Timothy Zahn
Biography
Timothy Zahn is seen by many as being the Godfather of the EU, having penned the first post-movie novel, Heir to the Empire, in 1991. He has subsequently gone on to write many more books for the Star Wars universe and has contributed greatly to the ever expanding time-line. Indeed his primary character, Mara Jade, has become the most popular EU character and often springs up on many lists of favourite Star Wars characters - beating many of George Lucas' creations!
Timothy Zahn was born in Chicago in 1951 and grew up in the western suburb of Lombard. He attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, earning a B.S. degree in physics in 1973, and moved to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, for graduate work. He earned an M.S. degree there, also in physics, in 1975, and continued work toward a doctorate. Also in 1975, he began a new hobby: writing science fiction.
At first a strictly spare-time avocation, over the next three years he gradually began to give more time to it, until he sold his first story in December 1978 ("Ernie," Analog, September 1979). Still working toward an eventual career in physics, he occasionally contemplated taking a year off after getting his doctorate, a grand experiment to see just how far his writing could take him. That year arrived earlier than he'd expected. In July 1979, his thesis adviser died suddenly of a heart attack -- ironically, the same day Zahn received word that his second story had been bought by Analog.
With three years of work on his thesis project effectively wiped out, he worked for another semester on a new project, trying to drum up enthusiasm for it. But by that time writing had become far more interesting to him than physics and so, in January 1980, he left the university and began the grand experiment.
With his wife of five months, Anna, working full-time to support them, Zahn produced eighteen stories that first year, bringing in just over $2000. As he'd originally set himself a goal of $1000 for the year, he decided to declare the experiment a success. From then on it was less a question of whether he could eventually earn a living writing as it was when that point would be reached - which was 1984.