ASIMOV, Janet (Opal Jeppson)

(1926-)

   US psychoanalyst and writer, married to Isaac ASIMOV from 1973 until his death in 1992; she signed her early books J.O.Jeppson. She began to publish sf, most of it for children, with The Second Experiment (1974) as Jeppson, as were The Last Immortal (1980) and The Mysterious Cure, and Other Stories of Pshrinks Anonymous (coll 1985), the latter comprising comical tales of psychiatry. As JA, and in collaboration with Isaac Asimov, she wrote the Norby Chronicles, a sequence of tales for younger readers about a ROBOT and the scrapes it gets into: Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot (1983) and Norby's Other Secret (1984), both assembled as The Norby Chronicles (omni 1986); plus Norby and the Lost Princess (1985) and Norby and the Invaders (1985), both assembled as Norby: Robot for Hire (omni 1987); plus Norby and the Queen's Necklace (1986) and Norby Finds a Villain (1987), both assembled as Norby through Time and Space (omni 1988); plus Norby Down to Earth (1988), Norby and Yobo's Great Adventure (1989), Norby and the Oldest Dragon (1990) and Norby and the Court Jester (1991). Of greater general interest is her third solo novel, Mind Transfer (1988) as JA, which carries over her interest in robots into an adult tale involving the proposal to gift them with brain structures so sophisticated that human minds can be transferred into the matrix provided. Sex, aliens and interstellar travel supervene, and the nature of human identity is explored with some panache. Other works: Laughing Space: Funny Science Fiction Chuckled Over (anth 1982) as Jeppson with Isaac Asimov; How to Enjoy Writing: A Book of Aid and Comfort (1987) with Isaac Asimov.