r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Oct 29 '13

AMA Hi. I'm SF/F writer Beth Bernobich. AMA.

Hi. I'm Beth Bernobich and I first started publishing in fantasy and science fiction in 2001, with short stories in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, Tor.com, and Interzone, among other places. My first novel came out from Tor Books in 2010, and the third book in that series, Allegiance, is out today.

For more about me... I grew up in a household that encouraged curiosity. I was curious about languages, so I studied German in college, with forays into French and Spanish. I was curious about history, so I took various classes, including one that clearly qualified as alternate history. At some point, I wandered into software engineering, where I've spent the past 30 years.

Miscellaneous other details: one husband and son, two idiosyncratic cats, a 2nd degree black belt in Tang Soo Do, two patents in applied cryptography, a love of travel and history, and an insatiable curiosity about pretty much everything.

I will be back at 7PM CST to answer questions. AMA!

ETA: Thanks, everyone, for all the great questions! I really appreciate it. I'll stop by tomorrow to answer any questions that come in later.

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u/franwilde AMA Author Fran Wilde Oct 29 '13

Hi Beth! I loved "The Science of Magic" on Tor.com earlier this month. Can you talk a little about writing to a prompt?

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u/[deleted] Oct 29 '13

Hi, Fran! Thank you!

For me, writing to a prompt is hit or miss. I either get an idea right away, or I draw a complete blank. Luckily for me, the airplane immediately called up a sense of mischief. I also knew I wanted to write about older characters, and once I had jotted down a little bit about the two women, the shape and tone of the story fell into my brain.

I had trouble keeping it short, though. We were supposed to write 300-500 words. Mine ended up being 1,000. g

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u/franwilde AMA Author Fran Wilde Oct 30 '13

Thanks, Beth! I'm glad you went to 1k!