Mary Robinette Kowal, Art Director Emeritus for Shimmer, is never still for very long.

She works as a professional puppeteer and voice actor, is the Vice President of Science

Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and now has her first novel gracing bookstore

shelves everywhere. Mary took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Shimmer about

that new novel, Shades of Milk and Honey.

If you would like to catch the author and her novel in person, look for her at:

KGB Bar Fantastic Fiction, 85 E. 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003: Wednesday

August 18th, 7-8pm. SF IN SF AT VARIETY THEATER 582 Market Street @

Montgomery (1st floor of The Hobart Bldg), San Francisco, CA 94104: Saturday August

21st, 6-7pm. Tsunami Books 2585 Willamette St. Eugene, OR 97405: Tuesday August

24th, 5-6pm.

13 Lucky Questions with Mary Robinette Kowal

by E. Catherine Tobler

1. Shades of Milk and Honey has been described as Pride and Prejudice with magic.

What drew you to the Regency timeframe?

I love Jane Austen and at the time I was reading Persuasion. I wondered why no one was

writing these intimate family dramas in fantasy.

2. Can you explain some about the process of selling your first book? Was this the

first book you wrote and tried to sell?

This is the fourth book I’ve written and the second one I’ve tried to sell. Mostly it

involves a lot of waiting. I got very lucky and have a wonderful agent who does all the

hard work of actually sending it out. With the first novel, I was sending it to publishers

on my own and that takes forever.

3. One of your short stories (“First Flight”) involves a time machine. If you could

travel back in time to the Regency period, what would you do? Where would you

go? Who would you seek out?

First of all, I’d disguise myself as a man. Ladies had better clothes but not enough

freedom of movement for my taste. Since I’ll still sound like a modern American, I’ll

study with an local acting teacher first to try to blend in. Once I feel comfortable there,

I’ll do a tour of the continent. In particular, I’d like to see the shadow puppeteer Seraphin

in Paris.

4. Did working with Shimmer and getting a behind the scenes look at how

a magazine comes together impact your approach to your own fiction?

Absolutely. Reading slush helped me understand what editors mean when they say things

like a story “doesn’t rise above.” There are a lot of stories that are unflawed but also not

doing anything more than telling a competent story. It’s still an elusive idea, but time

reading the slush pile definitely helped with that.

5. Puppetry, travel, vice president of the SFWA…how do you balance everything you

do and still make time for writing?

Honestly? Structured procrastination. It’s much easier to justify putting something off

if there’s another thing that is more pressing. If you manage them right, generally it’s

possible to use the urge to flee to get everything done.

6. Finish the sentence: “I wish I could _____.”

I wish I could take a nap, now.

7. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given? Alternatively, what’s

the worst?

Kristine Kathryn Rusch said that the manuscript is the tool with which you are telling

the story in your head. Sometimes, you’ve picked the wrong tool. The problem is with

the manuscript and it is not a precious thing. The worst advice was to put all five senses

on every single page. I wound up with a story that was incomprehensible and put my

instructor, who’d told me to do that, to sleep.

8. What favorite book do you wish you could forget, so you could have the pleasure

of reading it for the first time again?

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

9. What was the most frustrating thing about writing Shades of Milk and Honey?

When I realized that the plot had taken a wrong turn and that I’d need to throw out 20,000

words. Bear in mind that I’m an outliner, and yet still. I needed to toss those chapters and

re-outline based on what I was discovering as I was writing.

10. What do you know now that you didn’t know before the writing and

publication of Shades of Milk and Honey?

The word “check” only means “stop” in 1814. So it wouldn’t be used in the sense of “I

shall check on the strawberries” since that would mean “I will stop the strawberries.”

11. Among your collection, which is your favorite typewriter? Or, is there one out

there that you love but haven’t yet been able to acquire?

I have a Duotone Royal that has a sans serif font. It’s a beautiful maroon and black

machine. The one that I’m still looking for is the typewriter I let get away. It was a

Corona #3, folding typewriter, in Oxblood red.

12. Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility?

Sense and Sensibility

13. When can readers expect Glamour in Glass to hit shelves? Any sneak peeks?

It comes out in early 2012. Here are the opening lines, “There are few things in this

world which can simultaneously delight and dismay in the same manner as a formal

dinner party. Finding oneself a guest of honour, only increases the presentiment of

unease, should one be disposed to such feelings.”

Mary Robinette Kowal, Art Director Emeritus for Shimmer, is never still for very long.

She works as a professional puppeteer and voice actor, is the Vice President of Science

Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and now has her first novel gracing bookstore

shelves everywhere. Mary took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Shimmer about

that new novel, Shades of Milk and Honey.

If you would like to catch the author and her novel in person, look for her at:

KGB Bar Fantastic Fiction, 85 E. 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003: Wednesday

August 18th, 7-8pm. SF IN SF AT VARIETY THEATER 582 Market Street @

Montgomery (1st floor of The Hobart Bldg), San Francisco, CA 94104: Saturday August

21st, 6-7pm. Tsunami Books 2585 Willamette St. Eugene, OR 97405: Tuesday August

24th, 5-6pm.

13 Lucky Questions with Mary Robinette Kowal

by E. Catherine Tobler

1. Shades of Milk and Honey has been described as Pride and Prejudice with magic.

What drew you to the Regency timeframe?

I love Jane Austen and at the time I was reading Persuasion. I wondered why no one was

writing these intimate family dramas in fantasy.

2. Can you explain some about the process of selling your first book? Was this the

first book you wrote and tried to sell?

This is the fourth book I’ve written and the second one I’ve tried to sell. Mostly it

involves a lot of waiting. I got very lucky and have a wonderful agent who does all the

hard work of actually sending it out. With the first novel, I was sending it to publishers

on my own and that takes forever.

3. One of your short stories (“First Flight”) involves a time machine. If you could

travel back in time to the Regency period, what would you do? Where would you

go? Who would you seek out?

First of all, I’d disguise myself as a man. Ladies had better clothes but not enough

freedom of movement for my taste. Since I’ll still sound like a modern American, I’ll

study with an local acting teacher first to try to blend in. Once I feel comfortable there,

I’ll do a tour of the continent. In particular, I’d like to see the shadow puppeteer Seraphin

in Paris.

4. Did working with Shimmer and getting a behind the scenes look at how

a magazine comes together impact your approach to your own fiction?

Absolutely. Reading slush helped me understand what editors mean when they say things

like a story “doesn’t rise above.” There are a lot of stories that are unflawed but also not

doing anything more than telling a competent story. It’s still an elusive idea, but time

reading the slush pile definitely helped with that.

5. Puppetry, travel, vice president of the SFWA…how do you balance everything you

do and still make time for writing?

Honestly? Structured procrastination. It’s much easier to justify putting something off

if there’s another thing that is more pressing. If you manage them right, generally it’s

possible to use the urge to flee to get everything done.

6. Finish the sentence: “I wish I could _____.”

I wish I could take a nap, now.

7. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given? Alternatively, what’s

the worst?

Kristine Kathryn Rusch said that the manuscript is the tool with which you are telling

the story in your head. Sometimes, you’ve picked the wrong tool. The problem is with

the manuscript and it is not a precious thing. The worst advice was to put all five senses

on every single page. I wound up with a story that was incomprehensible and put my

instructor, who’d told me to do that, to sleep.

8. What favorite book do you wish you could forget, so you could have the pleasure

of reading it for the first time again?

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

9. What was the most frustrating thing about writing Shades of Milk and Honey?

When I realized that the plot had taken a wrong turn and that I’d need to throw out 20,000

words. Bear in mind that I’m an outliner, and yet still. I needed to toss those chapters and

re-outline based on what I was discovering as I was writing.

10. What do you know now that you didn’t know before the writing and

publication of Shades of Milk and Honey?

The word “check” only means “stop” in 1814. So it wouldn’t be used in the sense of “I

shall check on the strawberries” since that would mean “I will stop the strawberries.”

11. Among your collection, which is your favorite typewriter? Or, is there one out

there that you love but haven’t yet been able to acquire?

I have a Duotone Royal that has a sans serif font. It’s a beautiful maroon and black

machine. The one that I’m still looking for is the typewriter I let get away. It was a

Corona #3, folding typewriter, in Oxblood red.

12. Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility?

Sense and Sensibility

13. When can readers expect Glamour in Glass to hit shelves? Any sneak peeks?

It comes out in early 2012. Here are the opening lines, “There are few things in this

world which can simultaneously delight and dismay in the same manner as a formal

dinner party. Finding oneself a guest of honour, only increases the presentiment of

unease, should one be disposed to such feelings.”

Mary Robinette Kowal, Art Director Emeritus for Shimmer, is never still for very long.
She works as a professional puppeteer and voice actor, is the Vice President of Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and now has her first novel gracing bookstore
shelves everywhere. Mary took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Shimmer about
that new novel, Shades of Milk and Honey.

If you would like to catch the author and her novel in person, look for her at:

KGB Bar Fantastic Fiction, 85 E. 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003: Wednesday
August 18th, 7-8pm. SF IN SF AT VARIETY THEATER 582 Market Street @
Montgomery (1st floor of The Hobart Bldg), San Francisco, CA 94104: Saturday August
21st, 6-7pm. Tsunami Books 2585 Willamette St. Eugene, OR 97405: Tuesday August
24th, 5-6pm.

13 Lucky Questions with Mary Robinette Kowal
by E. Catherine Tobler

1. Shades of Milk and Honey has been described as Pride and Prejudice with magic.
What drew you to the Regency timeframe?
I love Jane Austen and at the time I was reading Persuasion. I wondered why no one was
writing these intimate family dramas in fantasy.

2. Can you explain some about the process of selling your first book? Was this the
first book you wrote and tried to sell?
This is the fourth book I’ve written and the second one I’ve tried to sell. Mostly it
involves a lot of waiting. I got very lucky and have a wonderful agent who does all the
hard work of actually sending it out. With the first novel, I was sending it to publishers
on my own and that takes forever.

3. One of your short stories (“First Flight”) involves a time machine. If you could
travel back in time to the Regency period, what would you do? Where would you
go? Who would you seek out?
First of all, I’d disguise myself as a man. Ladies had better clothes but not enough
freedom of movement for my taste. Since I’ll still sound like a modern American, I’ll
study with an local acting teacher first to try to blend in. Once I feel comfortable there,
I’ll do a tour of the continent. In particular, I’d like to see the shadow puppeteer Seraphin
in Paris.

4. Did working with Shimmer and getting a behind the scenes look at how
a magazine comes together impact your approach to your own fiction?
Absolutely. Reading slush helped me understand what editors mean when they say things
like a story “doesn’t rise above.” There are a lot of stories that are unflawed but also not
doing anything more than telling a competent story. It’s still an elusive idea, but time
reading the slush pile definitely helped with that.

5. Puppetry, travel, vice president of the SFWA…how do you balance everything you
do and still make time for writing?
Honestly? Structured procrastination. It’s much easier to justify putting something off
if there’s another thing that is more pressing. If you manage them right, generally it’s
possible to use the urge to flee to get everything done.

6. Finish the sentence: “I wish I could _____.”
I wish I could take a nap, now.

7. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given? Alternatively, what’s
the worst?
Kristine Kathryn Rusch said that the manuscript is the tool with which you are telling
the story in your head. Sometimes, you’ve picked the wrong tool. The problem is with
the manuscript and it is not a precious thing. The worst advice was to put all five senses
on every single page. I wound up with a story that was incomprehensible and put my
instructor, who’d told me to do that, to sleep.

8. What favorite book do you wish you could forget, so you could have the pleasure
of reading it for the first time again?
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

9. What was the most frustrating thing about writing Shades of Milk and Honey?
When I realized that the plot had taken a wrong turn and that I’d need to throw out 20,000
words. Bear in mind that I’m an outliner, and yet still. I needed to toss those chapters and
re-outline based on what I was discovering as I was writing.

10. What do you know now that you didn’t know before the writing and
publication of Shades of Milk and Honey?
The word “check” only means “stop” in 1814. So it wouldn’t be used in the sense of “I
shall check on the strawberries” since that would mean “I will stop the strawberries.”

11. Among your collection, which is your favorite typewriter? Or, is there one out
there that you love but haven’t yet been able to acquire?
I have a Duotone Royal that has a sans serif font. It’s a beautiful maroon and black
machine. The one that I’m still looking for is the typewriter I let get away. It was a
Corona #3, folding typewriter, in Oxblood red.

12. Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility?
Sense and Sensibility

13. When can readers expect Glamour in Glass to hit shelves? Any sneak peeks?
It comes out in early 2012. Here are the opening lines, “There are few things in this
world which can simultaneously delight and dismay in the same manner as a formal
dinner party. Finding oneself a guest of honour, only increases the presentiment of
unease, should one be disposed to such feelings.”Mary Robinette Kowal, Art Director Emeritus for Shimmer, is never still for very long.

She works as a professional puppeteer and voice actor, is the Vice President of Science

Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and now has her first novel gracing bookstore

shelves everywhere. Mary took time out of her busy schedule to talk with Shimmer about

that new novel, Shades of Milk and Honey.

If you would like to catch the author and her novel in person, look for her at:

KGB Bar Fantastic Fiction, 85 E. 4th Street, New York, NY, 10003: Wednesday

August 18th, 7-8pm. SF IN SF AT VARIETY THEATER 582 Market Street @

Montgomery (1st floor of The Hobart Bldg), San Francisco, CA 94104: Saturday August

21st, 6-7pm. Tsunami Books 2585 Willamette St. Eugene, OR 97405: Tuesday August

24th, 5-6pm.

13 Lucky Questions with Mary Robinette Kowal

by E. Catherine Tobler

1. Shades of Milk and Honey has been described as Pride and Prejudice with magic.

What drew you to the Regency timeframe?

I love Jane Austen and at the time I was reading Persuasion. I wondered why no one was

writing these intimate family dramas in fantasy.

2. Can you explain some about the process of selling your first book? Was this the

first book you wrote and tried to sell?

This is the fourth book I’ve written and the second one I’ve tried to sell. Mostly it

involves a lot of waiting. I got very lucky and have a wonderful agent who does all the

hard work of actually sending it out. With the first novel, I was sending it to publishers

on my own and that takes forever.

3. One of your short stories (“First Flight”) involves a time machine. If you could

travel back in time to the Regency period, what would you do? Where would you

go? Who would you seek out?

First of all, I’d disguise myself as a man. Ladies had better clothes but not enough

freedom of movement for my taste. Since I’ll still sound like a modern American, I’ll

study with an local acting teacher first to try to blend in. Once I feel comfortable there,

I’ll do a tour of the continent. In particular, I’d like to see the shadow puppeteer Seraphin

in Paris.

4. Did working with Shimmer and getting a behind the scenes look at how

a magazine comes together impact your approach to your own fiction?

Absolutely. Reading slush helped me understand what editors mean when they say things

like a story “doesn’t rise above.” There are a lot of stories that are unflawed but also not

doing anything more than telling a competent story. It’s still an elusive idea, but time

reading the slush pile definitely helped with that.

5. Puppetry, travel, vice president of the SFWA…how do you balance everything you

do and still make time for writing?

Honestly? Structured procrastination. It’s much easier to justify putting something off

if there’s another thing that is more pressing. If you manage them right, generally it’s

possible to use the urge to flee to get everything done.

6. Finish the sentence: “I wish I could _____.”

I wish I could take a nap, now.

7. What is the best piece of writing advice you’ve been given? Alternatively, what’s

the worst?

Kristine Kathryn Rusch said that the manuscript is the tool with which you are telling

the story in your head. Sometimes, you’ve picked the wrong tool. The problem is with

the manuscript and it is not a precious thing. The worst advice was to put all five senses

on every single page. I wound up with a story that was incomprehensible and put my

instructor, who’d told me to do that, to sleep.

8. What favorite book do you wish you could forget, so you could have the pleasure

of reading it for the first time again?

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell.

9. What was the most frustrating thing about writing Shades of Milk and Honey?

When I realized that the plot had taken a wrong turn and that I’d need to throw out 20,000

words. Bear in mind that I’m an outliner, and yet still. I needed to toss those chapters and

re-outline based on what I was discovering as I was writing.

10. What do you know now that you didn’t know before the writing and

publication of Shades of Milk and Honey?

The word “check” only means “stop” in 1814. So it wouldn’t be used in the sense of “I

shall check on the strawberries” since that would mean “I will stop the strawberries.”

11. Among your collection, which is your favorite typewriter? Or, is there one out

there that you love but haven’t yet been able to acquire?

I have a Duotone Royal that has a sans serif font. It’s a beautiful maroon and black

machine. The one that I’m still looking for is the typewriter I let get away. It was a

Corona #3, folding typewriter, in Oxblood red.

12. Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility?

Sense and Sensibility

13. When can readers expect Glamour in Glass to hit shelves? Any sneak peeks?

It comes out in early 2012. Here are the opening lines, “There are few things in this

world which can simultaneously delight and dismay in the same manner as a formal

dinner party. Finding oneself a guest of honour, only increases the presentiment of

unease, should one be disposed to such feelings.”