Ellen Kushner has been shaking things up in the genre world for decades now and we can’t say how honored we are that she shared her world ofSwordspoint with us! In addition to being the lead writer on Tremontaine, she’s authored choose-your-own-adventure novels, contributed to the shared world of Borderlands, won the World Fantasy Award for her novel Thomas the Rhymer, and written novels and short fiction set in her Riverside universe. Now we are delighted to sit down with her for a chat about books, people, and souls in a very special Bowl of Questions!In a city that never was, sex, scandal, and swordplay combine in a melodrama of manners that returns readers to the beloved world of Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint! A Duchess whose beauty is matched only by her cunning; a passionate young Scholar with dreams beyond his reach; a Foreign spy in a playground of swordplay and secrets; and a Genius on the brink of scientific revolution—when long-buried lies threaten to come to light, the stakes are high, and more than lives may be lost. Mind your manners and enjoy the chocolate in a dance of sparkling wit and political intrigue.Released in weekly episodes, Tremontaine began October 28th and is written by Ellen Kushner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Malinda Lo, Joel Derfner, Racheline Maltese, and Patty Bryant.Read it or learn more at Serial Box.com!
What comes to mind when you hear, “Serial Box”?Avidly reading the backs of them at the breakfast table when I should have been getting ready for school.Can you describe your most recent project in one sentence?Reading all three of my own “Riverside” novels aloud (i.e. doing narration) for Neil Gaiman Presents audiobooks!Where are you a local?Anywhere they’ll have me! I go native very quickly. I have learned to twist my scarf the right way in Paris, to obey the bike traffic rules in Amsterdam, to alternate saying: “Sorry!” and “Lovely!” in London, to be a feckless foreigner in Japan, and to pretend not to be too quirky in Cleveland. I have lived much of my adult life in New York City, with time out for good behavior (and a public radio career) in Boston, where it is nearly impossible to have a conversation with a total stranger, so returned to NYC, where I live now and can talk to anyone.If you could live in one fictional world, which would it be?Le Guin’s Earthsea. It was the first place I loved after Tolkien, and a piece of my heart is always there. If they won’t let me in, though, I’m going to Joan Aiken’s London along with the Wolvesof Willoughby Chase kids, where I shall find Dido Twite and take her as my Spiritual Master. Who would be the 5 people (alive, dead, or fictional) at your dream dinner party?Ursula Le Guin’s Ged, Dorothy Dunnett’s Francis Crawford of Lymond, Charlotte Bronte, my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Wilson, and Angela Carter.They would all initially confound each other, so they would have to be very still and listen and adapt. If they could manage that, it would turn into an all-night symposium in which the secrets of the universe would be laid bare. Fortunately my wife Delia Sherman would be co-hosting, and she has the magical ability to make any guest feel safe and warm and welcome, so it wouldn’t have to take too long before we got to the good part. Who is the author or book you will always recommend?Elizabeth Knox: THE VINTNER’S LUCK … or anything by her, really. And James Thurber’s THE THIRTEEN CLOCKS.Favorite quote or line?“Be kind: for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”You now have a time machine – to where and when do you go? Elizabethan London, to see a play!Where is your happy place?On an airplane just about to land somewhere I’ve never been before!Or any room that my dear friend Terri Windling has created, whether in the deserts of Tucson or the moors of Devon, that contains a flat surface to write on. If your soul was manifested outside of your body in the form of an animal (like in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series), what would it be?I am a good little snow leopard, and would make an excellent pet, if you didn’t mind my occasionally rolling happily in your silks and laces and ripping them all to bits.And sometimes I am a sharp-nosed red fox peeking up over a log, daring you to do something you didn’t know you wanted to do, but I’m going anyway, so you may as well come with me.Ellen Kushner’s paying jobs have included folksinger, book editor, national public radio host (Sound & Spirit/WGBH), writing teacher (Clarion, Odyssey, WRX, Hollins Child.Lit.MFA), audiobook narrator (all three Riverside novels for Neil Gaiman Presents) and pilgrim at Plimoth Plantation. Her Riverside novels begin with Swordspoint, followed by The Privilege of the Sword (Locus Award, Nebula nominee); The Fall of the Kings(written with Delia Sherman) and a growing collection of short stories. She lives in New York City with Delia Sherman, no cats, and a whole lot of airplane and theater ticket stubs she just can’t bring herself to throw away.EllenKushner.com. @ellenkushner.
