‘‘I was also very disturbed by what was going on in our country post 9/11. There’s a long history of using horror as a means of talking about present-day scenarios. Rod Serling did it a lot on The Twilight Zone. I wanted to talk about post-9/11 America, and as I was watching terrible things happen I thought, ‘Why is everybody rolling over and playing dead about this?’
‘‘I began to do some preliminary research on the 1920s and I saw these overlapping parallels between what had happened then and what happened after 9/11. Post-WWI, there were anarchist bombings, the Red Scare, the rounding up and deporting of ‘undesirables,’ and the rise of evangelicalism – radio evangelists like Billy Sunday, Aimee Semple McPherson, etc. There was the Scopes trial, which represented so much, too, and Sacco and Vanzetti, the labor struggles. There was just so much! We don’t learn anything.
‘‘I think of writing novels much like I’m putting on a play. The director has to think about set design and lighting design and how those elements reinforce everything else. I think that’s one of the reasons all my books are different, too. If you’re writing in the 1920s, it’s inherently different from writing about Victorian England, or wild faux James Bond novels set on an island. It’s all about finding the tone that is right for that particular book.
‘‘I was in New York during 9/11. In fact, I had signed the contract for my first book on September 10, 2011, so the next morning was supposed to be my first day to work on the book. My son was at preschool, and the radio was on, and there were reports about planes crashing into the World Trade Center, and it was just so incomprehensible. When I came outside, I saw the huge scar, the black smoke. I live in Brooklyn. I went home and my husband Barry had the TV on. We went up to our roof, and there were papers blowing all around. And afterward the smell, the constant smell. I remember walking down Sixth Avenue and seeing all the flyers plastered everywhere, ‘Missing, Have you Seen?’ It was like having your heart ripped out every time. I remember crossing Sixth Avenue and there were stickers on this rusted-out dumpster, and they said, ‘I will not be terrorized.’ Then the attack became this justification for all kinds of terrible things. And the commercializing of it as well – ‘We Will Never Forget’ T-shirts and cups and hats. I thought, ‘Jesus, really? If this isn’t a horror story, I don’t know what is.’
‘‘I was under contract for A Great and Terrible Beauty at the time, and that very much became a trilogy about war, and the costs of war. Then I wrote Going Bovine, and finished it in 2008. It was also about current events – Guantanamo, the election. Obama was running, and I was watching the racism start to seep through the cracks in really ugly ways. I had an overseas tour, and my German publisher brought me over for the Frankfurt Book Fair, my first time in Germany. Of course it was the election cycle, and all the German teenagers wanted to talk about was what was going on in my country. I had to talk the election and engage in a way that really brought up a lot of feelings for me as an American – I had this crisis of confidence in my American identity. On the one hand, I’d gone to Philadelphia, I’d stood in Independence Hall, I’d seen all these great monuments… and on the other we had Abu Ghraib. But the more you dive into history, the more you see our country has always been conflicted. This is not new.
‘‘I wanted to be a playwright, so I had moved to New York with delusions of grandeur. I thought, ‘I will be the next Edward Albee.’ I went to New York with no job and $600 in my shoe, because I heard that muggers don’t look in your shoes. (I’m not kidding, I read that somewhere in an article.) If you look up playwright in the dictionary it says, ‘See professional masochist (also broke).’ So I worked in publishing, worked in advertising. I was always working these writing jobs, I wrote copy for Richard Simmons. He is exactly the same in person as he seems on TV. He always wears those shorts – it’ll be 40 below and he’ll be wearing the shorts. He was very good to me. I learned to channel the works of Richard Simmons. It’s my party trick.
‘‘I had all of these jobs and I was still trying to write plays, I’d have a million readings, or somebody would say, ‘We’re looking at it for this festival’ and then, nope. It was just demoralizing. I had a piece in the New York Fringe festival. I worked very hard on that, tried to help clean up the theatres and all that stuff. The reviewer from The New York Times came to my show, and the review was only three sentences but it was the most damning three sentences. Excoriating. Barry read it before I did. I said, ‘Oh I should get the paper.’ And he said, ‘No!’ Like he was taking a bullet for the president. I thought, ‘That can not be good.’ When I came into the theatre that night, the people moved away from me when I walked in, as if someone in my family had died. Needless to say, I was rather devastated. The critic was absolutely right. The review said my piece was mawkish, maudlin, self indulgent, and stupid. Other than that, the lighting was fine. I didn’t know the meaning of the word ‘mawkish,’ so I had to look it up. Bonus new vocabulary word. The silver lining is a garrote wire one can use to strangle oneself.
‘‘Barry was the one who said to me, ‘I think you could write YA.’ When I wrote, I often gravitated toward the teenage characters. He started giving me all this YA to read. YA as a category didn’t exist when I was growing up – you went straight into the classics: Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar, A Separate Peace, all the adolescent coming of age novels. I started reading all of this great stuff Barry gave me – Francesca Lia Block’s Weezie Bat, which I adore, and Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas, who went on to create Veronica Mars. One of my favorites. I thought, ‘This is amazing. I want to do this.’ And then I proceeded to write the worst YA novel ever. So that was what really got me into it.
‘‘How I got into writing, in general, was that I had never thought about getting into writing. I was always writing, though. Three weeks after I graduated high school, I had a very serious car accident, which I was lucky to live through. I spent two weeks in intensive care. The wreck demolished my face and I lost my left eye, so I insisted on going to college in the fall, which was probably not a smart idea. Of course then it all hit me, and the depression ensued. I just felt completely broken. I was so despondent I was suicidal. The only thing that kept me alive was that as a high school graduation gift, someone had given me this little yellow journal and I began to write down everything in it.
‘‘That, and I would I would listen to side four of Quadrophenia. Music has power. I got a chance to meet Pete Townsend when he was speaking at the New York Public Library in October. I got his book and I was going through the signing line. The whole time, because he was so influential, I was thinking, ‘He helped save my life. What am I going to say for that 1.5 seconds that I’ve got for him to sign his name?’ I got up there and stuck out my hand and said, ‘Hi. When I was 18 years old you saved my life. Thank you very much.’ He was very gracious.
‘‘It took me a while to get serious about writing. I fought it. I went to UT in Austin. I wanted to be a radio/TV/film major, to write for television. But I loved theatre so much I ended up transferring. I knew I wanted to do some kind of writing, but it took me a while to realize what it was. I remember a friend of mine, Christopher, saying to me, ‘If you got serious, and made writing your life’s work, this is what you could do.’ I thought, ‘I’m not good enough to do this, I’ll never be good enough to do this.’ I still feel that way. But they’re paying me. Joke’s on them.
‘‘There was a young woman who wrote to me, she was going to graduate, and she wanted to study voice. Her father said, ‘No, you need to go to an Ivy League school and become a professor.’ Her father said she could ask three people for advice: her voice teacher, her guidance counselor, and her favorite author. Her voice teacher said that she should go abroad to study voice, and her guidance counselor said, ‘You should do what makes your father happy.’ She said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Your guidance counselor is a clueless asshole.’ I made a blog post about it with her permission, because she raised a very good question.
‘‘I’ve h
ad a lot of LGBT teen readers who talk about the stories that are meaningful to them, because they support their identity, and they thank me for those. I’ve also had readers who are very displeased with me for various things, especially with the way I ended the Gemma Doyle trilogy. My favorite was the girl who wrote to me about the ending of The Sweet Far Thing. She said, ‘I know why you did it. You are an eco-friendly fembot who survives on the tears of teen girls. With the tears I have shed, you will live forever.’ I’m totally embroidering that on a pillow. That is awesome.
‘‘I’m always charmed and moved by my teenage readers. They’re so smart, and I was such an idiot when I was young. Before I went to UT, I got way screwed up at a party. I did a lot of cocaine, followed it with some White Russians, decided that it would be fun to dance on the bar, and neglected to note the metal ceiling fan coming around. It sliced through my head like something in a Peckinpaw film. A friend of mine was coming back from a gig, saw it happen, and said, ‘We’ve got to take you to the ER.’ And I was like, ‘I’m fine.’ He said, ‘No you have to go.’ We got there, and the doctor on call said, ‘All right, sweetheart, you need to tell me everything you’re on.’ I was cheerfully cataloging it all, and he said, ‘Okay, here’s the deal. I can’t give you any painkiller because you’re too high. And I’m going to need to put 25 stitches in your forehead. But I don’t think you’re going to feel it.’ And I didn’t. The next day when I sobered up and went back to my mother, I said, ‘I’ve gotta get out of here. I need to go to the University of Texas.’ And that was a very good move. My readers are so much more together, and even when they feel like they’re not together, they’re so much more in tune with who they are than I was. It’s wonderful.’’
–Libba Bray
Return to In This Issue listing.
PEOPLE AND PUBLISHING
MILESTONES
ALEX BLEDSOE, 50, suffered a minor heart attack on February 23, 2013 – ‘‘minor, in the sense that getting crushed by a one-ton boulder is minor compared to getting crushed by a ten-ton boulder. I was rushed to surgery, my pipes were cleaned out and reinforced, and… I feel fine.’’
Alex Bledsoe (2010)
KIM THOMPSON, 56, of Fantagraphics Books has been diagnosed with lung cancer, though he does not yet know how severe it is. ‘‘I’m relatively young and (otherwise) in good health, and my hospital is top-flight, so I’m hopeful and confident that we will soon have the specifics narrowed down, set me up with a course of treatment, proceed, and lick this thing.’’ His partner at Fantagraphics Gary Groth and other employees will handle his responsibilities there for now.
Editor, author, and fan PAUL WILLIAMS, 64, entered hospice care in February. He suffers from early-onset dementia, likely a result of the brain trauma he suffered in a 1995 bicycle accident.
AWARDS
GINJER BUCHANAN and the late CARL SAGAN are this year’s recipients of the Solstice Award, created in 2008 and given at the discretion of the SFWA president with the majority approval of the Board of Directors to individuals who have had ‘‘a significant impact on the science fiction or fantasy landscape, and is particularly intended for those who have consistently made a major, positive difference within the speculative fiction field.’’ The awards will be presented during the Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose CA, May 16-19, 2013.
Solstice Winners Ginjer Buchanan (2011) and Carl Sagan (1970s)
BOOKS SOLD
JIM BUTCHER sold Cinder Spires and two more in a new fantasy series to Anne Sowards at Roc via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
JAMES MORROW sold a short novel to Jacob Weisman at Tachyon via Emma Patterson of Brandt & Hochman.
CHERIE PRIEST’s Maplecroft, which the author describes as ‘‘Lizzie Borden fighting Cthulhu with an ax,’’ and a second book sold to Anne Sowards at Roc via Jennifer Jackson at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. She sold YA I Am Princess X to Cheryl Klein at Scholastic via Jackson.
ELIZABETH BEAR’s fantasy Western Karen Memory sold to Beth Meacham at Tor via Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.
NISI SHAWL sold steampunk novel Everfair to James Frenkel at Tor.
BEN WINTERS sold the third book in the Last Policeman trilogy to Jason Rekulak at Quirk Books via Joelle Delbourgo of Joelle Delbourgo Associates.
GAIE SEBOLD’s Shanghai Sparrow, first in a new steampunk series, went to Solaris US and UK via John Jarrold.
KELLY McCULLOUGH sold the fifth and sixth books in the Fallen Blade series to Anne Sowards at Ace via Jack Byrne of Sternig & Byrne Literary Agency.
Bestselling Indian author AMISH TRIPATHI, who writes as AMISH, sold South Asian rights to his new trilogy for a record 50 million rupees (about $900,000) to Westland Books, an English-language publisher in India.
GARY GIBSON sold books one and two of Touring the Apocalypse, and delivered Marauder, to Bella Pagan at Tor UK via Dorothy Lumley of Dorian Literary Agency.
ILONA & ANDREW GORDON, writing as ILONA ANDREWS, sold three books in a new fantasy series about a ‘‘tough female PI’’ in a setting where ‘‘paranormally-enhanced modern Medici-like dynasties’’ run the world, to Erika Tsang at Avon via Nancy Yost of Nancy Yost Literary Agency.
JOHN GLASBY’s Mythos trilogy, The Coming of Cthuga, Dawn of the Old Ones, and Dark Armageddon, sold to Centipede Press via Phil Harbottle on behalf of the Glasby estate. Dwellers in Darkness and Other Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos and The Gods of Fear and Other Dark Entities went to Ramble House via Harbottle.
AVERY HASTINGS sold Feuds, first in epic SF series with ‘‘echoes of Romeo & Juliet and Gattaca,’’ plus a second book and an e-book novella, to Jennifer Weis at St. Martin’s for six figures in a pre-empt via Stephen Barbara and Rachel Hecht at Foundry Literary + Media on behalf of Paper Lantern Lit.
PHILIP E. HIGH’s collection Guilty as Charged went to Borgo Books via Phil Harbottle on behalf of High’s estate.
TIM WAGGONER sold an urban fantasy duology starting with Night Terrors to Lee Harris at Angry Robot via Cherry Weiner of the Cherry Weiner Literary Agency.
GLENDA LARKE sold the Sorcery and Spice fantasy trilogy, beginning with The Lascar’s Dagger, to Jenni Hill at Orbit via Dorothy Lumley of Dorian Literary Agency.
MATT FORBECK’s Loot Drop sold to James Frenkel at Tor.
DAVID WONG sold novels Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits and John Dies at the End III to Pete Wolverton of Thomas Dunne Books via Scott Miller of Trident Media Group.
JON SPRUNK’s The Book of the Black Earth quartet – Blood and Iron, Temple of the Sun, Gods of Earth and Sky, and The Hallows of the Night – sold to Lou Anders at Pyr via Eddie Schneider of JABberwocky Literary Agency.
Nisi Shawl (2011)
PETER CLINE sold four books in the Ex-Heroes series about superheroes in a zombie apocalypse to Julian Pavia at Broadway via David Fugate at LaunchBooks Literary Agency.
DAVID DALGLISH & ROBERT DUPERRE sold fantasy trilogy The Breaking World to David Pomerico at 47North via Michael Carr of Veritas.
JEFF SOMERS begins a new urban fantasy series with Trickster, sold to Adam Wilson at Pocket at auction via Janet Reid of FinePrint Literary Management.
TINA CONNOLLY sold the last book in the Ironskin trilogy and YA Seriously Wicked to Melissa Frain at Tor via Ginger Clark at Curtis Brown.
ERIKA JOHANSEN’s fantasy trilogy Queen of the Tearling – ‘‘a female-oriented Game of Thrones’’ – sold to Maya Ziv and Jonathan Burnham at Harper for a reported seven-figure pre-empt via Dorian Karchmar of William Morris Endeavor.
NEIL WILLIAMSON sold The Moon King to Ian Whates at Newcon Press via John Jarrold.
YASMINE GALENORN sold three new Otherworld novels, a novella, and two books in new spin-off series Fly By Night, to Kate Seaver at Berkley via Meredith Bernstein of Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency.
LEXI GEORGE sold book four in the Demon Hunter series, Demon Hunting with a Dixie Deb, and two more installments, to Alicia Condon at
Kensington via Jill Marr of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
EDMUND GLASBY’s collection The Ash Murders sold to Borgo Press via Phil Harbottle.
ANTHONY A. GLUNN’s collection Mystery in Moon Lane went to Borgo Books via Phi Harbottle.
MATTHEW QUINN MARTIN sold thriller Nightlife to Parisa Zolfaghari and Abby Zidle at Pocket Star via Barbara Poelle of Irene Goodman Agency.
BETSY FRANCO sold Naked, about Rodin’s muse Camille Claudel coming back to life in 2008, to Ben LeRoy at Tyrus Books with Robyn Russell of Working Title to edit via Amy Rennert of the Amy Rennert Agency.
JUSTIN ROBINSON’s dark fantasy City of Devils sold to Kate Sullivan at Candlemark & Gleam.
SONYA CLARK sold Freaktown to Angela James at Carina Press.
JEFFE KENNEDY sold two books in the Covenant of Thorns series to Angela James at Carina Press via Pam van Hylckama Vlieg of Foreword Literary.
MATT ADAMS sold II Crimsonstreak, sequel to superhero novel I, Crimsonstreak, to Kate Sullivan at Candlemark & Gleam.
SAM PATEL’s The Data Runner sold to Mary Cummings at Diversion Books.
JOSHUA ROOT sold urban fantasy Undead Chaos and a second book to Angela James at Carina press via Eric Ruben of The Ruben Agency.
CHRISTINE FEEHAN sold three novels in the Dark series and one in the Sisters of the Heart series to Cindy Hwang at Penguin via Steven Axelrod of the Axelrod Agency.
DONNA GRANT sold two more Dark Kings paranormal romance novels to Monique Patterson at St. Martin’s via Louise Fury at L. Perkins Agency.
T.J. BENNETT’s paranormal romance Dark Angel – ‘‘Beauty and the Beast meets Lost’’ – went to Liz Pelletier at Entangled via Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency.
CHRISTINE D’ABO’s steampunk romance Shadowbox and a second book sold to Latoya Smith at Forever Yours via Courtney Miller-Callihan at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.
Locus, April 2013 Page 2
