Pump Up Your Book Chats with Science Fiction Author Sylvia Engdahl

Sylvia Engdahl is best known as the author of highly-acclaimed Young Adult science fiction novels, one of which was a Newbery Honor book and a finalist for the 2002 Book Sense Book of the Year in the Rediscovery category.  However, her trilogy Children of the Star, originally written for teens, was republished as adult SF, and she is now writing fiction only for adults.

Engdahl is a strong advocate of space colonization and has maintained a widely-read space section of her website for many years. She lives in Eugene, Oregon, and currently works as a freelance editor of nonfiction anthologies.

More information about Stewards of the Flame, the topics with which it deals, and its newly-released sequel can be found at www.stewardsoftheflame.com.  Her main website is at www.sylviaengdahl.com.

Thank you for this interview, Sylvia.  Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later?  Do you remember your first published piece?

I didn’t write any stories until I was in college, and then only occasional ones that weren’t finished.  My first published work was my YA novel Enchantress from the Stars, which ironically has remained my most popular.

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

The most frustrating has been that my novels, except for Enchantress from the Stars, have not reached many of the readers most apt to like them.  They are all quite different from each other, but the people who know my name want “another book like Enchantress” and most people who would prefer the others, if they’ve heard of me at all, assume that’s the only kind of book I write.  The most rewarding thing has been the e-mails I receive from readers who say my novels have influenced their lives.

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life?  Do you have support?

I’m single and I have no family, not even at a distance.

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?  Where do you like to vacation?  Can you tell us briefly about this?

As I’m physically unable to travel, I don’t go on vacation. Writing novels is what I do for fun, as a break from the editing work I now do for income.  There is very little time that I’m not doing one or the other, except for watching a few DVDs and listening to music.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

Bass Lake in California, where I vacationed as a child in the 1940s.  It has a webcam now and I look at it sometimes; it’s just the same except for being more crowded.  (“Right now” must be interpreted loosely though, as its water level is drastically lowered in the fall and winter.)

Who is your biggest fan?

No special one — the readers who to write to me are my biggest fans.

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

At my computer, where else?  Aside from the fact that I think best while seeing what I say on the screen, I can’t sit in a chair except when I’m prepared to do nothing except provide a lap for a 20-pound cat!  (For this reason using a laptop computer has proved impossible.)

What’s your favorite library and why?

The Eugene Public Library, which I am no longer able to visit physically but which I support as a volunteer by desktop-publishing its newsletter.

What’s your favorite bookstore and why?

Amazon.com.  I can get anything I need there without leaving my desk, and it’s also indispensable for researching what’s been published on a topic.

Do you have any pets?

I have two cats, Dumbledore and Gandalf the White (he was pure white when he was little except for a striped tail, but now he is half orange).

What are you reading right now?

My friend Shirley Rousseau Murphy’s latest mystery novel, Cat Striking Back.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

If I’ve kept something secret from my friends, why would I post it on the Web for everyone in the entire world to know?

What’s the first thing you notice when you meet someone?

Whether they have something interesting to say.

Have you ever won anything?

I’ve won awards for some of my novels.  Most recently, Stewards of the Flame won a bronze medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher (IPPY) book awards.

What’s on your to do list today?

Earlier today I finished a freelance editing assignment just in time to meet the deadline. Now I will deal with the stacks of stuff on my desk that have been piling up.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in October via a virtual book tour.  Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

I hoped to make people who otherwise wouldn’t hear of my adult novels aware that they exist (My name is known mainly in the Young Adult field.) Stewards of the Flame is technically science fiction but generally appeals more to readers who don’t ordinarily read science fiction, and wouldn’t look at the science fiction sections of booklists or review sites.

Thank you for this interview, Sylvia. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

Thank you for inviting me.  I’m enjoying the tour and I’ll be glad to answer any questions that readers here may have about my books. My e-mail address is at my website.

Thank you for this interview, Sylvia.  Good luck on your virtual book tour!