Bill Fawcett
Bill has been a professor, teacher, corporate executive, and college dean. His entire life has been spent in the creative fields and managing other creative individuals. He is one of the founders of Mayfair Games, a board and role play gaming company. As an author Bill has written or co-authored over a dozen books and dozens of articles and short stories. As a book packager, a person who prepares series of books from concept to production for major publishers, his company Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged over 250 titles for virtually every major publisher. He founded, and later sold, what is now the largest hobby shop in Northern Illinois.
Bill’s first commercial writing appeared as articles in the Dragon Magazine and include some of the earliest appearances of classes and monster types for dungeons and Dragons. With Mayfair Games created, wrote, and edited many of the over 50 “Role Aides” Role Playing Game modules and supplements released by Mayfair in the 1970s and 1980s. During this period he also designed almost a dozen board games, including several Charles Roberts Award (Gaming's Emmy) winners such as Empire Builder and Sanctuary.
In 1994 Bill joined with a team of programmers to form Catware featuring him as producer and designer. Catware released Swords of Xeen ( New World Computing) as part of the Trilogy game set, Star General, a strategic game based upon the six Fleet books (SSI) that was one of the 20 best selling games in the year of its release, Las Vegas Games (New World) and is now working on a On-line Role Playing Game. Bill produced and designed the computer RPG game Shattered Light for Simon and Schuster. Bill Fawcett continues to develop new internet projects and his just released his first iPhone app, Fantasy Adventure.
Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged over 300 books for major publishers. These include a number of best selling Science Fiction, Mystery, and Action novels. His novel writing began with the juvenile series, Swordquest for Ace Penguin Putnam Publishing. He wrote or co-wrote four fantasy novels, beginning with the Lord of Cragsclaw. The Fleet series he created with David Drake has become a classic of military science fiction. Bill has collaborated on several novels including mysteries such as the Authorized Mycroft Holmes novels, the Madame Vernet Investigates series, and edited Making Contact, a UFO Contact handbook. As an anthologist Bill has edited or co-edited almost 50 anthologies. Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged well over 250 novels and anthologies for every major publisher Bill is the editor of Hunters and Shooters and The Teams, two oral histories of the SEALs in Viet nam. His most recently published work is as co-author of It Seemed Like a good Idea, Great Historical Fiascos and You Did What, both are a fun look at bad decisions in history. Published in early 2006 was How To Lose A Battle: a modern look at how bad generals lose battles, How To Lose a War, and It Looked Good on Paper, Engineering disasters through history. Recently released is Oval Office Oddities, thousands of fun facts, quotes, and just plain strangeness about the US President, First Lady, and White House.
Bill Fawcett & Associates has packaged over 300 books for major publishers. These include a number of best selling Science Fiction, Mystery, Historical, and Action novels.
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