Kage Baker was born in Hollywood, California on June 10, 1952. Her first novel, In the Garden of Iden, was published in 1997. She was a science fiction and fantasy writer, who was best known for The Company series. Her other works included Mendoza in Hollywood (2000), House of the Stag (2009), and the short story Caverns of Mystery (2009). The Empress of Mars (2003) won the Theodore Sturgeon Award. She died from uterine cancer on January 31, 2010.