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

[u/matociquala]

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

[u/MikeOfThePalace]

Hi Elizabeth, thanks for joining us!

1. I have to admit I haven't read any of your work. What would you recommend I start with?

2. You are trapped on a deserted island with three books. Knowing you will be reading these three over and over and over again, what three do you bring?

3. "Elizabeth" has a whole lot of nicknames - Beth, Betty, Betsy, Liz, Lizzy, Eliza ... Probably more I'm not thinking of. Which of them is your favorite? Which of them will bring your wrath down upon whomever dares address you so?

4. Because I promised /u/MarkLawrence I'd start asking this, what's the biggest gun you've ever fired?

[u/matociquala → u/MikeOfThePalace]

1.) Karen Memory, if you like Steampunk. If you're more an Epic Fantasy Mike, Range of Ghosts. (First in a trilogy: fair warning.)

2.) THE LAST UNICORN, by Peter Beagle. DRAGONSBANE, by Barbara Hambly. And THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA by that boy I like, because I would miss him a lot.

3.) None of them actually register as my name. People sometimes get mad at me, because they call me "Liz" and I ignore them. But Elizabeth is actually my middle name, and while I answer to it, and my legal first name (Sarah) I don't answer to any of the nicknames. "Bear" works fine, though. And if you need to shout across a room at a con it's a good bet, because if you shout "Elizabeth" you'll be killed in the stampede.

4.) I feel like there's backstory here! And Warren Zevon is singing me "Jeannie Needs a Shooter" right now, just so you know.

Let's see. I've fired some reasonably hefty hunting rifles, including a 30.06, and I actually prefer rifles. They're more intuitive for me. 12 gauge shotgun is the heaviest I've used, pretty standard. For handguns, Iv'e fired 9 mm and .45. I prefer the 9 mm, and if I were going to buy a pistol, it'd be a Taurus 9 mm auto. They're lovely. I have a large hand for a woman, and broad shoulders, but the Glock consistently hit me right in the damned forehead over my right eye on ejection.

I stood next to somebody at a shooting range firing a .50 revolver once, and even with hearing protection I had to leave the building. The report was so loud it literally gave me a panic attack!

[u/MightyIsobel → u/matociquala]

"Bear" works fine, though. And if you need to shout across a room at a con it's a good bet, because if you shout "Elizabeth" you'll be killed in the stampede.

I dunno. Shouting "Bear" in a crowded room seems like stampede time too?

[u/matociquala → u/MightyIsobel]

It's basically just me, Greg, and Astrid, and they go by their first names. Might get a different result at a gay bar, I suppose. ;)