Author Interview: Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Several days ago I posted a review for Kristine Kathryn Rusch's incredible sci-fi novel Diving Into the Wreck. Not longer after that, I contacted Kristine to see if she would be willing to do an interview for the site. Luckily enough she has, so with that said...

What made you want to become an author?

I always wanted to be a writer, from my earliest memories. The amateur psychologist in me thinks that’s because I was raised by 5 adults who were always reading. One of my earliest memories is asking reading adults to play with me (I couldn’t read then) and they told me to go away because they were busy. But who knows, really? I’ve always loved stories, and I just learned that my mother’s side of the family was filled with writers, newspaper editors, and book publishers. So maybe it was Destiny.

How did you get your start in writing?

I always wrote. I started publishing in high school when I got to write the high school column for the local paper (and got paid!). I wasn’t an English major in college, but I took writing classes so that I would have an excuse to write. I mailed things out from an early age, and got fiction published when I was 21.

What appeals to you the most about writing; what makes it special?

I can sit in a room by myself, make things up, and then later, people I’ve never met talk to me about that story. I think that’s just nifty snifty. (Seriously.)

Who are some authors who have had the most influence on you?

I’m sure there are many I’m not even aware of, but I always cite F. Scott Fitzgerald and Daphne Du Maurier, mostly because I reread The Great Gatsby every year, whether I need to or not, and Rebecca every year as well. In sf, I think my biggest influences were Andre Norton and Ursula K. Le Guin.

You've written in several different genres. Do you have a particular favorite?

Honestly, no. I didn’t even know genres existed until college when my buddy Kevin J. Anderson told me what genres were. I just like books.

Diving Into the Wreck was originally written as a novella. How did you go about expanding it into the full length novel that it is now?

I write almost completely out of my subconscious. I don’t plan things, I don’t outline, I don’t really know what’s happening until it gets revealed on the page. So I started a second novella, called “The Room of Lost Souls,” and suddenly Boss appeared. I realized then that “Diving” and “Room” were parts of a novel, and so I wrote the rest of it. Then I started another story, and Boss showed up again (she won’t leave me alone!), so I realized that there was a lot more than one novel here. The “Spires of Denon” happened without Boss, but in the same universe, so now I have an even bigger group of stories to tell.

Undoubtedly you’ve created an amazing universe within the pages of Diving Into the Wreck, and some amazing characters, particularly Boss. Is there any chance that we might be seeing more of her in the future?

Oh, yes. The next book is called City of Ruins and it will come out in Spring 2011. There may or may not be a novella in Asimov’s before that, called “Becoming One With the Ghosts.” I’m not sure when Sheila has it planned. And of course, there are all the stories I mentioned above, and more that will happen as I finish up City. Readers can find out what all the related stories are either on my website, www.kristinekathrynrusch.com, or on a Diving-dedicated static website called divingintothewreck.com.

What kind of projects are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m finishing up my next Kristine Grayson paranormal called Wickedly Charming. These books are about as far from Diving as you can get. In this novel, Prince Charming falls for the Evil Stepmother—at a book fair.

You’ve written several media tie-in novels in the past, for such series as Star Trek, X-Men, Aliens, and Predator. What are some of the challenges to writing in already established universes?

You have to be true to the characters and the world. You also have to love those worlds, or it’s just not worth anyone’s time. Never do the work cynically. I’m just a big fangirl, so I have a lot of fun when I write tie-ins.

Technology is quickly catching up to the standards of science fiction. Do you think this is a good thing? What kind of an impact do you think new inventions like the iPad will have on the genre?

SF has never really been about tech. It’s about Now disguised as the future. So I don’t think tech changing is a problem.

I think the iPad and other inventions will only improve the genre, and help us find new ways to tell stories. (And new ways to deliver them.)

What’s your take on electronic books? Do you think that they have/will
hurt the publishing business?

Help. They’ll bring in new readers, new ways of writing, new ways of consuming stories. Already, I’m seeing a lot more folks reading—on their phones, listening to podcasts, talking about books. That’s a good thing.

As for the big publishers, New York publishers, they’re in the same position that the TV networks were in during the late 1980s, early 1990s, as everyone started to get cable. The overall numbers of viewers went up, but the numbers per program went down. I think some of the big bestsellers will see numbers go down, but the midlist writers will see their sales go up as the books become available through a wide variety of non-traditional and smaller markets.

When not writing, what are some of your hobbies?

I run. I go to movies, watch too much TV, and read of course. And travel when I get the chance.

What are some books that you’ve recently enjoyed reading?

I do a recommended reading list on my blog every month because I love sharing what I’ve read. It’s here: http://kriswrites.com/category/reading/

Recently, I recommended Connie Willis’s Blackout, Deborah Blum’s The Poisoner’s Handbook, and Robert Crais’s The First Rule. There’s tons more on the lists, but those are memorable highlights.

Do you have a favorite quote?

I don’t have it in front of me, so this probably isn’t exact, but I heard it from Senator Edward Kennedy: “Never let the perfect get in the way of the good.” I tend toward perfectionism, so that really helps.

What’s one important thing that readers should know about you?

I write a lot, so if you like one kind of fiction, I’ve probably written it (under one name or another).

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I have a new book out from Golden Gryphon. It’s called Recovering Apollo 8 and Other Stories. It’s my latest collection of award-winning, award-nominated, and best-of short stories. The book has a lovely Bob Eggleton cover. I’m really pleased with it. It’s a lovely package.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule and stopping by. Hopefully we’ll see you again!

Thanks for asking!

Podcast #6: Interview #3: James Enge

James Enge's fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Flashing Swords, and everydayfiction.com. He is an instructor of classical languages at a Midwestern university. He is the author of two new major works from Pyr Publishing: Blood of Ambrose and This Crooked Way.

Blood of Ambrose

Behind the king's life stands the menacing Protector, and beyond him lies the Protector's Shadow...

Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor's brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.

When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced to play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.

As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.

This Crooked Way

Travelling alone in the depths of winter, Morlock Ambrosius (bitterly dry drunk, master of all magical makers, wandering swordsman, and son of Merlin Ambrosius and Nimue Viviana) is attacked by an unknown enemy.

To unmask his enemy and end the attacks he must travel a long crooked way through the world: past the soul-eating Boneless One, past a subtle and treacherous master of golems, past the dragon-taming Khroi, past the predatory cities of Sarkunden and Aflraun, past the demons and dark gnomes of the northern woods.

Soon he will find that his enemy wears a familiar face, and that the duel he has stumbled into will threaten more lives than his own, leaving nations shattered in its chaotic wake.

And at the end of his long road waits the death of a legend.

Podcast Interview #3: James Enge

Enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #5: Interview #2: Dave Freer/ Save the Dragons

Dave Freer is an about to be Australian author (he's emigrating from South Africa) with a family and menagerie (indistinguishable in many ways) and the normal personal zone of chaos that follows him because it loves him and needs to show it cares. He is the author or co-author (with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint) of 10 novels, (with the 11th, DRAGON'S RING, due out in October). He also falls off cliffs (he's a rock climber) and nearly drowns himself (dives for spiny lobster) with monotonous regularity, which proves that really his books are written by his Old English Sheepdog, because no-one who is that repetitively dumb could write or even spell. Mind you, the spelling is suspect... Once upon a time he was an Ichthyologist, and he claims the strain of spelling that right unhinged his mind.

You can find out more about him, his move, his beasts and website and blogs at http://savethedragons.nu/ - his story-tellers bowl website to help raise money to move the menagerie!

Dragon's Ring

Tasmarin is a place of dragons, a plane cut off from all other worlds, where dragons can be dragons and humans can be dinner. It's a place of islands, forests, mountains and wild oceans, filled with magical denizens. Fionn -- the black dragon -- calmly tells anyone who will listen that he's going to destroy the place. Of course he's a joker, a troublemaker and a dragon of no fixed abode. No one ever believes him. He's dead serious. Others strive to refresh the magics that built the place. To do so they need the combined magics of all the intelligent species, to renew the ancient mage, and dragons systematically eliminated those centuries ago. Their augury has revealed that there is one, and they seek her desperately. Unfortunately, she's fallen in with Fionn, who really doesn't want them to succeed. He has his own reasons and dark designs. The part he hadn't worked out is that she will affect his plans too. Chaos, roguery, heroism theft, love, kidnapping, magic and war follow. And more chaos.

And once again, because Baen Publishing is just so damn cool, they're offering the first nine chapters for your reading pleasure, for free. Dragon's Ring

Podcast Interview #2: Dave Freer

And finally, for those of you who choose not to listen to the full interview, here's how The Sci-Fi Guys plan on helping Dave out: For each new member we receive on the site, we'll donate a dollar to Save The Dragons. . Each new member then, is added to a hat. When we get word from Dave that Save The Dragons is going to the printer, we'll draw names of the people who have joined the website, for a free chance to win a signed, personalized copy of the book in hardcover. If we reach 100 new members before the end of September, we'll donate another 25 dollars, and another chance for folks to win another signed copy of the book.

So, please join the site, and send us your names and e-mail adresses and we'll throw your names in the hat! E-mail us at: scifiguysbookreview@gmail.com

Enjoy!

~The Sci-Fi Guys

Podcast #4: Interview #1: Larry Correia

Larry Correia is hopelessly addicted to two things: guns and B-horror movies. He lists his occupations: gun dealer, firearms instructor, accountant, and writer, and was until recently part owner of a company specializing in firearms and movie props. He shoots competitively and is a certified concealed weapons instructor. Larry resides in Utah with his very patient wife and family. He has also designed a special patch for the agents of Monster Hunter International, Inc. As he puts it, "If you don't look good while you're killing stuff, then you're not really a monster hunter."

Monster Hunter International

Troubled by vampires or werewolves?

MHI will solve your problems
through superior firepower!

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a fourteenth story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer.

It turns out that Monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Officially secret, some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. On the other side are the people who kill monsters for a living. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

Business is good...

Welcome to Monster Hunter International.


Baen, being the awesome publishing company that they are, is currently offering the first seven chapters of M.H.I. to read, for free. Monster Hunter International

Podcast Interview #1: Larry Correia

Enjoy!

~ The Sci-Fi Guys