2016 - 08/2016 Meeting

Page Created: 05/07/16. Last Updated: 09/05/16.

KAREN BAO

The Dove Chronicles:

DOVE ARISING

DOVE EXILED

Website: http://www.karenbao.com/home/

.....Interviews, Etc: http://www.karenbao.com/new-page/

Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenbaoauthor/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/karenjbao/

Tumblr: http://karenjbao.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarenJBao?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Meeting Summary

Meeting Date: August 13, 2016.

Meeting Venue: Barnes & Noble. Paramus, New Jersey.

Attendance: 42.

Meeting Program: Talk / Q & A with Young Adult Science Fiction Author.

Meeting Account:

The August 13, 2016 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was hosted by Barnes & Noble in Paramus, New Jersey. The store had originally planned to hold the event in the cafe, but the Manager-on-Duty relocated our group to the second floor outside the event Room. This proved quite fortuitous as a perfect storm of publicity by author, club and store delivered an audience much larger than expected.

The Writers' Space Salon dinner and networking gathering at Panera Bread across the highway was a pleasant affair. The on-store Ice Nine discussion included talk about the upcoming STAR TREK: DISCOVERY series, the recent deaths of Jerry Doyle (BABYLON 5'S Garibaldi) and Ken Baker (the man inside R2-D2), and the 3M cloud option for library users.

Our speaker was Karen Bao, author of DOVE ARISING and DOVE EXILED, the first two books in a dystopian Young Adult science fiction trilogy published by Viking Books. The series is set in 2347 in a future in which the moon colonies exist in a state of cold war with the two major powers on Earth.

Ms Bao was writing at a young age. She remembers her second grade teacher reading her stories about animals and encouraging her. But writing took a back seat to her passion for music (violin, specifically) and science (environmental science), Our speaker began the Dove Chronicles as a High School Junior. When it was complete, she contacted literary agent Simon Lipskar, who had been her music teacher a few years earlier: "Hi, remember me? Will you look at my book?" Mr Lipskar, who happens to be Christopher Paolini's literary agent, did remember Karen, gave it the once-over and decided (after having a couple of others in the agency view it) to take her on as a client. Although the story was strong, Mr Lipskar felt that there were a number of issues with the novel which required more work. This led to a series of rewrites which took a year before the agent began shopping the book.

Three companies were interested, but our speaker felt that the folks at Viking had the best grasp of what she was trying to do, unlike an editor at a different house who wanted a rewrite to include a love triangle.

Karen Bao believes she is a much better now than when she first began. She works out a detailed outline before actually starting to write (much of the rewrites done for DOVE ARISING were the result of making it up as she went along). Her first draft is done by hand in a journal. The second draft consists of typing what she wrote by hand, doing minor edits on the fly. When the book is complete, our speaker does a major rewrite from beginning to end. Then it is off to her agent and editor who will suggest additional revisions.

Notes:

This material did not make it into the Newsletter Account.

Writers who influence our speaker included George Orwell and Jane Austen. Books she enjoyed include GRACELING, HARRY POTTER and THE HUNGER GAMES.

Unlike some of our past speakers, getting accepted for publication was no big deal. "Okay, it's official. Now back to studying."

Karen Bao had to cut short her time with us because she was heading to China the following day for the release of DOVE ARISING in China. She had to get 5 levels of government approval to have it published. The book is marketed as children's adventure, soft pedaling the resisting of an oppressive government.

Our speaker cannot listen to music when she writes. It messes up the rhythm of the writing. She was on no fixed writing schedule while in college. She wrote when she felt like it and when her schedule permitted.

The final Dove book has been completed and is going through editing. Karen's next book will be a fantasy influenced by Chinese myth and culture.

Her music training was very important to our guest. Music teaches you to mix passion and discipline. Her violin training helped provide the necessary discipline for the rewrite process.

Her math geek younger brother and her best friend were inspirations for characters in the books.

Advice for writers: Read, Write, and Don't Forget to Go Outside.

Although she did not outline her first novel, our speaker now develops a very detailed outline. However, she shows a less-detailed outline to her editor.

Our guest was the only Chinese kid in her class and knows what it feels like to be an outsider.

Her college studies helped in deciding what was possible and what was not possible in the science fiction series.

Karen Bao is an Environmental Science Major. She said that things look bad on the effects of climate change. She is not a fan of massive geo-engineering processes, feeling we have too little date about side effects and consequences.

Her thesis will be published in Pacific Conservation Biology.