Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955) is an American fantasy author and designer of games and virtual reality (VR) experiences. He co-authored the original Dragonlance novels with Margaret Weis as well as numerous other books. He also designed and created role playing game material while working for TSR and has cowritten novels with his wife, Laura Hickman. He is the author or co-author of over 60 books.
Early life
Tracy Hickman was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from Provo High School in 1974. His major interests were drama, music, and Air Force JROTC.
thumb|left|alt=Elder Tracy Hickman as a missionary in Bandung, Indonesia circa 1976|Elder Tracy Hickman as a missionary in [[Bandung, Indonesia circa 1976]]
In 1975, Hickman began two years of service as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served in Hawaii for six months while awaiting visa approval for travel to Indonesia, where he served in Surabaya, Jakarta, and the mountain city of Bandung until 1977. Laura was also the inspiration for Tracy's character Lauralanthalasa (Laurana) Kanan. In an interview, he stated that he "nearly failed [his] creative writing course" in college. In 1981, Tracy entered into a business arrangement to produce an arcade immersion game, TSR bought the modules, and wanted to hire Tracy as well. Tracy recalls, "They said it would be easier to publish my adventures if I was part of the company. So, we made the move from Utah to Wisconsin. It was a terrifying experience. We had no money. My parents begged us not to venture into such foreign territory to pursue such a bizarre career. My father wrote that there was a secure job as a fry cook in Flagstaff (where my parents were living), and he pleaded with me to come take it." He also designed the Indiana Jones adventures, Crystal Death and The Fourth Nail.
Dragonlance
As he was traveling from Utah to Wisconsin to join TSR, Hickman thought of the idea for a setting in which dragons would be fearsome once again. At TSR he found other creators who were interested in his project, which was dubbed "Project Overlord". The project began with a novel and three game modules. It eventually expanded a trilogy of books (written by Weis and Hickman) and 15 companion modules. By 1987, the Dragonlance project had sold two million books and half a million adventure modules. Hickman and Weis developed a system of co-writing in which Weis is the writer and Hickman is the "storyteller and world builder" for the project. The last Dragonlance books to be published were released in 2007. and Hickman and Weis had also finished the draft for the sequel. Wizards of the Coast then put a stop to the project, and Hickman and Weis responded by suing the publisher for breach of contract on October 16, 2020, The authors later dropped the lawsuit in December 2020 and announced that Del Rey Books would publish the new Dragonlance trilogy, with a publication date to be announced. Hickman and Weis see the new trilogy as "the capstone to their life's work".
Novelist
Gaming fiction
thumb|right|Tracy Hickman (left) and [[Margaret Weis at Gen Con Indy 2008.]]
Hickman left TSR in 1987. and collaborated on the Rose of the Prophet series (1988–1989). Says Hickman of the original module, and its 1986 sequel, Ravenloft II: The House on Gryphon Hill, "I still believe the original Ravenloft modules were perhaps the best that ever had my name on them." The magazine stated that Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis were "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". Tracy and Laura Hickman wrote the adventure Out in the Black (2006) for the Serenity Role Playing Game for Margaret Weis Productions. The Hickmans have hosted "Killer Breakfasts", popular role-playing game experiences, at Gen Con conventions in various locations.
Miscellaneous writing
In spring 1996, Hickman's first two solo novels, Requiem of Stars and The Immortals, were published. and the three-book Annals of Drakis series (co-written with his wife, Laura).
In 2010, Tracy and Laura Hickman launched a direct-to-internet serialized fantasy series, "Dragon's Bard", which merged serial publishing techniques (such as those employed with Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities) with modern internet distribution. Eventide, the first book in the Tales of the Dragon's Bard series, was subsequently published by Shadow Mountain Publishing in 2012. Hickman has said that Eventide was his favorite project to work on.
Other work
Tracy and Laura Hickman produced their DragonHearth podcast until about December 2010. Hickman founded the Parsec Awards alongside Mur Lafferty and Michael Mennenga in 2006.
Hickman wrote the screenplay for, produced, and edited the first science-fiction film shot completely in space, Apogee of Fear. In August 2008, it was announced that Hickman would travel to the International Space Station, where his digitized DNA and samples of his writing would be stored in a capsule as part of "Operation Immortality", sponsored by NCSoft. Game developer Richard Garriott gathered information from people around the world (contributed through a website) to store in the capsule. On the topic of the project, Hickman said, "I have lived my entire life dreaming of space. 'Operation Immortality' is essentially a celebration of that same adventuring spirit and an offering of hope for the future. I am deeply honored to participate."
On March 15, 2013, Hickman joined Richard Garriott's team as lead story designer for Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues. Shroud of the Avatar is the "spiritual successor" to Garriott's previous work in the fantasy role-playing genre, the Ultima series of video games.
On March 16, 2016, Hickman announced that he had become the Director of Story Development at The Void, a virtual reality gaming experience franchise, working with his son Curtis in designing interactive adventures.
Personal life
Hickman married Laura Curtis in 1977, and together they have four children. He has stated that he likes writing in the fantasy genre because it "is about ethical and moral choices—the questions of good and evil" and because it reflects "the story of all of us on our journey through mortality and our seeking to return home to Christ".