Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Linda, my description of this book is nowhere near as much fun as the
reading of it.:)

Most people don't base their reading preferences on the sex of the
author, but I still occasionally run into someone who is convinced that
women can't write sf or fantasy or horror or technical manuals or
whatever. They are fewer and further between than ever before, of
course, and I suspect most of them are trolls.:)
  

    
My famous 16 year old son--well, he's not actually famous, except
among those who have known me for a long time. He has recently moved
back to London to live with me after three years in Kansas with his
dad, so he's actually more transAtlantic than famous.:)
  

    
Actually, Bruce, I wouldn't want to be Donna Haraway or Sadie Plant or
Veronica Hollinger or Joan Gordon, because as I noted above, I don't
have the temperament. Besides, I want to write fiction (when I'm not
writing colorful profiles of colorful professional wrestlers).

I suppose the woman famine is a bit deceptive, in that while we have
Gwyneth Jones, Mary Gentle, Tricia Sullivan, and a whole bunch of
others over here, I'm the one that usually shows up. (Of course, the
vast majority of events take place in London, and I'm the only one of
those I listed above who lives right in London.) I'm such a media slut,
I'll go to the opening of an envelope. I'll go to the launch of an
idea. (I'd have said media whore, except whore implies I'd get paid.)

I've always said that 90% of life is showing up.:)

But the truth is, I won my Clarke Awards before I moved over here; my
affinity with British sf goes back to my teenaged years, when I
discovered the British New Wave. Moorcock, Harrison, Bailey, Aldiss,
New Worlds--I think I wanted to be there more than anywhere else. Long
before I packed up all my goods and chattels, Kim Newman had been
telling me I belonged in the UK, because I was far too ironic to be a
real American.

And I have to say there must be something to that, because I am far
more comfortable--i.e., at home--all the way around here in London than
I ever was anywhere in the US. This part of North London is somewhat
reminiscent of where I grew up in Massachusetts--yeah, New England--but
I like it a lot better. I'm an urban creature, and a Brit with an
atrocious Kansas twang. Just wait, though--someday you'll come over to
visit and find that everyone north of the Thames says "y'all." London
is so multi-cultural.

That's the other thing I like so much about living here. It's like the
gateway to the world. Since I've come over here, I've been all over
the world, and for someone who didn't leave the North American
continent until her late 30s, that's a major perk. Because while I've
been mostly out of print in the US, I've been almost continuously in
print in Europe. In the US, Synners is just coming back into print ten
years after it was published (Four Walls Eight Windows, in September,
and with a introduction by Neil Gaiman, yet); it's never been out of
print in France and Italy.

So actually, I've always been over here--it's just that I've only
lately arrived physically.:)
  

    
Where else besides the U.S., England, and Texas do you find a lot of
enthusiasm for your work? Which of your books have been translated? D'you
ever get feedback on those (i.e. "I read the English and Sanskrit versions
of Synners, and that Sanskrit translation was pretty good!")
  

    
Yo Pat.. Greetings from the Overland Park Border SciFi reading
group... you're missed.   I'll certainly propose 'Dervish..' for the
next go around.  It's good to hear that you're doing well
Chip
  

    
Yo Pat.. Greetings from the Overland Park Border SciFi reading
group... you're missed.   I'll certainly propose 'Dervish..' for the
next go around.  It's good to hear that you're doing well
Chip
  

    
Damn, I think it would be fascinating to feel what it's like to have a
different temperament. Wouldn't that be part of a virutal experience?
That could really screw you up of course.
  

    
Jon, my work has been translated into French, German, Italian,
Spanish, Japanese, Czech, Russian, Polish, and probably a few I don't
know about. I'm not a blockbusting bestseller, but I'm extant.:) I
don't get a whole lot of people who have read my work in various
languages and have an opinion about it. But I have had the experience
of reading my short stories in French and deciding that they were
better in French than in English. Go figure.:)
  

    
Chip! I was wondering if anyone from the old Borders reading gang
would log on and say hello. We miss all of you; in fact, I started the
monthly Borders gigs here in London partly in honor of our group, which
was always so much fun. If any of you will be at the worldcon in
Philadelphia, I'd love to see y'all.
  

    
Miguel, I think you're right, but of course, I'm prejudiced--my first
novel, Mindplayers, and my third novel, Fools, both deal with just that
very thing.:)

[She shoots, she plugs!]
  

    
So have you tried writing in French? (Sorry, I just had to ask...)
  

    
Who was it who said, "It loses something in the original"?
  

    

Pat, I'm sure that actually reading the book is much more fun than you
telling me about it.  Should I just get it and plunge right in, or should
I read others first?
  

    
Pat- Keith Stokes asked me to pass this along after, he wrote me that
he'd caught up on this thread.  His address is, if you don't have it:
sfreader@unicom.net


Dear Pat,

So good to see your cypers again. I'm delighted to see that Bobzilla
is
with you, even if it means you are unlikely to make it to this part of
the
US soon. Will look for you in Philly.

What has happened to your web site? For some time it has returned
"Empty
page for error redirection"

BTW: I have a couple of photos of you online:
http://www.kcsciencefiction.org/wrd55ph1.htm#7  &
http://www.kcsciencefiction.org/wrd55ph2.htm#10

Any chance that you might make it to Kansas City for the Nebula Awards
in
2002? They will be the last weekend in April.

  Keith Stokes
  

    
Hey Pat!  Great to see you here.
  

    
Jon L: I haven't tried writing in French--the best I can do at this
point is to be aware that whatever I write may be translated. After the
first of the year, I'm planning to take a concentrated French course
so I can enjoy the country and the culture firsthand.

Martha: Not so much that it loses something in the original, but gains
much in the translation. At least, in French it does. Synners had to
be published in two volumes over there.:)
  

    
Linda: Even though my two most recent novels--Tea From An Empty Cup &
Dervish Is Digital--involve the same central character, I've tried to
make it so they stand alone. Naturally, it's hard for me to tell
exactly how successful I've been, as it would be for anyone. However, I
got a review in The Spectator over here in the UK a couple of months
ago from a non-genre reviewer who was apparently unacquainted with Tea
From An Empty Cup, but still had no trouble understanding--and
liking--Dervish Is Digital. So what the hell--grab whatever's handy.:)
  

    
Hey, Chip--

Tell Keith I'm sorry I missed the Great Tucker Testimonial--I was
having a computer crisis and didn't get the email until after the fact.
Anyway, for them as wants to know about my web-page--my husband Chris
Fowler maintains it at the University of Westminster, where he's a
webmaster/editor. Recently, Westie decided to divide its web presence
into regular and users, so my new web page address is:
users.wmin.ac.uk/~fowlerc/patcadigan.html.

The bad news is, the site probably hasn't been updated since the last
time anyone saw it. So there are no new pictures of me with my new
flaming red hair.:) Not to mention my flaming great weight loss.:)

I wasn't planning on attending the Nebula Banquet--I haven't been a
SFWA member for some years--but then, I don't need an excuse to visit
KC. I could just do it.:) I did spend most of my adult life in the area
up until a mere five years ago; consequently, I tend to regard KC as
where I'm from. Anyway, I hope to see the KC contingent in Philly!

Daniel: Hey, you, Mr. Big Shot--when's the next story coming out? What
are you writing? And how come I fell off the mailing list for your CW
class? Somebody look into it, and make it snappy!:)
  

    

Thanks, Pat!!
  

    
I have both books, and while "Tea From an Empty Cup" certainly sets up the
world and the character of the detective, "Dervish" definitely can stand on
its own. 

The writers Bruce mentioned are mostly not known to me. I notice that Pat
deftly sidesteps the question of whether her work overshadows the work of
other women. From what small parts of cyberpunk I've read, your work is
certainly as good as the best of it, Pat. 

But seeing Bruce claim that writers like Joan Vinge (who I have read, but
long ago), and Poppy Brite both write cyberpunk, I'm now wondering how you
can tell cyberpunk when you come across it. I have a couple of things in
mind myself, but I'd like to hear more from Pat, and others, on what really
defines this kind of science fiction.
  

    

_Dervish is Digital_ is on its way to me as we speak!
  

    
Linda--Happy reading!

Jennifer: I'm sidestepping the issue of whether I overshadow other
women because all of us women prefer to have our work considered in
general. I don't want to be the best woman writing whatever. I want to
be the best writer writing whatever. Any other woman writer will tell
you the same thing.

I still come up against the occasional person--always male, in my
experience--who will insist that he's not going to read any sf written
by women because women can't write sf. I'm pretty sure at this point
that these people just want some attention. I used to respond to them,
but I don't any more because the argument is always, always, *always*
the same.

So it is with cyberpunk. Everyone always asks me why there are so few
women. I don't know. According to Bruce, there's no one but women
writing cyberpunk. But he also says they aren't any good, thus
appearing to open yet another can of worms. Should I touch that one?The
only person on the list whom I'm current with is Tricia Sullivan and I
disagree with Bruce there--I think she *is* pretty good.

But ultimately, I don't want to talk about any of these writers as
*women* writers.

And at the same time, I would be less than honest if I did not confess
that I do get suspicious when I see a list of writers in any context,
whether it's a table of contents or a recommended reading list, and
there are no women's names on it. Possibly because I'm still
encountering people who tell me women can't write [fill in the blank].
Fifteen years ago, I used to hear people say--sometimes to my face but
more often not--that the only reason I had a story in Mirrorshades was
because I was friendly with the "real" cyberpunks.

What can you say to something like that? I hardly relished the idea of
running around stamping my little foot and claiming that I was *so* a
real cyberpunk, so there you big poophead. The whole argument smelled
funny to me anyway--i.e., as if the issue of a lone woman's presence on
the Mirrorshades contents page wasn't the *real* issue. I had the
feeling that it was simply a convenient club for use against a movement
(form? flavour?) of writing which certain people felt threatened by.

(Hey, I never claimed to be grammar grrrl.)

I still suspect that those who remain harshly critical of cyberpunk
are, at some level, actually eaten up with jealousy over William
Gibson's success and stature as a major presence in western culture.

Oooohhhh, Cadigan, what a catty statement that is!

Well, not long ago, I did a phone interview for a major US magazine.
Two different editors questioned me, and then finally one of them got
down to what they really wanted to know: was I, as the only woman
identified as writing cyberpunk sf, consumed with jealousy and
bitterness over the tremendous success of Bill Gibson and Bruce
Sterling while I languished in obscurity? "Now, I know these guys are
your friends, Pat, but..."

I swear, I am *not* making this up. Nor was this the first time
someone from a magazine or a newspaper has asked me that question. Nor
is it a rare question, from editors, interviewers, panel moderators, or
audience members. Or people who just come up to me with a book they
want signed.

Now, I have done a lot of interviews on both sides of the microphone
and I know what this question really means: the interviewer/magazine
editor thinks it's a juicy hook to make the article more interesting to
readers. Probably because of my obscurity.:) Hey, it's better than
just relying on that old chestnut about how Cadigan is the only woman,
right?:)

Well, I might be obscure but I'm not stupid, or at least not stupid
enough to think that a magazine editor--or anyone else--would ask me a
question like that out of concern for my wellbeing, or out of a desire
to help me climb up out of obscurity into the fame and success I
crave.:)

And lest anyone think I am simply being cynical, I can also say, for
certain, that no one has ever published my answer to that juicy
question.:)
  

    
This makes me think of James Tiptree, Jr. ....
  

    
Hmm... now I'm suspecting that the answer was something short and succinct
like "bite me". 
  

    
Jon: Tiptree lives.:)

Jennifer: Actually, my answer was always polite and reasonable, and
suitable for publication. But no one wants to know if you're
well-adjusted.:)