – Collected in the "Limited/Lettered Editions" ofThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Daisy, in the Sun" (1979) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"And Come from Miles Around" (1979) – Collected inFire Watch
"The Child Who Cries for the Moon" (1981) – Collected inA Spadeful of Spacetime[37]
"Distress Call" (1981) – Published separately by Roadkill Press[38] and collected in two anthologies[39]
"A Letter from the Clearys" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"Fire Watch" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"Service For the Burial of the Dead" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Lost and Found" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch
"The Father of the Bride" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch
"Mail Order Clone" (1982) – Collected inFire Watch
"And Also Much Cattle" (1982)
"The Sidon in the Mirror" (1983) – Collected inFire Watch
"A Little Moonshine" (1983)
"Blued Moon" (1984) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Cash Crop" (1984) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Substitution Trick" (1985) – Collected in the "Limited/Lettered Editions" ofThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"The Curse of Kings" (1985) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"All My Darling Daughters" (1985) – Collected inFire Watch andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"And Who Would Pity a Swan?" (1985)
"With Friends Like These" (1985)
"Chance" (1986) – Collected inImpossible Things,The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories, and Gardner Dozois'Modern Classics of Science Fiction
"Spice Pogrom" (1986) – Collected inImpossible Things
"The Pony" (1986) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
"Winter's Tale" (1987) – Collected inImpossible Things
"Schwarzschild Radius" (1987) – Collected inImpossible Things
"Circus Story" (1987)
"Lord of Hosts" (1987)
"Ado" (1988) – Collected inImpossible Things andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"The Last of the Winnebagos" (1988) – Collected inImpossible Things andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"Dilemma" (1989)
"Time Out" (1989) – Collected inImpossible Things
"At the Rialto" (1989) – Collected inImpossible Things,The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andEven the Queen and Other Short Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"Cibola" (1990)
"Miracle" (1991) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
"Jack" (1991) – Collected inImpossible Things andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"In the Late Cretaceous" (1991) – Collected inImpossible Things andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Even the Queen" (1992) – Collected inImpossible Things,The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andEven the Queen and Other Short Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"Inn" (1993) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Close Encounter" (1993)
"Death on the Nile" (1993) – Collected inEven the Queen and Other Short Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"A New Theory Explaining the Unpredictability of Forecasting the Weather" (1993)
"Why the World Didn't End Last Tuesday" (1994)
"Adaptation" (1994) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
"The Soul Selects Her Own Society: Invasion and Repulsion: A Chronological Reinterpretation of Two of Emily Dickinson's Poems: A Wellsian Perspective" (1996) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"In Coppelius's Toyshop" (1996) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
"Nonstop to Portales" (1996) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Newsletter" (1997) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"Cat's paw" (1999) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
"Epiphany" (1999) – Collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories andThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"The Winds of Marble Arch" (1999) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories andThe Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories
"deck.halls@boughs/holly" (2001)
"Just Like the Ones We Used to Know" (2003) – Collected inThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"A Few Last Words to Put It All in Perspective" (1999)
Bibliography, including a list of all of her SF short stories and "confessions" stories, collected in the "Limited/Lettered Editions" ofThe Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories
"A Final Word"; "Twelve Terrific Things to Read..." (Christmas stories); "And Twelve to Watch" (Christmas movies); all collected inMiracle and Other Christmas Stories
^Sawyer, Robert J. (April 29, 2008)."The Savage Humanists".Robert J. Sawyer (official website).Archived from the original on August 3, 2020.Meet the Savage Humanists: the hottest science-fiction writers working today. They use SF's unique powers to comment on the human condition in mordantly funny, satiric stories... In these pages, you'll find the top names in the SF field: including...Connie Willis (The Doomsday Book)...
