Philip Athans

Philip Athans (born 1964 in Rochester, New York) is an American editor and novelist. He joined TSR's book publishing department in 1995, continuing through the company's absorption into Wizards of the Coast, and rose to Senior Managing Editor for Book Publishing, overseeing the Forgotten Realms novel line and helping launch the Greyhawk, Dark Matter, and Star*Drive lines before leaving in 2010 to found Athans & Associates Creative Consulting. As a novelist he is best known for Forgotten Realms fiction, including the Watercourse Trilogy (Whisper of Waves, Lies of Light, Scream of Stone), Annihilation, and entries in the War of the Spider Queen and Baldur's Gate series, alongside his own Shadowmoor Cycle. He has also written instructional guides on genre craft, including Writing Monsters, and runs the long-running Fantasy Author's Handbook blog.