M.D. Benoit
August 7 2001
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The August '01 Q&A
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M. D. Benoit discovered science fiction and mystery through her father's bedtime stories, which were always full of gadgets, dark doorways, and disappearing people. She lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and her cat (who is really an alien).
Bibliography
- "Pigs in Space"
- "Voices from Beyond"
Sue Crawford Ok, you told me that you were raised with boys
and that was where you got your voice. Where do you get your inspiration
for a book?
M D Benoit Hmm... I'd say, it's
partly from the weird things happening in my head and my experience with
life around me...
Sue Crawford I'm afraid I would be banned if I wrote about the
weird things in my head. Or put in the booby hatch.
M D Benoit I always see the strange,
weird or funny side of things... but there's also a tragic side to it
janicemars "there's also a tragic side to it"?
M D Benoit To life, I mean. You
know the saying... Most people live lives of quiet despair... It's a balance
between the two, the ridiculous and the sad
Shannon Mobley That sounds a lot
like Jack Meter...
Sue Crawford I agree, but I don't get sci-fi out of it and you
do!!
M D Benoit Yep, he was my first
try at combining both
Shannon Mobley Did he come from
a particular event or person in your life?
Sue Crawford By the way, let me tell you now, that I love this
story.
M D Benoit Not really, but he comes
from experiencing a deep loss. I wanted to deal with it in a personal and
impersonal way at the same time. Since I'm not a man, it seemed a good
way to explore these kinds of feelings.
janicemars So you'd say that your protagonist is based on you?
Did you find writing from a male POV difficult?
M D Benoit Not really. If anything,
I find female protagonists harder to write about from a pov. Claire, Jack's
sidekick, was much harder to draw.
janicemars MD...you live and work in Ottawa. Am I correct in
believing that the "earth" scenes in METERED SPACE are also based there?
M D Benoit Definitely. Most of
the specific places as well as streets and buildings are real ones.
Baryon MD, Jack's adventure may be over for now, but do you
think he may turn up again?
M D Benoit I've already started
on another. He's gonna be in even more trouble than before although I still
have to finish my draft from another novel, this one much more serious,
on cloning.
Shannon Mobley LOL! More serious
trouble?
Sue Crawford Is Claire going to be in this next book?
M D Benoit The novel is more serious.
Jack will be in more trouble. It's the heat. Yep, Claire'll be there.
Baryon Interesting, seeing how clones have really been in the
news lately.
janicemars Oh, excellent. I'm curious... what do you mean when
you say *more serious*?
M D Benoit Hopefully, the technology
won't be faster than I can write the story [g]
Sue Crawford Then, you're going to clone someone?
M D Benoit Well, it deals with
some of the "ethical" issues of playing with human life. More than one...
thousands.
janicemars Oh! Okay. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Shannon Mobley Have you been doing
a lot of research?
M D Benoit I spent several months
reading on genetic engineering and try to keep up it changes almost every
day.
Eva This really interests me. I worked on the in vitro fertilization
program when it started. I still can't come to terms with the ethics.
M D Benoit Well, my role as a writer
isn't to "moralize" but to try to get people to think about the issue and
to make their own decision.
Shannon Mobley So how much "literary
license" do you believe you can take with a piece like this?
M D Benoit Lots of literary license,
since it's a future fiction.
Baryon Unless they develop an "Accelerator" of some kind, it
will be a long time before many of the research questions are answered.
M D Benoit Bingo, Baryon. That's
where the literary license comes from
Baryon There are still questions and problems in some aspects
of Test Tube Babies and Clones will be a whole nother can of worms that
politics need not be a part of.
M D Benoit Yep, and that's part
of what I've tried to deal with. Who has the right of life? But politics
will always enter into it on a grand scale. It's inevitable.
Baryon I can't wait to see it. Sounds like you have put a lot
of thought into your work.
M D Benoit You start with cloning
animals... to cloning organs... to cloning humans... where's the fine line?
janicemars MD, I wanted to ask about your choice of aliens in
METERED SPACE. Did you deliberately try to avoid anthropomorphism?
M D Benoit yes. That's one thing
that bothers me with shows like Star Trek. They're all slightly humanoid
and they all speak English.
janicemars MD. METERED SPACE began life as _'Till the Fat Lady
Sings_. May I ask why you decided to republish it under this new title?
M D Benoit Well, I must say that...
when I asked Shannon at Electric eBook Publishing if she wanted to take
on my book, we talked about a new title that was more representative of
a sci-fi novel. I can't take credit for the title, it was Shannon's brilliant
idea.
Shannon Mobley Well, guess that's
my queue...
janicemars Please take a bow, Shannon.
Shannon Mobley Thanks!
Sue Crawford Congratulations to both of you. Metered Space is
a GREAT title for this book.
Shannon Mobley When MD asked me
to review this book under its previous title, I reacted instantly to the
title. I wasn't sure I wanted to read it. Thought it was some kind of insult
to overweight people or was going to be about bad opera. Not at all what
the book is about. Seemed only right to give the book a title that would
give the reader an indication of the content. Not to mention, as Dom and
I discussed, we thought Jack would get a chuckle out of Metered Space.
Baryon LOL
janicemars LOL, Thanks Shannon.
M D Benoit He would, too.
janicemars MD... what first got you interested in Science Fiction?
M D Benoit It's all daddy's fault...
When we were kids, he used to tell my brothers and I these really weird
stories that never made sense. They were endless, too with lots of buttons
to push that led to different worlds, witches, elves, caves, murder, mayhem
explosions, dark woods, time travel... you see what I mean... they never
really left me.
janicemars I do indeed. So you got your love of SF and story
telling genetically.
M D Benoit LOL. I guess so...
Shannon Mobley Is your father a
writer, too?
M D Benoit My father is an artist,
a painter... My mother is the one who gave me the love of books.
janicemars MD, you were a finalist for the Dream Realm Awards
last year. Was it for METERED SPACE or something else?
M D Benoit No, it was for Metered
Space, although it had a ... different title then 'Til the Fat Lady Sings.
I was totally thrilled with the Awards and being a finalist. I felt like
a _real_ writer.
janicemars Well you are, indeed. So here are some writer's questions.
About how long do you write everyday? How... much time do you devote to
your craft?
M D Benoit I write full time...
I usually start writing by 630 am. and will stop for breakfast at 9, then
write until about 230pm... unless I'm really inspired. Then I crash. I
live on coffee, of course.
janicemars LOL, one of the things I love about Canada. You're
not asked in the restaurants if you want decaf. Your choices are regular
or STRONG. Do you do any other kind of writing besides Science Fiction?
Non fiction for instance?
M D Benoit yeah, what's decaf?
Shannon Mobley Long live CAFFEINE!
* Aerilaya chuckles
M D Benoit I've written a few articles
in the local newspaper... about ebooks...
janicemars The Ottawa Sentinel is it?
Baryon like smoking Gaulois (sp) ciggs
M D Benoit No, it's the Ottawa
Citizen My husband used to smoke Gitanes...
janicemars Sorry...was just looking at it from the link on your
web page too... sorry.
M D Benoit filthy things, but the
smell brings great memories.
Baryon that's what I was thinking of
Aerilaya MD.. may i ask you a question.. since i write as well..?
M D Benoit go ahead
Aerilaya thanks ) ok.. how does one go about finding a good
publishing company.. since I'm a first time writer.. i have no idea on
how to go about it. currently i have three books .. two in the process..one
finished.
M D Benoit well, if you're looking
at ebooks... it's easier since a lot of epublishers are on the net...
* Aerilaya nods
M D Benoit so you can have a look
at what they publish, then see if what you write fits in. For instance,
you can read a lot of excerpts in a similar genre and see if you like what
you read. Then it's a question of going through exactly the same process
as a print publisher query letter, except it's usually done by email. Does
that help?
* Aerilaya nods
Aerilaya yes it does )
M D Benoit Regardless of method
of publishing, you have to do your homework.
Aerilaya yes, that is so true..and thank you MD
janicemars MD....there are other differences between us besides
the coffee and the cigarettes. Can you tell us what you think is the major
difference between Canadian and US Science Fiction?
M D Benoit Ouch, that's a difficult
one. I'd say that there isn't that much difference especially now with
global access. The world is shrinking and it comes down to ideas, not countries.
Lots of Canadian SF writers are published in the States and you wouldn't
know it. Some aspects of the culture are different, but ...
Shannon Mobley Lots of Canadian
writers in general have to go south.
M D Benoit human nature is pretty
similar, and that's what I... write about, even if it's sf.
Baryon Tor Books' sf editor is Canadian, Patrick Neilsen Hayden
M D Benoit Robert Sawyer, Charles
deLindt are two major sf writers.
janicemars It's just that I've noticed that SF from Canada,
New Zealand, Australia and the UK has a slightly different "flavour."
M D Benoit Such as?
Shannon Mobley We have so much
US influence, it's difficult sometimes to tell where the border is.
janicemars I can't say MD. Perhaps it's a freshness of POV?
Authors aren't so tied into the "Hollywood" vision?
M D Benoit Well, maybe we're not
as tied in to the "happy" ending...
Shannon Mobley But at the same
time there's still the Brit influence that is long lived...
M D Benoit which is something I
notice in US SF fiction
Sue Crawford About the only difference I find in the books from
Canada, is word usage is sometimes different. Other than that, nothing.
Shannon Mobley MD, Metered Space
is written in Standard US English. Why did you choose to do this over UK
English?
M D Benoit I wrote it originally
in Canadian English...
Baryon lol
M D Benoit but I felt that my audience
would feel more comfortable with US spelling.
Shannon Mobley Another strong US
influence is in Canadian schools. Children these days are taught both US
and UK spellings.
janicemars That's very interesting. Perhaps the "happy ending"
might be the last vestiges of the Campbell "Astounding Stories" legacy.
M D Benoit I find my stories incredibly
have "uncomfortable" endings. More realistic, not necessarily what the
reader wants to happen.
Shannon Mobley Did you ever consider
a "happy" ending for Metered Space?
M D Benoit I wrote one. Turfed
it. Everyone wants Annie to be alive... it was just too cliche.
janicemars And there's a canadianism I have to add to my vocabulary.
Shannon Mobley It's interesting,
going back to locations in the book... Metered Space was set in Ottawa
primarily, but it could have been anywhere... Not knowing Ottawa, the buildings
and streets meant nothing to me... Did you do this intentionally? Or is
it just something that happened?
M D Benoit I've never been to New
York, or Moscow and when I read about them, if the writer is good, he/she
makes them seem alive. I wanted to do that for my town. It's a great town/city,
and I "write what I know."
Baryon I was happy cause Jack made it to the end.
Shannon Mobley Well, I think you
did a great job. Mind you, I'm a little biased.
janicemars MD... I'm going to give you a chance to stretch here
for a moment while I grill Shannon with a couple of questions. For those
of you who've just joined...
Shannon Mobley Oh oh...
M D Benoit thanks
janicemars Shannon is from Electric eBook Publishing... the
folks who are publishing METERED SPACE. Shannon... about how much is MD's
book and how can folks get it?
Shannon Mobley Metered Space is
available online at the Electric eBook Publishing website... http//www.electricebookpublishing.com
It's available in download and CD... And is approximately $10 CDN or $6.55
USD...
janicemars Good price.
Shannon Mobley Download formats
include PDF, HTML, PDB, LIT, TK3 So you can read it on either your desk
top... print it out... or on a handheld reading device.
janicemars Shannon, the copy I have is PDF which unfortunately
I couldn't load to my PDA. Are you planning on offering that format in
the future as well?
Shannon Mobley Do you have the
Adobe for Palm?
janicemars Palm OS, or a "non-security" version of the file.
Shannon Mobley You'll need a totally
unprotected file...
janicemars yes I do, but it wouldn't translate. So you can provide
those upon request as well?
Shannon Mobley I'm happy to provide
one upon request.
janicemars Thanks. Okay. One more question before we put MD
back into the hot seat.
Shannon Mobley Okay
janicemars About how many SF novels do you expect to publish
this year?
Shannon Mobley We are new to sci-fi...
Metered Space being our first. But I receive a lot of sci-fi manuscripts
so I expect we'll be publishing many more in the future. Sci-Fi and Romance
do seem to be the top selling fiction genres in my online experience.
Baryon last count had Romance at 55% of most fiction sales
janicemars (oh I take that back I have one more question.) Do
you accept unsolicited manuscripts?
Shannon Mobley I do, but I prefer
a query letter first. A well-written query letter.
janicemars Thank you Shannon. Folks any other questions for
Shannon before we pull MD back to the hot seat?
Sue Crawford Shannon, are you thinking about bringing Metered
Space out in P.O.D.?
Shannon Mobley Sue, as you know,
my feelings on POD are divided. I'm not sure it's the best option for all
ebooks.
janicemars OK. MD... you mentioned earlier that your next novel
is going to be about cloning. Will Jack Meter, your protagonist in the
current book, be featured in that one as well?
M D Benoit No, it's a totally different
series. The first in the trilogy is about a bio genetic weapon that has
the potential of curing serious genetic diseases. The second is on mass
cloning. The third will be on genetically modified organisms. But in between
two and three, Jack will make an appearance. He's got to deal with disappearing
buildings and the Earth is shrinking.
Sue Crawford These are all serious subjects, I can't wait until
you get them written and published.
M D Benoit The first one
is written and doing the rounds of the "major" houses; the second one is
on its third draft... and hopefully will be finished this Christmas. I'm
not a fast writer, take about a year or more to write a novel.
Sue Crawford Let me know and I'll be first in line.
Baryon Metered Time? Metered Metres?
janicemars Interesting, I was about to ask you if you'd ever
considered publishing on paper.
M D Benoit Metered Made (tentative);
it's all Shannon's fault, she started it.
janicemars LOL
Shannon Mobley LOL!
janicemars I have a brain like a stainless steel sieve, as you
may have already noticed... is there a working title for the clone trilogy?
Baryon Metered Maids...no prolly won't work
M D Benoit First one is called
Diseases and Sins. Second one, Humanity's Music. The third one hasn't been
born yet.
janicemars MD... from what you've said so far this evening...
you think in terms of series and trilogies.
M D Benoit I don't necessarily,
it's just that my ideas get too big. And that's why I _can't_ write short
stories. My brain isn't wired that way.
ododo I'm kinda curious about trilogies myself. Is that how
you normally approach writing your novels?
M D Benoit Yep. My ideas are more
concepts I end up exploring
Araius Like, MD, you want to share your characters' adventures
for at least three books?
M D Benoit No, they end up having
lives of themselves. Outside the story and they keep going like the bunny
[g]
ododo I guess I was thinking of word count more than anything.
So, MD, what do you mean about "too long"
M D Benoit Ah, the dreaded word
count. What about it?
Shannon Mobley You don't write
with a number in your head, do you MD?
ododo you were referring to length earlier. Of the books. Which
was one reason they grew into trilogies I believe.
janicemars Ah! I see. So the cloning trilogy may actually need
more than 3 books when it's finished?
M D Benoit Not really. Each story
stands for itself. I don't need to split it in three. It's the concept
that's big not the story. Also, it depends on the "genre." With Jack stories,
the word count will probably fall between what a mystery/crime novel has,
about 70,000 words. With the "bigger" novels, they're about 100,000 words.
Although I'm not really preoccupied with word count, rather with telling
the story as it needs to be told. Then, there's something worse than word
count. Editing.
janicemars There is? LOL.
Shannon Mobley LOL!
janicemars Do you find that you do a lot of self-editing?
M D Benoit Oh, yeah. Usually, I
do about 4 drafts. The first draft is to set the story... the second to
finesse it... the third to add colour...
Shannon Mobley MD is a dream to
work with in this regard. Rarely leaves a thing for the editor to do!
M D Benoit the last one to pick
out grammatical, typos, etc.
janicemars MD. Do you ever find yourself making drastic plot
changes during any of the edits?
M D Benoit I have in all of my
books so far [g]
janicemars LOL. Thank you.
M D Benoit even if I do an outline
I find that as my characters take on a life of their own. What I planned
for them to do just doesn't work so I change it. In my last book, I threw
out 40,000 words (the last part) and started again.
janicemars MD, are you planning on attending any SF Conventions
in the near future so that folks can meet you Face to Face?
M D Benoit Well, 17-19 August,
I will be part of a panel discussion (with Robert Sawyer, no less) at CANcon,
an SF convention in Ottawa, on the future of SF publishing... which will
include ebooks.
janicemars Oooh excellent. Any plans on going to a WorldCon
before it comes to Toronto? When is that again Ara?
Araius Over labour weekend usually, Jan. Let me check
janicemars I'm sorry. I meant which year. I know it's Philadelphia
this year, San Jose next year. 2003?
M D Benoit If it's at the end of
the world, probably not... I'm the typical starving writer LOL
Araius Torcon 3 August 28 - September 1, 2003
M D Benoit San Jose? I might be
tempted. I love that city. It has a canal, just like Ottawa. I'll definitely
be in Toronto.
janicemars Folks....we've kept MD Benoit and her publisher,
Shannon Mobley of Electric eBook Publishing, on the hot seat here for over
an hour and half.
* Baryon applauds
janicemars Do we have any final questions for her before we
loose the duct tape?
M D Benoit it's fun
Shannon Mobley Great fun!
janicemars Okay. I have a final question which you don't have
to answer. What does MD stand for?
M D Benoit ouch
Aerilaya I would like to say its been nice to get a lot of information
for me in particular.. thank you MD, and its been a pleasure this evening.
Tho i must take my leave, 5 am comes early for me ..which is in 6 hours..
LOL.. good nite folks and thanks again!
janicemars Hey, you can say fergitaboutit chicagagal.
Shannon Mobley Good night!
M D Benoit thanks for stopping
by!
Araius Nite, Aeri
M D Benoit Marie Dominique LOL...
janicemars Why that's lovely. But I understand that some things
don't change quickly...
M D Benoit All female Francophones
have Marie in their names...It was just too long to write LOL.
janicemars in the SF genre very feminine names are still better
initialized. Okay folks...let's thank MD and Shannon for joining us tonight.
* janicemars applauds
janicemars LOL
Araius Thank you MD and Shannon!
* Baryon applauds again, shouts and whistles
M D Benoit Thanks to all who stopped
by.
Shannon Mobley Thank you for having
us here. It's been a pleasure!
janicemars Great. We'll have to have you out again when the
next book comes out if not before.
M D Benoit Loved the experience!
Shannon Mobley lol!
Araius I'd better finish this letter... Goodnight, everyone
janicemars Goodnight Ara!
M D Benoit you're on
Araius See ya later, astrogaters.
M D Benoit Good night all.
janicemars Goodnight MD!
Shannon Mobley I'm going to run
too. Thanks again!
janicemars Thanks Shannon, and good night!
ododo good luck, MD
M D Benoit thanks
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