Born in 1951, Barbara Hambly is a native Californian, though she spent a year of college at the University of Bordeaux, France.   She attended University of California, Riverside, obtaining both a Master's Degree in Medieval History and a black belt in karate, both of which have been equally useful in the writing of fantasy novels.   She has taught High School, assisted aerospace engineers with their grammar, modeled, and clerked at an all-night liquor-store; she has written horror, fantasy, science fiction, comic books, historical whodunnits, and scripts for Saturday morning cartoon shows.   In her spare time she sews, does carpentry, hikes, and dances.   She is a widow who lives in Los Angeles.