AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Wendy N. Wagner

Note from Nayad: This week and next, I will post interviews with as many authors as possible from WHAT FATES IMPOSE, in addition to anything else I write about. BE ASSURED that every one of these authors is an interesting person I would gladly hang out with for an evening (and I have done so, in many cases). I hope you enjoy what they have to say!

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If you'd like to help out, telling your friends is free and easy by clicking here, and there are reward levels from $1 on up at our Kickstarter page.

Wendy N. Wagner's story in WHAT FATES IMPOSE features fortune cookies. It shows a struggling couple coping with an unexpected stop on their road trip, with much larger consequences than they could have expected.

Here's Wendy, sharing her thoughts on fortune-telling and writing! *applause*

Have you ever had a reading (Tarot, palm, runes, or whatever)? If so, what did you think of the experience? Was it accurate, or at least useful?

I was once devoted to reading my horoscope--I'd even used books to draw up my natal chart, and I did a lot of research on the topic. It was at a point in my life when I felt least certain of my future, of what I wanted from myself. I can remember, as a kid, heck, even as a college student, asking my mom "What do you think I should be when I grow up?" and feeling incredibly hungry for an answer. I just wanted something outside myself to point me the right way. Any right way. If I couldn't get it from myself or the people who knew me, I was willing to look to the stars.

How did you get started on developing the idea for your story in WHAT FATES IMPOSE?

For my husband's birthday (which happens to be Valentine's Day), I bought him a pack of fortune-telling gum balls. There were five or six tiny Chinese take-out boxes, each with two gumballs and a ridiculous fortune inside. One of the fortunes said "Excitement awaits in Yelm, Washington." I knew I had to write a story based on that!

I've actually never been to Yelm, although it's only about a two-hour drive away. I can't wait to go check it out.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

I'm pretty sure all my best advice comes from Pixar cartoons:

"Never give up! Never surrender!" -- Buzz Lightyear

"Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming." -- Dori

But seriously, I'd tell anyone starting in this business that you have to keep in mind that work within the arts isn't about winning prizes or making sales or making ends meet--I mean, that's going to be a major part of your life, but it can't be what drives your art. Writing is about writing. There's a reason it ends in "ing": it's a process. You have to love the process, not the results.

That's probably all in the movie Ratatouille, if you watch it closely enough.

What's your favorite story of all the stories you've written, and why?

Of all my stories, I probably love "Barnstormers" the most. I love the setting and the undercurrents of melancholia, plus I feel like the characters really work. I like stories that are subtly unhappy. I hope to write more of them.

Where can people find other published work of yours?

Well, "Barnstormers" is being reprinted in Heiresses of Russ 2013: Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction--that comes out in August. So that's something great to look forward to. I'm in some other fun anthologies that you might be able to find at your local library or bookstore, like Armored and The Way of the Wizard, both edited by John Joseph Adams.

But I'm most excited about some projects coming out next year, like my Pathfinder novel, Skinwalkers. I think that's going to be a damn fun read.

Websites:

You can keep up with me on my website, winniewoohoo.com, and I also chat about writing and publishing on the Inkpunks blog.

Twitter:

I love tweeting! I'm @wnwagner.

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Only twelve days left until the WHAT FATES IMPOSE Fundraising Campaign succeeds or fails on July 14, 2013. It's all or nothing!

(That URL is http://bit.ly/kickfate.)

Become a Beloved Backer on Kickstarter!

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WHAT FATES IMPOSE Author Series

• GUEST POST: Jennifer Brozek and her Karen Wilson Chronicles
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Wendy N. Wagner
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Alasdair Stuart
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ferrett Steinmetz
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Sarah Hans
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Lucy A. Snyder
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Beth Wodzinski
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Tim Waggoner
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jamie Lackey
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Remy Nakamura
• AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Cat Rambo