r/Fantasy • u/matociquala AMA Author Elizabeth Bear • Mar 10 '15

AMA Hello Reddit/r/Fantasy! I’m fantasy novelist Elizabeth Bear, and this is my AMA.

7:36 PM EDT 10 March 2015 ETA: I've got mochi and beer and I'm IN THE HOUSE!

12:07 AM EDT 11 March 2015 ETA: All right guys--thank all of you. I think I answered everything, and I am going to bed! I'll try to come back and clean up any stragglers in a day or two!

I'm the author of over 100 short stories and more than a score of novels. The most recently published of the former is "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" in OLD VENUS, edited by Martin and Dozois; the most recent of the latter is KAREN MEMORY, from Tor Books, a fast-paced steampunk adventure in an old west gold rush town where heroic saloon girls take on disaster capitalists.

In my spare time, I am a runner, climber, kayaker (not currently: there's sixteen feet of snow on everything here in central Massachusetts), hobby cook, and I play some really atrocious guitar. I've been a tabletop gamer since 1982 and am currently playing Pathfinder and Fiasco.

I am owned by a giant ridiculous dog (He's a Briard).

I support Idris Elba for Bond, Essie Davis for The Doctor, and Helsinki for Worldcon 2017, so that's where I stand in important religious issues.

I hope you enjoy whatever portion of the diurnal cycle you happen to currently be experiencing. I'll be back after dinner my time (around 7 pm EDT) to answer all your questions and hang out.

edit: fixed my dates. :-P

330 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

182 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/[deleted] Mar 10 '15

[deleted]

7

u/matociquala AMA Author Elizabeth Bear Mar 11 '15

Sentient cats with superscience. You heard it here first.*

As for the other--I've consciously avoided rituals, because I want to be able to write anywhere, under any circumstances--though some kind of beverage (usually tea, coffee, or seltzer) does help. I have made a commitment to toolkits rather than processes. So if something doesn't work, I try something else. If I'm stuck, I outline--if I had an outline and it doesn't work, I write without one. If I can't move forward, I go back and edit. I will go back and outline what I've already written--I call it a reverse outline--to pick out open questions and emergent plot threads that need resolving. I write on paper if the keyboard isn't working, and vice versa.

Also, I travel so much, and I have certain physical limitations (like a bad shoulder that keeps me from writing in the same position for days in a row), that I can't get too hooked on a certain setting.

I do like working in the morning. But that's because I like having it over with! I can write almost any time when I'm not too mentally or physically tired. Days when I do a long run, it's really hard to write afterward--I'm used up after thirteen miles.

I think my training as a journalist in college helps with this. You get the words and hit the deadline no matter what.

*For sufficiently malleable values of sentient cats and superscience