Kate Orman is the author of many Doctor Who (and one Bernice Summerfield) novels, novellas and short stories. She lives in Sydney with her husband and co-author Jonathan Blum.

1. You have an essay appearing shortly in Chicks Dig Time Lords, a book I was very excited to hear about! Can you tell us a little about the book, and your contribution?

It is tremendously exciting! A lot has been written about female fans, but not much specifically about female Doctor Who fans. I reminisce about my experiences in Australian fandom and in online fandom. One thing that particularly interests me is the different proportion of women in DW fandoms in different countries; in the Australia and the UK, Who fandom is majority male, so one thing I’m especially looking forward to reading perspectives from majority female Who fandoms, such as the US.

2. Your writing and publishing history is so intertwined with Doctor Who, particularly that long period when the show wasn’t on tv – you had thirteen books published in a decade! What are you most proud of from that body of work?

I would say winning the Aurealis for “Fallen Gods”, but the credit for that belongs much more to Jon than it does to me. So instead, I’ll say I’m most proud of finishing Ben Aaronovitch’s foundering novel “So Vile A Sin” – a book I was so desperate to read, I was prepared to write it myself!

3. What’s next for Kate Orman? What have you been working on, writingwise?

I’ve just had a short story, “Flotsam and Jetsam”, in Torchwood Magazine issue 19 – I had an absolute ball writing that. But the big news is I’ve just sent a sample of an original SF novel, “Strange Flesh”, to our agent. Fingers crossed!

4. Which Australian writers or work would you like to see on the Hugo shortlists this year?

Cat Sparks! (You know, Cat did me an enormous service some years ago by declining to publish a story I’d sent her ‘cos it was rubbish. It was! That made me stop drifting along with my writing and really start working.)

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to? (If not, pretend I asked you about Gallifrey instead!)

I have social phobia, and actually find conventions really intimidating, which will probably sound bizarre to people who’ve seen me merrily gabbling away on panels! The most amazing thing at any con is when something I’ve written has had some sort of impact on a reader – maybe they’ve created something in response, or maybe they just really enjoyed it – and I get to meet them. It’s especially gobsmacking when they’re from the other side of the planet!

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Previously in Snapshot: Marianne De Pierres, Richard Harland, Karen Miller, Margo Lanagan, Ben Peek, Narelle Harris, Paul Collins, Damien Broderick, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Angela Slatter, Dion Hamill, Garth Nix, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Trudi Canavan, Thoraiya Dyer, Keith Stevenson, Juliet Marillier, Gillian Polack, Jason Fischer, Alisa Krasnostein, Tehani Wessely, Amanda Rainey, Justine Larbalestier, Rowena Cory Daniells, Glenda Larke, Adrian (K.A.) Bedford, Kaaron Warren, Nicole Murphy, D.M. Cornish, Deborah Kalin, Jonathan Strahan, Alan Baxter, Gary Kemble, Lezli Robyn, Kate Eltham, Robert Hoge, Will Elliott, Trent Jamieson, Felicity Dowker, Jack Dann, Lee Battersby, Peter M Ball, Nyssa Pascoe, Lucy Sussex, Andrew McKiernan, Amanda Pillar, Deborah Biancotti, Kim Falconer, Gabrielle Wang, Kim Wilkins, Paul Haines, Karen Healey, Stephanie Campisi, Stuart Mayne, Christopher Lynch, Simon Petrie, Alison Goodman, Russell Blackford, Rhonda Roberts, Ben Payne, Christopher Green, Kylie Chan, K.J. Taylor, Robbie Matthews, Kirstyn McDermott, Russell Farr, Simon Haynes

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Tags: 2010snapshot, australian specfic, doctor who, kate orman, writing