I am a writer, editor, scientist, and teacher. I began my professional life as an astrophysicist and mathematician, teaching astronomy at Michigan State University and Cornell University, and working in the Astronaut Training Division at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

After earning my MFA in creative writing, I moved into a career in publishing, becoming a senior editor at Bantam Doubleday Dell, where I created and launched the Abyss imprint of psychological horror, for which I won the World Fantasy Award, and the Cutting Edge imprint of literary fiction. I also ran the science fiction/fantasy publishing program. In addition, I edited a wide range of fiction and nonfiction. I worked with such authors as William F. Nolan, Robert Anton Wilson, Dennis Etchison, Joan Vinge, Tanith Lee, Kathe Koja, Poppy Z. Brite, J.M. Dillard, David Wingrove, Barry Gifford, Patrick McCabe, Syd Field, Phil Farrand, and Peter Dickinson. In my eight years in New York publishing, I edited numerous award-winning and best-selling authors and gained a reputation for discovering and nurturing new writers.

In 1994, I left New York to pursue my own writing career. My latest book is Invoking Darkness, the third volume in the best-selling The Passing of the Techno-Mages, a trilogy set in the Babylon 5 universe (Del Rey). The Sci-Fi Channel called the trilogy "A revelation for Babylon 5 fans. . . . Not 'television episodic' in look and feel. They are truly novels in their own right." The first volume, Casting Shadows, was called "The best Babylon 5 book to date" by About.com. My nonfiction book The Science of Star Wars (St. Martin's), is now available in trade paperback with a new "Afterword" discussing the possibilities and problems raised by the introduction of midi-chlorians as carriers of the Force. The book was chosen by the New York Public Library for its recommended reading list, and CNN said, "Cavelos manages to make some of the most mind-boggling notions of contemporary science understandable, interesting and even entertaining." The highly praised The Science of The X-Files, (Berkley) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award. Publishers Weekly called it "Crisp, conversational, and intelligent."

My first published book, the Babylon 5 novel The Shadow Within (Dell), went out of print a few years ago. Due to popular demand, it has been reissued by Del Rey with a new cover. Dreamwatch magazine called it "one of the best TV tie-in novels ever written."

Other works include a novella, "Negative Space" (which was given honorable mention in The Year's Best Science Fiction), in the anthology Decalog 5: Wonders (Virgin Publishing) and an essay, "Innovation in Horror," which appears in both Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association and The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing (Writer's Digest Books). I've published short fiction, essays, and reviews in many magazines.

I'm currently at work on a science thriller about genetic manipulation and cloning, titled Fatal Spiral.

I also put together my first anthology, The Many Faces of Van Helsing, which was published by Berkley in 2004. If you're interested in reading the submission guidelines for this anthology, you can find them here.

I also run Jeanne Cavelos Editorial Services, a full-service freelance company that provides editing, ghostwriting, consulting, and critiquing services to publishers, book packagers, agents, and authors. Among its clients are major publishers and best-selling and award-winning writers.

Since I love working with developing writers, I created and serve as director of Odyssey, an annual six-week summer writing workshop for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror held at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. Odyssey is a place where developing writers can focus on their craft and receive detailed, in-depth feedback on their work. Guest lecturers have included George R. R. Martin, Harlan Ellison, Terry Brooks, Ben Bova, Jane Yolen, and Dan Simmons. During the school year, I am an English lecturer at Saint Anselm College, where I teach writing and literature.

I've lectured widely on topics such as the latest scientific discoveries and their implications, the relationship between science and science fiction, the writing process, and the publishing industry. I've spoken at venues as varied as the Smithsonian Institute, the United States Air Force Revolutionary Technologies Division, the American Chemical Society, Dartmouth College, the Intel International Science Fair, the Discovery Channel, the Sci-Fi Channel, the History Channel, Turner Entertainment, the Art Bell radio program, and many others.