Ysabeau S. Wilce 2009 Interview
Ysabeau S. Wilce won the Andre Norton Award for Flora’s Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room).
Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. Whether it’s your short stories or novels, I find that you have a unique style and voice that no one else in the field is doing. How did you develop your particular writing style?
Reading, reading and reading. I have a theory that you can’t be a good writer if you aren’t a great reader. And you must read lots of different things too, with no regard for one particular genre, or for high or low literature. Obviously, I have more of an affinity towards the rococo and melodramatic, but I think it’s important not to be too limited in my reading choices, so I will read almost anything. Immersion in reading helped me develop an ear for rhythm, and made my style second nature. Now I just sit down and start typing, and out it all comes!
All your fiction so far seems to be set in the world of Califa. How did you come up with this cosmology? How do you keep track of all your characters and locations and interactions?
Califa evolved over a long long time. In the beginning elements of Califa could be found in a role playing game that my friends and I were obsessed with in high school. Back then, Califa was not called Califa, and it was more medieval. Later, when I got interested in American history, Califa began to turn into more of a California cognate. I decided, as a point of ideology, to have all my fantasy based in American mythology and geography. In my opinion, pastoral Tolkien-type fantasy is already well-picked over and I wanted to do something new. As far as keeping track of people and places, I do not do so formally. It’s all in my head. Thankfully my editor is very good at picking up continuity errors!
Have you ever considered writing fiction that’s not set in your Califa setting?
I’ve considered it, but rejected the consideration for the moment. Right now I’m still having fun with Califa and its environs, and my readers seem happy to be exploring that world along with me. But at some point I’ll have to stretch into something new.
What made you decide to write speculative fiction?
As a historian I was trained to speculate only within the facts, and after a while I found that limiting. The real world is interesting and fascinating but I like to play around with “what if”. And I wanted my female characters to be powerful and not to be constrained or defined by their femaleness--and, alas, that’s impossible in the world we live in.
How did your experience at Clarion shape your career and your life?
As far as changing my life, I met my husband there--so that’s was a major life change! As far my career goes, going to Clarion helped me make connections that proved invaluable when it came time to find an agent, so that was pretty helpful, too. Plus, I wrote the first two stories I ever sold at Clarion and I probably wouldn’t have written them otherwise, since short fiction is not my forte.
How about your travels and how it’s affected your writing?
Traveling has given me a chance to see how people live and work differently around the world, and has helped stretched my imagination. I recently read about a study that said that people are more creative when they live as expats and for me, though I haven’t been an expat in many years, I think that is true. Living or traveling abroad broadens your outlook and makes you more flexible and open minded. Which are two must-have qualities for a writer.
Having written Flora Segunda previously, is working on Flora’s Dare any easier or just as difficult? How about the upcoming novel, Flora’s Fury?
Every novel is excruciating in its own way. I am great with characters and background details and horrible with plot, so stringing the plot together is always very hard. Flora’s Dare was difficult because I was trying to combine two novels into one. Flora’s Fury is hard because I didn’t have a plot in mind before I started, so I’m starting from scratch there, and plots are quite difficult for me. Plus, I had a baby seven months ago, and he is quite demanding of my time and focus!
Since you’ve written both short stories and novels, which format are you more comfortable with? What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?
I hate writing short stories. And in fact, one could argue that I have only written one true short story--the rest of my stories are novellas. I like to write long, it takes me a while to build up characters and plot, so squeezing everything down is very difficult for me. I admire those writers who can do so much in a short space, but I fear I am not one of them.
What’s the most challenging aspect of writing for you?
Description. I admire writers who can conjure up gorgeous description fluidly and effortless. I hack hack hack away at my description. Often scenery is quite vividly pictured in my imagination, but comes out on the page very stilted, and this drives me crazy. I particularly admire writers who can write action. I’m terrible at action.
Any other projects you’re currently working on?
My husband, James Thomas, and I have been collaborating on a middle reader that is sort of a mash-up of Little Lord Fauntleroy (if he were a girl and much more sour) and Frankenstein. I’m also working on a novel length extension of the Hardhands/Tiny Doom stories. But before I can finish those, I have to finish my biggest project to date: getting my son to sleep through the night so I am not quite as exhausted during the day!
Ysabeau S. Wilce was born in California and has followed the drum throughout Alaska, Spain, Mexico, Arizona, and Elsewhere. After training as a military historian, Ysabeau turned to fiction when the truth no longer compared favorably to the shining lies of her imagination. Her stories have been published in Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and various anthologies. Her work has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, the Andre Norton Award, and been short-listed for the Tiptree Award.
Charles A. Tan is the co-editor of the Philippine Speculative Fiction Sampler and his fiction has appeared in publications such as The Digest of Philippine Genre Stories and Philippine Speculative Fiction. He has conducted interviews for The Nebula Awards and The Shirley Jackson Awards, as well as for online magazines such as SF Crowsnest and SFScope. He is a regular contributor to sites like SFF Audio and Game Cryer. You can visit his blog, Bibliophile Stalker, where he posts book reviews, interviews, and essays.
When Ysabeau is not writing, she drinks cappuccinos and reads trashy nineteenth century novels, waiting for inspiration to strike again. She currently resides in the Midwest, with her husband, a cheese-swilling financier, and a border collie named Bothwell. They do not have a Butler. You may also find her at her blog.
