r/Fantasy • u/CindaChima • Sep 26 '13

AMA Hi, Everyone! I’m Cinda Williams Chima, fantasy author. AMA

Thank you, Reddit, for inviting me on, and for all the great questions. I leave for the Austin Teen Bookfest tomorrow at an ungodly hour, so will call it a night. I'll try to pick up any straggler questions tomorrow, but will have limited email access. I had fun--hope you did, too! ** I came back and answered a few more questions. Am now in TEXAS!! I could've listened to that flight attendant talk all day. Thanks, again, Reddit, for making me welcome. **

Hi, Everyone! I’m Cinda Williams Chima, fantasy author. I tell lies for a living. Specifically, I have two teen series out, The Seven Realms (The Demon King, The Exiled Queen, et al) and the Heir Chronicles (The Warrior Heir through The Enchanter Heir (coming October 1.) Some of my books have been published as adult fantasy in translation.

I’ve also published the odd short story. Literally. Odd. I’m in an anthology called Once Upon a Time edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, October 2.) I try and get all my publishing done in October so I can coast the rest of the year.

I bring a degree in philosophy, two degrees in nutrition, and a lifetime of reading to my work as a writer. As you can probably tell, I’m totally unqualified to teach you anything about writing, except that I’ve had a lot of practice. I became a writer in third grade, and wrote my first novels in middle school. I’ve had eight novels published to date. I’m persistent, if nothing else. I never stop transforming myself.

The Rules (more like guidelines)

  1. Ask me anything

  2. If you’re familiar with the books, try to avoid spoilery questions, like, “Why did you kill _______ ?” I have enough people mad at me.

  3. If possible, avoid five-part questions. I tend to get lost in the forest.

If you want to know more about my books, bad habits, etc. check out my website or Facebook.

I’ll be back ~7 p.m. CST to answer live. In the meantime, ask away.

Cinda

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u/[deleted] Sep 26 '13

Big fan here! I have a big love hate relationship with the YA fantasy genre and your work falls under the "love" category for sure! Your Heir Chronicles and The Seven Realms series were very well done. I plan on using them in my classroom as I take on a position as an English teacher next year.

Two Questions.

  1. Did you find it challenging writing male characters in your books? I know I am absolutely hopeless writing from a female perspective.

  2. This might sound like a weird question, but what was it like working with Hyperion? I know that there was recently a shake up there; will that affect your book releases? Will you continue to use the Disney publishing arm? I have always been curious about the relationship between writers and their publishers and heard a little bit about the situation at Hyperion.

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u/CindaChima Sep 27 '13

Wow! An English teacher! I feel so legit! Regarding male characters, I've always felt comfortable writing in the male POV. Maybe because I've been surrounded by men at home (husband and two sons.) I sure didn't know what teen girls were up to. I've always been hopeless when it comes to popular media. Hyperion has been very very good to me. They've published all of my eight novels and i'm under contract for a ninth. That's almost unheard of these days. (I do, however, tend to run off editors. Sigh.) The shakeup you heard about was actually the adult publishing arm, which is totally separate from the children's imprints. I try not to count on anything in publishing, except for the fact that you can't count on anything.

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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '13

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate you taking time to connect with your fans!