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.

Lee Martindale's Home Page

[Lee_M] Hi, all
[Cybling] Folks...Lee Martindale is with us now for chat. Please join me in welcoming her.
[Cybling] Lee...how's the convention been treating you so far?
[Lee_M] It, and the people, have been wonderful.
[Cybling] Have you been to any fun partys this eyar?
[Cybling] year that is.
[Lee_M] This is my first WorldCon, but it won't be my last
[Lee_M] I'm not much of a party person, but the conversations and gatherings have been great fun
[Cybling] My first Worldcon too...though I've not seen much of it...
[Cybling] My first Worldcon too...though I've not seen much of it...
[Cybling] been here in the green room the whole time, but it has it's advantages.
[Lee_M] You sit in one place and we all come to you, right?
[Cybling] Right. lol. Lee...your the editor of Such a Pretty Face: Tales of Power and Abundance,
[Cybling] cna you tell me a little about this anthology?
[Lee_M] Yep, that's me. It's a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories with a difference...
[Cybling] Difference?
[Lee_M] It features heroes and heroines on the upper end of the size diversity spectrum...
[Lee_M] In other words...fat and fabulous.
[Cybling] Glad to hear that Lee. Personally I find today's standards of beauty a little frightening. Way to thin. Unhealthy even.
[Lee_M] There's nothing unhealthy about the "stars: of the SAPF leads....
[Lee_M] They're healthy in mind, body and attitude
[Cybling] Meisha Merlin Publishing is putting this anthology. A lot of authors seem to be going to this house while having other Publishing houses for other works.
[Cybling] What's so attractive about Merlin?
[Lee_M] A staff that knows and appreciates the genre and SF&F
[Cybling] This is a definate plus.
[Lee_M] The savvy of a large publishing house combined with the personal attention of a small press
[Lee_M] A winning combination for writers, editors and readers
[Cybling] You know that sounds like the best of all worlds.
[Cybling] BTW folks...just another reminder...we're working on laptops here, and the keyboards are small so typos are required.
[Lee_M] It is...there had never been an anthology like SAPF, and MM was willing to give it a shot
[Lee_M] A good call if the reviews and what the readers have to say means anything
[Lee_M] It's been well received and reaching new fans for SF&F every day
[Cybling] You've also got writing credits for short stories in MZB Fantasy and two volumes of Sword and Sorcerer. Do you consider yourself a fantasy author exclusively?
[Lee_M] Not exclusively, but primarily. It's what I've sold the most of to this point.
[Lee_M] I came to SF&F by way of Robert Heinlein, so my roots are in SF as much as F
[Cybling] Oh excellent...he was one of my early reads as well.
[Lee_M] My intro to Fantasy was MZB, so it was fitting my first sales were to her
[Cybling] Also cool. Lee... so your anthology is a mix of fantasy and SF stories?
[Lee_M] Yes, with a touch of horror as well.
[Cybling] Folks, we have Lee Martindale with us today in chat.
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one before asking another. Thanks!
[Cybling] Lee... Let me ask about this line in your Chicon bio...you're a size right's activist?
[Cybling] Can you explain a little about that?
[Lee_M] Sure thing. I'm a fabulous fat lady, have been all my life.
[Cybling] 8^D
[Lee_M] My size is *not* a good reason to deny me jobs or force me into nasty medical procedures
[Lee_M] If it ain't broke...and it ain't....no need to "fix" it with weight loss
[Lee_M] Size rights activism is about making weight discrimination illegal, jus like discrim. on the basis of age, sex, etc.
[Lee_M] Part of the reason for the antho was to put something out there with positive fat role models.
[Lee_M] The comment I've gotten most often is "finally, heroes who look like me"
[Cybling] True. You know a lot of discrimination is so subtle you wouldn't really notice it. I know it's not the same, but I discovered when my hair went completely gray prematurely, that I had a hard time getting a job. Seems when you don't *fit* folks find *other* reasons not to hire you.
[Lee_M] Same thing exactly, even if the "thing" is different
[Cybling] Lee, when did you first decide to turn your hand to writing, and is that your primary job these days or are you editing another anthology?
[Lee_M] I've been writing all my life, having non-fiction published for nearly 20 years.
[Lee_M] I've also been editing a size issues activism magazine for 9 years.
[Lee_M] I started writing fiction professionally about 8 years ago.
[Lee_M] My "day job" is writer; editing anthologies is just an outgrown of that
[Cybling] Ah! What's the magazine's name and do you have a website?
[Lee_M] It's called _Rump Parliament_, and yes I have a website
[Lee_M] http://web2.airmail.net/lmartin
[Cybling] Okay, we have a link on your page to your website, is Rump Parliament part...okay...thanks for the URL.
[Lee_M] My pleasure
[Cybling] You say you've been writing for 20 years...what kinds of articles/books?
[Cybling] Before you turned to fiction?
[Lee_M] My non-fiction articles have been mostly size issues commentary; identifying the problems..
[Lee_M] teaching other fat people how to combat it and deal with a fatphobic world
[Lee_M] I've had articles in most of the size community's publications, including those in Australia and England
[Lee_M] No books yet on that subject, but it's beginning to look like that's coming down the pike soon
[Cybling] I didn't realize the activist community was outside the US, Lee.
[Lee_M] It's worldwide, because weight discrimination is the U.S. #1 import
[Lee_M] Well....dieting is.
[wicked grin]
[Cybling] But of course, the discrimination would be a problem in any post-industrial nation exposed to fashion magazines, wouldn't it.
[Lee_M] Dead on, Cybling
[Cybling] Lee, I see you were on a panel with a couple of our early chat guests...
[Cybling] W.A.Tomasson and John Costello...the panel was ...
[Cybling] The Future of the Human Form.
[Cybling] Do you see our ability to change ourselves as a possible problem in the future?
[Lee_M] An excellent panel. Great fun and good info
[Lee_M] I don't see it as that much of a problem because Mama Nature is one stubborn entity
[Cybling] True
[Lee_M] Whatever they do in the lab, nature will undo in the real world
[Lee_M] I do think, however, that we need to move now on legislation that will keep abuses from happening
[Cybling] Abuses?
[Cybling] Like parents insisting on children of a certain size/shape?
[Lee_M] Genetic discrimination, either pro or con, and yes....designer model clones
[Lee_M] Also the issue of ownership of "designer people", making them slaves or non-people
[Cybling] Such a Pretty Face: Tales of Power and Abundace, again, is the title of your anthology...
[Cybling] it's on the bookshelves now?
[Cybling] And available from amazon.com?
[Lee_M] It's debuted in May, and is on the shelves at your favorite bookstore
[Lee_M] Ask 'em to order a few copies if you can't find it.
[Lee_M] Also available directly from Meisha Merlin and from Amazon.com
[Cybling] Lee, is it hardback, trade paperback?
[Lee_M] The general release is trade paperback, but there's a special limited edition hardbound
[Lee_M] That can be ordered from Meisha Merlin.
[Cybling] I know that a lot of Meisha's trades come out at a later date as paperbacks from other publishers. Is this in the works yet?
[Lee_M] I wouldn't be surprised if it's not being discussed with the publisher
[Lee_M] I haven't been brought into that end of things yet
[Cybling] Whoa! Lee, I have you listed in my schedule as having a Panel in about 8 minutes...
[Cybling] Do SCA/Faire People Really Mix with Fandom?
[Lee_M] As far as a second antho, if this one sells well enough, I'll get a go for another on the same theme
[Cybling] Oh good lord I'm so sorry Lee. It's SUNDAY. lolol.
[Lee_M] I'm having that kind of con, too
[Lee_M] If it weren't for my husband, I'd be in real trouble
[Cybling] Okay then I'll ask you the question that drew me to that title in the first place...
[Cybling] What are SCA/Faire people?
[Lee_M] SCA is Society for Creative Anachronism...kinda like Civil war recreationalists, but we do the middle ages
[Lee_M] Faire People are the devotees of Renaissance Faires.
[Cybling] Oh! Now I'm familiar with the full name.
[Cybling] I think you'd mix quite well...particularly on Masquerade day...which is today, correct?
[Cybling] The masquerade is tonight?
[Cybling]
[===is lost in space and time here.
[Lee_M] I think so
[Cybling] lol
[Lee_M] We not only mix well, we *are*, in many cases, the same people
[Lee_M] I'm fen, SCA and do the occasional RenFaire
[Lee_M] And I see a lot of familiar faces in all three "Places"
[Cybling] Yes. I can see how a lot of the research you have to do for SCA would also pay off in character detail in fantasy stories.
[Lee_M] Not only the research, but living an entire weekend camping in the 12th century does wonders for color
[Cybling] You can't have folks in armor for instance plopping down on a small footstool.
[Lee_M] Yep, they know better
[Cybling] True. Gives you a real feel for your character's limitations and freedoms.
[Lee_M] From having made that mistake once
[Cybling] LOLOL. In a book or in real life?
[Lee_M] Yes
[Cybling] LOLOLOLOLOLOL.
[Cybling] Lee, thank you so much for joining us today in chat.
[Lee_M] It's been my pleasure...happy con!
[Cybling] I've really enjoyed this interview and would love to get you out here online again in the near futrure.