Pat Murphy (1955 - ) Patrice Ann Murphy was born in Washington in 1955, and is an award-winning American science writer and author of science fiction and fantasy novels. Her second novel, The Falling Woman (1986), won the Nebula Award, and she also won a Nebula Award in the same year for her novelette, 'Rachel in Love.' Her short story collection, Points of Departure (1990) won the Philip K. Dick Award, and her 1990 novella, 'Bones', won the World Fantasy Award in 1991. She lives in San Francisco.