Prime Time Replay:
Suzy McKee Charnas
on The Ruby Tear
MsgId: *omni_visions(19)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:05:59 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Omni Visions. My guest tonight is the redoubtable Suzy McKee Charnas. Suzy first made an enormus impression on the sf field when her novel "WALK TO THE END OF THE WORLD" was published in 1974. Sequels "MOTHERLINES" and "THE FURIES" continued to generate passionate discussion in the arena of feminist, dystopian, post-holocaust fiction. 1980 saw "THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY," introducing to book form the eminent and memorable vampire anthropologist, Dr. Weyland. Suzy Charnas has also written such novels of fantasy for young adults as "THE BRONZE KING," "THE SILVER GLOVE," and "THE GOLDEN THREAD."The remarkable fantasy novel "THE KINGDOM OF KEVIN MALONE" appeared in 1993, and has only recently been scheduled for paperback publication. Suzy received a Hugo Award in 1990 for the werewolf story, "Boobs." She's on the Hugo final ballot again this year for "Beauty and the Opera, or the Phantom Beast." Then there's a brand new, nominally pseudonymous novel, called "THE RUBY TEAR." More about that shortly. At long last, Suzy, welcome to Omni Visions!
MsgId: *omni_visions(22)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:13:47 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
Thank you, Ed. It is a pleasure to be here!
MsgId: *omni_visions(24)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:17:30 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
I'm curious what led you to publish "THE RUBY TEAR," new from Tor, as by Rebecca Brand. The inquiring minds, of course, can easily ferret out the writer's identity right there on the copyright page.
MsgId: *omni_visions(26)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:18:39 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
This book is aimed at a slightly differnt audience than the audience for my previous vampire novel, "THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY." Readers of that book have been asking for years for a sequel. I didn't want those people picking up "THE RUBY TEAR" by Suzy Charnas and throwing across the room when they discovered that Dr. Weyland is not in it! I also wanted to try to establish an authorial identity that I could use for all kinds of experimental and, comma, I hope, playful work that might,in fact, spill out of the SF genre and maybe out of genre all together...you never know.
MsgId: *omni_visions(33)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:22:49 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
Let me mention to those looking in who may not have yet read the novel, that "THE RUBY TEAR" is a non-Weyland novel of vampires, lo-o-o-ng familie blood vendettas, and the contemporary theater. The book starts a touch languidly, but the tension builds steadily and well, ending up perhaps more intricately than the readers may at first suspect.
MsgId: *omni_visions(36)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:25:06 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
I thought the novel was a complete confection that still cleverly folded in all the good nutrients in clever disguise.
MsgId: *omni_visions(37)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:26:08 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
The theatre background intrigued me. I figure you either read an awful lot about treading the boards, or, more likely, you've done it. Is that the case?
MsgId: *omni_visions(38)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:28:28 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
I had (in 1990) a wonderful theatre experience when a play that I wrote adapting the third chapter of "THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY" for the stage was produced at the Magic Theatre at Ft. Mason in San Francisco. It was part of their yearly "Springfest" of new plays. Since I did not know what I was doing when I wrote the script, I was required to tear it apart during the rehearsal period and as we went along to rebuild it.During that time I learned to use an immense, ancient, IBM type computer that had been donated to the theatre, and then, when THAT broke down, a Macintosh that had been donated to the theatre. I could only use them at night when the office was not using them and that was when rehearsald took place as well, since most actors have day jobs.
With the aid of a truly WONDERFUL cast and a director, Michel Edwards, who also directed occasionally at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. I would rush upstairs from rehearsal to the office and do rewrites at a furious pace then bring the new pages back down to the actors for another try. All in all, since I had never used either of those types of computers before, and I had never worked with theatre people. I was in seventh heaven because there was so much to learn and somehow I seemed to be able to learn it.
It was SO much fun that I've been trying to do more stage ever since, unsuccessfully, but in the meantime I was absolutely not willing to let the experience go to waste. I had another idea for a vampire story connected with the recent wars in eastern Europe and when I put that together with that theatre experence I finally had a way to turn thatexperience into a book, and I think the book is infused and lightened by the memory of how happy I was during the time the play was being staged.(end)
MsgId: *omni_visions(46)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:43:55 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
As a reader and as someone with extremely limited stage experience, hey, I was convinced. So is Ms. Brand expecting to see anything else in print soon? You suggested that her range of writing might be quite broad.
MsgId: *omni_visions(47)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:46:14 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
I certianly HOPE so, but at the moment I am completely drowned in the final volume of the series of novels that began with "WALK TO THE END OF THE WORLD."There's this THING that happens when you unwittingly commit yourself to what turnes out to be a futuristic, feminist, epic which you only meant to be one adventure SF novel. Toward the end of the process, particularly when it has taken over 25 years, you find yourself dealing with a veritable army of characters most of whom have matured and changed thru the three previous books in real time, like real people.
Sometimes I feel like an immense holiday resort hotel heading toward the close of season and wondering haw the hell I am going to manage when all the rooms are empty. I certainly hope that new projects will replace this unintentionally vast undertaking so I don't have to DIE.
MsgId: *omni_visions(52)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:54:43 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
Uh, well, no, Suzy, I don't think of writing as so mythic a process that you'll be obliged to die upon completion of the magnum opus. Instead you'll be around to drink in the plaudits and--is it possible?--some few aggrieved cries from those whose oxen may be gored. So when will this all take place? Any sense of completion and consequent publication plans?
MsgId: *omni_visions(53)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:56:39 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
I am hurtling toward the close, hoping not to leave the tracks, even as we speak.
MsgId: *omni_visions(54)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:57:11 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
A tangential announcement here: In the not too distant future, producer Ellen will be opening up the chat so anyone who wishes can participate. So think what you might wish to ask Suzy McKee Charnas.
MsgId: *omni_visions(55)
Date: Thu Jul 17 22:57:20 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
I hope you don't mind the conversion of our mountain retreat into the Orient Express. The plan, for what that is worth, is to get the manuscript of volume 4 into shape to show to early readers for reactions, criticism, hugs & kisses, explosions, etc. by the fall. With any luck and it my sister will get her act in gear and move to New Jersey already I HOPE to have the whole thing over to Debbie Notkin at Tor by the end of the year. That's THIS year, Debbie!
MsgId: *omni_visions(57)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:02:36 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.29.174
Just a note: The chatdoor is now open. In order to ask questions you must exit then re-enter. Please sign your name. Thanks.
MsgId: *omni_visions(58)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:04:19 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
Well, good fortune in finishing up. I suspect that in sf as well as out in society at large, the word "feminist" seems to be defined in as many ways as there are perceivers. What's your assessment of feminism in the science fiction field these days?
MsgId: *omni_visions(60)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:05:51 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
Phew...
MsgId: *omni_visions(61)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:08:07 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
Okay, maybe a simpler version. Do you sense a philosophical schism between the writers/readers over, say 40, and those younger?
MsgId: *omni_visions(62)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:08:35 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
I think ever since the late 60s the whole field of fantasy and scence fiction has been immensely enriched and energized by the comtributions of feminist writers. Recently the creation of the James Tiptree, Jr Award for "Gender-Bending" fantasy or SF has widened the area of imagination nd debate around gender for writers and readers who like to think about this stuff in a way that has increased the contribution from these kinds of folks. Anybody who is interested in getting an idea of the range and scope of writing in this area couldn't do better than to check out the Tiptree Award Web page ( I don't the URL, but check Yahoo under Tiptree) where short- and long- listed works that have been contenders are listed with commentary by judges from each years award.Recent workd by Nicola Griffith, Melissa Scott, Theodore Roszak, and many others seem to me to have claimed science fiction and fantasy seriously (or not so seriously as the case may be) as a literature not only of ideas but of ideas that are being most crucially discussed all over the world. WATCH THIS SPACE!
MsgId: *omni_visions(65)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:16:39 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.3
You're going to be teaching soon at Clarion West in Seattle. What are you hoping or expecting to get across to these bright new talents?
MsgId: *omni_visions(66)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:21:33 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
Actuakly I like to use techniques from stage training in my teaching about writing fiction. The summer following the production of my play, I took an acting course at the local university and once I had recivered from my assignment to play Blanche DuBois in a scene from *Streetcar Named Desire*, I realized that the experience of portraying someone totally alien to oneself is not so different from writing sceince fiction. I went on to do a lot of reading about acting and directing and I like to see if I can orient neophyte writers toward producing their stories as scenes in their heads complete with lots of sensory stuff and great dialogue.Joanna Russ wrote somewhere that she learned her best writing lessons in a playwriting class, and I think there are major lessons about focus, flow of story, vivid characterisation, point of view, pacing, and just about everything else involved in writing stories to be learned from theatre techniques.
Beyond that, I have the usual things to say about handling the double career of author and self-publicist, realistic financial prospects, emotion and physical health, and where to get your crazy ideas. But the most endearing thing about Clarion workshops (either East or West) is that most of the work is done by the students for each other, and it is he instructor's privilege to listen in and become revitalized by all that creativity and good brains.
MsgId: *omni_visions(71)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:40:43 EDT 1997
From: EllenDatlow At: 38.26.29.174
I'm wondering if Ed got knocked off temporarily. Suzy, have you ever attended a writer's workshop--as a student or a pro workshop like Milford?
MsgId: *omni_visions(70)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:39:30 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.26
Am back. Just had an enforced cybernetic vacation. Anyhow... May I ask about your fantasy for young adults? What peculiar challenges do these books pose?
MsgId: *omni_visions(72)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:45:32 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
VERY peculiar ones. In the first place, it turns out that when you write for age 14 as i tried to do, you are actualy writing a) for age ten, meaning ten year olds who will not read about people their own age but who do not have the ewxperience to fully connect with charactrs of the age they wish to be, i.e. 14 and up; b) For school librarians of any age who are more or less terrorized by Christian crazies into wanting everyone to read only picture books and c)for parents and friends of kids who buy them books and who are looking for anything from pablum to the Great Classics of Robert Lousi Stevenson, Mark Twain, etc.On my first book for young adult readers, "THE BRONZE KING," I visited my publisher in Boston and discovered my manuscript all but obliterated by blue pencil marks put there by the copy editor. She had gone so far as to correct the purposely accented English of an ancient Finnish wizard who wasn't SUPPOSED to speak with grammatical correctness and had crossed out the 5 or 6 common cuss words (i.e. damn and hell) where they occured. I asked her if she had been to the mall lately where anyone with ears will discover that the language of true teenages tends to be bluer than the ocean. She had, but insisted that the job of *children's literature* is to set a good example. I said that it was to tell a story and we spent 3 hours haggling over the removal of about 85% of the blue pencil marks. Then of couse there is the competition from livelier visual media which may or may not be shrinking the young book audience as well as rotting their brains, and the consequent complete demoralization of the YA publishing establishment. They want to do beautiful and responsible books, the kids who read largely want R.L.Stine and his successful. It's a puzzlement.
MsgId: *omni_visions(76)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:54:12 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.26
As we start to run out of time, I need to ask the question I think is on a LOT of minds... What about that possible sequel to "THE VAMPIRE TAPESTRY" you mentioned earlier? Do you have any concrete plans for Dr. Weyland's return?
MsgId: *omni_visions(77)
Date: Thu Jul 17 23:57:31 EDT 1997
From: Suzy_McKee_Charnas At: 204.210.219.65
Well I do not know how concrete this is, but the is an _idea_gnawing at my very vitals, and my problem is it may only be a short piece rather than a book. I won't know for sure until I close that hotel and take a little vacation myself. One of the attractive aspects of these possible project is that it is a real time story, that is Weyland went to sleep in 1981 and when he wakes he will wake probably in 1998...which means that I will have to learn all over again how to create a new and false identity in a much more complicated and electronically challenging world. But I think I m gonna have to to it -- or at least try -- as there is life in the old boy yet...and a good vampire is a terrible thing to waste.
MsgId: *omni_visions(79)
Date: Fri Jul 18 00:03:50 EDT 1997
From: Ed_Bryant_mod At: 204.133.96.2
All right, on a night fraught with gremlins, you've persevered and triumphed. I'd like to thank my producer Ellen and technical advisor Paula, but especially I'd like to offer thanks to my guest tonight, Suzy McKee Charnas. Look for her new novel (as by Rebecca Brand), "THE RUBY TEAR" (Tor Books), a tale of vampires and the theatre, Eastern European politics and romance. And also watch for the paperback reprint of Suzy's "THE KINGDOM OF KEVIN MALONE." And perhaps you'll see her this Labor Day, picking up a Hugo Award in San Antonio. Dial in next week as Jim Freund interviews Jack Dann. I'll return in two weeks, to have a dialog with that darkest and sharpest of contemporary suspense novelists, Mitchell Smith. Good night, all.
Home || Prime Time || Live Science || Machine Dreams || Project Open Book || SF-Fantasy-Horror
Continuum || Antimatter || Mind-Brain Lab || Interactive IQ || Gallery || OMNI ToonsQuestions, comments and suggestions can be mailed to the webmaster.
Copyright (C) 1997 by Omni Publications International, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.