Ask the Author: Stephanie Osborn
Answered Questions (9)
Stephanie Osborn
Yes, I can tell you -- they aren't written yet! I'm working on them now! Richard Weyand and I decided we needed to number the books in chronological order so that when the series was complete, the numbering scheme would make sense. But after slamming out a whole trilogy in a few months, I needed a break -- I'm handicapped -- so Richard went ahead with the main line of the series while I unwind, blow off some steam, and get the creative juices flowing again. The Section Six Trilogy will be along next year, and will take place during the Reign of Trajan, but in the span that Richard isn't covering, so it won't affect anything he's writing.
I may or may not write a third trilogy in the EMPIRE series; part of that is going to depend on how Richard winds it up. Once he's got that done, he and I will sit down and discuss whether or not another trilogy is needed or not.
I may or may not write a third trilogy in the EMPIRE series; part of that is going to depend on how Richard winds it up. Once he's got that done, he and I will sit down and discuss whether or not another trilogy is needed or not.
Stephanie Osborn
That's a hard one! Hogwarts would be fun; I'd want to learn all I could about magic. Or I could go to Middle-Earth and hang out in Imladris with Elrond and swap lore. I could visit the Lensman universe, or the Star Trek universe, or even my own Division One universe, and explore space. So many worlds, so little time!
Stephanie Osborn
Ohmigosh. I'm afraid I don't really HAVE any particular mysteries in my life. My day-to-day life is really pretty humdrum, and mostly consists of eat, read, write, sleep. Back in the day when I was working space, it was get up, go to work, come home, crash. Now and again, it was "Business trip -- do work stuff, get off, EXPLORE!" (I do like to travel. Most of the psych tests I've taken -- space program tends to like to understand how you think -- have given me a Jungian archetype of Explorer.)
I suppose the one thing I'd like to know -- but will never know -- is if my friend Kalpana Chawla, who was aboard the Columbia's final, ill-fated flight, was knocked unconscious fairly early on, or if she had to endure the breakup of the Shuttle around her. I don't think I'd call that a mystery, as such, though.
I dunno if that answers your question or not, but it's the only "mystery" I can think of in my life. I'm not sure it's one I'd want to explore for a book plot, though. I think it's still too painful.
I suppose the one thing I'd like to know -- but will never know -- is if my friend Kalpana Chawla, who was aboard the Columbia's final, ill-fated flight, was knocked unconscious fairly early on, or if she had to endure the breakup of the Shuttle around her. I don't think I'd call that a mystery, as such, though.
I dunno if that answers your question or not, but it's the only "mystery" I can think of in my life. I'm not sure it's one I'd want to explore for a book plot, though. I think it's still too painful.
Stephanie Osborn
Creating worlds I love to "play" in, and "meeting" new people that become friends. (Often the latter is literal, too, as I go to conventions and meet readers.)
Stephanie Osborn
READ! Read classic literature -- you know; Shakespeare, Shelley, Doyle, Wells, Tolkien, whatever classics are in the genres you like. Because when you've been reading the classics, it tends to soak into your psyche. Then it's a lot more apt to distill back out into your own writing.
Have you ever heard the saying, "You are what you eat?" Well, I think there's a variant: "You write what you read." So if you read junk, what you write will tend toward poor style. If you read classic literature, your writing will tend toward those classic styles. There is, after all, a reason they're classic -- they've held up across the years.
Have you ever heard the saying, "You are what you eat?" Well, I think there's a variant: "You write what you read." So if you read junk, what you write will tend toward poor style. If you read classic literature, your writing will tend toward those classic styles. There is, after all, a reason they're classic -- they've held up across the years.
Stephanie Osborn
Oh geez, I dunno. The right idea has to crop up -- something that not only can I see the story, but that intrigues me. Sometimes I'll see a story, but it's in a different genre than what I like, say. And I won't write that, because it doesn't interest me. But if it's in a genre I enjoy, then when the idea hits, I pretty much can't refuse to write it.
Stephanie Osborn
It can be hard. Most of the time, if I tell myself, "I'll just edit today," and go back and reread everything I've written to that point, editing and smoothing and whatnot, by the time I get to the "hole" that needs filling, I've broken through. If not, I either move to a different manuscript, or I go do promo and marketing. There's plenty of stuff to be done in this job to make it effective even if I don't write every single day.
Stephanie Osborn
My most recent book was Displaced Detective #5, A Case of Spontaneous Combustion, where all of the inhabitants of a small village in southern England are wiped out by an apparent case of mass spontaneous combustion, and Holmes is called in to investigate. But I'm not entirely sure where the idea came from. I never can quite figure that out. I brainstorm and ponder until an idea hits that I instinctively know is the right one, and then the events start just falling into my lap.
I do know that this one was influenced strongly by the fact that I myself am highly pyrophobic, to the point of it taking many years just to learn to light a match. This is, I think, due to the fact that my grandfather died as a result of a fire when I was just a toddler. So when the idea came to me it seemed appropriately horrific and outre to garner my, and my readers', interest.
I do know that this one was influenced strongly by the fact that I myself am highly pyrophobic, to the point of it taking many years just to learn to light a match. This is, I think, due to the fact that my grandfather died as a result of a fire when I was just a toddler. So when the idea came to me it seemed appropriately horrific and outre to garner my, and my readers', interest.
Stephanie Osborn
A lot! I have probably half a dozen different projects at the moment. Displaced Detective book 6, Fear in the French Quarter, is in work. So is the sequel to Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281, and it's tentatively called Escape Velocity. Cresperian Saga book 4, Heritage, is about half done, co-authored with Dan Hollifield. Then there's the new, period Victorian Holmes/Watson novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Mummy's Curse! Several more Displaced Detective novels and Victorian Holmes novels; a steampunk book that's finished and being shopped around, and more!
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