{"id":1135,"date":"2010-12-02T10:58:04","date_gmt":"2010-12-02T16:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2010-12-02T10:58:04","modified_gmt":"2010-12-02T16:58:04","slug":"compelled-to-write-altered-fluid-on-being-a-writer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/2010\/12\/compelled-to-write-altered-fluid-on-being-a-writer\/","title":{"rendered":"Compelled to Write: Altered Fluid on Being a Writer"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is a writer?\u00a0 It\u2019s a simple question.\u00a0 Or is it?\u00a0 I got back in touch with some of the writers from Altered Fluid<\/a>, the speculative fiction writer\u2019s group out of New York, and asked them what they thought.<\/p>\n

Below, a handful of them go after the question with their usual mix of playfulness and incisive wit.
\n
\nBrief bios of the authors appear after the interview.\u00a0 For more from Altered Fluid, check out
\u201cEven the Best Stories Have Flaws\u201d<\/a> or \u201cStick to What You Love\u201d<\/a> or \u201cThe Joy of the Best Idea Ever\u201d<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/strong><\/p>\n

A writer is a __________?<\/strong><\/p>\n

*<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

PAUL M. BERGER:<\/strong> Person who is so fascinated with (or held hostage by) all the stuff going on in his head that he is compelled to put it down on paper.\u00a0 On a regular basis.<\/p>\n

KRIS DIKEMAN:<\/strong> Person who writes. Every day.<\/p>\n

SALADIN AHMED: <\/strong>Person who finds the free food at cons.<\/p>\n

E. C. MYERS: <\/strong>Person who is committed to improving her craft by writing a lot–and rewriting–<\/em>for as long as it takes to succeed, whatever her definition of success is.<\/p>\n

N. K. JEMISIN:<\/strong> Person who persists.\u00a0 Anybody can write, but only writers keep at it, continually trying to improve, continually submitting despite rejection, continually believing in themselves.<\/p>\n

GREER WOODWARD:<\/strong> Person whose coffeepot (or other maker of needed beverages) is always in good working order.<\/p>\n

MERCURIO D. RIVERA:<\/strong> Person compelled to tell stories, who sits down and actually tells them.<\/p>\n

DEVIN POORE: <\/strong> Person who re-works reality into their own image.<\/p>\n

ALAYA DAWN JOHNSON: <\/strong> Person with an unhealthy tolerance for failure.<\/p>\n

MATTHEW KRESSEL: <\/strong>A person who would curl up and die if denied the ability to express themselves.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Saladin Ahmed\u2019s<\/a> <\/em>fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, IGMS, Clockwork Phoenix 2<\/a><\/em>, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies<\/em>. His novel Throne of the Crescent Moon<\/em> is forthcoming from DAW Books.<\/p>\n

Paul M. Berger\u2019s<\/a> writing has appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, Interzone, Escape Pod,<\/em> and Weird Tales<\/em>, among other places.<\/p>\n

Kris Dikeman<\/a> is the author of “Nine Sundays in a Row.” Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons<\/em>, The Guide to Surreal Botany<\/em>, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet<\/em> and Year’s Best Fantasy 9<\/a><\/em>, among other places.<\/p>\n

N.(ora) K. Jemisin<\/a> is the author of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms<\/a><\/em> and the forthcoming The Broken Kingdoms<\/em><\/a>. Her Clarkesworld<\/em> short story, “Non-Zero Probabilities<\/a>,” was nominated for the Hugo Award.<\/p>\n

Alaya Dawn Johnson<\/a> is the author of the novels Moonshine<\/em><\/a>, Racing the Dark<\/em><\/a>, and its sequel The Burning City<\/em><\/a>. Her fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Interfictions 2<\/a><\/em> and the forthcoming Zombies vs. Unicorns<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Matthew Kressel\u2019s<\/a> “The History Within Us<\/a>” appeared in Clarkesworld<\/em> and the “The Suffering Gallery” will appear in Beneath Ceaseless Skies<\/em>. He is the publisher of
\n
Sybil’s Garage<\/a><\/em><\/em> and the co-host of the Fantastic Fiction reading series at KGB with Ellen Datlow.<\/p>\n

E.(ugene) C. Myers\u2019<\/a> fiction has appeared in Sybil’s Garage No. 7<\/em> and will appear in a forthcoming issue of Shimmer Magazine<\/em>. His first young adult novel, Fair Coin<\/em>, is on submission with publishers.<\/p>\n

Devin Poore<\/a> is an assistant editor and non-fiction contributor to Sybil’s Garage<\/em>, and a writer of short stories and novels in which the world isn’t quite as it should be.<\/p>\n

Mercurio D. Rivera<\/a> is a frequent contributor to Interzone<\/em> with stories also appearing or forthcoming in Unplugged: The Web’s Best SF and Fantasy for 2008<\/a>, Black Static, Nature, Electric Velocipede, Abyss & Apex <\/em>and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Greer Woodward’s<\/span><\/strong> humorous short story “Home Swt Home” appears in Shelter of Daylight<\/em>. Woodward lives in Hawaii and is a satellite member of Altered Fluid.<\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

Jeremy L. C. Jones <\/em><\/a>is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher.\u00a0\u00a0He is the staff Interviewer for <\/em>Clarkesworld Magazine<\/em><\/a> and a frequent contributor to <\/em>Kobold Quarterly<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 He teaches at <\/em>Wofford College<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Montessori Academy<\/em><\/a> in Spartanburg, SC.\u00a0 He is also the director of <\/em>Shared Worlds<\/em><\/a>, a creative writing and world-building camp for teenagers that he and <\/em>Jeff VanderMeer <\/em><\/a>designed in 2006.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is a writer?\u00a0 It\u2019s a simple question.\u00a0 Or is it?\u00a0 I got back in touch with some of the writers from Altered Fluid, the speculative fiction writer\u2019s group out of New York, and asked them what they thought. Below, a handful of them go after the question with their usual mix of playfulness and incisive wit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1138,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/booklifenow.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}