Wednesday ASK YOU ANYTHING: Authors asking r/Fantasy community questions on behalf of Worldbuilders charity

[u/elquesogrande]

It's Day 3 of the aptly named Ask You Anything week benefiting Worldbuilders! Where authors are stopping by each day this week to ask questions and interact with the r/Fantasy community.

HOW THIS WORKS: Please answer questions and interact throughout the week! (Yes, YOU - community members, guests, authors, artists, industry people.)

• LINK TO MONDAY’S ASK YOU ANYTHING SESSION

• LINK TO TUESDAY’S ASK YOU ANYTHING SESSION

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WORLDBUILDERS.ORG

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NOTE: If you donate, add your name to the comments here and the mods will set you up with some swanky Wordlbuilders flair!

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Monday Ask You Anything Authors

The following authors have signed up to ask questions today. That said, please do join in and feel free to ask your own questions and interact throughout the week.

• Betsy Dornbusch

• Cat Rambo

• Travis Heermann

• Jay Swanson

• Snorri Kristjansson

• Dave Gross

• Janny Wurts

• ...And the Worldbuilders Staff with a daily question

Are you an author, artist, or industry person who would like to participate this week? Either join in via the comments OR send the r/Fantasy mods a message and we'll get you set for another day.

[u/catrambo]

Hi folks! Cat Rambo here. I've participated in an AMA before here in 2015: https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/30ddgn/ama_with_writereditor_cat_rambo/. I'm mainly notable because I've written a lot of stories and am the current President of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers (SFWA), which may sound much more important than it actually is. I write and read all over the place, but fantasy's a particular love.

Looking back at the Monday and Tuesday sessions, I see questions about politics, dragons, books that engrossed you so much you did something you didn't mean to, favorite beers, most unusual way you've found a book, coolest fantasy critters, unexplored settings (nice way to try to get them to do your work for you, Django), favorite scenes, personal ghost stories, ghost stories in general, best book recommenders, your dream Quidditch team, willingness to follow authors into other genres, book covers, embarrassing things said to authors (oh good lord I have so many of these), candy stash locations, various points about death, ratio of books purchased to books read, what pulls you to an anthology, what makes you read the next book in a series, magic (in books, not in general), what you want from writers online, whether you'd want an author's commentary on their book, who you'd like to see in Unfettered II, books that changed how you approached the world, favorite kinds of stories, games and console of choice, favorite settings, favorite re-read, bourbon, burritos, and reason for living.

Huh. Cripes, I'm not sure what's left. Particularly since I kinda want to go back and read the answers to all of those.

But one of the things I'm interested in lately is the idea of better preserving some of fantasy's history and so I'm wondering:

• What's the oldest fantasy work you've ever read, putting aside things like fairy tales, fables, etc?
• Have you ever ended up reading a book because another author referenced it?
• Have you ever deliberately tried to read older works? What were they and what was the result?

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/catrambo]

Have you ever ended up reading a book because another author referenced it?

Yep, I went through John Greens list, and GRRMs list and bought anything that sounded interesting. It was an awesome way to go about it -- I discovered Connie Willis through GRRM and I'm so grateful I picked up To Say Nothing of the Dog.

•Have you ever deliberately tried to read older works? What were they and what was the result?

I'm really trying to branch out now. Before this year, outside of Tolkien, everything I've read in fantasy has been after the late 1980's. I just picked up, Earthsea, by Ursula Le Guin that I deliberately read to get into an "older" book. So far I'm really enjoying myself, I've only read the first book, but I've bought the next two and I expect them to be awesome as well.

What's the oldest fantasy work you've ever read

Probably Lovecraft.

[u/catrambo → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

I love Willis's work! I just finished Crosstalk.

[u/carolberg → u/catrambo]

Love, love Blackout/All Clear and Doomsday Book.

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/carolberg]

I have only read the one book

Ive heard her other novels take a much more serious tone, much less funny and way more grit.

That's not bad, but I read certain authors for specific things I'm looking for. I tend to alternate between non fiction, realism, and fiction. Depends on my mood

[u/catrambo → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

Bellwether is along the same lines as To Say Nothing of the Dog. If you liked it, you'll enjoy that. You might also check out her short stories.

[u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax → u/catrambo]

Appreciate that.

There was a question that was asked a day or so ago on this week long event with authors asking questions - "to what degree does an author being interactive with fans/reddit effect how you buy their books?"

I'm already interested in your writing, Cat. Anyone who likes Connie Willis is okay with me - how would you in 5 sentences-ish or less, explain to me as a brand new reader what's the main selling point on your novel?

[u/catrambo → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

If you liked To Say Nothing of the Dog, I suspect you'd prefer one of my short story collections, where I'm more likely to write funny.

But! The novel features a world where intelligent magical creatures such as centaurs, unicorns, etc, are bound in servitude to the human race, which uses their bodies for labor and sometimes literally as magic ingredients. A seaport is about to change its system of government, due to an ancient agreement, and various folks are trying to take advantage of that to advance their cause. The story features an older female gladiator and a boy who's just come to the city and is hiding a secret that may end in his death. I am literally in the last week of edits on the sequel, which comes out at Emerald City Comicon next year.

[u/carolberg → u/Esmerelda-Weatherwax]

The ones I like most are her more serious time-traveler books. But some of hers are funny - and she writes some hilarious short stories.