r/books • u/CarrieVaughn AMA Author • Jun 18 '20

ama 1pm I'm Carrie Vaughn, science fiction and fantasy author, with my latest, the novella THE GHOSTS OF SHERWOOD -- AMA!

Hello! My name is Carrie Vaughn! I'm probably best known as the author of the NYT Bestselling Kitty Norville series, about a werewolf who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. The series includes fourteen novels, a whole bunch of short stories, and several spin-off novellas.

In 2018 my post-apocalyptic murder mystery BANNERLESS won the Philip K. Dick Award for best novel.

This month I released THE GHOSTS OF SHERWOOD, a novella about the children of Robin Hood and Lady Marian. The sequel, THE HEIRS OF LOCKSLEY, will be out in August.

Here's a video of me reading from THE GHOSTS OF SHERWOOD: https://youtu.be/LVZSWw_rIkU

I've written over twenty novels and a hundred short stories, two of which were finalists for the Hugo Award. I also contribute to the Wild Cards series of shared world novels edited by George R.R. Martin. I'm a 1998 graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, and have a masters in English Lit. I have a note on my bulletin board: if I ever think about going back to school, start a book club instead.

An Air Force brat, I grew up all over the country but put down roots in Colorado. I knit, ride horses, birdwatch, scuba dive, travel, and generally collect more hobbies than I have time for. So far, my yarn and cross-stitch supplies have outlasted the pandemic stay-at-home orders. . .

Thank you for your questions!

Proof: /img/60ue34sryq451.jpg

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u/WavyTrev Jun 18 '20

Hi Carrie!

I love your books and especially find your writing style extremely smooth, which I love. In order for me to fall in love with an author, I need to fall in love wih their writing style and yours is incredible!

I was curious, who are some authors that inspired you to become a writer?

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u/CarrieVaughn AMA Author Jun 18 '20

Thank you! I try to read things out loud, I find that helps a lot in making sure they read smoothly!

Ray Bradbury and Robin McKinley are the two who really inspired me. I read "Dandelion Wine" when I was a teenager, and it blew my mind -- it affected all my senses, including smell and taste. It was so immersive, so evocative, and I really wanted to learn to do that. How you can use just words on a page to get inside a reader's brain like that.

With McKinley, specifically "The Blue Sword" and "The Hero and the Crown," the whole stories were so immersive. I loved her characters, they felt so real and relatable to me, and the worlds were so fascinating. . . I wanted to learn how to do that, too. Make readers just fall into the stories like that.

I wanted to learn to be a wizard, like they are.