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.

Nick DiChario's Home Page

[Cybling] folks...we now have Nick DiChario here with us.
[Cybling] Nick come on into chat!
[Cybling] Let's say hi!
[Kai] li!
[Kai] hi!
[Nick_DiChario] Hi everyone.
[Cybling] Folks...Nick is a Hugo nominee for Best Short Story, and i think...
[Cybling] he's probably a little nervous right now.
[Nick_DiChario] Hey good guess!
[Cybling] Nick...I see by your badge and the three small rocket ships that this is not the first time you've been nominated.
[Cybling] Were the other two for short stories?
[Nick_DiChario] I was nominated for a Hugo and a J.W. Campbell Award in '93.
[Nick_DiChario] The short story was "The Winterberry."
[Cybling] Okay...so you got a rocket for the Campbell nomination and one for the Hugo nomination.
[Nick_DiChario] Yep, that's correct.
[Cybling] Excellent...and just 6 years later you're here in the same spot again.
[Cybling] Is it deja vu or different this time?
[Nick_DiChario] It really is a thrill to be nominated.
[Nick_DiChario] But I lost in '93. Let's not get too wrapped up in deja vu.
[Cybling] lol...okay we won't.
[Cybling] Best of luck later this evening by the way.
[Cybling] I've heard that the fans are much nicer to folks who are nominated for awards btw, have you experienced this
[Cybling] ?
[Nick_DiChario] Fans have always been great to me. I consider myself very lucky.
[Nick_DiChario] I've always had people walk up to me and say, "Hey, that was a great story, thanks."
[Nick_DiChario] It makes me feel great that people are out there reading.
[Cybling] Nick, you also write Mysteries as well as SF.
[Nick_DiChario] Ah, yes, a little known fact.
[Cybling] I see that you recently co-edited a mystery anthology with Mary Stanton for Berkley Books entitled Death Dines at 8:30, which will be published in the year 2000
[Nick_DiChario] I've written a couple of mystery short stories, and...
[Nick_DiChario] I'm the co-editor of a mystery anthology that is coming out in Spring 2001...
[Nick_DiChario] It's called DEATH DINES AT 8:30.
[Cybling] Do we only have a year on that for a date, or do you have a better idea at this time on that publication date?
[Cybling] Sorry...you *just* told me.
[Cybling] So we've narrowed it down to spring. Nick...who's the publisher?
[Nick_DiChario] The publisher is Berkley Books. My co-editor is Claudia Bishop, known to some of you sf fans as...
[Nick_DiChario] Mary Stanton, author of HEAVENLY HORSE FROM THE OUTERMOST WEST, published by...
[Nick_DiChario] Baen in 1988.
[Cybling] Nick, believe it or not your not the first SF author I've met on the internet, who also writes mysteries.
[Cybling] Do you think there's a strong affinity between the two genres
[Cybling] ?
[Nick_DiChario] I've found there are a lot of sf writers who like to write mystery.
[Nick_DiChario] Not so many mystery writers who like to write sf.
[Nick_DiChario] I think it's easier to shift from sf to mystery.
[Nick_DiChario] Mystery writers find it difficult to learn all there is to learn about sf.
[Nick_DiChario] It's tough if you haven't grown up with it.
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one question before you ask another.
[Cybling] that's true that SF is something that most of us found when we were in our early teens...while mystery is more of an adult genre
[Nick_DiChario] And a lot less fun!
[Minn-StF] Hardy Boys? Nancy Drew? Lo0ts of kids mysteries
[Cybling] Well you got me there Minn. I was thinking more of the Sam Spade...
[Cybling] Micky Spillane type novel, here. Things with a more adult content.
[Nick_DiChario] Parents tend to protect their kids from sf when they are little...at least mine did.
[Minn-StF] There's certainly that branch around, yes.
[Nick_DiChario] I see that changing a bit these days. Harry Potter, although fantasy, is loosening up the older folks.
[Cybling] I know that where I grew up, SF was in the "adult" section of the library.
[Cybling] This is true and good. i often think we should hang out in school playgrounds...
[Cybling] handing out books, saying things like..."First one's free."
[Nick_DiChario] I agree. Kids are the future of our genre. They need to read the good stuff.
[Cybling] Nick...you teach creative writing at the Rochester Institute of Technology and St. John Fisher College? When do you find time to write Hugo quality stories?
[Nick_DiChario] Well, unfortunately my writing suffered quite a bit while I was teaching...
[Nick_DiChario] As a result, I'm not teaching much anymore.
[Cybling] Okay...the work comes first.
[Cybling] What are you working on right now. Besides your acceptance speach. ;8^D
[Nick_DiChario] I think if you have something to say, if you have an original voice, the work always needs to come first...
[Nick_DiChario] Well, I believe an acceptance speech is a bad idea...it's a jinx, man!
[Cybling] Ok.
[Cybling] I see that you're also Assistant Editor of HazMat Review, a literary journal in Rochester, NY.
[Cybling] I'm assuming this is a quarterly?
[Nick_DiChario] Actually, it's one of those things where we try to publish twice a year...
[Nick_DiChario] sometimes we make it, sometimes not...
[Cybling] Okay.
[Nick_DiChario] but i love doing the editing.
[Nick_DiChario] It's an opportunity to get new writers published.
[Cybling] Basically you accept mainstream stories?
[Nick_DiChario] Yes, mainstream, mostly, but we'll look at anything that's of good quality.
[Cybling] Excellent. Do you have a web site for the Review?
[Nick_DiChario] No, we're still in the dark ages. It's one of the things i love about the magazine...
[Nick_DiChario] we still get together and have editorial meetings and argue about content, etc.
[Nick_DiChario] it's a lot of fun.
[Cybling] How would someone get hold of you to find out what your requirements are?
[Nick_DiChario] Well, they'd probably have to find an issue...not an easy trick since we only publish
[Nick_DiChario] about five hundred...
[Nick_DiChario] but if anyone sent me an e-mail or something i could give them details.
[Cybling] Okay...well tell you what I'll get a snail mail address from you at a later date and add it to this log.
[Cybling] Stephen...you need to make tracks now and get ready for the Hugos?
[Cybling] Nick, I'm so sorry.
[Nick_DiChario] Yeah, it's about that time. I swear I'm not nervous. I s-s-s-s-swear.
[Cybling] LOL.....okay.
[Cybling] Nick. Good luck tonight.
[Cybling] I know that you'll be in this position again in the near future.
[Nick_DiChario] Thanks for the luck. I'll definitely need it. And thanks to everyone out there for chatting with me.
[Cybling] Folks let's give Nick a hand for joining us just before he has to go to the Hugos.
* Cybling applauds
[Minn-StF] Good luck, Nick!
[Ryan] Thanks for coming Nick :)