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Ask the Author
There are a few questions every author
is asked, and a few more unique to my work. Here are some of the
questions, with answers. Feel free to e-mail me yours.
Q
Where do you get
your ideas?
A
Ideas come from everywhere, and nowhere. Sometimes they come from
staring at a blank screen. More often they come while I'm doing
something physical, like walking, or driving, or folding laundry, something
that busies my hands but not my mind. Everything has a story in
it: an unusual character spotted in the grocery store, an overheard
conversation, an image that springs to mind and you wonder what could
be behind it. Once I followed an electrician around my house while
he worked, and just listened to the stories he had to tell (he was a
great storyteller, too.) Everything a writer experiences is material.
Q
When
did you start writing?
A
When my son was little, he preferred
made-up stories to the ones in books, and I got pretty good at making
up stories. I have a half-dozen unpublished children's stories
in my desk. My first book idea came after that. I wrote
three chapters of Sing the Light, and realized I didn't know
how to go on. That sent me to a community college writing course,
and then, luckily for me, on to the Clarion
West Writers Workshop. A year later, in 1994, the novel sold.
Q
Why
do you write science fiction, and isn't that strange for a classical
concert and opera singer?
A
Most writers, I think, write what
they like to read. Since I discovered The Wizard of Oz
in the second grade, I've read mostly fantasy and science fiction.
And think of the operas that are the stuff of fantasy! Rusalka,
Cenerentola, The Magic Flute, Ariadne auf Naxos, Cunning Little Vixen--and
those are just the ones I've sung. But it's a good question, and
I was surprised, myself, when I began to meet professional writers and
editors in the world of science fiction publishing who are avid classical
music fans. A good many of them are more knowledgeable than I.
Three examples are Greg Bear, the great sf writer, whose home
boasts an impressive private collection of classical recordings; Charles
Brown, the publisher of Locus Magazine,
who is particularly interested in American contemporary classical
music; and K.W. Jeter, who, besides being a wonderful writer, speaks
with authority about opera and opera singers.
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Q
How
does an aspiring writer get published?
A
There is no single answer for this
important question, but there are some steps to follow. The first,
and most important, is to write a great book or story; if you're having
trouble with that, I strongly recommend classes, workshops, and subscribing
to publications like Speculations
, a fine magazine about writing and publishing. After you've written
the best piece you can, decide what market it fits (not the other way
around.) If it's a short story, read the short fiction magazines
or anthologies, and get the guidelines for the ones that seem suitable.
If it's a novel, there are two ways to get it published. One is
to submit directly to the publisher; this puts your manuscript in what's
called the slush pile. (There's nothing wrong with the slush pile!
In 2001, one of the Philip K. Dick Award special honorees was published
out of the slush pile.) The second method, and the one I used,
is to acquire an agent and have your agent submit your manuscript.
Visit your local bookstore or library to find books that list agents
and what they're looking for.
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Q
What
do you read?
A
The
answer to this is always changing. At the moment, I'm engrossed
in a wonderful compilation of thoughts from Madeleine L'Engle in a little
book called Madeleine L'Engle {Herself}, dealing with the writing
life, the life of faith, and the Christian as artist. I also try,
mostly in vain, to keep up with my field, but I do read a lot of science
fiction and fantasy. It's important to me to read for pleasure,
so I choose books I expect to enjoy. It seems to me if I stop reading
for pleasure, I may no longer write for pleasure--and then perhaps my
books will lose whatever charm they may have for readers. I also
read Discover Magazine, the science and entertainment sections
of the newspaper, and lots and lots of online newsletters and newsbites.
Recently I joined a bookclub, and that's been great, because it makes
me read out of the genre. I find it interesting, too, to see how
nonwriters react to the books they read.
Q
Recently
I've been asked several times what music I listen
to when I'm writing.
A
The
simple answer is none, usually, because music distracts me when I'm
trying to concentrate on story. But James Schellenberg has done
such an interesting article on music and writers:
Literary Musicians: Scott Mackay and Louise Marley, by James Schellenberg
Lately, though, I've been writing with Howard Shore's symphonic score
of The Lord of the Rings playing softly in the background.
It's so evocative, and after the first hearing, not too distracting!
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you have a question, please send it to Ask
the Author.
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