Enter the Octopus

I’m helping Ekaterina Sedia spread the word about her new book “The Alchemy of Stone,” so I’ve decided to attempt to inflict a new literary meme upon the world, with Sedia being our guinea pig.

It’s going to be a roaming, roving interview which when read from one place to the next will not only bring Sedia to new audiences, but also bring new audiences to the blogs of participants too, who will follow from place to place to read the whole interview.

If you get tagged, just come up with five questions for Ekaterina Sedia and email them to her. Ask about her work, her new novel “The Alchemy of Stone,” or anything else you’d like. Send them to her at e.sedia(AT)gmail(DOT)com. She’s game. After you post your questions to your site, tag another person and let them know! Remember, this is just a game, so don’t sweat your questions too much.  Just have fun, post the answers, and tag the next person.

When do we stop? Whenever it stops on its own. If this takes off, we can do it with other authors.

Matt’s five questions for Ekaterina Sedia:

Hi Kathy, Could you introduce yourself?
Hello, I’m Kathy, and I write fantasy books.

What was it like to grow up in Russia? How was your childhood, and how would it differ from an American woman’s childhood experiences?

It wouldn’t be all that different, I suspect — both of my parents are engineers, so I assumed from an early age that I’ll end up somewhere in the science spectrum of things. I guess the most obvious difference would be that all women worked, as far as I knew, so homemaking was never a viable option. I went to school then to college; I’m really not sure that the differences were all that dramatic.

Tell me about your science background.

I am mostly intrested in ecology and evolution — plant ecology to be exact, with focus on non-vascular plants. I also have an intereste in statistical methodolgies in biological sciences, and genetics. I got my PhD in the US, and has been working as a college professor since 2001.

How do these things influence your writing?

I did draw on Russian history and folklore in The Secret History of Moscow, and in some of my short stories I occasionally use the experience of life in Moscow. Also I think it makes me more willing to write about cultures other than the dominant western culture, and I consider it a very helpful thing. As for science — I write an occasional biology-based SF stories, so it helps of course.

What’s the plot of “The Alchemy of Stone?”

Well, it’s basically the story of Mattie the emancipated automaton, who cannot quite move on with her life since her inventor still holds onto the key that winds her up. Mattie herslef is a talented alchemist who makes friends and allies with other marginal creatures — gargoyles who suffer because they tend to turn into stone in their sleep, the Soul-Smoker who works as a poor man’s exorcist, and others. So she basically ends up being pulled in different directions by the varying demands, and all the while she just wants to get her key and live her life. But then buildings start exploding.

I TAG PAUL JESSUP!

http://www.pauljessup.com