Author bio:
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Hi Carolyn, welcome to The Book Plank and for taking your time to answer these few questions for us.
CG: It’s a pleasure.
BP:
First off could you give us a short introduction as to who Carolyn Ives Gilman
is, what are your hobbies, likes and dislikes?
CG: I’m a person with
two identities. At times, I’m Carolyn
Ives Gilman, science fiction writer. In
this guise, I’ve written four novels and many shorter works. The ones people are most likely to have heard
of are my novel Halfway Human and my
novellas Arkfall and The Ice Owl, which got nominated for
three awards--two Nebulas and one Hugo.
My newest book, Dark Orbit, is
set in the same universe as these three stories, though on a different planet. It’s a good universe for a writer like me, who
is always getting distracted by shiny new ideas.
By day, I’m Carolyn Gilman, a mild-mannered museum
exhibit developer at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the
American Indian. In this persona, I’m a
historian who has written seven books on the frontier, exploration, and Native
American history. I moved to Washington
from the Midwest three years ago, and I still love the pinch-me feeling of
being in the middle of things. My office
is on the Mall near the Capitol, just like all those people on TV, except I
don’t solve crimes, avert war, or scheme to be president. That’s why I write books, to pretend that I
do.
I was about to deny that I have hobbies, but I guess I
do—playing my faithful piano and going to the gym, which involves another
persona of sorts, the tattooed gym rat. Kickboxing is my favorite. I didn’t say I was good at it.
BP:
Your first short fiction story was published in 1987 and your first book in
1998, do you still know when and where you decided that you wanted to write
stories?
CG: I have always
wanted to write stories, but I remember when I decided to write science
fiction. I was an English major in
college, struggling to write the kind of literary fiction I was studying, when
it occurred to me: What am I doing? I
don’t read this stuff. I read science
fiction and fantasy. I ought to write it,
too. At that moment I changed over, and I
have never looked back.
BP:
You have written many stories since your first publication, where do you get
your inspiration from?
CG: From life. It’s a mystery to me why anyone would think
that the way to learn how to write is to go to graduate school and live an
isolated, sheltered existence in academia.
If you aren’t out in the world making observations about people and
events, accumulating experiences, encountering unlikely things, you won’t have
anything worthwhile to say.
BP:
The Science Fiction we read today is not the same as it was years back, what
changes have you experienced over the years? And has it influenced your writing?
CG: The science
fiction of my youth was the New Wave, and it laid down the bedrock of what I
look for in a good book, my own included.
The trends since then have reflected the changes in the world we live
in—the obsessions of our times. Cyberpunk,
urban fantasy, military SF, steampunk, dystopias. Since I often feel at odds with the world
around me, fantastic fiction either helps explain it to me or heightens my
alienation and puzzlement.
What doesn’t change is
what I look for in a good book. I want a
world that I enjoy spending time in, and people I enjoy being around, but I
also need something to tickle my brain and make me say “wow.”
BP: Dark Orbit is your latest book, where did you
got the idea from for this story in particular?
CG: Dark Orbit didn’t
start with one idea, but with many. It
grew by accretion of ideas over many years.
It is
partly an exploration adventure inspired by all the classic science fiction of
my childhood. It is also inspired by
cutting-edge science on the nature of space and dimensionality, by research
into the neuroscience of how sight works, and by the intersection between
quantum physics and mysticism. Even my
colleagues at work inspired it with their quirky personalities and
obsessions.
BP:
You have already written numerous stories, do you still find it hard to begin
writing a new story? What is your most valuable experience that you gained from
your previous stories that you use when writing a new one?
CG: My problem is
never ideas; I have enough of them to last me a lifetime. My problem is finding the time. It has become increasingly difficult for me
to write in disconnected snippets of time—two hours here, half an hour there. I really have to block out time, and that is
harder than it used to be.
In starting a story,
it’s essential for me to find a voice to tell it in. But sometimes that doesn’t come right away;
you just have to start writing and feel your way into it. The critical thing is to get out of your own
way. Stop worrying what people will
think of you and write for fun.
BP:
Dark Orbit will be released July 12th, if you would have to sell the
book with a single sentence how would it go?
CG: In Dark Orbit, a mismatched group
of scientists exploring a strange and dangerous planet find that they need to travel
into the world of the blind in order to come back alive.
BP:
Even with your repertoire, did you still encounter any particular problems in
writing Dark Orbit?
CG: Of course. It was nothing but problems. I actually abandoned the book several times
because the problems seemed so insoluble.
The hardest thing was figuring out my two viewpoint characters. Or rather, figuring out that they were two
people, and not one. Once I realized
that, they took on very distinct personalities and voices, and the story fell
into place.
BP:
besides the troubles and hard parts of writing, which chapter, scene or
character did you enjoy writing about the most?
CG: The parts written
from the point of view of Sara Callicot were very easy for me. She has an ironic, satirical personality that
made her parts lots of fun. The chapters
written from the point of view of Thora Lassiter were harder. She is an introspective person who is always
questioning herself. And yet, now that I
reread it, I am proudest of Thora’s sections.
BP: if
you would be able to make one final change before the book publishes, would you
do so? If yes, which part and why?
CG: Once I’m done
with a book, I’m done with it. I rarely
look back, because I’m on to the next shiny object in my imagination.
BP: Now
that Dark Orbit is published, do you have any other plans that you wish to
pursue? What can we expect in the near future?
CG: I’m currently
working on a story that may turn into a novelette or novella; I’m not sure
which. It’s set in the near future on
Earth. I needed a break from the Twenty
Planets universe where Dark Orbit is
set.
BP:
Everyone enjoys fantasy and science fiction in their own way, what do you like
most about it?
CG: I like that F and
SF will take me completely out of everyday life, but still teach me something
about it by the time I get back.
BP: if
you would have to give your top five favorite authors, which would they be?
CG: I can’t do that
because they’re always changing, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t yet discovered
my favorites. For example, last year I
might not have mentioned Ann Leckie, Jack McDevitt, Iain Banks, or C.J.
Cherryh, and now I have to mention them all. Next year, who knows?
BP:
And just lastly, can you give us a short sneak peek of what will be in store
for the readers of Dark Orbit?
CG: In Dark
Orbit, an irrepressible ethnologist named Sara Callicot gets recruited to
join a scientific expedition investigating a newly discovered planet. Only she knows that she has a secret
assignment—to spy on fellow explorer Thora Lassiter, a disgraced member of the
interstellar elite. Thora’s past has
been covered up so thoroughly, even she does not know it, as a result of false
implanted memories. When they arrive on
the ship orbiting the planet Iris, a grisly murder seems to prove that someone
has brought the plots of their home planet to this new frontier.
But assassination soon proves to be only one of their
problems, because the planet Iris is extraordinarily dangerous. Here, the leaves cut like razors and the
forests are mazes of mirrors. Space
itself is unstable, apt to fold like five-dimensional origami. When Thora disappears, it is up to Sara to
solve a mystery that may be scientific or may be political, and to rescue Thora
before the spatial instabilities destroy them all.
BP:
thank you for your time Carolyn and good luck with writing your future books!
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