I'm sort of taking my own initiative on this one, and I hope Lpspider doesn't mind.

I emailed one of my favorite authors, Michelle West (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-0707311-3888809?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Michelle+West&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&Go=Go), who has written the Sun Sword sextet, the Sacred Oath duology, and the Sundered quintet. All of these are fantasy series of the highest caliber.

She's also written a slew of short stories, which I'm less familiar with. Those that I have read are phenomenal.

If you have questions for her, let me know in the next week or so, either here in this thread, or in a PM. I'll pick some of them and send it out when she's back from a trip.

Anyway, if you want to know more about her, this is a link to her website (http://www.sff.net/people/Michelle.Sagara/).

ST

I notice that she has several short stories published. Did she start with a novel or with short stories? In either case what was that experience like for her?
There are also several good questions on these discussion forums such as What does she do to get motivated to write? And how does she keep moving while writing so that she doesn't "burn out"?

Just a few ideas

ZB

PS Apologies for the general questions, I'm not familiar enough with her work yet to get more specific.

Actually, those are great questions. I was going to focus on her process anyway, as I know many of you don't know her work. I think questions like the ones that you have above are good. If they need to be personalized, I can do that before I send in the questions.

When did you first develop the passion for writing?

Where do you get your ideas? What's your inspiration?

If there was one concept or idea you could leave a beginning writer, what would it be?

Here are some questions.

What does she think the writer's role is in the modern world?


What are her favourite literary devices/techniques?


What are her thoughts on "High-brow" fiction vs "Low-brow" fiction? Has she ever experienced literary snobbery from others?


This quote is taken from a customer review on Amazon of her novel, "The Broken Crown (The Sun Sword, Book 1)": "I bought this book solely because of... the fact that it was longer than six hundred pages."

A lot of people nowadays buy books on the sole basis that the books have a certain number of pages, wanting the best "deal" for their money. Some believe this is has led to a decline in the commercial value of the short story, with many publishers unwilling to market the short form. But this is jsut one explanation of the short story's "decline". Does she have any thoughts generally on the state of the short story?