Because of these several impediments, as well as other technical difficulties, you will find typos and occasional replication of text. In our humble opinion, typos show that the logs are of *live* chats, not canned interviews, and minimal editing of these logs has taken place.

David B. Coe's Home Page

[Cybling] Folks welcome David B. Coe!
[DavE] I'll be back
[Cybling] Welcome to Chicon Chats, David.
[David_B] thanks it's grrea to be here
[Cybling] Folks...just like to remind yuou...
[Cybling] All of our guests are on laptops...so typos are nearly required.
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one before asking another. Thanks!
[Cybling] David...let me start things off here...
[Cybling] by asking you how the convention has been treating you so far.
[David_B] I've been having a great time.
[David_B] Everyone's been terrific
[Cybling] I hope you weren't staying in the East Tower.
[David_B] No I'm in the west towre. Forturnately.
[Cybling] Was just over there and the elevators seem to be working again.
[David_B] Good thing. that
[David_B] 's where the parties are
[Cybling] Are you a regular con going David?
[David_B] Yes, too much really. I leave my wife home alone with my kids and I think she's getting tired of it
[Cybling] David, you have a Ph.D. in U.S. Environmental History. That is something...
[Cybling] I've never heard of. Can you explain?
[David_B] Environmental hiostory is the study of human interaction with the
[David_B] natural enviroment
[David_B] the difference between it and regular history
[David_B] is that we try to look at the ways is which human activity has been influenced by ecological
[David_B] factors and enviromental events beyond their control
[Cybling] Hmm...that's very interesting. I'd always thought of it as a one way street....
[David_B] Exactly. MOst people do. Enviromental
[David_B] historians are tyring to change that a little bit.
[Cybling] To make us aware that,
[Cybling] quite literally, what goes around comes around.
[Cybling] David...have this study had any influence on your Fantasy novels?
[David_B] Yes, but not only for a political agenda pooint of view. We want to see
[David_B] how even more ancient cultures have influenced and been influenced by nature
[David_B] My fantasy has been deeply influenced by my histoary
[David_B] My first trilogy, the LonTobyn Chronicle is about
[David_B] two societies, one with magic and the other with technology
[David_B] and how they have interacted. The conflicts that arise between
[David_B] them have profound ecological ramifications
[Cybling] You won the IAA Crawford Award for 1999.
[Cybling] Excuse my ignorance...what is this award and who presents it?
[David_B] the Crawford comes from the IAFA, the International Association
[David_B] for the fantastic in the Arts.
[David_B] It's given to the best new fantasy author based on a first book or series. I was
[David_B] honored and surprised to get it.
[Cybling] David, here's a question I've wanted to ask all weekend... what is the major difference in your opinion, between fantasy and SF?
[David_B] I think that you ask that question of a hundred writers and get
[David_B] an equal number of answers
[David_B] To me, the quickestway to say
[David_B] it is to say tat it's the difference etween
[David_B] king Arthur and Like Skywalker
[David_B] In other words both are aboout fairy tales, but one uses
[David_B] magic to convey a sense of wonder and the other uses technology or sceince
[Cybling] I'm sure I'd get at least 100 different answers, lol, if not 200, but I like your explanation.
[Kimmo] Why did you choose to write fantasy as opposed to science fiction?
[David_B] I've always liked traditional fairy tales
[David_B] and I've often been called technophobic. :)
* Kimmo grins
[Cybling] Called? By whom? lol
[David_B] My wife, the scienctist
[Cybling] I mean you're typing on the internet ona laptop right now.
[Cybling] I know people who won't do that!
[David_B] Yes, but there's a gun to my head :)
[Cybling] LOLOLOL.
[Cybling] You weren't supposed to mention that David.
[David_B] Sorry
[Cybling] I've been telling them it's just duct tape.
[Cybling] ahem.
[David_B] Thanks for your question Kimmo
[Cybling] David...did you get scheduled for a lot of panels at Worldcon this year?
[Kimmo] But at least the whip is gone today eh? Guess it was too conspicious, kept the writers out of the green room
[David_B] three panels, one at 8:30 this am :(
[David_B] and an autographing and this
[Cybling] LOL, well you were one of the folks....
[Cybling] the programming director was apologizing to at 8 am.
[Cybling] Hope you got your bagles.
[David_B] Yes I did. and actually
[David_B] I have no one to blame but myself. I told them
[David_B] to schedule me that early. I have kids at home and I
[David_B] rarely sleep late anymore
[Cybling] It's pretty rough doing early morning panels the morning after hugos with a bank of elevators down.
[Kimmo] Actually, I have another question; how easy was your road to becoming published?
[Cybling] Good question, thanks Kimmo
[David_B] I was lucky, Kimmo. My road was not as difficult as some
[Kimmo] Why is everyone thanking me for being inquisitive today? :)
[David_B] I had five chapters and an outline, and my agent was able to
[David_B] sell my first book based on that. It helped I think that I had
[David_B] the phd in history because I had proven that I could
[David_B] complete a big project. And it helped a lot that I had an agent
[Kimmo] So you published your first novel?
[David_B] Yes
* Kimmo whistles
[Cybling] David, your bio says that you're working on a new Fantasy series. Does that mean one's already published?
[David_B] Yes, I have a three book fantasy out with Tor. the LonTobyn Chronicle which
[Kimmo] I was over on Davids page peeking just now, and saw three.
[David_B] consists of children of Amarid, The Outlanders and Eagle-Sage
[Cybling] Oh...I'm sorry. I know about that series...
[Kimmo] (books, not series)
[Cybling] what I meant was the new series...have you just started....
[Cybling] or is the first of the series with Tor yet?
[David_B] I have about half of the first book written
[David_B] The last bookk inn my first series jsut came out in April
[David_B] Jeez Jan, be patient
[Cybling] cool, and took off time to do Worldcon.
[Cybling] YOu know, when most people think
[Cybling] World Science Fiction Convention...the idea that it would have a lot of fantasy authors and illustrators attending doesn't come to mind.
[Cybling] Should the convention's name be changed as teh SFFWA's was?
[David_B] Actually the SFWA membership voted not to change it, saying that
[David_B] the second f was implied. I would liek to see fantasy
[David_B] get a bit more attention in some of the organizations and cons
[Kimmo] The two genres are fairly closely intertwined these days
[David_B] It's funny because right now the biggest
[David_B] sellers in the field are fantasies but we're still kind of a step-child
[Kimmo] You couldn't have a SF bookstore without also stocking quite a bit of F, I think.
[David_B] I think that's right Kimmo
[Cybling] You know I see about as many folks with dragons on their shoulders as those with black t-shirts advertising mythological future cons (Chernobyl in 2011 for instance)...
[Cybling] would you say the fan mix is 50-50?
[David_B] Yes I think so, it's hard to say.
[David_B] there are a lot of SF fans here, more than I see at a lot of cons
[Cybling] Is this your first Worldcon?
[David_B] Yes. It's bee n a blast
[Kimmo] I think, at the risk of being inflammatory, it's easier to get into reading fantasy than hard sf, but maybe that's just me being prejudiced :)
* Cybling gets out fire extinguisher.
* Cybling takes care of *that* question
* Kimmo grins
[Cybling] So most of the conventions you've been to previously have been fantasy oriented?
[Kimmo] I haven't had the pleasure of reading your books yet, but I think quite often in fantasy you can easily spot contrived plot twists to limit stuff
[David_B] Some of them have been, but mostly they've been smaller
[Kimmo] Ie, "this thing could save us all, but I can't use it cause if I do, this and htat will happen"
[David_B] I think that's true. contrivance though can be universal
[David_B] I'm not meaning to sound defensive
[Kimmo] I'm not meaning to sound hostile, either
[Kimmo] :)
[David_B] but you can find it in thrillers, sf, and mainstream lit
[David_B] I think that bad writing is bad writing anywhere, just as good
[David_B] writing is just that, and takes work and forethought and a willingness
[David_B] to avoid easy paths
[Cybling] David, you spent 20 years as a media fanzine author?
[Kimmo] Absolutely.
[David_B] Cybling jsut had a time warp or something
[Cybling] and david just wrestled the gun away from me.
[Cybling] He's probably right you know.
[Cybling] I'm sorry David.
[David_B] No problem
[Cybling] Since you're halfway through the first novel of this series, and I *am* being patient....
[Cybling] can you tell us about when you'll be done, and when Tor might have it on the shelves?
[David_B] It should be finished by miud-January 2001 and I expect it to be on the shelves about a year after
[David_B] that. The publication
[David_B] process can be a slow one due to editing problems and production tie-ups
[David_B] I often am asked why if I have a book done in February it's not out until
[David_B] December or worse, and I have to sy that finishing the manuscript is
[David_B] jsut the be=ginning of a very long process
[Cybling] True, I've heard that the average post-writing production can last from 1-1/2 to 2 years.
[David_B] Yes it can, though as I get better and more experienced
[David_B] those times tend to shorten. 2 years for the 1st book, 18 months for
[David_B] the second 14 months for the third
[Cybling] Folks...I'm so sorry for those who've just joined...but we're about at the end of the...
[Cybling] interview with David Coe. ARe there any last questions for him about Fantasy or his series?
[Horus] dont you think dragonds rock? :)
[Horus] dragons
[David_B] Yes they do, though I haven't put any in my ooks yet. I'm a wizard guy
[Horus] ahh
[Kimmo] I have one quick question if I may
[Cybling] Wizard guys are cool. Go for it Kimmo.
[Kimmo] Do your characters wind up traveling a lot back and forth across the contingent(s)? =)
[David_B] In the first two books I had a bit too much travel
* Kimmo nods
[David_B] I' tried to tone that down in the third book and in the new
[David_B] series I solved the proglem by making a smaller land!
[Kimmo] It's sort of a minor pet peeve of mine. I love fantasy books and tend to read quite a bit, but all too often it's just one big travelogue.
[David_B] I don't think it's that bad in my books even in the early ones, but I definitely know what you mean
[David_B] I hat it too
[Cybling] Folks, let's thank David for joining us today and taking time out for joining us. LOL David!
[Horus] thanks dave
* Cybling applauds
[Kimmo] Thanks, David.
[David_B] Thank all of you. It's been fin