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.

Sarah Zettel's Home Page

[Cybling] Folks...help me welcome Sarah Zettel!
[Sarah] Hello all.
[Kimmo] Hello, Sarah
[Cybling] Folks...Sarah is wearing an absolutely fabulous neckpiece here...
[Cybling] is that part of your dress Sarah?
[Sarah] No. It's a beaded scarf imported from Egypt.
[Cybling] Bugle beads and perls and sequins and chome beads. It's quite lovely. I'm...
[Cybling] coveting it.
[Cybling] lol.
[Sarah] I've had all kinds of people coming up to me today and fondling my beads.
[Cybling] Sarah...you live in Michigan and came down for the entire Worldcon this eyar?
[Sarah] Yes. It's fabulous to have Worldcon in Chhicago.
[Cybling] Sarah can only stay with us for about 15 minutes so I'm...
[Cybling] going to cut to the chase and start asking...
[Cybling] direct questions about her work and what she has available for us to read.
[Cybling] Sarah...you've written 4 books, your bio says...and teh lastest...
[Sarah] The latest is The Quiet Invasion, out in hardback now...
[Sarah] and it will soon be out in paperback.
[Cybling] And that hit the bookshelves in February...so soon for the paperback?
[Sarah] Fairly soon. The thing is the next new one is going to be delayed...
[Sarah] because the edits took a bit longer than expected.
[Cybling] Ah...now I hear that normally...1-1/2 to 2 years has to pass...
[Stormwindz] Did I get bumped or did yall get abducted?
[Cybling] between handing a novel in and it hitting the shelves. When is the next novel due and what's the title?
[Sarah] The next one's out in Aug. 2001, and is called Kingdom of Cages...
[Sarah] It's got a fabulous cover by Micheal Walen that I am completely excited about...
[Sarah] I'm also working on my first fantasy trilogy, which will be coming out from Tor.
[Cybling] Fantasy?
[Sarah] Yes. I've been wanting to go over and play in SFs companion genre for some time now and I'm finally getting my chance.
[Kimmo] Looks like Amazon has five of your books available
[Kimmo] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/Author=Zettel%2C%20Sarah/104-3283583-8367150
[Sarah] There is actually another Sarah Zettel out there. She writes math books.
[Cybling] Ah...so if it's a math book, it's not you then.
[Cybling] Sarah...why moving to fantasy from SF?
[Sarah] Nope. No way. Impossible. To the math question. As to the other...
[Kimmo] Well, they have an ad for The Quiet Invasion, out in paperback in march 2001 according to amazon.
[Sarah] I'm not moving from SF. I'm expanding out. I very much want to continue writing SF.
[Sarah] 2001? Okay. I'm misinformed. Won't be the last time.
[Cybling] So what is Kingdom about, can you give us a little tease here?
[Sarah] It's about families. It's about a young woman trying to understand the world around her...
[Sarah] It's also about ecology, sustainable development, interstellar colonization and how much humans need each other.
[Stormwindz] Sounds great.
[Sarah] Thanks.
[Cybling] Goodness. That's a lot of information. Sustainable development and interstellar colonization....that's quite a lot.
[Sarah] Yeah. This one ended up covering rather more ground than I originally expected.
[Cybling] HOw long did it take to complete this novel and how many pages does it take up?
[Sarah] This one took slightly over a year and came out to 540 pgs.
[Cybling] Wow. I like books that length...
[Cybling] I just can't conceive of the commitment it must take to see it through.
[Cybling] So you write full time, that's obvious.
[Sarah] It helps if you're doing it to pay the rent. Which I am.
[Cybling] Ah...I'm sure it does. Motivation like that can be a good thing.
[Cybling] Sarah, did you ever have a different day job?
[Sarah] Oh, yes. I was a technical writer for 10 years.
[Cybling] And when did you decide to go to writing fiction full time?
[Sarah] I lost my last job about the time I was getting married, which was the same time I was finishing Playing God...
[Sarah] My then-fiance and I talked it over and decided we had enough savings to risk me going for the full-time writing, and so far, it's worked out well.
[Cybling] You're a unique guest with us today, Sarah. A lot of the Sf authors move over to fantasy from time to time, and vice versa, but you're the first author we've had who also writes horror.
[Stormwindz] Thats not the same book as the movie, right? Or??
[Sarah] I've written some short horror. I have an idea for a horror novel that I hope someone will let me try soon.
[Sarah] No. My Playing God has nothing to do with the Ducovny movie.
[Cybling] If you have questions for our guest, please just ask. But please, let the guest answer one before asking another. Thanks!
[Cybling] Sarah. Do you have any short stories out here that we can pick up right now?
[Stormwindz] ok. Had to check.
[Cybling] Anything in the magazines on the shelves?
[Sarah] I have a short story in the David Hartwell Year's Best SF. Nothing in the mags right now, I've been busy trying to finish the books. I hope to get back to the shorts soon.
[Cybling] We have a url link for you on your chicon chat link page at http://www.cybling.com/chicon/guests/Zettel_Sarah.html
[Cybling] Do you have excerpts available online?
[Sarah] The Warner Aspect site usually has something.
[Cybling] Okay great. We can look for it there. Folks...
[Cybling] Sarah has to leave in about 4 minutes...she has a book signing she has to make.
[Cybling] So we have time for a couple of questions then we have to cut the duct tape holding her to the chair
[Sarah] Mmmph! Mmmph!
[Cybling] lol
[Cybling] They are so cute when they do that.
[Cybling] Sarah...do you have a working title for the Horror Novel?
[Sarah] Not yet. Just a whole series of ideas and a burning need to do some research.
[Cybling] Okay...where do you do most of your research?
[Sarah] I'm lucky to be an alumni of the University of Michigan which gives me access to one of the great library systems in the country.
[Cybling] Ah...and any research online at all?
[Cybling] Or do you trust information from the web?
[Sarah] Info on the web is varied, as you know. I do quick look-ups there, or look for sites by particular people...
[Sarah] For the Quiet Invasion, I contacted one of the people who wrote a book I was using for research and was able to ask him some particular questions about Venus.
[Sarah] And how many darn times am I going to use the word "particular?"
[Cybling] Ack! Sarah has broken free from the duct tape. Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon Sarah.
[Sarah] Run! Flee! Hide!
[Cybling] Have a good time at the con!