Kara Dalkey

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-11-01

Kara Mia Dalkey was born in 1953 in Los Angeles, California, and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado and Seattle. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. She writes young adult fiction and historical fantasy, much of it set in Japan's Heian period. Her books include The Nightingale (1988), part of Terri Windling's Fairy Tale Series, the Water Trilogy blending the Atlantis myth with Arthurian legend, the Goa, Bijapur and Bhagavati books set in India, and the Steel Rose sequence. Her short stories have appeared in the Liavek and Firebirds anthologies and in Buffy-related collections. She belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship and the Scribblies writers' groups. She was married to the author John Barnes until their divorce in 2001. She is also a musician who has played electric bass and sung harmony vocals in several bands.

Universe(s)

Books

• Little Sister (1996) · Mitsuko Core Canon
• The Heavenward Path (1998) · Mitsuko Core Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 2 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 nomination)

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