Lezli Robyn is an Australian writer who wrote and sold her first couple of stories to Clarkesworld and Jim Baen’s Universe in the closing months of 2008. In the year since then she has made 15 further story sales, selling to markets such as Asimov’s, Analog, Tor’s 50th Anniversary Twilight Zone Anthology, Hadley Rille Books’ Origins anthology (celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Darwin’s “Origins of the Species”), and other science fiction markets as distant as China, Russia, Poland, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria – alone or in collaboration with Mike Resnick.

1. You’ve recently burst on to the stage of professional science fiction short stories with a series of collaborative work with veteran writer Mike Resnick. How did this writing partnership come about, and what process do you use?

How did my writing partnership with Mike Resnick come about?

I bought my collaborator off ebay.

Yes. Truly.

I had wanted to buy my first signed Anne McCaffrey book for years (after spending my childhood growing up with her stories) and discovered a limited edition of The Coelura on ebay one day. I only paid for the one book, but it turned out to be the best $50 I have ever spent.

You see, when I sent a “Thank You” email after the safe arrival of my book, the seller told me about the first time he met Anne McCaffrey in 1969 – and I discovered I was talking to Mike Resnick. I informed him that I had never read his books before. Mike replied “Well, we can’t have that!” and promptly sent me a selection of his Hugo winning and nominated stories.

I critiqued them.

He sent me more.

Then all of a sudden we were corresponding regularly, discussing the various elements that make stories work – or not work, if that was the case. After a few months of this he strongly suggested (when I didn’t respond to his not-so-subtle hints) that perhaps I should try writing a story; I might find that my ability to analyze other peoples’ stories could translate into me being able to successfully compose some of my own. We could even do a collaboration together, something he’d done with many a novice writer before.

And so after meeting at the 2008 Worldcon in Denver, we sat down and wrote our first collaboration “Idle Roomer”, which quickly sold to Clarkesworld. This was the first piece of fiction I had ever written, and since then we have written and sold six stories together (including “Soulmates” which was a finalist for the science fiction short story Aurealis Award).

As to our collaborating process, we write one continuous draft, passing the story back and forth between us until the story is finished. Before we write we talk about what we want to achieve by the end of the story, and the specific focus of each of the scenes, but for the most part the details of the scenes are determined by the person writing each specific one. As a result there is always an element of improvisation in our story creating, which is a refreshing challenge for me. When it’s my turn to write, I read the new scene that Mike has added (and he could have stopped mid-dialogue if he felt like it), work out from there what is best for the next scene, and then set about continuing the story in the same “voice”. Then I hand it back to my collaborator, usually without any explanation about what I’ve done, as the scene should speak for itself if I’ve written it correctly.

This system has worked very well for us so far. Neither of us have had to scrap any of our scenes, and we’ve been told that our writing is near impossible to tell apart; the desired result of any collaboration.

2. What is is about science fiction that appeals to you as a genre? Why do you think science fiction is still seen as a field more associated with male writers?

I think that the science fiction genre is still primarily seen as more associated with male writers because when most people hear “science fiction” they automatically think of robots and starships (and other like tropes), which – like computers and cars – are seen as boy’s gadgets. There also appears to be a lot of military science fiction on the market at the moment – a lot of which is written by male writers.

The reason the science fiction genre appeals to me as a writer however, is because it enables me to tell a more poignant story concerning matters of the heart or human conscience by using science fiction devices to help frame it. Take the novelette “Soulmates” (my collaboration with Mike Resnick) as an example: While our lead character – a human – is teaching the robot what it is to truly be considered alive, the robot’s responses and observations lead the human to realise he’s barely existing himself, and their unique relationship helps him rediscover life. So ironically, using a mechanical robot as a main character helped us tell an emotive human story.

3. What’s next for Lezli Robyn? What have you been working on, and what are we likely to see from you over the next year or two?

At the moment I’m in the early stages of creating a unique novel that will cover several genres (mainstream, paranormal and possibly even steampunk), which will be represented by agent Eleanor Woods, and I’m currently writing a bittersweet sf short story for a yet-to-be-revealed American market. I also have two solo story assignments to complete this year for a couple of anthologies, and Mike Resnick and I also have numerous collaboration commitments; a YA fantasy trilogy to outline and start, as well as a novelette to write for Asimov’s, a short story to complete for Irish magazine Albedo One, and at least three other stories commissioned for anthologies.

Mike and I also have a couple of new stories appearing in print this year (with more to be added to the list soon). “Report From The Field” will appear in the Is Anybody Out There? anthology by DAW BOOKS in June, and “The Close Shave” will appear in Kevin J. Anderson’s Blood Lite 2 anthology, making its debut on Halloween.

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

2009 marked my first full year of writing fiction while working often working in two stores, so I have to confess I didn’t do much reading, unless it was research. Certainly not enough to be able to give an accurate perception of what truly deserves to be nominated for the Hugo Award – Australian born or not.

Some Aussie names I have heard amazing things about, however, are Angela Slatter, Peter M. Ball, Paul Haines and Jonathan Strahan. (And I was impressed by Peter M. Ball’s Aurealis Award winning story ‘”Clockwork, Patchwork and Ravens”.)

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon 4 in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

I am definitely going to Aussiecon 4, and I have already bought my membership so I can nominate for the Hugo Awards. I’m most looking forward to being able to meet more Australians within the writing industry – an experience I didn’t have at my previous two Worldcons overseas. I will also love celebrating my birthday with my new sf family (it’s on September the 4th), and if I can score a shortlisting for the Campbell Award, it will be the icing on my birthday cake!

—————————————–
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

Snapshot interviews will be blogged from Monday 15th until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
http://tansyrr.com/
http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com.

Glenda Larke is an Australian living in Malaysia, author of nine fantasy novels with the tenth coming out this year, published both in Australia, abroad and in translation. She had been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards five times. When not writing, she works in rainforest conservation, particularly of avifauna.

1. What can you tell us about your new trilogy, the Watergivers?

It’s an epic about an arid world and two young people who find themselves the target of power hungry men because they have the ability to command water. It’s also the story of an armsman and a scholar who are caught up in some nasty politics and a war over rain, only to find themselves enslaved in a place where some very weird things start happening. There are palaces and whorehouses and desert camps and salt mines. There are characters from every walk of life.There are battles and defeats, savagery and nobility, warriors and lovers, painters of magic and stormbringers of rain. There are desert animals and insect weapons. It’s a big canvas, a detailed background – but I aimed to keep the story intimate. I hope the reader can feel the heat and the grit of dust and smell the rain on the wind. But I also hope they can weep and laugh with the characters.

Because it is an arid world, I had to work very hard not to make it sound like Dune; I hope I succeeded. It’s more Australia than Arrakis, but there are bits of Algeria and Iran and bits that are all mine. And in Book One, The Last Stormlord, it’s already a world beginning to fall apart… The reception it has been getting in Oz and overseas has been amazing and I am completely bowled over.You are looking at one very, very happy Oz author at the moment.

2. The Last Stormlord is being considered for the David Gemmell Legend Award for Fantasy. Is this something you would like to win? In what ways do you think The Last Stormlord reflects the type of fantasy that David Gemmell wrote?

Winning any award is icing on the cake. To have one that commemorates a much-loved author and his writing would be special indeed. I think what people should look for when they vote for the Gemmell Legend Award is a book that has a protagonist (or protagonists) who stands for certain nobility of ideals – courage, loyalty, redeeming oneself – in spite of heavy odds. Victories always carry a cost in a Gemmell book, and villains are complex. That seems to me to be the essence of Gemmell’s work and I think that’s where The Last Stormlord matches up. Other aspects of Gemmell’s work and mine? Perhaps not so much.

3. This is your third fantasy trilogy now for HarperCollins Voyager. What is it you like most about that format for storytelling? Do you think trilogies get a bad rap?

I fell into trilogies by accident – I was told to make the book I submitted into the first of a trilogy. That was the deal.

When people talk about my work, they often mention the worldbuilding. If I had to confine myself to a shorter single work, the world building would be the poorer. I have done it: my first published book was a standalone and the world was unique, but it was also limited, not as detailed. By contrast, when a reader finishes a trilogy, I hope they can close their eyes and see, smell, hear and taste the place, it’s that real. A trilogy also allows a larger story – more characters, looking at those characters over a longer period of time.

Having said that, a trilogy also has built in disadvantages: waiting for books 2 and 3, for example. Authors who don’t finish the darn things on time. (Calliope et al, please help me meet this Book 3 deadline…) Authors who have ten-book trilogies and a problem with maths. And they are dreadfully hard to write – the story arc in the Watergivers reaches through half a million words. Help.

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

Well, The Last Stormlord, of course. No wait a moment. That is actually a scary thought, especially when I look back at past Hugo nominees, I can’t imagine that any work of mine deserves to be up there with them. Although that losers’ party sounds wild…
To be serious for a moment: We have an advantage this year because the Worldcon is in our own backyard. I would love to see Australians nominate Australian works, just to draw attention to the slew of wonderful writers we have. So, they might not win and maybe they shouldn’t. That doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the best of them are at least read and therefore walk for a moment on a world stage. I have seen a lot said about our short fiction writers and their works recently, but very little about our novelists. So think about some of the great fantasy and SF novelists we have, read their works for last year, and nominate your favourite(s)!

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

Would I miss it? Absolutely not! What am I most looking forward to? Mixing with other writers. Meeting readers. Meeting my editors. Meeting bloggers and reviewers. Conversations about books, writing, books, writing, publishing, books, writing. You get the picture. Meeting new people. Talking fantasy and SF and ebooks and trends and stories. Panels and kaffeeklatches and readings and the dealer’s room… See you there. Yes, YOU.

—————————————–
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

Snapshot interviews will be blogged from Monday 15th until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
http://tansyrr.com/
http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com.

Rowena Cory Daniells writes for both children and adults. Her new Fantasy series ‘King Rolen’s Kin’ will be published by SOLARIS in 2010.

http://ripping-ozzie-reads.blogspot.com/

1. King Rolen’s Kin will be released From Solaris in July, August and September this year. What can you tell us about these books?

This is the kind of series that you read on a Saturday afternoon after you’ve worked hard all week and you just want to be swept away to another world!

2. Since the last Snapshot, you have completed an MA in creative writing. What did you get out of the experience? Are you glad that you did it?

Turns out it was a Masters in Arts Research. I met a great bunch of fellow writers, wrote a book and discovered that I hate academic writing. Two out of three isn’t bad.

3. What’s next for Rowena Cory Daniells? What are you working on now, and what are your career goals for the next five years?

I have the first books of 4 new series with my agent. I’m a ‘serial lover’ — I fall in love with each book series as I write it, love it, love the world and the characters passionately then I send them off to my agent and, rather than pine for them, I start another series, which I fall in love with. Ideally, I’d like to know that those series have a publisher to call home and a readership looking forward to reading them, as much as I look forward to writing them!

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

I’m a big fan of Glenda Larke’s work. I don’t think she gets the recognition she deserves. I’d call her the Thinking Fantasy reader’s writer, just as I’d call Marianne de Pierres the thinking SF reader’s writer.

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon 4 in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

I wouldn’t miss AussieCon 4. I plan to catch up with old friends and make lots of new friends.

—————————————–
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

Snapshot interviews will be blogged from Monday 15th until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
http://tansyrr.com/
http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com.

Justine Larbalestier is a writer.

1. What most pleased and most disappointed you about last year’s release of Liar, and the public response to it?

The response to Liar has been very intense. It is the most loved (and hated) of my books to date. Some of the letters teens have been writing me about Liar have made me cry. Especially the ones from readers who identify so strongly with Micah and her isolation. It’s been a very moving experience and I’m thrilled the book has been so important for those readers.

2. You’re co-editing the high profile anthology Zombies vs. Unicorns which will be released later this year. What was it about this book that excited you most, and why are you so committed to Team Zombie?

Ah, yes, the book that began as a joke. Zombies versus Unicorns started with me saying mean things about unicorns to tease my friend Diana Peterfreund who had a wonderful book, Rampant, coming out about killer unicorns. Then Holly leapt to the defence of unicorns in the comment thread of my blog: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2007/02/15/blurbs, asking me what I had against unicorns. Holly is a passionate unicorn lover. I countered by demanding to know what she has against zombies. (Because I knew she hated them.) And it grew from there. Before long lots of bloggers were joining the debate (and there were a million suggestions of zombie-unicorns. Yawn.) So I suggested the idea of an antho to Holly and we went from there. The truth was that when all this began I didn’t have a particularly strong opinion about either. I definitely preferred zombie movies to unicorn ones and was a Romero fan but that was about it. Of course, now that I am head of Team Zombie I am completely devoted to zombies and against the dread scourge of unicorns.

And look you can vote for which you prefer: http://promo.simonandschuster.com/zombiesvsunicorns/

3. What’s next for Justine Larbalestier? What writing project is top priority right now?

I am writing an epic fantasy set in the 1930s in New York City. There is lindy hopping in it. I am also working on a Top Sekrit project.

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

You know if I answer this question I’m just going to get in trouble cause I’ll forget the work of someone wonderful who’s a good friend and they’ll kill me.

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon 4 in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

I’m hoping to be able to get there but right now the odds are not with me.

—————————————–
Also interviewed today: Marianne De Pierres, Richard Harland, Karen Miller, Margo Lanagan, Ben Peek, Narelle Harris, Paul Collins, Damien Broderick, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Angela Slatter, Dion Hamill

Snapshot interviews will be blogged from Monday 15th until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
http://tansyrr.com/
http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com.

Margo Lanagan has won three World Fantasy Awards, four Aurealis Awards and four Ditmars, and been shortlisted for many other awards, including a Hugo, a Nebula, the James Tiptree Jr (twice), a Bram Stoker, a Theodore Sturgeon, a BSFA and an International Horror Guild Award. She is the author of the novel Tender Morsels, and three speculative fiction short story collections, White Time, Black Juice and Red Spikes.

1. The new Australian edition of Tender Morsels has an awesome Shaun Tan cover – are you excited about the novel being repackaged? Was there a reason (other than woot, Shaun Tan) for the cover change?

Well, it’s being repackaged not once, but three times, so I’m excited three times over, which is not a pretty sight, let me tell you. A Vintage (UK) paperback is coming out, the cover based on the adult UK cover (but different colours and with the words ‘A WORK OF GENIUS’ emblazoned across it), and Knopf put out a gorgeous paperback on 9 February, and now on 1 March the Shaun Tan cover from Allen & Unwin will hit Australian shops.

The reason for the Australian cover change is that this is a Young Adult edition, whereas the first edition was aimed at adults. So, new cover and the words YOUNG ADULT printed on the back. Contents exactly the same, except printed slightly smaller (because YAs have such wonderfully sharp eyes).

2. What have been the best and worst things about the reception and reader responses to Tender Morsels?

The worst thing was how willing people were to jump in and deliver an opinion based on what they were told, either by squeamish friends or by lazy journalists, about the book, without just going to it, reading (more than the first 20 pages of) it and forming their own opinion. People’s willingness to fling unsubstantiated judgments around was pretty disappointing, if also kind of hilarious.

The best thing was that the people who liked the book REALLY liked it, and passed it around, and pressed copies on their friends. Reading reviews by people who understand what you were on about is a great relief after a slew of articles accusing you of having perverse tastes and corrupting minors. You only need a couple of the former to be able to give the latter the finger and move on.

3. You’re currently working on a selkie novel, based on your novella “Sea-hearts” from the X6 anthology – what can you tell us about it? When will we be able to read it?

Oh, I could go on and on, at this stage; I’m more than two-thirds of the way through the first draft, and full to the brim with this story. Or at least, to the tear-ducts; this is one saaaad tale. The novel is called THE BRIDES OF ROLLROCK ISLAND. The X6 novella makes up the last third; for those who’ve read that, the first third is from the POV of Messkeletha, the witch in that story, and the middle third is from Daniel’s father’s POV.

The story is based on various selkie stories from Scotland and Scandinavia – nothing obscure, nothing you can’t find with a bit of light Googling. (Selkies being seals that transform into humans on land, for those wondering what this is all about.) It’s about an entire island that succumbs to the mysterious magical beauty of the selkie women, and traps them on land, for romantic and reproductive purposes, by hiding their seal-skins from them so that they can’t return to the sea. If you like having your heart pulled out through your chest wall, this is the story for you.

Deals are being hammered out as we speak, but I would expect BRIDES to be released in 2011, early or late depending on which country you’re in, and either preceded or closely followed by a collection of reprinted short stories, called YELLOWCAKE. Probably both books will be marketed as YA; but, you know, that doesn’t mean a whole lot these days. Everyone over 15 should like it, and perhaps some under. There are a couple of racy sex scenes associated with this novel, but they are being issued separately as short stories; I’m doing a podcast of one of them with Keith Stevenson at the end of March.

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

Kaaron Warren for anything she’s written, Deb Biancotti for A Book of Endings, Paul Haines for ‘Wives’, Jonathan Strahan for anything he’s edited. I reckon you and I should get a look-in, too, Tansy. Yes, a Hugo shortlist stacked with mates would please me greatly!

5. Are you planning to go to Aussiecon 4 in September? If so, what are you most looking forward to?

It’s all a bit up in the air – I’ve got a son doing his HSC this year, and I’m not sure whether he’ll need a mum around at that time of year or won’t care one way or another. If the latter, I’ll be there!

Having never been to a Worldcon, I’m not entirely sure what I should be looking forward to, but I imagine the Hugos (after-) party would be a goodie, and seeing which northern hemisphere friends take their lives in their hands and fly all the way around here for this will be interesting. And the panel Kyla’s got me pencilled in for in the horror stream (The Eternal Border: Are there taboos in dark fantasy? At what point does the fantasy stop and the psychosis begin?) sounds like one we’ll have a lot of fun with. My ears prick up and my nostrils quiver in the proximity of a good taboo.

—————————————–
Also interviewed today: Marianne De Pierres, Richard Harland, Karen Miller, Ben Peek, Narelle Harris, Paul Collins, Damien Broderick, Justine Larbalestier, Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Angela Slatter, Dion Hamill

Snapshot interviews will be blogged from Monday 15th until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:
http://random-alex.livejournal.com/
http://girliejones.livejournal.com/
http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/
http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel
http://tansyrr.com/
http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com.

In 2005, Ben Peek spent a frantic week interviewing 43 people in the Australian Spec Fic scene. In 2007, a group of ASiF! reviewers took up the challenge and did it again, this time interviewing 83 people.

In the lead-up to Aussiecon 4 in Melbourne, and the great opportunity offered by the local Worldcon to see some Australians get a shot at the Hugo ballot, some of the ASif! reviewers will be doing it again, and blogging interviews from this coming Monday until Sunday 22nd Feb.

To read them hot off the press, check these blogs daily:

http://random-alex.livejournal.com/

http://girliejones.livejournal.com/

http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/

http://www.mechanicalcat.net/rachel

http://tansyrr.com/

http://editormum.livejournal.com/

Will we beat 83 this time? If you know of someone involved in the Scene with something to plug, then send us an email at 2010snapshot@gmail.com