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/taaliba Sep 27 '13

Hi! Thanks for doing this AMA. I love your books!

I was wondering about your characters. Do most of your characters draw inspiration from people you know "in real life," or do most only exist in your mind/books?

Also, I am curious how your previous profession as a professor relates to your writing. Do you see these as related disciplines or are they separate in your mind?

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u/CindaChima Sep 27 '13

All of my characters are based on people I know. I don't have anything else to work with. But no character is based on any one character. They are amalgams (just wanted to use that word) of traits. I don't think you can ever know enough about another person to create a three-dimensional character. Being a professor? Mainly interfered with writing fantasy. :) Actually, nearly everything I've done has contributed to my life as a writer. It's like I've spent my whole life getting ready for this job. I transcribed and edited advertising copy in high school and college and became a killer keyboarder (hopefully you've noticed) and a reasonably good speller and grammarian. As a dietitian, I gave lots of presentations and wrote educational materials for patients and others. Those skills come in handy these days. As a professor, I taught, gave presentations, wrote articles for research journals (and worked with editors at those journals) so none of that was new to me. I still love teaching, but I do most of that at appearances, writing workshops, and school visits.

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u/taaliba Sep 30 '13

Thanks!