Bruce Sterling was born in 1954 in Brownsville, Texas. His grandfather was a rancher, his father an engineer. Sterling, purportedly a novelist by trade, actually spends most of his time aimlessly messing with computers, modems, and fax machines. He and his wife Nancy have a daughter Amy, born in 1987. They live in Austin, Texas.
Sterling sold his first science fiction story in 1976. His solonovels include Schismatrix (1985), Islands In The Net (1988), Heavy Weather (1994), and Holy Fire (1996). In 1986 he edited Mirrorshades: The Cyberpunk Anthology. His two collections of short stories are Crystal Express (1989) and Globalhead (1992). In 1990 he and William Gibson published their collaborative 'steampunk' novel The Difference Engine. 1992 saw the appearance of Sterling's first nonfiction book, , a work of investigative journalism exploring issues in computer crime and civil liberties. Sterling released the entire text of the book on the Internet as non-commercial "literary freeware," and maintains a long-term interest in electronic user rights and free expression. Other nonfiction work by Sterling has appeared in The New York Times, Newsday, Whole Earth Review, Details, Mondo 2000, bOING bOING, and Wired. He has also written and Monad, and regular columns for and . He has been a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America ever since Salman Rushdie was condemned by religious fanatics. His latest novel is entitled Distraction.
