Sherwood Smith was born in 1951. On her website, Smith describes herself as a middle-aged woman who has been married for over twenty-five years. Besides writing, she taught part-time at a K-8 school. She has "two kids, two dogs, and a house full of books."

Smith began making books out of taped paper towels when she was five years old. When she was 8, she started writing about another world, Sartorias-deles, though she soon switched to making comic books of her stories, which she found to be easier. Although she first tried to send out her novels when she was 13, nothing sold. However, some of the novels Smith first wrote as a teen, including Wren to the Rescue were sold after she learned to rewrite.

In the years it took her to learn to rewrite, Smith "went to college, lived in Europe, came back to get [her] masters in History, worked in Hollywood, got married, started a family and became a teacher."

Smith currently resides in California.

Real Name?

Smith is the family name this author was born with. However, she never liked her given name. Therefore, she took the name "Sherwood" when she started writing about Sartorias-deles, for that was the last name of the gang of girls she wrote about. (At the time, she was under the impression that you couldn't change your last name until you were married.) When asked whether Sherwood Smith is her real name, Smith says, "All my contracts are signed with Sherwood Smith and my checks come made out to Sherwood Smith, so as far as I am concerned it is my real name." This phenomenon is a more extreme variation, but not altogether unlike authors' such as C. S. Lewis contracting their names.

Books Written Under Other Pseudonyms

Smith has written some of the books in the Planet Builders series as Robyn Tallis. She has also written four books in the Nowhere High series as Jesse Maguire and one book in the Horror High series as Nicholas Adams. The SF Site Featured Review: The Crown and Court Duet - Crown Duel and Court Duel

Novels

Wren Books

• Wren to the Rescue (1990), reissued by Firebird Books (2004)
• Wren's Quest (1993), reissued by Firebird Books(2004)
• Wren's War (1995), reissued by Firebird Books(2004)
• Wren Journeymage (completed in 2004, unpublished)
• A Posse of Princesses (March 2008) Norilana Books

Sartorias-deles

Meliara/Shevraeth:

• A Stranger to Command (2008), prequel to Crown Duel telling the story of Shevraeth's training
• Crown Duel (1997/1998), previously published in two parts as Crown Duel and Court Duel. Issued in a single volume by Firebird Books in 2002.

Indevan-Dal Algara-Vayir:

• Inda (August 2006) DAW Books
• The Fox (August 2007) (sequel to Inda)
• The King's Shield (July 2008) (sequel to The Fox)
• Treason's Shore (July 2009) (sequel to The King's Shield)

Sasharia En Garde

• Once A Princess (June 2008)
• Twice A Prince (July 2008), sequel to Once a Princess.

Other:

• Senrid (May 2007) Norilana Books
• The Trouble With Kings (February 2008) Samhain Publishing

Exordium

• The Phoenix in Flight (1993) (with Dave Trowbridge)
• Ruler of Naught (1993) (with Dave Trowbridge)
• A Prison Unsought (1994) (with Dave Trowbridge)
• The Rifter's Covenant (1995) (with Dave Trowbridge)
• The Thrones of Kronos (1996) (with Dave Trowbridge)

Andre Norton's Solar Queen Universe

• Derelict for Trade (1997) (with Andre Norton)
• A Mind for Trade (1997) (with Andre Norton)

Andre Norton's Time Traders Universe

• Echoes in Time (1999)
• Atlantis Endgame (2002)

Oz Series

• The Emerald Wand of Oz (2005), first in a new continuation of Oz books by L. Frank Baum
• Trouble Under Oz (2006)

TV tie-in Novels

• The Borrowers (1997), novelization of the screenplay by Scott and John Kamps, Harcourt
• Journey to Otherwhere (2000), Voyage of the Basset series, book 3
• Augur's Teacher (2001), based on the TV show Final Conflict

Short stories

• "Monster Mash" (1988), in Werewolves anthology
• "Ghost Dancers" (1989), in Things That Go Bump In The Night anthology
• "Faith" (1993), in A Wizard's Dozen anthology
• "Curing the Bozos" (1994), in Bruce Coville's Book of Aliens anthology
• "Echoes of Ancient Danger" (1995), in Orphans of the Night anthology
• "I Was A Teen-Age Superhero" (1995) in Starfarer's Dozen anthology
• "Daria's Window" (1996), in Sisters in Fantasy II anthology
• "What's A Little Fur Among Friends?" (1996), in Bruce Coville's Book of Spinetinglers anthology
• "Visions" (1996), in Bruce Coville's Book of Magic anthology
• "Illumination" (1996), in Nightmare's Dozen anthology
• "And Horses are Born With Eagles' Wings" (1997), in Realms of Fantasy Magazine
• "Mastery" (1997), in Wizard Fantastic anthology
• "And Now Abideth These Three..." (1998), in Realms of Fantasy Magazine
• "Finding the Way" (1999), in Alien Visitors anthology
• "Mom and Dad at the Home Front" (2000), in Realms of Fantasy Magazine, Year's Best Fantasy ed. David Hartwell, and New Magics ed. Patrick Nielsen Hayden
• "Excerpts from the Diary of a Henchminion" (2000), in Faeries magazine (French)
• "Beauty" (2003), in Firebirds anthology
• "Court Ship" (2008 expected), in Firebirds Soaring anthology 403 Forbidden