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| (Photo credit Roger Czerneda Photography) |
My guest today is Julie E. Czerneda, nominated in the Best
Long-form (Novel) category for the 2018 Prix Aurora, the fan award for the best in
Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy.
For over twenty years, Canadian author/ former biologist Julie
E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science
fiction, published by DAW Books, NY. Julie’s written fantasy too, the first
installments of her Night’s Edge series (DAW) A Turn of Light and A Play of
Shadow, winning consecutive Aurora Awards (Canada’s Hugo) for Best English
Novel. Julie’s edited/co-edited numerous
award-winning anthologies of SF/F, most recently SFWA’s 2017 Nebula
Award Showcase. Out this fall is an all-original anthology written by fans of
her Clan Chronicles series: Tales from Plexis.
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| (Cover art by Matthew Stawicki.) |
Her finale to that series, To
Guard Against the Dark, was released in 2017 (up for Best Novel this year).
Julie is an internationally renowned panelist and speaker on genre, writing,
and scientific literacy. She was Master of Ceremonies for the 2009 Worldcon and
has done writers workshops for the New Zealand and Australia National
Conventions as well as Ottawa Comic Con and Anime North. She’ll be GOH at
ConStellation in 2019. This October, Esen--Julie’s most beloved
character--returns in Search Image, Book #1 of her new SF series, The Web
Shifter’s Library. Meanwhile, Julie is hard at work on a new fantasy
standalone, The Gossamer Mage.
How long have you been writing SFF, and what forms have you
explored besides the one you’re nominated for?
Forever? My first publication in SFF was in 1997. I’ve
written fantasy as well as SF, some horror, short fiction and long. I’ve edited
numerous anthologies as well.
What other titles/categories have you been nominated for (past or present)?
My work has been nominated many times, to my delight, if not
any of the Clan Chronicles until now. That makes this one very special. I’ve
won in all the professional English categories, other than art, for science
fiction and fantasy.
Tell me about your process of creating this work: how long
did it take to write? Speed bumps along the way?
To Guard Against the Dark is the culmination of a series I
began decades ago. I wrote the nine books as three trilogies, leaving the story
to tell others periodically. There weren’t speed bumps but I did need to keep
careful notes as well as relearn the “voice” for each trilogy. Plus, this final
one, Reunification, was going to be darker and quite intense. I elected to
write two fantasy novels first.
What’s your favourite thing about this nominated work: a
character, a scene, a setting/world?
That it’s the kind of ending I love—the one I wanted for
this story and the characters of Sira and Morgan. I hope readers will feel the
same. I’ve answered the underlying “What if?” which was vital. At the same
time, I’m satisfied there’s a good taste to how it ends, and a sense of wonder
too.
Name a couple of authors you find inspiring, and tell me
what calls to you about their works.
C.J. Cherryh, because her imagination is only exceeded by
the work she puts into every detail. Anne Bishop, another amazing writer with a
tremendous work ethic and talent.
Book blurb courtesy of DAW Books
The final book in the hard science fiction Reunification trilogy, the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Clan Chronicles
Jason Morgan is a troubling mystery to friends and enemies alike: once a starship captain and trader, then Joined to the most powerful member of the Clan, Sira di Sarc, following her and her kind out of known space.
Only to return, alone and silent.
But he's returned to a Trade Pact under siege and desperate. The Assemblers continue to be a threat. Other species have sensed opportunity and threaten what stability remains, including those who dwell in the M'hir. What Morgan knows could save them all, or doom them.
For not all of the Clan followed Sira. And peace isn't what they seek.
For more about Julie and her many works of stellar Science Fiction, visit www.czerneda.com
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