I was pleasantly surprised back in July at OSFest, the Omaha Science Fiction Society’s inaugural convention, when I met another genre author from around these parts named Matt Rotundo. We sat on a couple of panels together, wherein I discovered that this guy I had never previously heard of was racking up quite a number of significant short fiction sales in the top genre markets, most notably Writers of the Future and Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi magazine, Intergalactic Medicine Show. Then we happened to cross paths again at World Con, where–seriously–everybody in the genre publishing industry goes, has gone, orContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #30 – Matt Rotundo

At an event like World Con, one has the opportunity to meet authors at all levels of their craft and career, as I have said in previous interview posts. I introduced myself to David B. Coe after sitting in on one of that week’s many panels and listening to him and the other panelists discuss various aspects of the writing business. David is a self-described midlist author, which isn’t exactly glamorous, but it’s a darn sight further along the career path than legions of other would-be writers. It basically means that he’s a real live working fiction writer, not aContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #29 – David B. Coe

At the World Science Fiction Convention back in August, in yet another instance of meeting more authors through authors I just met, I had the good fortune to meet a pleasant, soft-spoken author and rocket scientist named Ian Tregillis.  We were introduced through Melinda Snodgrass, whom I had met at World Con when she recognized me from this series of interviews. You can still find her interview in the archives.  But at her recommendation, I attended a reading by Ian, wherein he read one of his short stories.  He was very modest about it when I complimented him afterward, butContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #28 – Ian Tregillis

If you’ve been following these interviews, by now you realize that one could not swing a deceased feline quadruped at the World Science Fiction Convention without hitting writers and authors at practically every stage of their careers. Jude-Marie Green is a published author of speculative fiction whose work is just starting to take off. And whilst swinging the above said carcass, I happened to meet her at the wind-down of a long exhausting day tramping for miles around the enormous convention center and downtown Denver, and so ensued one of those, “Oh, really? What do you write?” conversations. Strangely, sheContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #27 – Jude-Marie Green

Here comes another in a long series of interviews with authors I had the distinct pleasure of meeting at World Con in Denver last month.  Mary Robinette Kowal and I were introduced through one of the many globs of authors at the con, authors new and not-so-new, globs that migrate, coagulate, split away like mitosis, merge, disperse, etc., in those minutes between panels. During Hugo Awards ceremony, I was pleased to hear her name called as the winner of the John W. Campbell award for Best New Writer.  So, having already asked her to do an interview for Blogging theContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #26 – Mary Robinette Kowal

Habitual readers of Blogging the Muse may recall that I interviewed Kristine Kathryn Rusch, prior to taking my first trip to the World Science Fiction Convention, and we discussed the nature of the publishing industry at length. At World Con, I had the good fortune to meet Kristine and her husband, Dean Wesley Smith, another author of perhaps slightly less renown (at least under his own name) but certainly no less accomplishment.  He has published over ninety novels under numerous pseudonyms–that’s right ninety, 9 – 0–with his real name being better known for media tie-in works, such as Star TrekContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #25 – Dean Wesley Smith

I had the good fortune of meeting Brenda Cooper at an impromptu gathering of authors near the end of World Con in Denver a few weeks ago. I was quite gratified at the time to find myself in the company of several talented individuals, all of whom are further down the path of science fiction and fantasy publishing than I am. In that conversation, woefully cut-short by the pressure of travel time, I got to meet Brenda and learn a bit about her, so it was a great pleasure to continue our conversation via e-mail for this interview series.  InContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #24 – Brenda Cooper

I had the good fortune a few weeks ago to meet John Scalzi whilst he was a manning the SFWA booth at the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, as well as sitting in on a couple of panels in which he took part.  For months I’ve been seeing and hearing in the web-o-sphere how great John Scalzi’s science fiction novels are, and I have to say, a few chapter’s into Old Man’s War, it is indeed a cracklin’ good read. With several novels behind John now, he’s become a certified pro in the science fiction field, but strangely enoughContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #23 – John Scalzi

Last week at the World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, I had the good fortune of meeting a whole herd of authors, all of them at various stages of their careers, from fledglings with a small handful of short story sales, to first-time novelists, and on up to long-time veterans. Ken Scholes is a first-time novelist, but an experienced short story author with sales going back several years. He was fortunate enough, or talented enough, perhaps both, to sell his first novel to Tor, and the editors at Tor were earnestly singing his praises for his imminent novel release. WithContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #22 – Ken Scholes

Jeff Strand is one of those rare writers who can gleefully combine comedy with horror and the macabre. Some reviewers even say his stuff defies classification. For me personally, writers who find their niche and pull it off with flying colors are an inspiration. The downside is that big-ticket mainstream publishing does not see enough dollar signs to give writers like Jeff Strand the credit he deserves. At least not until recently. Jeff just signed a mass market book deal with Leisure Horror for his book Pressure, due out in June 2009. One of the sweetest spots in reading isContinue readingAuthor Interview Series #20 – Jeff Strand