443: Writing Diverse Characters via Nuanced Shifts in Language - Interview

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Mary Robinette Kowal. We’ll be talking about challenging your default assumption about the world and her latest book The Spare Man.

Mary Robinette Kowal is the four-time Hugo, Locus, and Nebula Award-winning author of The Glamourist Histories series, Ghost Talkers, the Lady Astronaut Universe, and The Spare Man. She is a cast member of the award-winning podcast Writing Excuses and has received the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Uncanny, and Year’s Best anthologies. Mary Robinette is a professional puppeteer, and she also performs as a voice actor (SAG/AFTRA), recording fiction for authors including Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. She lives in Nashville with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Goodreads.

 

In this episode Mary Robinette Kowal and I discuss: How she wrote a mash-up of old Hollywood glamour and a futuristic space setting. Why it was important to use fluid pronouns in this novel and what she learned writing it.  What she has learned over the course of writing ten books and how to reset. Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

For more info and show notes: diymfa.com/443