You are “on” every minute you leave your hotel room to the minute you return.
Storyteller, Mercedes Lackey, writes songs, short fiction and novels in a variety of genres. As the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America SFWA Grandmaster, Lackey is known as a prolific science fiction and fantasy writer. She writes a novel in about 2-3 months. If her dozen parrots don’t receive enough social interaction because Mercedes is writing, they help type.
Lyndi: What appeals to you about writing certain genres? Do you have a preference for any of the genres you write in?
Mercedes: I began writing in science fiction and fantasy because that was what I loved. And I still love it! So I don’t see any reason to stop. I certainly have more ideas than I will ever be able to get to.
Lyndi: You describe Reboots: Undead Can Dance as being a film noir style space opera. In what ways does your story fit this genre?
Mercedes: We've combined the film noir style detective--who happens to be a magical creature called a boggart--with urban fantasy and straight up space opera. This is anything but hard science fiction; pretty much all the SF stuff is composed of handwavium. We start with the premise that in the past there was a Zombie Apocalypse, and a lot of the other supernatural critters--mostly vamps and werewolves--realized that without some help their prey was doomed. So they piled in, and, as humans are inclined to do, as soon as the Zombie menace was contained, the humans turned on their allies. To be fair, the allies HAD intended to turn on them ... at any rate there is an uneasy peace on earth. Meanwhile there's space to explore, and who better to send out there on sublight drives than creatures impervious to radiation and extremes of heat and cold, and virtually immortal, than the vamps and wolves? That's the backstory and our story begins on one of those ships.
Lyndi: When retelling a fairy tale, how close do you stay to earlier stories? Do you give yourself permission to veer in new directions?
Mercedes: Oh of course, I veer in all kinds of directions. The funniest one I ever did was when I was writing the “Fairy Godmother” series for Harlequin/Luna, and I combined Sleeping Beauty with the legend of Siegfried. I had two princes quite literally colliding over her as she slept because one was certain that she was his key to fortune and the other had never seen a sleeping woman to fulfill his geas who wasn’t both DOOM and his aunt.
Lyndi: You’ve collaborated with other authors in writing certain books/series. What makes a collaboration successful?
Mercedes: I’ve written an entire post on this over on Quora, but the short form is that it depends on who I am collaborating with. For full-on interactivity, we have my “superhero” group (we wrote The Secret World Chronicles of five books) where we plot together online, then write the book together online, in the same pages at the same time. And the other end of the spectrum is where I write most of the book then pass it to my collaborator for their input. As for what makes a collaboration successful, I think it’s a willingness to give in on everyone’s part. But it also depends on someone being designated as the final authority, the one who makes the last pass over the book, and everyone being all right with that.
Lyndi: Can you share an experience you’ve had where you were mentored? What kinds of mentoring have you provided to others?
Mercedes: Sure, C.J. Cherryh was really my mentor; she went over my manuscripts with a red pen until they looked like they were bleeding, pointing out all the places where I went wrong. I’d correct them, and she’d go over them again, finding more things wrong. Finally, after about ten full rewrites she figured they were ready to be looked at by a publisher, and go through editorial rewrites. I kind of do the same thing, but usually in real time, interactively, so it goes faster.
Lyndi: How does one become the SFWA Grand Master?
Mercedes: It’s basically a lifetime achievement award; the Board of Directors votes on it. The author must be still living.
Lyndi: Part of your marketing includes attending cons. What tips can you offer to writers who may want to promote their books at cons?
Mercedes:
Prepare yourself as if you were an actor who is about to go on stage for the next twelve (or more!) hours. You are “on” every minute you leave your hotel room to the minute you return.
You have to be friendly, approachable, engaging, and never negative.
Sign up to speak on every panel you can. Don’t mope or look sad or bored if no one comes to you for autographs (although scrolling your phone is OK since everyone does that).
Consider everyone you meet as a potential friend and supporter.
If you’re not familiar with convention culture, learn about it first.
If you have other interests, like cosplay, go out of your way to interact with those convention goers about their passion, and let that lead naturally to your book (It would be so great to see someone cosplaying Princess Whereveron someday.)
And go to the room parties, but watch your intake; you don’t want to be the new writer drunk in the hotel fountain.
Just named as the 2021 SFWA Grandmaster, Mercedes Lackey is the acclaimed author of over fifty novels and many works of short fiction. In her "spare" time she creates jewelry and is a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. Mercedes lives in Oklahoma with her husband and frequent collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots. More information about Mercedes can be found at: Mercedes Lackey
Say hello to Humph the Boggart, the principled,down-on-his-luck private detective, Skinny Jim the zombie, and Fred the werewolf, in this film noir style space opera.
