Fantasy writer moonlighting as a student in engineering (electronics and data processing).
Short fiction in Shimmer; forthcoming in Interzone, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Second-place Winner, Writers of the Future, Q3 2006.
I write fantasy short stories and novels using non-Celtic and non-European cultures (probably the Asian bit in me waking up :-) ).
My blog can be accessed at http://aliettedb.livejournal.com, and my website is http://www.aliettedebodard.com
| Thanks, guys!
I was kind of surprised too--the previous piece I had in round 3 was released after six months of waiting. My guess is that they cleaned out the slush, as well as reorganised. |
| Aliette,
Congratulations! Now how did you get such a quick sale out of them? I had a piece pass almost seven months in round two there last year! Chris |
| What a super quick sale you got from ASIM!!!!
Congrats, Aliette! Clyde. |
| Thanks, guys!
Aliette |
| If non-Celtic and non-European cultures, as well as writing about the importance and place of the unseen persons whose lives throttle this world, means what I think it means, then you dear Aliette de Bodard, are a writer after my heart, and I am sure your work will resonate beyond traditional audiences once this courage to speak beyond the conventional has spread. Big Props to you. When the heathens shout Glory in honor of your name, sales may not be the immediate consequence but there is something everlast....
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| Nice sale, Aliette! Congrats! |
| Congrats on the Leading Edge sale! You have been a fiction-selling machine this year! It must be hard just to keep your website up to date. :)
Chris |
| Fantastic!
I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many times again, this is a well-deserved award. I've had the pleasure of reading quite a bit of your work and I know you're on your way to a long and amazing career. And to think there was a discussion here a few months ago about giving up. ;) Chris |
| Thanks, Justin and Jenny!
Aliette |
| Wow! Nice work, Aliette! Congrats on wotF
Justin |
| Wow! Congratulations!!! on WotF |
| Thanks, Justin and Chris!
I'm still floating high, somewhere above the clouds... :) |
| Way to go on the IZ sale! |
| SWEET!!!!
Congrats on the Interzone sale! You've really been having an amazing year, and all of it well-deserved! |
| Thanks! (wow, the news travel fast :) )
Apparently, they reportedly called all the finalists last week, but I never got anything. I got a mail yesterday morning as a notification. (my guess is that it has a lot to do with my living abroad, in a non-English speaking country that has 9 hours' time difference with California...) |
| Congrats Aliette! The news popped up on the Shimmer editorial board this morning. :)
How did they notify you, out of nosy nosiness? |
| Thanks!
Jim, the judging results aren't in yet, so we don't know anything :( |
| Congrats and good luck, Aliette! |
| Congrats on the finalist story, Aliette! Did they give you any clue how long they'd have to keep you on pins and needles to find out if they can include it as a published finalist? |
| Aliette,
Yeaaaaaah!!!! Chris |
| I'm just so proud to have your story in Shimmer that I want to tell everyone how good it is. But since I'm biased, it's nice to be able to trot someone else's words out to prove my point. |
| *blushes*
Thanks, Mary! Now I have my own publicity manager :D |
| Tangent Online just gave Aliette's story in Shimmer's spring issue a wonderful review.
"The cover title story "A Warrior's Death," by the talented Aliette de Bodard, is a richly set piece about the suspicious death of a "War-God" vessel (a human who has accepted the God of War into his/her body to aid in battle). We're treated to an abbreviated investigation, some veiled philosophy about the culture of war, and how it's the sacrifices of the unseen that truly matter. This is a multi-layered work of fantasy, and quite enjoyable." Congratulations, Aliette! |
| Thanks!
Aliette, who once again is too lazy to log in. |
| Woohoo! Congrats, Aliette! |
| Yeah, and enjoying every minute of it!
Aliette |
| Two sales in three days? Looks like you're on a roll! |
| Thanks! |
| Congratulations! |
| Hum, might be ;) Thanks.
I need more self-confidence (but we all know this is taking its sweet time to come). |
| Mmm...off the top of my head, I'd say it's coming from talent. |
| Thanks!
I don't know where it's all coming from, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Aliette |
| Congratulations! You are on such a roll. |
| I've sold my short story "Citadel of Cobras" to the Sword Review. Yay! |
| Thanks a lot! I may have to untie my tongue first, because I go in awe of OSC... |
| Aliette,
Congrats on the sale and the bootcamp! Say hello to OSC for me. :) Chris |
| Yep, I can probably keep that one doing the rounds for a couple of years yet :) Though by that time I'll have written tons of stuff more that's gonna clog up my spreadsheet.
Hum, patient? Did I write that? *goes to check her blurb* Ok, so I did. "Patient but prone to mood swings" would probably cover it better :-D Thanks ! |
| Just yesterday, after reading my latest batch of rejections, I was wondering what is the point where you just finally give up.
But then I looked at my submission spreadsheet and realized that even with stories that have been rejected a dozen times, I can still find a good two years' worth of relevant markets to send them to, and by then I'm sure there will be a lot more. So I figured, why not keep sending them out? So that thought cheered me up, hope it does something for you as well. Here's to both of us getting another acceptance soon! And by the way, your blurb here mentions how patient you are. :) |
| Thanks for the pep-talk !
As soon as I get past the post-rejection blues, the story's out there again... |
| On your "close but no" sub - don't give up! "Close" is waaay better than "sorry, your story wasn't good enough to get a personal reply." Keep trying!
Sarah |
| Thanks !
Aliette |
| Aliette,
I just read "The Triad's Gift" in the latest issue of Deep Magic. Great story, congratulations! Chris |
| Mary: yes, it went through Hatrack, and you commented on it. It got better in the meantime :) Glad you enjoyed it.
Terry: I'm happy I brought you into the fantasy fold :D Thanks a lot! |
| Great story, Aliette. And I'm not a habitual fantasy reader, either. Very enjoyable, lovely writing! |
| Nice! Well done. I think I remember reading an earlier draft of this on Hatrack, yes? |
| My story "The Triad's Gift" is now up at Deep Magic. |
| Thanks a lot !
Aliette |
| Congratulations on the semi-finalist notification! I'm really glad for you.
Kaori |
| Thanks ! |
| And conga rats to you, too, Aliette! It's nice to know who else was in the semifinalists' crowd. :) |
| Thanks ! It's been a good week for you too :) |
| Oh frabjous day! Congratulations, Aliette! |
| De rien. :) |
| accent aigu :)
Beats me why, though (I don't know what BabelFish is, but perhaps it signals to this site that it uses ISO as a way of coding). Thanks for the congratulations in my mother tongue ! Aliette |
| Hrm. Now I wonder why that accent ague (correct?) came through. I looked at the View Source and it didn't used the funny ampersand-plus-other-stuff code for it...I copied/pasted it from BabelFish. Anybody know why this worked? |
| Félicitations! |
| Thanks ! |
| Wow, that's great! |
| I'm a Semi-Finalist for Writers of the Future this quarter!
Yipee, let's party !! |
| david: lol
Thanks for the pep-talk, J. It sure does lots of good, and I'm off to post more crits :) Terry: I'm not sure about the garret bit, but Paris sure is a nice place to live and to study. I know Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman did exactly that escape when they were researching a book of theirs: got into a friend's appartment in the Latin Area (which is the center of Paris and the student area) and wandered around, sketched stuff, wrote stuff. They had fond memories of that. Croissants are very good, but so is a walk by the Seine. On the other hand, when I want to look at life from a different angle, I imagine myself staying in the US :D Croissants are very good, though. |
| I like to say, looking at my life from a different Angel, if you understand my meaning. |
| Bonjour, Aliette--
I've been going through the throes of an "escape" fantasy for a couple of weeks, ever since reading A Writer's Paris -- my fantasy this time (I tend to do this whenever I get bored with my job, my life, my...you get the picture: I immerse myself in some far-away place, reading, day-dreaming, sketching, more day-dreaming, researching - obssessing, in other words) is getting one of those closet-sized studio apartments in one of the single-digit arrondissements and just living there for a year, walking the city, and writing. Croissants figure largely in this fantasy, too. This fantasizing is a good way to get through rough patches in life, learn a lot about a new subject, and look at one's life from a different angle. And it's fun! And I always end up realizing I'd be having a better time in my real life if I expended some of that energy being *present* in my real life. Anyway, I saw your topic and wanted to say, "Bonjour!" :) |
| "I was looking for something with an instructor, but it doesn't look too good from where I am."
What do you need an instructor for, Aliette? No one can really teach you how to write your own stories, or what works for you. Even if you had an instructor you'd have to discover these things for yourself, by trial and error. For the other stuff -- proper submission format, keeping track of your submissions, where to send your stories, etc. -- there's plenty of information available for free online. At critters.org and ralan.com, for ex. I'm saying: Be your own instructor. See what you can get out of doing those crits, concentrate on those aspects of your own writing that you think needs work. Why not crit stories by your favorite authors too? Flash fiction can be a way to write lots and lots of stories rather quickly, and develop your craft for stories on any scale. Many publications consider flash fiction, take e-subs, and respond quickly -- often with feedback. I wonder if you'd be interested in the literary games mentioned in André Breton's SURREALIST MANIFESTO. That deliberate inspiration isn't limited to the surreal. If, while writing one of his novels, Jack Kerouac got hung up he'd switch languages and keep going. Each language can give you a different perspective, and show you the way out of a literary jam. ~J |
| Thanks a lot!
I did join Critters a while ago, and it's darn good (the French isn't a problem anyway, I can cope in English). I was looking for something with an instructor, but it doesn't look too good from where I am. Ah, never mind. Thanks again for taking the time to answer. I'll just go back and do my weekly crit :) |
| Aliette, on the James Gunn board you wrote:
"Are those workshops still going on, or are they definitely defunct? I'm still questing for a good online workshop, because I live in France and can't afford the trip to the US, UK, etc. any workshop would imply." For a free online workshop try critters.org -- it's ongoing, and there are hundreds of participants from around the world, including a number of professionals and rumor millers. Basically, it's a pass-word protected site for the exchange of stories for critiques. Il y a quelqu'un qui parle français aussi, je pense. ~John Granville |
| --from fellow fantasy writer--
Thy kindness overwhelmeth! HPK |
| David, lool
Thanks to both of you ! Aliette |
| 20 points for Gryffen....
errr Alliete de Bodard!! *sheepish smile* =David |
| Hooray for the sale, Aliette. :)
Kaori |
| Thanks ! |
| Congrats on the contest win and the sale to Shimmer!
Two for one!!! |
| Thanks, Melissa !
Aliette |
| Congratulations on the sale! |
| Thanks :) |
| Congratulations! |
| No, I counted it from the time of submission. What happened was about two weeks to move past the first round, two weeks to move past the second round, and a hold request.
Two days after the hold request, I received a mail from the Editor-in-Chief, Robbie Matthews, who told me the editor of issue 28 was interested in my story. He asked if I could wait. I answered to both of them (he'd sent a copy of the mail to the editor of issue 28), and the editor confirmed that he would publish it. I received an "official" confirmation this morning (about one week after the editor's mail) from Robbie Matthews. But I think the process varies greatly according to the editor. |
| Hi Aliette, congrats on your ASIM sale. Question: Was that one month from the time of submission, or one month after the hold request? How did they contact you about the sale, was it an individual e-mail from one of the editors or some kind of "acceptance" form? Just curious. |
| Aliette tries to imitate the aardvark, discovers she has too few legs, gives up and goes back to writing :)
Thanks everyone ! |
| Many happy returns of the day!
The aardvark dances a jig! |
| Rejections? Why waste a birthday wish on them? Here's to acceptances! |
| Whoaou, some French well-wishers! The chocolate cake was excellent, my virtual stomach is full. Here's to a twenty-fourth year filled with riches(and rejections) :)
Thanks everyone, you sure cheered me up ! |
| *Il y a* (ooops) |
| Il ya gateau assez pour tout, en particulier le gateau de Moulin des rumeurs! |
| Happy Birthday!
Gateau? Nous avons tojours de gateau dans mon topic, n'est-ce pas? Allons-y! (Did I say that right? Anyway, help yourself to some Virtual Chocolate cake-some very nice people loaded my topic with it. ;)) |
| Es-que c'est l'annee d'Aliette? Alors!
Heureuse anniversaire, Aliette! Mangez beaucoup de gateau!!! |
| Happy birthday, Aliette!
-- Unregistered Alex F. |
| Happy Birthday. |
| Oh, ok. I'll think about it (here's to seeing the actual money, BTW). Thanks a lot for the advice! (though why this message never made it into my mailbox is a mystery; I suscribe to my own topic and never saw it pass). |
| I think they'll stretch that to having sold work for money if you ask them. |
| Doesn't Milford require you to have sold a story to a pro market? I recalled that, but I seem to be unable to find that on their website.
My only sale to date is a semi-pro market. |
| Sounds like you should consider Milford or possibly one of the Arvon Foundation courses. |
| Hum, I don't think I can afford a monthly fare, alas, with my current resources. I was trying to find something like a one-two-week intensive.
But thanks for the tip. |
| Meets face to face approx monthly in central London, work distributed by e-mail, has its own group on Yahoo Groups
Specialises in SF/F/H Has invited speakers from the industry occasionally |
| The Eurostar is more like what I could pay :)
What kind of group is it? How does it work? |
| If you can afford the Eurostar fare I can recommend a writing group in London |
| Yipee! I've finally managed to have 8 stories out there, out of 8 still viable. I'm back on a roll until the next rejection letter. |
| Oops.
I forgot to suscribe to my own topic...(embarassed shrug). Thanks for the tip on On Spec, which means I won't send them much for the moment. And I live in Paris, which is classic, and infinitely more practical than my last school (a military engineering school designed to be in the middle of nowhere). I love Normandy, though, when it's not raining too much. Never been to Aix, although some friends have said it was pretty cool. |
| Re: On Spec...they tend to publish urban fantasy more than strict fantasy. |
| Normandy-Maine regional park - rolling hills, forests, and rocky granite tors. And said - by the tourist board - to be the birthplace of Lancelot du Lac. |
| Where in France do you folks live? I'm jealous... I spent the better part of a year in Aix-en-Provence a while back and can't WAIT until I get back. |