The release date is Valentine's Day 2019, but you can pre-order it now:
I've known Julia H. West since the days of the GEnie science fiction community and have long wanted to edit a story of hers. "Water Bound" was originally submitted to a different anthology that I was co-editing, but Julia very graciously agreed to let me have it for Lace and Blade 5.
Deborah J. Ross: Tell us a little
about yourself. How did you come to be a writer?
Julia H. West: I started writing stories influenced by my reading when I was in grade school (the only one I remember was “Martin the Mountain Lion” which was supposed to be rather Ernest Thompson Seton-esque). I started reading science fiction when I was about six years old, aided by my Dad, who read A Princess of Mars to me at bedtime.
By the time I was a teenager I had systematically read almost every science fiction and fantasy novel in the local library. I distinctly remember one day when I put down the novel I was reading and said, “I could write something better than this.” So when I was a senior in high school I wrote my first novel. I still have that manuscript--handwritten with pencil on lined notebook paper.
Back then there weren’t the plethora of writing resources available to young writers now, so I sat in the library and read the articles in The Writer’s Market and flipped through its pages looking for markets for science fiction and fantasy stories.
I wrote stories, submitted them to markets, and finally started selling stories. I always carry a notebook with me so I can jot down ideas, brainstorm, or write the next scene when I’m in a waiting room or somewhere else where I just have to sit.
DJR: What inspired your story in Lace and Blade 5?
JHW: I participate in a writing challenge called “Story a Day in May,” wherein one tries to brainstorm and write a story every day in May. (For the record, the most stories I’ve ever written in one May is fifteen, but I have, over the years, sold several of the stories
written during the challenge.) The prompt for “Water Bound” was ‘Your story is a romance between a caring mentor and a short person who kicks tremendous ass. The lovers experience isolation. One of them is motivated by already being damned.’ I brainstormed this idea for about half an hour, then started writing. The story strayed a fair amount from this original prompt, and got very long, but I liked it enough to keep writing.
Julia H. West: I started writing stories influenced by my reading when I was in grade school (the only one I remember was “Martin the Mountain Lion” which was supposed to be rather Ernest Thompson Seton-esque). I started reading science fiction when I was about six years old, aided by my Dad, who read A Princess of Mars to me at bedtime.
By the time I was a teenager I had systematically read almost every science fiction and fantasy novel in the local library. I distinctly remember one day when I put down the novel I was reading and said, “I could write something better than this.” So when I was a senior in high school I wrote my first novel. I still have that manuscript--handwritten with pencil on lined notebook paper.
Back then there weren’t the plethora of writing resources available to young writers now, so I sat in the library and read the articles in The Writer’s Market and flipped through its pages looking for markets for science fiction and fantasy stories.
I wrote stories, submitted them to markets, and finally started selling stories. I always carry a notebook with me so I can jot down ideas, brainstorm, or write the next scene when I’m in a waiting room or somewhere else where I just have to sit.
DJR: What inspired your story in Lace and Blade 5?
JHW: I participate in a writing challenge called “Story a Day in May,” wherein one tries to brainstorm and write a story every day in May. (For the record, the most stories I’ve ever written in one May is fifteen, but I have, over the years, sold several of the stories
written during the challenge.) The prompt for “Water Bound” was ‘Your story is a romance between a caring mentor and a short person who kicks tremendous ass. The lovers experience isolation. One of them is motivated by already being damned.’ I brainstormed this idea for about half an hour, then started writing. The story strayed a fair amount from this original prompt, and got very long, but I liked it enough to keep writing.
DJR: What authors have most influenced your writing?
JHW: Andre Norton was my first and most beloved influence. When I was in high school I idolized her, and read every novel of hers the library had multiple times. I saved up and bought as many of her books as I could. Her way of blending fantasy and science fiction tropes fascinated me, and led quite directly to the way I tend to put a fair
amount of fantasy into my science fiction stories.
DJR: How does your writing process work?
JHW: I’m no good at brainstorming in my head. For years I have filled notebooks and computer files with brainstorming for the novels and stories I write. I do a lot of brainstorming on the computer, but I still write by hand in notebooks as well. I find I think differently when writing longhand and typing into the computer, so sometimes when I get stuck I’ll switch from one to the other.
I used to extensively outline every story or novel I worked on, but in the last few years I’ve learned to trust my storytelling sense a bit more. Now I come up with the high points, the places I want to assure I touch in the story, and just let my writing mind fill in the parts in between.
Once I have a story to the editing or rewriting stage, I often go over it with my oldest daughter. We are both critical about the connotations of particular words, and will sometimes discuss a single word or sentence for ten or fifteen minutes until it “tastes” right.
For years I have been a member of various writers’ critique groups. I like to have other eyes go over my manuscript and see things I missed. People’s different life experiences mean that everyone can bring a unique viewpoint to their critiques, and I value other viewpoints.
When I have gone over the critiques and I’m doing a final polish, I use Ken Rand’s Ten Per Cent Solution to excise passive voice, over-used words, and the like, making my story as evocative as possible.
DJR: What have you written recently? What lies ahead?
JHW: I’m working on a novel set in a fantasy version of Africa, with a highly improbable city with no water sources set in the middle of the desert. I also have a pseudo-Victorian trilogy on the back burner until I finish the other novel, and I’m doing final polish on a science fiction novel that will go out to publishers soon.
Because I “write long” I’ve been practicing writing flash fiction, trying to tell an entire story in around 1000 words. It has been an interesting experience, and I think I’ve learned a lot.
DJR: What advice would you give an aspiring writer?
JHW: Find your tribe. Writing is such a solitary activity that being able to connect with others who write, even if it’s just in a social way and not a critique group, is important to help you validate yourself and your writing.
Keep writing. Even if you’re stuck on your current project, just write about your day, your problems, or what you had for dinner. This helps me loosen up the “logjam” in my mind. Sometimes when I’m in the middle of complaining about my day I get an idea for the story I’m currently writing. Does this always work? No, but it’s certainly
good practice.
When Julia H. West was in college studying anthropology,
people asked her, "What will you do with your degree?" She
always replied, "Write science fiction and fantasy." She
enjoys finding interesting cultural and mythical tidbits for her stories.
In creating Vlazantzar she mixed the notion of djinn who live in water
pipes with the idea of a demon who rests on uncovered water at night and
blinds those who drink from it. The water-filled tunnels beneath
Kindah are modeled on underground desert aqueducts called qanats first
built in ancient Persia. [Deborah adds that qanat is a great word for Scrabble players.]
Julia lives in West Jordan, Utah, with a husband and two
daughters, who also write science fiction and fantasy. They share
the house with numerous benevolent cat overlords who occasionally try to
write stories, but the humans never understand or appreciate it when they find
such gems as "4rtefffffffdd," "jweqqqqqa," or
"zsxd]" in the middle of a manuscript left open on the computer.
(By the way, if you speak Cat, perhaps you can translate those offerings,
as they are actual bits copied and pasted from the Writings of Cats.)
Julia's website is at http://juliahwest.com
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