Awakenings - A superb debut

Awakenings
Edward Lazellari
Tor 2011


Review by Clare Deming


Awakenings is the debut novel by Edward Lazellari, and although it is filled with many classic fantasy elements, it approaches these in a unique way. Cal MacDonnell is a policeman in New York City, happily married, with a five-year-old daughter and another child on the way. However, his life is marred by frightening and sad dreams and the amnesia he suffers. He cannot remember anything prior to thirteen years ago, when he was found inexplicably wandering in a field. Even so, his life has been otherwise normal and there is little to suggest the truth about his forgotten past.

On a routine nighttime call, Cal and his partner pursue a suspect only to fall into an ambush by a troll, a giant, and a vicious swordsman. Faced with these impossible monsters, he begins to remember pieces of his shattered past. Cal is a reluctant hero, and as he learns more about his memories, they bring him into conflict with the new life he has established since his amnesia. Even his wife and child may stand in the way of his former life's goals, but as he remembers his true identity, he cannot completely resist those older responsibilities.

There are several plot lines in this book, and the second most important one is that of Seth Raincrest, a down-on-his-luck photographer with an abrasive disposition who became my favorite character of the bunch. Seth's problems begin when an eccentric and beautiful woman arrives at his apartment. She claims that they went to school together, but Seth has the same problem as Cal - he has no memory of anything prior to a fire that killed his parents thirteen years ago. Irritated, but also intrigued, Seth goes along with the woman, Lelani, and this soon brings them to the rescue of Cal and his wife and child.

The final two storylines follow the antagonist, Dorn, and a teenager in foster care, Daniel. All these different plot threads are woven together a bit at a time until a picture of the entire situation starts to emerge. The manner in which this story is approached is unique. I mean at its heart, it really is a tale in which the succession of an alternate world fantasy kingdom is in dispute. However, by looking at things from our world, from the point-of-view of characters that have lost all memories of the situation there, it lends the trope a fresh perspective.

The antagonists are ruthless and terrifying and have the advantage that they know who they are and why they need to act. However, they were ill-prepared to travel to our world, while Cal and Seth have lived here for thirteen years. I liked the way the truth emerged to Cal and Seth, and I also felt like they acted in a realistic fashion for people who have had their lives thrust into such chaos.

I enjoyed most of this book, but by the time I neared the end, it was obvious that this was only the first book in a series. I had hoped to see Daniel's storyline merge with the rest, and it never did. His story felt isolated by this, but from the rest of the book I can easily see where he fits in. The action did lead up to a pivotal confrontation at the end, with particularly interesting magic, but just don't expect too much to be resolved at the conclusion. That being said, this was a fun book and I'll be looking out for information on when the next volume will be available.

The Hum and Shiver - Yeah, you will

The Hum and the Shiver
By Alex Bledsoe
TOR 2011

Reviewed by Deirdre M. Murphy

As we meet Bronwyn Hyatt, she is returning home to Needsville, Tennessee to a war hero’s welcome. Bronwyn is not excited about this. The crowds waiting to greet her are strangers. She can’t remember what she’d done to earn it, or even, she muses, if she’d done anything at all. Still, she goes through the motions, riding the ludicrous vehicle they provide for her trip between plane and podium, and giving the speech her superiors have approved. Then she heads home, where she can finally rest and heal from her many injuries.

Home, where in many ways things are as they always have been, but where a haint waits to speak with her, and where omens of death have been disturbing the family’s peace of mind. Bronwyn returns to her childhood home and greets her family. Before they leave her alone, her youngest brother brings Magda, her beloved mandolin, to her. She plucks the strings—it’s been tuned for her—she raises it into position, and she stops. For the first time she realizes the concussion she suffered stole more than the memory of her alleged heroism and subsequent captivity. Her head injury stole something much more precious. It stole her music, which for a first daughter of the Tufa is a far more devastating injury than the loss of a leg would have been.

That first night, when the haint comes, she sends it away. She is tired from her wounds and from her trip home, and discouraged by her inability to play. This leads to a confrontation with her mother the next day. Her mother says, “…as far as I’m concerned, you’ve spent the last two years playacting, and now that you’re home where your real work is, you’re trying to avoid it.” This raises the question of what her mother thinks her real work is. It’s clearly a matter that is rooted in her Tufa heritage.

So, who are the Tufa? Everyone agrees that they are an obscure, dark-skinned ethnic group that was settled in the Appalachian mountains before the first white man came, and no one suggests they’re American Indians, despite the long, straight black hair. The music is all tied into it—all of the full-blood Tufa are musicians, and their neighbors say they sing strange, spooky songs.

The Hum and the Shiver follows Bronwyn and her family as Bronwyn tries to recover from her head injury and they try to face—or prevent—the death that looms over the family. It also follows Minister Craig Chess, whose church is being built just over the county line and who is good-naturedly working in the community to serve the people who live in his parish, even though he has been told the mysterious Tufa are not churchgoers. We also meet other interesting characters who are clearly more than extras—Bronwyn’s family, of course; Don Swayback, a reporter with Tufa blood whose editor wants an interview with Bronwyn; Dwayne Gitterman, Bronwyn’s former boyfriend; and Officer Bob Pafford, who once arrested Bronwyn and Dwayne, and who thinks he knows exactly who the Tufa are (and has no use for any of them).

The mystery of the Tufa identity—who they were, who they are, and who they should be in the future—is central to this book and to Bronwyn’s story. The Hum and the Shiver reads like listening to a folksong or a symphony. It is an engrossing modern-day not-so-urban fantasy adventure, slowly revealing a magic as unforgettable as a fiddle tune and as sweet as a minor seventh chord. If you’re anything like me, the magic in this book will stay with you long after you turn the last page.

Tempest Rising scores a thumbs up

Tempest Rising
by Nicole Peeler
Orbit 2009

Review by Deirdre Murphy

In Tempest Rising, the first book in an ongoing series by Nicole Peeler, Jane True is something of a pariah in her small Maine town. Her mother arrived in Rockabill during a winter storm, walking down the road stark naked. She disappeared when Jane was six. Jane's dark history, which takes her a while to fully reveal, is already known to the town folk. In addition, she’s not quite normal:

It was all I could do to get through the meal without banging down my fork and running off into the night like some maenad. I was still so angry from my biweekly run-in with Linda that I was short-tempered with my father. Which made me feel guilty, which made me feel frustrated, which made me feel even more angry…

When I got like that, only a swim helped.

And if any old swim was therapeutic, a swim during a storm was better than Prozac.

Jane goes off to swim naked after dinner on a stormy November night (remember, this is Maine), near the very strong whirlpool called “The Sow.” The Sow’s deadly currents and the “piglets”, smaller, spin-off whirlpools created by The Sow, are Rockabill’s main claim to tourist fame. While swimming, Jane finds a body of a man who is, like herself, half-human (though she doesn’t know that yet). She learns this part of her heritage for the first time the next day, when strange beings tell her that her mother (whereabouts unknown) is a selkie, and she should expect a supernatural investigator to show up asking questions

The man who shows up the next day glamours her big-city boss, Grizelda, at the bookstore into believing he’s a friend of Jane’s from college. He doesn’t magically befuddle Jane’s brain like he did to Grizelda, but Jane notices (aloud, to her dismay) that he’s hot—really hot—er, really good looking. He also has sharp, sexy teeth. He insists on questioning her over dinner, in Rockabill’s one year-round restaurant, The Trough. (All of Rockabill’s potential tourist attractions are named with a pig theme, thanks to the afore-mentioned whirlpool.)

There’s plenty of both action and romance, all in Jane’s own words. I enjoyed Jane’s sense of humor throughout, despite the fact that a lot of humor falls flat for me. Overall, I very much enjoyed the book, although the first chapter is slow enough that I told the author (aloud, knowing she couldn’t possibly hear me from the “throne room” in my house), “I get that Jane doesn’t fit in small town Rockabill, get on with it!” But once the story got going, it kept on strong, alternately making me laugh and hold my breath, wondering how Jane was going to survive.

I won Tempest Rising in a random online contest for which I picked out books by five authors who are new to me. So far, the books I’ve received from that contest, sponsored by urban fantasy authors, are urban fantasy/romance crossovers, and of the three that have arrived so far, Tempest Rising is the best.

There is a teaser from Tracking the Tempest in the back of the book, and two more titles, Tempest’s Legacy and Eye of the Tempest, are listed in the front. For more information you can visit Peeler's website.

Greatshell writes Mad Skills with, well, mad skills

I raced through Mad Skills like a madwoman. What a fun ride through the looking glass. Young Madeleine Grant goes from average teenager struggling to fit in, to vegetable to government experiment with "mad skills" in a very short period of time. Who can be more vulnerable than someone who is trapped in a body with a damaged brain, who is unable to process her surroundings and voice her needs? Scientists use experimental technology to literally hardwire Maddy's brain. But now that she's part tech and the creators are monitoring their tech, what's next? What's real? How can you tell with someone feeding ideas into your head?

Maddy has her faculties back and then some. The speed at which she analyzes a situation and uses raw materials at hand to build a solution makes MacGyver look like an idiot.

Maddy goes back to school after her operation. News crews show up to see the spectacle. After having her Dad drop her around the corner, she gets to work.

As soon as he was out of sight, she walked to a nearby convenience store and browsed the automotive shelves. Making chemical connections in her head, she bought various items and took them behind the store, where she fashioned a peculiar device out of plastic bottles and volatile compounds. It looked like a toy spaceship. The warhead was a can of degreaser with a steel penetrator made from a lug bolt. It took a few minutes to assemble everything, then she had to hurry with it down the street -- she didn't want to be late for school.

A few blocks over, she found what she was looking for: a clear view of the local TV news affiliate. Estimating trajectory, she angled the device just right and lit it off. It went shoosh! and streaked upward, arcing high over the town common. A second later, there was a crash and a puff of flame -- the station's big satellite dish was on fire. People came out, yelling and screaming, and in minutes the news trucks started showing up.

Maddy passed them going the other way. The front of the school was clear of media people. She slipped onto campus unnoticed, grateful that she hadn't missed the bell.

But her functioning brain has come with a price. Not least of which is her freedom. Still in the balance is her sanity. What's with that talking raccoon, anyway? The more she learns of the project and it's goals, the more the carpet is pulled out from under her. She has no one left to trust.

Greatshell's pacing is excellent. And he manages to introduce boy to girl without things getting all mushy and complicated. Maddy has complications in abundance. And what do you do when you find out you're a lab rat and there are lots of other lab rats like you? What do you do when people you've trusted aren't who you thought they were? Read Mad Skills to find out what Maddy does. You won't be disappointed.

It was a real treat to chat with Walter about Mad Skills, his Xombie books and writing.

AW: You wrote a very convincing female protagonist. And I'm sure those in your Xombie novels are equally well-rendered. Maybe I should ask your wife this next question. Do you seek female input or are you really that good?

WG: My wife says, "He's strongly in touch with his feminine side." Which is funny, since I look like a Mack truck. But any little boy who loves books more than sports can't help but feel a certain kinship with girls, who tend to be the most ferocious early readers and writers. And I was raised by a single woman, so that probably helped.

AW: Okay, what's a Xombie?

WG: A Xombie is a person who has been infected by Maenad Cytosis, the disease called Agent X, which attacks the X chromosome and turns women into unstoppable killing (or rather, infecting) machines.

AW: How do they spread it?

WG: By suffocating their victims--either by strangling, or by literally sucking the breath from their lungs. Agent X doesn't work in the presence of oxygen molecules. The O2 has to first be evacuated from the victim's body.

It's a real "kiss of death". My idea was to create a situation where women were the aggressors, and no man was safe. They call it Sadie Hawkins' Massacre.

AW: Who do you credit with nurturing your unique sense of humor?

WG: My sense of humor probably comes from being a bit of a class clown all through school. I liked being a ham, and also loved reading my stories in class.

AW: Have you ever had your sense of humor get you in trouble?

WG: A few times, yeah. I remember once I was being disciplined in front of my 2nd grade class, and I made goofy faces behind the teacher's back--the class cracked up. But then I got caught, and got slapped with a ruler. The good old days...

AW: Mad Skills is a far cry from your usual satirical horror. You seem to be diversifying. What else can we look forward to?

WG: I have a bunch of different books in various stages of development. A Godzilla-like satire about a man who grows to giant size, called Enormity [original title still listed on website is The Leaf Blower]. A steampunk type story about girl flyers at the dawn of aviation. Also a horror novel about a voodoo-type cult on an island (Catalina Island, actually), called Terminal Island.

AW: What genres do you read?

WG: Everything! Lately, a lot of nonfiction. I just read a bio of William Golding, which made me buy his sea trilogy To the Ends of the Earth. But I grew up on all the science fiction greats, as well as Stephen King.

AW: Where did the idea for Mad Skills come from?

WG: Mad Skills was my attempt to do a psycho-thriller in the vein of The Stepford Wives or Coma. That kind of paranoia thriller that was so popular in the '70s. I also am a fan of Dickey's book Deliverance, and always wanted to do that kind of suspense. My agent suggested I work on something in the urban fantasy genre, and Mad Skills was what I came up with. Actually, once I had the rough idea for the novel, it sort of wrote itself. That doesn't happen often, so it was nice.

AW: In Mad Skills, did you ever get tangled up in your layers? How did you keep track of it all?

WG: I just took a lot of notes on scraps of paper--I have a very cluttered type of organization...but it seems to work.

AW: Will there be a sequel?

WG: I'm in the middle of writing a sequel right now, which I think is going to be great. I'm incredibly excited about it, but I can't give anything away because it's too early in the process...but it'll be good.

AW: Woo Hoo! Make sure I get an ARC. :)

WG: Actually I had an earlier idea for the sequel, which would have been kind of an international spy thriller type thing. But this new idea is much better. And of course you'll get the first ARC!

AW: Do you do conventions?

WG: I've just started. I went to Thrillerfest last year, and I've been to Comic Con a few times, and intend to go again. It's fun, but I'm still too obscure a writer to really be able to greet the fans. Hopefully that will change.

I love meeting people and talking about my work--it's a rare treat for me.

AW: Did you have one big break that got you going? Many authors have a dumb luck story about how they found an agent.

WG: I sold my first novel, Xombies, back in 2004. That was an incredible experience: I had been working the night shift at a submarine plant, and the idea occurred to me that people could escape a zombie-type epidemic aboard a nuclear sub.

So I talked to my wife about it, and she agreed that I should take the time to write it. I quit my job, and a year later I had a book called Dead Sea.

I sent it to several agents, and one of them agreed to rep me. He sent it to an editor at Berkley, and they immediately bought it.

AW: That's awesome!

WG: Then I sold nothing for the next five years! But I wrote the whole time, and suddenly out of nowhere, Berkley contacted me again about doing a Xombies series--three books plus Mad Skills.

Editor Ellen Datlow, Anthology Queen

As promised, meet Ellen Datlow, editor of numerous anthologies, winner of almost as many awards and champion of excellent speculative fiction in all its various genres. Last weekend, she won --and not for the first time -- a Hugo for Best Editor - Short Fiction.

AW: You are, without a doubt, the Anthology Queen. How many have you edited now? What do you think is the secret to your success?

ED: I’ve lost count, but I’ve edited 21 YBFH [Year's Best Fantasy and Horror] and two Best Horror reprint anthologies so that’s 23 right there. I only propose anthologies on themes in which I have an interest. If I don’t feel strongly about something I’m editing I couldn’t do a good job. As an editor I buy the stories that I love—I entertain myself first and hopefully my taste coincides with the readers’. Some of my anthologies sell better than others. I don’t believe it’s a difference in quality but what hits the zeitgeist at the right time. I’ve anthologies about which I felt very strongly that sold terribly but I’m still glad I was able to sell and edit them (although the publishers might not have felt that way).

AW: SciFiction was a treasure trove. Do you see yourself ever getting involved with an online magazine again? What were the greatest challenges?

ED: Thanks. Sure, if I was offered a job. However, the weekly aspect of online webzines is exhausting and I’d hope that if I worked on a webzine again I’d have a managing editor and someone to assist me more. Buying and editing the fiction, doing all the administration, working with the copy editor and proofreader and the in-house production department is a lot for one person.

AW: You are tied, with co-editor Terri Windling, as the recipient of the most World Fantasy Awards in the organization's history. Your list of horror awards is becoming equally impressive. And more recently, you won, once again, the Hugo for Best Editor - Short Fiction. You seem at home in all three genres. Which is your favorite and why?

ED: I love all three equally. In fact, I’d love to sell more mixed-genre anthologies like The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy—I love working on more than one project at a time—often in different genres—I can refresh my palate by spending a certain amount of time reading submissions in sf/fantasy, or horror.

AW: Which of your anthologies is nearest and dearest to your heart and why?

ED: That would be like picking one favorite child over another, although I probably love my solo anthologies more than my collaborations as they’re exclusively my taste—no compromise.

AW: How does your career differ from what you imagined it would be going in? If you had your own personal time machine, would you go back and change anything?

ED: I had no idea how much I would enjoy my career. I feel lucky to have fallen into the best job in the world, doing exactly what I love doing. I would change nothing.

AW: What are your three biggest pet peeves regarding short fiction writing?

ED: Sloppy writing will stop me dead. I don’t think of this as a pet peeve but a judgment call. If a sentence in a story (or novel) stops me dead because its meaning is unclear and/or it stops the flow of the story, to me that’s sloppy. (This goes for experimental as well as non-experimental styles.) The job of the writer is to communicate with her reader.

Writers who send out obvious first drafts.

Writers who think writing good short stories are easy and don’t take the time to hone their craft.

A fourth: stories that are not about anything and leave me wondering, Why did the writer write this? It’s about nothing.

AW: What do you think about steampunk? Will it be a flash in the pan or a major player?

ED: I love reading it, but have been reading it for decades. Nothing particularly new about the sub-genre except that it’s hit the culture, which is fun but not especially pertinent in the long run.

AW: What's your favorite paranormal type of character and why?

ED: I have to say it's a toss up between vampires and ghosts. Both paranormal critters are so versatile that good writers can continue to make up brilliant stories using them. You know the expression "it ain't the meat, it's the motion?" Same thing with tropes and themes in fiction. It ain't the trope or theme that counts, it's what you do with it that matters. Anything old can be made new by the right writer.

AW: What are you working on now?

ED: Best Horror #3, and another YA anthology with Terri Windling. I’m hoping to sell a few more anthologies in the coming months.

AW: Tell me about the books you have coming out in 2011.

ED: In addition to the Best Horror of the Year, volume 3, I have a very big volume of all original urban fantasy stories coming out from St Martin's called Naked City: New Tales of Urban Fantasy. It's my more traditional interpretation of the sub-genre--hearkening back to what the phrase originally meant: fantasy in urban settings.

Teeth, edited by me and Terri Windling, is a YA anthology of vampire stories that will hopefully counter the sparkly vampire syndrome :-). It'll be out from HarperCollins.

Supernatural Noir (title self-explanatory, I think--although it has very few detective stories) will be coming out from Dark Horse.

Blood and Other Cravings is an adult vampirism anthology that is a kind of follow up to my earlier vampirism anthologies Blood is Not Enough and A Whisper of Blood (which are still available in a gorgeous double volume reissued by the Barnes and Noble imprint Fall River Press). B&N is also bringing out a new edition of Terri and my first adult fairy tale anthology, Snow White, Blood Red.

Read more about Ellen Datlow at www.datlow.com.

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Flash fiction sale, hopeful exercises in futility, and sf news

I'm doing the happy dance! I sold a story! That hasn't happened as often this year. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the number of stories I've submitted this year can be counted on one hand. I'm still selling some, which speaks well of my sell-rate. :) You can read "Troll Games" at flashquake now. It's an urban fantasy tale of two young brothers who encounter a troll on a bridge who has come to collect his due.

You might have noticed I have a new page. The cookbook review request was the last straw. I now have a whole page outlining what I will and won't review, who I will interview and what kind of press releases I'd like to see. Just click on the Request Guidelines tab above if you're considering sending something or know someone who would like to send me something. Unfortunately, since I'm some sort of mega reviewer database, I'll get the email without a thought, let alone a visit to my guidelines page. Maybe someone, somewhere will actually update the thing to include a link to my guidelines. I can hope, right?

I don't know if it will make its way to the States, but the lucky sf fans across the pond will be treated to the Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently series - as a series - on BBC4. Way cool! Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently detective novels adapted for TV - Science Fiction World

While browsing through Science Fiction World, I also learned that Lucas reveals Star Wars TV series on hold then gives away half his wealth - Science Fiction World

And here's a peek at a new breed of Monster movie. Now THIS is the request I want. Come on, publicists, don't you see my raised hand? Been a while since I've attended a preview.



And alien invasion...




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J.A. Pitts on writing and going long

John and I met on Facebook. We met in person at World Fantasy Convention last year, where he agreed to this interview. Subsequently, I attended his Birthday Party/Book Launch at Radcon.



I tried to find the time to interview him there, but it was a pretty full weekend. This interview is another first in that I came up with a compromise between calling him and recording the conversation, then transcribing the interview and the usual email drill. What follows is a cleaned up IM interview conducted with Yahoo Instant Messenger. We both had a ball. I think I'll do more of these. It's more organic, but saves me having to transcribe -- every journalist's most dreaded task.

John's a great writer, nice guy and a good sport (We both got roped into a skit for the opening ceremonies at Radcon).

And because I have a thing for firsts, I snapped a picture while John signed the first copy of his first book.










AW: When did you start writing?

JP: Twelve.

AW: Care to elaborate?

JP: Mainly poetry and tall tales, Jack Tales, adventure stories, WWII, mystery.

AW: Who inspired you to do something with your talent?

JP: I guess it started with my great Aunt. She was very country. She married at thirteen and never learned to drive. She worked her whole adult life at the Woolworths. She handed me Burroughs' Martian Chronicles as soon as I was reading chapter books. She would buy me notebooks and pencils when I came over to visit and encourage me to write my own stories.

When I was in 6th grade, a student-teacher took an interest in my writing aspirations. She made me a notebook filled with poetry and story concepts, a learner's guide, as it were.

AW: Nice. When you started writing for money, did you always have it in your mind that you wanted to be a novelist?

JP: Yes and no. I realized that the only way to make a living was a writer is to write novels. But I also thought it was probably too much for me then, so I stuck with short stories for the longest time. I always struggled with the short form: too many plot lines, too many characters for something little. My wife kept trying to convince me to write something that could contain the ideas I had in my head. It was good advice, even if it took me a long time to really hear it. :)

AW: Was it hard to transition from the short form to novels?

JP: Not at all. Quite the opposite. Once I started writing novels I felt like the shackles had been released for the first time. I suddenly had the breadth and freedom to flesh out the worlds I wanted to visit. It was liberating.

AW: When you wrote the story, "Black Blade Blues," had you already determined to write the novel, Black Blade Blues?

JP: No. I wrote it to spec for an anthology. It wasn't until it was reviewed by the editors, Denise Little and Dean Wesley Smith, that I saw the potential for more. I got both "this is a damn good story" and "I'd like to see the novel this will become." Beats what I usually hear, which is "Nice first chapter."

AW: That sounds really familiar. I'm still trying to make my novel ideas into stories. Will you continue to write short stories now that you have novels under contract?

JP: Yes. I have one short being considered at Tor.com, and I wrote another one just recently. I'll never write shorts with the same consistency and quantity of Jay Lake, but I'll keep writing them. I love the feeling of having written. You get that much sooner with a short story. Quicker satisfaction moments.

AW: Yup. My sentiments exactly! How did you find an agent?

JP: Well, I sold the novel before I got an agent. When Tor called me (and after I told my wife), I called my friends Ken Scholes and Jay Lake. Jay called his agent and asked her if she'd be interested in reading my novel, and told her the situation at hand. She agreed, and I sent her the novel. She emailed me a few days later and said she was sorry, but that she couldn't get behind my characters, so she didn't feel like she'd be the best person to represent me. She offered me three choices in the email.

1. There was an agent in her house that would likely love, love my novel.
   
2. She knew people outside the house who would love it
   
3. Or I could tell her to get bent.
   

I went for 1. She contacted her co-worker, who was out on maternity leave, and we connected by phone. I ended up working with her soon after. I'm very pleased with how it worked out.

AW: So you had subbed it to Tor yourself originally?

JP: Yes. I met Claire Eddy at Radcon several years ago. We talked a bit, exchanged a few emails, and I sent her my first novel, which she rejected (for very good reasons). When I had the second one ready, I emailed her if she was interested in seeing it. She said yes, she liked my writing, so I sent it over. They were looking for Urban Fantasy, and I'd sent them Urban Fantasy. Pretty good coincidence.

AW: What was your most memorable con experience?

JP: Tricky question.

AW: How about funniest and best. Is that easier?

JP: I think stepping into the elevator in Calgary to find Claire Eddy all alone, and having her greet me and ask if I wanted to chat. That was a stellar moment.
The funniest would have to be sitting in the hotel at WorldCon in Montreal.
I was with my friend Keffy Kehrli and we were waiting for our other friend, Brenda Cooper, to come down so we could go to dinner. Keffy knows Neil Gaiman and I'd mention to him how I'd love to ask Neil a question, in a far away world where I could have a real conversation with him. And who walks in, but Neil. He stopped to chat up Keffy, who turned to me and said, "Here's your chance." So, I got to have a fifteen-minute, private conversation with Neil. It was very awesome.

AW: Excellent! I'm jealous, of course. Which of the things you do when you're not writing most influence the content of your writing?

JP: Interacting with people. I think the biggest flaw I find in writing is unrealistic relationships. Not dating or sex, but typical conversations and interactions. I think meeting a diverse set of people, and learning about their lives really helps me write more believable and entertaining stories. And I read...a lot.

AW: What genres do you read?

JP: Mainly sf/f. Honestly. I will read some non-fiction from time to time, especially when I'm trying to learn stuff, but, I'll dabble in other genres from time to time: romance, horror, spy, thrillers and even some westerns. I'll pick up a book that everyone says I should read, occasionally, but I'm usually disappointed. So, I'd say 80 percent genre.

AW: What are you working on now?

JP: I just sent Honeyed Words, the second Sarah Beauhall book, over to Tor last week. I'm working on some short stories to get out before I start book three. I'm also working a lot of hours at the day job, and trying to clear the decks, so I have more time to write. I'm critiquing a novel for a friend of mine, Patrick Swenson, and will be critiquing two more in the next month. I'm tired a lot. :)

AW: What's the day job?

JP: I'm a computer consultant. Lots of brain energy in that job, lots of hours.

AW: Do you like it? Or would you rather not have to have a day job?

JP: Oh, if I could, I'd write full-time. Absolutely. But I love my job. It's challenging, makes me think and, frankly, keeps me on my toes socially and intellectually. Not so much physically, so I try to get to the YMCA to work out, and keep up with my taekwondo.

Visit John at www.japitts.net.



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