parfois la folie est sagesse

F: Um, over the summer I wrote a really long sotry. It was about 75 pages, and, um, I'm currently rewriting and I'd like for it to be a lot longer, and I'm hoping to try and get it published in the next three years. Do you have any publishing companies you would [mumble, mumble]?

T: Okay, number one: Umm, if it's gonna be a labor to make it longer...

F: No, not it's not--I'm adding on two more parts

T: 'Cause I was gonna--

F: It's like three different storylines...

T: 'Cause I was gonna say 60,000 word-length is a novella. And the magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction publishes those. Um... but, if you make it longer, it depends on what it's about. The best way to pick a publisher is to look at the ones who publish the writers you respect, who are dealing in areas close to yours. And, see, um, who's publishing them. Get the Writers' Market for that year for fiction markets and see if they're accepting new manuscripts. Um... but just off the top of my head, okay, the people I'd say to look at--is it fantasy?

F: No, a teen--it's regular fiction.

T: Then, for just fiction I would try--well, the big one, of course, is Scholastic. Ah... but there's also... Harper-Collins is publishing a lot of really good teen fiction out there these days. Um... there's also Random House is publishing some good teen fiction. I would look at those three houses. And Simon & Schuster, but I'd put them at the bottom of the list 'cause they're really big--well, they're all really big--but Simon & Schuster you might get lost.

But check to see who the authors that are closest to you are publishing with, and try them, because obviously there's an editor or two there that like that particular kind of thing. Does that help?

F: Yeah.

T: And the Writers' Market... if you look on my website in the FAQ section, um, "How Do I Get Published"--it'll tell you all about the Writers' Market, and how you can use it.

F: Thank you!

T: You're welcome.

F: Um, what was your favorite fantasy book when you were growing up?

T: My favorite fantasy book when I was growing up, from the time I was in seventh grade until I graduated college, hands down, it was The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. I read and reread and re-reread those at least a couple of times every year. That said, if you think about it, in a way, everything I write now is in direct opposition to Tolkien. Um, I love Tolkien, he's the mater. I started with him, I salute him, don't get me wrong. But: Eowyn gives it up at the end. You know women who mix careers and families. I don't se why she couldn't've been a wife/mother/healer and warrior. She gave it up. That really grated my cheese. [laughter]

Umm... nobody ever went to the bathroom. [laughter] Yeah, yeah. I-I'm sorry, but... you know... people do. It's the real world. I--oh! I was up at Full Cast Audio--Coville's audio book company--in January, and they had this new guy, Chuck, working for them. And he came up to me and he says, "you know, I've noticed something about your books. Within the first couple of chapters, you have somebody have a period, or going to the bathroom, or you mention their breasts. Is there a reason for that?" I went: "Uhh... realy girls, real issues?" [laughter] "People? Bruce?"

Umm... no, except for Sam in the book--in the movie--Peter Jackson--I was grateful to him for making Merry and Pippin funny, too. But in the book it's just Sam. And... I'm the sort of person who makes cheesy jokes in dentists' offices and operating rooms.... Umm, I--when I was a house mother I was kicked out of one of my girls' hospital rooms, 'cause she was in false labor. They had her hooked up to a fetal monitor to see how fast her contractions were, except I kept making these bad jokes, so she kept laughing. So... [laughter] I wanted people to feel... I wanted people to feel like they could turn a corner and find my people and hang with them. So, a-and I didn't know anybody pale and noble and graceful and elegant and doomed. [laughter] I didn't think dark and gnarly with bad teeth and hissing from the light... I wanted fantasy to be more real. So, while I still say I started with Tolkien, that's the bedrock. Everything I do now is almost in direct oppostion.