Lyn McConchie

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-08-27

Lyn McConchie was born in 1946 in Auckland, New Zealand, and attended Freyberg High School in Roslyn. A motorcycle accident in 1977 left her disabled. She previously worked in Wellington's Justice Department and the Office of Agriculture and Fisheries before turning to writing professionally in 1990. Since then she has sold on average one book every eight months, producing more than 43 published books along with over 300 short stories, novellas, articles, and reviews across speculative fiction, children's picture books, and humorous nonfiction. She writes from Farside Farm on New Zealand's North Island and has published under the pseudonyms Jan Bishop and Elizabeth Underwood. Her debut, Farming Daze (1990), remains in print and launched a seven-book humorous farm series. She wrote three sequel novels in Andre Norton's Beast Master series and four novels set in Norton's Witch World universe, as well as multiple Sherlock Holmes pastiches featuring characters Miss Emily Jackson and her cat Mandalay. Later works include Queen of Iron Years (2012), a transgender alternate-history collaboration with Sharman Horwood, and Bastet's Daughters (2016), set in an alternate ancient Egypt. McConchie won six Sir Julius Vogel Awards for Best Novel, including in 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2011, the Australian SF Foundation Award in 1992, and multiple Cat Writers Association Muse Medallions.

Universe(s)

Books

• Silver May Tarnish (2005) · Witch World Expanded Canon

Aggregate across all universes

• Total Core Canon books across all universes: 5 books
• Award recognitions across all universes: 1 (1 nomination)

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