Summer Days Spotlight on Barbara Karmazin

August 2004

Sharyn: Barbara, thanks for joining me. Let's get started with a fairly easy question. What first inspired you to write?

Barbara: Sharyn, I've been an avid reader of SF and Fantasy for many years, starting when I was seven years old and read, The Light Princess by George MacDonald. Over the years, I've built up a personal library with books from Andre Norton, Poul Anderson, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Zenna Henderson, C. J. Cherryh, Elizabeth Moon, Mercedes Lackey, Joan Vinge, Octavia Butler and Joan Slonczewski, just to name a few of my favorite authors.

I loved exploring strange new worlds of imagination and meeting many human and alien people in those books. I kept wishing these authors would show the romantic interactions in as much detail as they did the action/adventure parts. Heinlein came close to that in his later works but, even then, he glossed over the love scenes.

I tried reading Traditional Romances. The love scenes were great, but the stories were too predictable for my tastes. I didn't have the excitement and thrills of exploring new ideas and new worlds along with the relationship between hero and heroine.

I read Futuristic Romances. Then put them aside with a bad taste in my mouth because the SF and Fantasy elements were window dressing and in some stories, nonexistent and poorly written.

Futuristics were written for women and the ongoing assumption is that real SF and hard technology was too difficult for women to understand. This assumption insulted my intelligence as a woman.

Whereas SF was written for men and the ongoing assumption is that men don't want any of those 'mushy love' mixed into their he-man SF books.

What I wanted to find and read were true cross-genre SF/Romance and Erotic/SF. When I couldn't find those kinds of cross-genres after over thirty years of reading from age seven through thirty-eight, I finally sat down and starting writing the kinds of books and stories I wanted to read.

Now, twelve years later, I have four books published and a number of short stories under my belt. Two of those books are SF/Romance entitled Down Came a Blackbird and Covenants. The other two are Erotic SF, entitled The Huntress and Out of The Dark.

My fifth Erotic SF book On the Edge of Time will debut next month, September 2004 with Loose-id Books.

Sharyn: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your writing?

Barbara: Robert A. Heinlein, Andre Norton, C. J. Cherryh and Elizabeth Moon have had the biggest influence on my writing. I admire their creativity and willingness to explore relationships along with their SF and Fantasy adventures.

Sharyn: Plotting. What's your opinion?

Barbara: I prefer a combination of minimal plotting, tons of research for world-building and I'm a seat of my pants writer for the actual story writing itself.

I usually plot out the basic outline of my story. I set up a character list with their name, age, sex, race, species and cultural beliefs. If the story is set on another star system, I research all the information about that star and the possibilities of habitable planets.

I research everything and anything I can think of pertaining to my story before I actually sit down to write it. I keep a file filled with 'notes' for my story so I can refer to them as needed.

Then I sit down and write the actual story by the seat of my pants. I know where the story will begin. I know the basics about my characters and I know where the story will end. Everything else I learn along the way. My characters and event reveal themselves to me as the story progresses.

Sharyn: What has been your most memorable moment as an author?

Barbara: My most memorable moment as an author was signing and selling books at the 2004 Romantic Times Convention. I had readers come up to me at that book sale, tell me they'd already read and loved my books and wanted my autograph.

Sharyn: All of your books are available through E-publishers. What pros and cons have you seen in your career as an e-published author?

Barbara: The pros of e-publishing is the fast turn around. You know in about three months if your book is accepted or rejected versus the one to three year wait for print submissions. E-publishing has given me the freedom to explore the kind of cross-genre SF I want to write. It's given me the opportunity to gain a stable fan base and continue writing. My ebooks are available longer, whereas in print publishing, I would only have a limited 3 month window of availability time to promote and sell my books. Each new book I publish in epublishing brings new readers who then look at my back list and increase sales for all of my books.

The cons are that e-publishing is still in its infancy, so the profits/royalties are not as high as they would be with a print publisher. Print publisher would expose me to a wider audience of readers versus the limited number of readers familiar with ebooks.

Sharyn: Do you believe e-publishing is here to stay?

Barbara: In the long run, I believe epublishing is here to stay just like paperbacks became part of our reading experience along with hard cover books.

Epublishing is here to stay. The New York print publishing world has noticed epublishing as competition because during the last two years, they have acknowledged new markets, new stories, and new ideas that originated in epublishing.

Harlequin has radically restructured their publishing lines and added newcross-genre lines based on Erotic Romance, Fantasy Romance and Paranormal Romance.

Tor Books is trying a new cross-genre line of Fantasy Romance.

Where did these new cross-genre ideas come from? Every one of these ideas started in epublishing with Vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc... The epublishers were there first. Epublishers gave writers permission to explore our imaginations, go where we wanted to go and create new worlds and story ideas.

The big publishers are following behind epublishers now, hoping to cash in on the new ground our writers explored and hoping to secure our loyal and avid readers for their books.

The explosion in readers in the last two years in epublishing has been tremendous. Ten years from now, I believe we'll see even more success in epublishing.

Sharyn: Describe a normal working day for you.

Barbara: I wake up at eight am, turn my computer on and check my emails. I also put on the coffee and set water and breakfast out for my two dogs and one cat.

By 10:30am, I cook breakfast, usually eggs and toast, then return to my computer to write. On and off throughout the day, I write in-between checking on emails and responding to a few emails.

In the afternoon, I take a break. Later, after I make lunch, I return to writing and emails. After I break for supper, I walk my dogs for an hour at night. Some nights I stay up to 2:00am writing. Other nights I stay up to 2:00am reading. Other nights I go to sleep early at about 11:00pm.

This is my writing schedule since June 24,2004 when I retired after 29 & 1/2 years from my day job as a bilingual social worker. When I worked full time during the day, I woke up at 5:30am and returned home from work at 5:30pm. Then, I squeezed my writing in late at night and one weekends.

Now, I have the luxury and pleasure of being able to write every day and I love it!

Sharyn: That must be really nice and I know your readers must enjoy it as well. Any special things you have to have around you while working?

Barbara: My dictionary. My book of fables where I find new ideas. Popular Science magazine for more ideas regarding technology and its applications for the future. The Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories. The New York Public Library Desk Reference.

Maps of different countries on Earth and star maps showing the names and locations of various nearby star systems.

Sharyn: Let's take a moment to talk about your available and upcoming novels. I noticed all of your novels are science-fiction romance/erotica. What's the appeal of this particular genre?

Barbara: Science fiction has always been my first love. I'm able to explore new worlds, new ideas and extrapolate new cultures with SF.

Sharyn: Having recently finished Down Came a Blackbird, I was thrilled to see there would be a sequel to it. Besides Cait, Indio and Tiny, will we be seeing anymore of the secondary characters?

Barbara: Cait's brother Kevin and Indio's daughter Socorro play a prominent parts in Out of the Dark. I also introduce new characters in Out of The Dark, the most important is Mider, an albino-furred Sidhe who resides in the abandoned freight tunnel system under the streets of 2065 Chicago.

Sharyn: Any possibility we'll get to see some of Cait's parents?

Barbara: Cait's parents also appear near the end of Out of The Dark.

Sharyn: Will you tell us a bit about your available and upcoming novels?

Barbara: Down Came a Blackbird, my first novel, takes place in an alternate future, where the extraterrestrial "Sidhe" migrated to Earth from their planet which became the asteroid belt around Jupiter. This story deals spendidly with how the Sidhe advanced technology is mistaken as 'magic' by early humans. Down Came a Blackbird is available from Atlantic Bridge Publications, www.atlanticbridge.net.

My second book, the prequel to Down Came a Blackbird, is Covenants. In Covenants, readers are introduced to the Harker family, whose mysterious lineage links Roanoke's Lost Colony to a time when myths walked the land with humanity. Covenants was released September 2003 with Atlantic Bridge Publications, www.atlanticbridge.net.

Febuary 14, 2004, my third book, The Huntress, was published by Liquid Silver Books, www.liquidsilverbooks.com. This story takes a unique look at a Puerto Rican vampire legend - the frightening, mysterious creatures called 'Chupacabras'. In The Huntress, Rulagh is an alien exobiologist sent to Earth by the Interstellar Humane Society. His job is to deal with the feral descendants of those lost pets and their vampiric tendencies, known as chupacabras or goatsuckers by the human inhabitants. Rulagh meets Sonia Rodriguez, a wealthy heiress with a penchant for adventure, and together they forge a love that transcends species while dealing with the chupacabras.

My fourth book, Out of the Dark, is the sequel to Down Came a Blackbird. In this story, I follow the adventurous Cait and her two husbands, Indio and Tiny, as they answer a summons to appear in court on Earth regarding the valuable and rare Selkieskins. An explosion at the spaceport separates Cait from her family. In the abandoned freight tunnel system beneath the streets of 2065 Chicago, Mider, an outcast albino furred Sidhe, rescues Cait and nurses her back to health. Cait must make a heartwrenching decision about including Mider within the folds of her family and their secret society. Out of the Dark is also available from Liquid Silver Books at www.liquidsilverbooks.com.

My newest Erotic SF book, On the Edge of Time, deals with a new species of symbiotic shape-shifters, wyrmdragons and wrymhole space travel. On the Edge of Time will debut September 2004 with Loose-id Books at www.loose-id.com.

Sharyn: How do you balance your writing with everyday life?

Barbara: Dust bunnies and dirty dishes have the better of me. I squeeze my housework in between my writing. Thank goodness my husband loves me and puts up with my obsession with writing.

Sharyn: What is the hardest part of being an author?

Barbara: The hardest part is keeping myself focused on one story at a time. If I let myself go off on tangents and new story ideas, I'll never finish writing any of my books.

Sharyn: Now that the hard stuff is out of the way, let's have a bit of fun. Out of all your characters, who is your favorite and why?

Barbara: My favorite characters are usually the ones in the book that I'm currently writing. Right now, I'm writing my fifth book, On The Edge of Time and my favorite characters are Helga, Silk, Cord and Onyx.

Sharyn: Top three favorite authors?

Barbara: C.J. Cherryh, Elizabeth Moon and Sharon Lee/Steve Miller (Sharon and Steve write their Liaden Universe books as a team)

Sharyn: What books are your comfort reads?

Barbara: Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh. Merchanter's Luck by C. J. Cherryh. Against The Odds by Elizabeth Moon. Pilot's Choice by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

Sharyn: And finally, ultimate favorite dessert.

Barbara: Cherry cheesecake.

As for my favorite drink, that would be buttery nipples, butterscotch schnapps topped with Bailey's Irish Cream.

Thank you for taking the time to have this interview with me, Sharyn. I enjoyed it tremendously.

Sharyn: Barbara, thank you. I really enjoyed myself.

To learn more about Barbara's available and upcoming books, be sure to visit her website: www.sff.net/people/selkiewife

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