Decision Points is a new anthology edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt. In this second round of interviews, Bryan sat down to talk to Robert J. Sawyer, Jennifer Brozek, and Jody Lynn Nye about their contributions.
This week, Hugo-nominated editor’s first Young Adult anthology, Decision Points debuted from WordFire Press. A collection of 20 stories mixin g science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories in which character’s decisions determine each story’s outcome, the anthology has been praised by luminaries such as YA superstar, Tamora Pierce, the New York Times Bestselling author of Circle Of Magic and The Song Of The Lioness, who said: “A strong, well-written, fascinating selection—this was the most solid-in-quality anthology I’ve ever read!” The anthology contains 6 originals and 14 reprints, several of which have never appeared in anthologies before.
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Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history to win all three of the world’s top awards for Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. The ABC TV series FlashForward was based on his bestselling novel of the same name. His 23rd novel, Quantum Night, has just been published. He lives in Toronto. Website: sfwriter.com.
BTS: What is the name of your Decision Points story and what’s it about?
Robert J. Sawyer: “Driving a Bargain,” about a sixteen-year-old boy who has saved hard to be able to buy his first car … a used one, of course, meaning it has a story of its own to tell.
BTS: What gave you the idea for your story?
RJS: Having to buy a used car myself, after — I kid you not — an autoclub tow truck totaled mine by rear-ending it at a red light. I got curious about the reasons other people might get rid of cars.
BTS: Tell us a bit about your main character(s) please.
RJS: Jerry is a typical teenage boy, totally into girls and cars. He’s obsessed — the car might be possessed; it’s a good dramatic situation.
BTS: Does your story tie in to other works or worlds you’ve written? How?
RJS: Although I’m exclusively a hard science-fiction writer at novel length, I like to play around with fantasy and horror when doing short stories; this was one of those forays.
BTS: What are other projects you’re working on that might interest us?
RJS: I’m developing a science-fiction TV series with a production company in Toronto; it’s mostly under wraps just now, but I’m having a blast doing it.
BTS: How does your approach to writing short stories differ from your long form process, if it does?
RJS: Oh, totally. A short story is one idea; a novel is a whole soup of them. A short story is the shortest distance between two points; a novel is the scenic route.
BTS: Tell us about a Decision Point of yours that changed your life.
RJS: In my last year of high school, I made a late decision not to study paleontology (even though I’d been accepted at the University of Toronto for it), and instead give this writing thing a try. Not only did that change my life, it will change yours — at least for the brief time you’re reading “Driving a Bargain,” since the story would never have been written if I hadn’t made that choice.
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is a Hugo Award-nominated editor and an award-winning author. She has worked in the publishing industry since 2004. With the number of edited anthologies, novel sales, RPG books, and nonfiction books under her belt, Jennifer is often considered a Renaissance woman, but she prefers to be known as a wordslinger and optimist. Read more about her at jenniferbrozek.com or follow her on Twitter: @JenniferBrozek.
Jennifer also gave Bryan the original idea for this anthology, originally titled Choices. He remains grateful.
BTS: What is the name of your Decision Points story and what’s it about?
Jennifer Brozek: “The Prince of Artemis V” is about a young teenager who must protect his younger sister from what happens on the yearly double-full moon night. Until you experience it, you don’t understand what you will be asked to sacrifice.
BTS: What gave you the idea for your story?
JB: I wanted to tell the story of loving siblings. Too many stories have them as aggressive and combative towards each other. I also wanted to tell both sides of an event that seems terrible on the surface but isn’t exactly what it seems.
BTS: Tell us a bit about your main character(s) please.
JB: The main characters are 13 year old Hart and 8 year old Lanteri. Hart knows what happens on the night the Takers come. He’s determined protect his family from them.
BTS: Does your story tie in to other works or worlds you’ve written? How?
JB: The story is set in my Kember Empire universe but it is on the edge of everything. It mentions some things from the universe but doesn’t directly tie into any of them.
BTS: What are other projects you’re working on that might interest us?
JB: My YA SF-thriller series, the Melissa Allen trilogy, was recently released. The first novel of the series, Never Let Me Sleep has been nominated for the Bram Stokers award for superior achievement in a young adult novel.
BTS: How does your approach to writing short stories differ from your long form process, if it does?
JB: While I do outline both shorts and novels, I generally know everything about the short story before I write it. In novels, I tend to write a bit more organically. Yes, it is outlined but details and plot threads introduce themselves along the way. With my short fiction, that doesn’t happen. I don’t have the word count to meander or tangent.
BTS: Tell us about a Decision Point of yours that changed your life.
JB:I think my biggest decision point was to quit my tech job to become a full-time author. I planned it out, then I talked to my parents and asked what they thought. They supported my decision and I’ve never looked back.
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Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” She lives northwest of Chicago with one of the above and her husband, author and packager, Bill Fawcett. She has written over forty books, including The Ship Who Won with Anne McCaffrey, eight books with Robert Asprin, a humorous anthology about mothers, Don’t Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear!, and over 140 short stories. Her latest books are Rhythm of the Imperium (Baen Books), and Wishing on a Star (Arc Manor Publishing).
Her story, “Granted,” is original to this volume.
BTS: What is the name of your Decision Points story and what’s it about?
Jody Lynn Nye: “Granted” is about a lively young woman who does a fairy godmother a good turn, and is given a wish as her reward.
BTS: What gave you the idea for your story?
JLN: My brief was to write a funny fantasy story, in a very small number of words. A decision had to hinge upon something that was familiar to a great number of readers, in this case a wish. Turns out there was still a lot of room for character development and world-building.
BTS: Tell us a bit about your main character(s) please.
JLN: Abigail Baker is the eldest daughter of Salisbury, England’s town baker. She’s a big girl, with a lot of imagination and a fair bit of ambition, but she’s good-hearted as well as impulsive. I think she’s a lot of fun.
BTS: Does your story tie in to other works or worlds you’ve written? How?
JLN: Only peripherally. I have written two books that have to do with fairy godmothers: The Magic Touch and Wishing on a Star. This story was really about the person who was given a wish, instead of one of the granters.
BTS: What are other projects you’re working on that might interest us?
JLN: At the moment, I’m co-authoring a series of young adult science fiction novels with Travis S. Taylor for Baen Books. I’ve also got the next in the Myth-Adventures series (begun by Robert Asprin, then written by the two of us, and now me alone) coming out in June. Myth-Fits centers on Skeeve and the others of M.Y.T.H., Inc. working an assignment in a veritable paradise, and finding many things out of place, including themselves.
BTS: How does your approach to writing short stories differ from your long form process, if it does?
JLN: I do just as much world-building in a short story as I do for a novel. I could take the research I did for “Granted,” and create a book or series around it. The difference in writing is that short stories have only one event arc, with no or little in the way of tangential events possible. They also usually focus on just one or a few characters.
BTS: Tell us about a Decision Point of yours that changed your life.
JLN: I agreed to go on a date with a nice young man who was a former student of my uncle, who taught music in high schools and colleges. The nice young man took me to a party at his sister’s, where I met people who introduced me to virtually all the elements of my future. One couple from the party took me to a Society for Creative Anachronism meeting, where I met the friend who would take me to my first SF convention and introduce me to the man I would marry. The second was to be my first dungeonmaster, introducing me to D&D and role-play gaming. The third was shortly to leave his job at a local publishing house, for which he recommended me as his replacement. There, I met three men about to start a small television station in Chicago, who hired me as a tech. All three of those threads intertwined in many ways. All from one night, and all because I trusted my uncle.
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Bryan Thomas Schmidt is an author and Hugo-nominated editor of adult and children’s speculative fiction. His debut novel, The Worker Prince received Honorable Mention on Barnes & Noble Book Club’s Year’s Best Science Fiction Releases. His short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and online and include entries in The X-Files and Decipher’s WARS, amongst others. His anthologies as editor include Shattered Shields with co-editor Jennifer Brozek, Mission: Tomorrow, Galactic Games, and Little Green Men—Attack! with Robin Wayne Bailey (forthcoming) all for Baen, Space Battles: Full Throttle Space Tales #6, Beyond The Sun, and Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age. He can be found online at bryanthomasschmidt.net.
