On the Eleventh Day of "The Sixteen Day of Tesseracts", we have three authors from the newest edition of the Tesseracts anthology.
TT: What is your name?
Lynne M. MacLean: Lynne M. MacLean
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Lynne M. MacLean: Ottawa, although I still think of myself as a Prairie girl.
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Lynne M. MacLean: "The Illumination of Cypher-Space."
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Lynne M. MacLean: A street kid named Dannie/ Cypher discovers she can change the world through a magical talent with graffiti. While desperately fleeing her murderous captor and dodging street gangs, she meets another gifted street kid who wants to join forces. Cypher must learn who to trust and how to manage her new ability. And she must do so before the night’s end.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Lynne M. MacLean: Dannie woke up stiff and sore.
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Lynne M. MacLean: I was familiar with, and loved, the Tesseracts series as a reader, and that was the draw for me when the call for submissions went out. Some of my favourite Canadian authors have been published in them, so to be in such company is amazing. I love the stories written by the other authors in this volume,so it's very exciting. This is also my first fiction sale to be published in a book.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Lynne M. MacLean: To just sit down and do it, even if you are uninspired and filled with writer's block. This applies to me for both fiction and for the non-fiction academic writing I do for my day job. Just get something out, assume it's going to be trash, and edit afterwards. Once I'm going, I usually stay going. If it's fiction and I'm really stuck, I'll just start with writing dialogue. That pulls me in faster than anything. I wish I could put dialogue into other stuff.
TT: Of the stories that you have written, which is your favorite and why?
Lynne M. MacLean: I think "The Illumination of Cypher-Space" is right now, probably because it's finished, and because it's on my mind again from all the recent Tesseracts activity. I really like the main character, who just emerged one day out of the blue, and wouldn't go away until I gave her a story of her own. I like her gutsiness and survival instincts.
===============================================
TT: What is your name?
Tony Pi: Tony Pi
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Tony Pi: Toronto, ON
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Tony Pi: "The Tremor Road"
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Tony Pi: "The Tremor Road": A stilt-walking wizard must discover the truth behind a strange, linear earthquake.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Tony Pi: From atop his runestilts, Kulno surveyed the line of devastation before him.
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Tony Pi: I love the enthusiasm and dedication of the editors, whose love of the anthology shines through in the great stories they have selected.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Tony Pi: The best piece of writing advice I've discovered is probably from the exercise we did at the Writers of the Future workshop - learning that it's possible to write a good story in 24 hours. Actually doing the exercise, writing an entire story by drawing on random inspirations in such a short period of time, proved to me that I just need to put aside the excuses I make for myself, and write.
TT: Of the stories that you have written, which is your favorite and why?
Tony Pi: My favourite story currently is "A Sweet Calling", which I wrote as part of a writing group challenge. It was inspired by the picture of a dragon made of water, merged with my memories of the Chinese art of blown candy figures. The research itself was fascinating, and I really enjoyed writing it. It sold to Clarkesworld Magazine, and Kate Baker did a stunning podcast reading of it.
To listen to the story
To listen to the podcast
===============================================
TT: What is your name?
Kate Boorman: Kate Boorman
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Kate Boorman: Edmonton, AB
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Kate Boorman: "The Memory Junkies"
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Kate Boorman: A group of high school non-friends gather to plan a very specific terrorist act: they want to blow up a 'health and wellness' facility that lets people relive their happiest memories.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Kate Boorman: "We stood together in a dark corner of the schoolyard, tucked away from the iciest windblasts."
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Kate Boorman: I appreciate the diversity in themes, characters, and settings the stories present. Each story is so different from the next yet together they create a great Anthological Whole (Yes I made that term up-- you can use it).
TT: Why write YA?
Kate Boorman: YA is so much more than a story with a 'teenage protagonist'. Young adulthood is an intense phase of life: you teem with desire and ideas about your life's direction but don't yet have full grasp of the reins. That moment in time is specific and exciting; it offers a very unique lens through which to examine the human experience. And it's a really challenging voice to write.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Kate Boorman: It might sound cliche, but the best advice I've ever received is "write from the heart". Seems obvious but it's so true! If you don't care deeply about what you write, neither will your reader.
TT: Thanks everyone for joining us today!
TT: What is your name?
Lynne M. MacLean: Lynne M. MacLean
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Lynne M. MacLean: Ottawa, although I still think of myself as a Prairie girl.
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Lynne M. MacLean: "The Illumination of Cypher-Space."
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Lynne M. MacLean: A street kid named Dannie/ Cypher discovers she can change the world through a magical talent with graffiti. While desperately fleeing her murderous captor and dodging street gangs, she meets another gifted street kid who wants to join forces. Cypher must learn who to trust and how to manage her new ability. And she must do so before the night’s end.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Lynne M. MacLean: Dannie woke up stiff and sore.
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Lynne M. MacLean: I was familiar with, and loved, the Tesseracts series as a reader, and that was the draw for me when the call for submissions went out. Some of my favourite Canadian authors have been published in them, so to be in such company is amazing. I love the stories written by the other authors in this volume,so it's very exciting. This is also my first fiction sale to be published in a book.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Lynne M. MacLean: To just sit down and do it, even if you are uninspired and filled with writer's block. This applies to me for both fiction and for the non-fiction academic writing I do for my day job. Just get something out, assume it's going to be trash, and edit afterwards. Once I'm going, I usually stay going. If it's fiction and I'm really stuck, I'll just start with writing dialogue. That pulls me in faster than anything. I wish I could put dialogue into other stuff.
TT: Of the stories that you have written, which is your favorite and why?
Lynne M. MacLean: I think "The Illumination of Cypher-Space" is right now, probably because it's finished, and because it's on my mind again from all the recent Tesseracts activity. I really like the main character, who just emerged one day out of the blue, and wouldn't go away until I gave her a story of her own. I like her gutsiness and survival instincts.
===============================================
Tony Pi: Tony Pi
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Tony Pi: Toronto, ON
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Tony Pi: "The Tremor Road"
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Tony Pi: "The Tremor Road": A stilt-walking wizard must discover the truth behind a strange, linear earthquake.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Tony Pi: From atop his runestilts, Kulno surveyed the line of devastation before him.
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Tony Pi: I love the enthusiasm and dedication of the editors, whose love of the anthology shines through in the great stories they have selected.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Tony Pi: The best piece of writing advice I've discovered is probably from the exercise we did at the Writers of the Future workshop - learning that it's possible to write a good story in 24 hours. Actually doing the exercise, writing an entire story by drawing on random inspirations in such a short period of time, proved to me that I just need to put aside the excuses I make for myself, and write.
TT: Of the stories that you have written, which is your favorite and why?
Tony Pi: My favourite story currently is "A Sweet Calling", which I wrote as part of a writing group challenge. It was inspired by the picture of a dragon made of water, merged with my memories of the Chinese art of blown candy figures. The research itself was fascinating, and I really enjoyed writing it. It sold to Clarkesworld Magazine, and Kate Baker did a stunning podcast reading of it.
To listen to the story
To listen to the podcast
===============================================
Kate Boorman: Kate Boorman
TT: Where in Canada are you currently located?
Kate Boorman: Edmonton, AB
TT: What is the name of your story in T15?
Kate Boorman: "The Memory Junkies"
TT: Could you please share a summary of your story without spoilers?
Kate Boorman: A group of high school non-friends gather to plan a very specific terrorist act: they want to blow up a 'health and wellness' facility that lets people relive their happiest memories.
TT: What is the first sentence of your story?
Kate Boorman: "We stood together in a dark corner of the schoolyard, tucked away from the iciest windblasts."
TT: What do you love the most about this (or being in this) anthology?
Kate Boorman: I appreciate the diversity in themes, characters, and settings the stories present. Each story is so different from the next yet together they create a great Anthological Whole (Yes I made that term up-- you can use it).
TT: Why write YA?
Kate Boorman: YA is so much more than a story with a 'teenage protagonist'. Young adulthood is an intense phase of life: you teem with desire and ideas about your life's direction but don't yet have full grasp of the reins. That moment in time is specific and exciting; it offers a very unique lens through which to examine the human experience. And it's a really challenging voice to write.
TT: What is the best piece of writing advice you've discovered?
Kate Boorman: It might sound cliche, but the best advice I've ever received is "write from the heart". Seems obvious but it's so true! If you don't care deeply about what you write, neither will your reader.
TT: Thanks everyone for joining us today!
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