Larry Dixon, artist and novelist, is a classically trained artist with a diverse and adventurous history. The son of a Delta Force career commando, Larry grew up happily steeped in the armed forces history and honor, and has brought some of its best qualities into his work. Educated at the North Carolina School of Art and Design, he found that his story work became even more popular than his artwork. Many novels have followed, including the ever popular Mage Wars trilogy (also known as the Gryphon trilogy, for the titles The Black/White/Silver Gryphon), the Mage Winds trilogy, The Mage Storms trilogy, SERRAted Edge, and Owlflight books, written with his wife, Mercedes Lackey. He promises more to come.
Larry is a storm-spotter, volunteer firefighter, world traveler, audio-phile, wildlife rehabilitator and aviculturist, occasional movie consultant and special effects man, model maker and internet veteran. As a birds-of-prey rehabilitation specialist, he and his wife, Misty, have returned over four hundred hawks, owls, falcons and corbies back into the wild. He has been a role-playing games buff since the 1970s, and has illustrated or helped design many RPGs, most notably contributing artwork to Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons source books Oriental Adventures, Epic Level Handbook, and Fiend Folio.
He also had a minor role in the creation of the digital FX for the giant eagles in the Lord of the Rings movies. He took digital photographs of a stuffed Golden Eagle he is looking after, as the owner–a local tribal elder–does not have space at the moment. These photographs, along with castings of the beak and talons, were sent to Weta Digital in New Zealand to provide texture mapping for the digital model for Gwahir and company.
He loves genre movies, subcultures, SF TV; classic cars, owning several; hawks, parrots, cockatoos, and owls; dirty jokes; club/trance/electronica music; and just plan making people feel good about themselves. Larry feels equally comfortable around generals, rock stars, fans, firefighters, victims, media and movie makers because… well, he’s an Okie, and a very charismatic Okie. He loves to make friends with everyone he meets.
His recent work has included bringing supplies and aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, as well as organizing benefits and providing a place for information to flow for those that have need of it.