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.

Mindy L. Klasky's Home Page

[Cybling] The Glasswrite's Apprentice is your Novel's name, Mindy and it just came out in July.
[Cybling] Can you tell us a little about it?
[Mindy_Klasky] Yes, Glasswright came out in July, went to a second printingin August and is now on the Locus bestseller list.
[Mindy_Klasky] It's the story of a 13-year-old girl who is an apprentice in a guild -o
[Mindy_Klasky] She witnesses a murder and is accused of being the murderer.
[Mindy_Klasky] she has to "go under cover" to find the true killer and clear her name.
[Cybling] Mindy...how would you classify your novel? SF/Mystery/Fantasy?
[Mindy_Klasky] It's found in bookstores in the fantasy section, but the story is every bit as much a mystery as it is a fantasy.
[Mindy_Klasky] The clues to the murderer's identity are planted in the story, as they would be in a "standard" mystery.
[Cybling] Folks, I just surfed toMindy's website at...
[Cybling] http://www.sff.net/people/mindy-klasky/
[Cybling] and she said "You're on my page!"
[Cybling] LOL...nice midi you have on your site!
[Cybling] What is it?
[Mindy_Klasky] I'm actually not positive - my webmaster had it in his copious files, and he added it to the site to surprise me when the book first came out.
[Mindy_Klasky] The site has monthly updates about my novels, stories, and life in general.
[Cybling] That's what a website is for.
[Cybling] Mindy, your Chicon bio says that you made your first professional sale of a short story in 1999.
[Cybling] What was the story, and to whom did you sell it?
[Mindy_Klasky] It's important to me to keep the site active, rather than static.
[Mindy_Klasky] My first semi-pro sale was a story in a small magazine - Not One of Us.
[Mindy_Klasky] My first professional sale was to Realms of Fantasy - the story will be out in the October issue of this year.
[Mindy_Klasky] The story, Saving the Skychildren, is part of the sequel to Glasswright.
[Cybling] Okay...so it sounds to me like you were either well on your way to finishing your novel when you made that sale, or it *was* finished. Is that so?
[Mindy_Klasky] I sold my first novel (as part of a 3-book contract) *before* I sold my first story. Backwards, a bit, I know...
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one before asking another. Thanks!
[Cybling] My goodness, did you have an agent at that time, or did you make the sale yourself?
[Mindy_Klasky] I had an agent. I had worked, unsuccessfully, with one agent for 3.5 years. When we "broke up",
[Mindy_Klasky] he suggested that I work with another agent. I signed with that second agent, and he sold my first novel one year to the date after we
[Mindy_Klasky] started working together - on April Fools' Day!
[Cybling] That's wonderful. You know a lot of people these days aren't following the "old maxim"...
[Cybling] that you need to sell short stories first THEN write the novel THEN find the agent.
[Mindy_Klasky] I don't know that any of the "old maxims" work - EXCEPT for "Writers Write." I found it incredibly valuable to keep writing, even while my agent was shopping novels around.
[Mindy_Klasky] Ultimately, my having another novel drafted contributed to my getting a multi-book contract rather than a single-book one.
[Cybling] Isn't it difficult to switch back and forth between the shorter forms of fiction and the Novel?
[Mindy_Klasky] It's challenging, but it keeps me on my writerly toes. I use my short fiction to test ideas - either about narrative or character or setting.
[Cybling] Interesting idea. You believe that having something for a follow-up to the first book is what netted you the sale...
[Cybling] how many novels do you currently have that you're trying to place?
[Mindy_Klasky] Glasswright came out in July, and I have its sequel finished. I've written the third book under the contract,
[Mindy_Klasky] which is unrelated to Glasswright (I wrote it while shopping around Glasswright). I'm currently negotiating with my editor about more Glasswright books. And then there are the ideas in my head...
[Cybling] Wonderful..so this may turn into a series and not just a trilogy?
[Mindy_Klasky] I'd like that to happen. I read a lot of mysteries, and I love the idea of a series of stand-alone novels with continuing characters.
[Mindy_Klasky] Not many fantasy/SF writers do that, but many mystery writers do.
[Cybling] Your third book...can you tell us a little about the unrelated novel?
[Mindy_Klasky] The unrelated novel, SEASON OF SACRIFICE, is set in an imaginary land that is *very* roughly based on Cornwall.
[Mindy_Klasky] It's about twins from a sea-faring village who are kidnapped to fulfill the religious prophecies of some inland folks.
[Cybling] Cornwall, England?
[Mindy_Klasky] Yes, Cornwall England - with its tin mining and fishing industry and rocky, difficult to navigate coast.
[Cybling] Wow! What time is this set, Mindy.
[Mindy_Klasky] SACRIFICE is a darker novel than Glasswright, with more overt magic.
[Cybling] And Sacrifice is the follow-up to Glasswright?
[Mindy_Klasky] It's set in what would correspond to the very early Middle Ages.
[Mindy_Klasky] SACRIFICE is the third, unrelated book. The sequel to Glasswright is set about 3 years after the events in Glasswright.
[Mindy_Klasky] It continues the story of the Glasswrights' Apprentice, as she travels to a northern kingdom and finds herself involved in a plot to overthrow her king.
[Cybling] Things get pretty intense in the second novel, I can see that.
[Cybling] Mindy, is the protagonist in your third novel female as well?
[Mindy_Klasky] Absolutely. I don't like novels where the "good guys" are always good, and the bad guys are always bad - therefore, my novels tend to be emotionally intense.
[Mindy_Klasky] There are three main point-of-view characters in the third novel - a woman who is a priestess, a man who is a tracker who goes after the kidnapped children, and a 5-year-old boy who is kidnaped.
[Cybling] Okay. Do you find that it's easier to write from a woman's point of view via a female character...
[Cybling] or are you planning some novels in the future with male protagonists?
[Mindy_Klasky] Two of the protags in SEASON are male, and they were challenging to write. Some of my short fiction has helped me to exercise those skills -
[Mindy_Klasky] I wrote one story that was narrated by a *tree* to try to work with different perspectives and cultural assumptions.
[Cybling] I can't imagine that.
[Cybling] I'm sorry, I'd love to read that story. It would never occur to me that a tree could be sentient.
[Mindy_Klasky] It was interesting, trying to eliminate gender considerations. When I presented the story to my writers group, some people considered the tree to be a "lover" of the other character and some considered it to be a "parent".
[Cybling] I keep starting questions with How, and then stopping here. LOL.
[Cybling] Ah...you're a member of a writers group! Do you meet f2f or online?
[Mindy_Klasky] With any luck, you'll be able to read the tree story in the future. I'm in talks with a magazine editor about publishing it now.
[Mindy_Klasky] The group I mentioned is f2f. I've been in online groups before.
[Cybling] I won't ask which magazine...but you'll post it on your website when it's sold?
[Mindy_Klasky] Online groups worked best for me at first, because I didn't like getting criticism
[g].
[Mindy_Klasky] I absolutely will post when the story sells!
[Cybling] Yes, and you find that online groups don't give you the criticism you need?
[Mindy_Klasky] Online groups gave me the criticism, but I could react privately, cursing my computer and ranting and raving.
[Cybling] LOL.
[Mindy_Klasky] (I've matured a bit, in my accepting criticism - enough for the f2f group to work well.)
[Cybling] This is good. And does not ranting and raving help with working on the story as others see it?
[Mindy_Klasky] It helps - it makes me ask which criticisms are valid and which are not. It's a bad idea to re-write a story based on *some* criticisms,
[Mindy_Klasky] (the ones I'm most likely to rant about
[g]), but if you hear the same thing over and over, then that gives more weight to the criticism.
[Cybling] What I mean is do you use that energy and put it into the story instead of yelling at the computer?
[Mindy_Klasky] Eventually. Myday job keeps me quite busy, so I generally have to martial my energy so that I can get my writing done. Using responses to critiques is one way to husband that energy.
[Cybling] Okay...how long did it take you to find a writing group you could trust to give you good advice, how many did you try, online and off?
[Mindy_Klasky] My first online group was more of a cooperative venture - very supportive, but not very useful.
[Mindy_Klasky] My next online group was full of earnest writers, but some were just beginning, and it was difficult to balance everyone's skills and needs.
[Mindy_Klasky] My third online group WORKED, and I stuck with it for about a year.
[Mindy_Klasky] My one f2f group proved successful from the start - we are a good mix of people who enjoy each others' writing and company.
[Mindy_Klasky] Any group, though, becomes less useful over time - after a while, everyone can predict what everyone else will say about pieces.
[Cybling] Mindy, let's take a little time to stop talking about work and start talking about play. Is this your first WorldCon?
[Mindy_Klasky] This *is* my first WorldCon. But not my last.
[Cybling] Good.
[Cybling] Have you attended other smaller conventions before this?
[Mindy_Klasky] I went to World Fantasy last year (in Providence.) It has a completely different feel from Worldcon. (Both are good, but both are VERY different.)
[Cybling] Was it as *humongous* as Worldcon?
[Cybling] I have to admit I'm finding all of this a little overwhelming.
[Mindy_Klasky] Nowhere near. By the end of three days, I was seeing familiar faces *everywhere* at World Fantasy. Here at Worldcon, I'm not even seeing the same faces on my hallway...
[Cybling] LOLOLOLOL!
[Cybling] Well this happens.
[Cybling] You're not on the party floor are y ou?
[Mindy_Klasky] There's an energy about Worldcon, though - a positive energy. But I slept last night, so I'm not on the party floor
[g].
[Cybling] Good.
[Cybling] I hear some of the parties at a WorldCon can get pretty racous.
[Cybling] What is the best part of Worldcon for you so far?
[Mindy_Klasky] The best part has been meeting people in person with whom I've corresponded for *years* online.
[Cybling] In other words...have you been sucked into the black hole they call the dealers room, yet?
[Mindy_Klasky] I set aside a certain amount of money to spend in the dealers room. When I spent that, I set aside more. And more. Fortunately, I've already paid for my flight home
[g].
[Cybling] Ah, yes, you were talking to Tam about that while Cory was being interviewed. It is odd. Don't people see to look kind of naked without their keyboards?
[Cybling] LOLOLOLOLOL.
[Mindy_Klasky] It's very odd meeting some of these folks in person - one woman looked *exactly* as I expected, and *NO ONE* else has...
[Cybling] I know. It's so strange sometimes.
[Cybling] Of course having jpgs of people doesn't seem to help either. -Ryan- [global] Service restarts are completed for now. Thanks for being so patient! To hear about the new feature and why ChanServ is in your channel and how to remove it, please join #DarkMyst.
[Mindy_Klasky] Not much - there's something about seeing someone three days (and nights) into the con.
[Cybling] WEll Mindy...I've kept you out here with me for a half an hour now. Thanks so much for taking...
[Cybling] time out from the con to come online and chat with us.
[Mindy_Klasky] Thank you very much - I've had a wonderful time!
[Cybling] See you at the WorldCon next year maybe!
[Mindy_Klasky] Absolutely!