2020 - 11/2020 Meeting
Page Created: 09/25/20. Last Updated: 12/21/20
ANDREA STEWART
Official Author Site: http://www.andreagstewart.com/
Meeting Date: November 14, 2020.
Meeting Site: Zoom Video Conference.
Attendance: 35.
Meeting Program: Talk / Q & A with Fantasy Author.
Notes:
John Upton recommended two documentary websites at the Virtual Diner Run post-meeting discussion:
Apollo 11:
..........Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11_(2019_film)
..........Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Co8Z8BQgWc
AT&T Tech Channel:
..........AT&T Tech Channel Home: https://techchannel.att.com/
..........A 20 Year History of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems: https://techchannel.att.com/playvideo/2011/08/08/AT&T-Archives-A-20-Year-History-of-Antiballistic-Missile-Systems
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2020 Philip J De Parto:
Fantasy author Andrea Stewart spoke and answered questions at the Saturday, November 14, 2020 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen Coiunty. The gathering was held as a Zoom Video Conference because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Our guest is the author of THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER, the first book in the epic fantasy trilogy, The Drowning Empire. Her short fiction has appeared in BENEATH CEASELESS SKIES, DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, GALAXY'S EDGE, ORSON SCOTT CARD'S INTERGALACTIC MEDICINE SHOW and other magazines and anthologies. She is also an amateur fantasy artist whose work appears on her website.
Instead of talking a bit about her background and work, our guest immediately threw the session into a question and answer session, so this account is more disjointed than usual.
Andrea Stewart's mother is Chinese; her father is Scottish (but does not speak with a Scottish accent). She attended Saturday Chinese school when growing up and dictated her first story to her mother when she was 4 years old. However, she did not get serious about her writing until 5th Grade.
One of the first science fiction books our speaker read was I, ROBOT by Isaac Asimov. Other authors she enjoys include Octavia Butler, Robin Hobb, N K Jemisin, Robert Jordan, and Brandon Sanderson.
The road to publication was a long and arduous one. Ms Stewart began the query process in 2008 ("Querying is hell for writers."). It was not until 2013 that she signed with UK agent Juliet Mushens. They shopped three of her seven completed novels unsuccessfully before selling THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER.
So what made this book special? It was a combination of luck and determination. There is always an element of luck in selling a work to a publisher. There are lots of good books which go unpublished each year,. Andrea realized that while there were some aspects of publication which were beyond her control, the could learn to become a better writer. She attended writers' groups, analyzed the works of successful writers, and tore apart her own efforts to see where she could improve. The goal was to write a book that was compulsively readable, that the reader could not put down.
Orbit UK James Long, in consultation with his US counterpart, Brit Hvide made a preemptive bid for the trilogy. Unlike some books published in both countries, THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER has the same cover on both sides of the ocean. French, Spanish, and Russian editions will be forthcoming.
The series' advance allowed Andrea Stewart to leave her day job and concentrate on writing full time. Then her baby came along, as did the covid pandemic, and her routine was blown to bits. Her husband started working from home, so Andrea moved back in with her parents where her mother helped her out with the little one. These days she writes whenever the baby sleeps. Listening to music while writing helps her to focus. She has a group of soundtracks she plays over and over.
Our guest is at work on the other books in the series,. She has ideas for a completely different epic fantasy trilogy as well as a science fiction series set in the far future. She will probably cannibalize parts of her unpublished books for these works.
Public relations in the time of covid is a challenge. Ms Stewart has spoken at a booksellers conference and various other online events. We are the first science fiction group to have her as a speaker, although she had attending and participated in convention programs in the past. (The Association had a connection because Alex Shvartsman had brought her to one of our Writers of the Weird Critique Sessions when she was in the area a few years ago.)
A number of writer process remarks follow.
Our speaker maintains a relatively small social media presence. Having a strong platform is not nearly as important for a fiction writer as it is for a non-fiction author.
Ms Stewart wrote in Microsoft Word for many years but has recently switched to Scrivener, which she finds very useful She is not a detailed plotter, but needs to have at least a vague outline to guide her,. She uses a wiki to keep track of everything about the trilogy.
Our guest found Rachel Aaron's article How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a very useful guide to increasing her productivity. She now keeps a checklist of writing goals and rewards herself with a dark chocolate chip every 100 words.
On the personal side of things, Andrea met her husband through the OK Cupid online dating platform. She knows that if a story keeps her husband's attention, it will keep that of the reader.
We had a tour of her artwork on her website through zoom's Share Screen function, with Andrea commenting on the various pieces. She had originally worked in oil, but switched to acrylics because the set up and clean up was a lot easier.
Our thanks to Andrea Stewart for spending time with us, to Alex Shvartsman for introducing her to the group a few years ago, to Kathy Holusha for moderating the event, to Carol Gyzander for setting up the zoom session, to Kathy Cannarozzi for creating the Virtual Diner Run post-meeting event, and to everyone who participated by by asking questions and attending, especially those joining us for the first time.