Mary Fan
This week: Mary Fan!
This week we are featuring Mary Fan on The Writer's Pane. Her YA writing captures sci-fi fantasy her comments to our questions are quite relatable! Enjoy Mary's answers!
Name: Mary Fan
Website: www.maryfan.com
Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy
All over, really! It's hard to pinpoint one particular source. I love trying new things and seeing new things, and I think often these experiences end up percolating in my head for a while until one day, they smash together into something that becomes a book idea. For instance, one of my books, STARSWEPT, is about a performing arts school in the future, with space and aliens and stuff. I've played violin since I was 3 and studied music in college, and at the same time I've been a huge sci-fi nerd since I was a kid. A lot of those ideas somehow intertwined, and the next thing I knew, I was brainstorming my space music book.
Which character in literature do you associate yourself with the most?
Hard to say! I tend to read "from a distance" -- I don't imagine myself as the characters so much as I feel like I'm a passenger in their heads. It's the same with my own writing, actually. Of course, my characters reflect pieces of myself, but I don't feel like part of the story -- I'm merely the observer. If I had to pick, I'd say I related most to feisty literary bookworms like Jo March and Hermione.
Which piece of your writing was the most entertaining/enjoyable to write? Why?
I'd say STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON, my forthcoming YA steampunk fantasy about a warrior girl who teams up with a thief to fight the demon king. This book was probably the result of years of stewing subconsciously, but as I was writing it, it really felt like it was writing itself. Usually, I plot my novels meticulously before diving in, but in this case, I only sketched out the basic idea before I started writing. I think that's what made it so fun -- I didn't overthink it.
Was the first novel you published the first you ever wrote? What was?
Nope! The first full-length novel I ever wrote will never see the light of day. I wrote it when I was 12-13, and it was a good 90k-100k words in length. And it was sci-fi -- a space adventure with lots of space chases, aliens, quirky crewmembers... okay, it was basically Star Trek fan fic. Except I didn't realize that's what I was imitating since I hadn't watched the original series yet (I'd watched Galaxy Quest, though, and thought it was hilarious on its own!).
When I’m not writing I’m usually…
Reading (and trying in vain to catch up on my to-read list), traveling, watching nerdy TV and movies, hanging out with friends.
If you could tell or ask any character in literature or film anything, what would it be?
I'd tell Esmeralda (from The Hunchback of Notre Dame) that Phoebus isn't worth it...
If you had lived a different life, made different choices, what would you be doing now?
I could have gone to law school. Took the LSAT and everything. Problem was, I didn't want to be a lawyer, and I'm glad I figured that out before I actually started applying (I only considered it because I didn't know what else to do after college).
What are five things you couldn’t do without?
-Books (of course!)
-Something to write with, preferably something to type with but if I have to do it longhand, I will
-Tea
-My cat
-A private place to retreat to
I was *this close* to working for the FBI (I guess that could apply to the "different life" question too!). I applied in college (again, didn't know what to do, so I was just throwing myself at every possible career) and was conditionally accepted, but the background check would have taken years and I wanted to start my life already, so I declined.
Are you working on any current projects?
Lots! I'm reaching the finishing line for WAYWARD STARS, the sequel to STARSWEPT. I'm self-publishing this series -- and doing the book production myself (formatting, printing, etc), so it's a lot of work.
Also close to done with STRONGER THAN A BRONZE DRAGON, which will be released in June 2019 from Page Street Publishing.
Next, I'll be working on a short story for Crazy 8 Press' upcoming anthology, THRILLING ADVENTURE YARNS, which will be a collection of tales in the style of early 20th-century pulp fiction (I'm writing a Western).
I'm also the co-editor and publisher for BRAVE NEW GIRLS, a series of anthologies aimed at encouraging girls to explore science and engineering (proceeds are donated to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund). We're releasing the fourth anthology in the series next summer.
And then there's the next book I'm writing, which is a YA re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes... I have a draft but it needs a LOT of work.
What work of fiction made you want to be a writer?
I've loved books and making books for as long as I can remember... even as a little kid, I'd write on construction paper and fold them into "books" in arts and crafts class. But what kicked off that first full-length manuscript in middle school was my sudden obsession with sci-fi, which all started with Jack Williamson's Legion of Space. Or, or accurately, the Wishbone version, which made me track down the real version, which sent me down the rabbit hole...
What tools do you use for writing, organization, marketing?
Writing: I use Scrivener for my first drafts because it helps me keep things organized
Organization: Aside from organizing ideas and notes, I also have to juggle a lot of projects at once, so I actually have an Excel spreadsheet that I use as a calendar of sorts... I have a row for each day and a column for each project. I plug in the deadlines first and work backward so I know what I need to work on when.
Marketing: This is the hardest part of being a writer, isn't it? I mostly market on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and sometimes do sponsored posts. Also do Amazon ads now and then. Plus in-person events when I can, like sci-fi/fantasy conventions and local book fairs.
Because I love it! It's fun, and it's cathartic. The real world can get boring and frustrating, and so often, things don't go the way we want them to. By writing, I get to control the narrative for a change, and though I throw plenty of obstacles in my characters' ways, I get to steer things toward the outcome I want. Also, finishing a book gives a real sense of accomplishment, which is something that's harder and harder to achieve these days in a world of never-ending FOMO.
What's the most intimate or profound experience from your own life that you've ever worked into your fiction?
I've struggled with mental health issues since I was a teenager -- primarily depression and anxiety, though also eating disorders and, I think, a few other things. Hard to say because I never saw a professional about it -- unfortunately, I felt like there was too much of a stigma around counseling to seek it myself (that was a mistake; everyone who's struggling shouldn't hesitate to seek the help they need). Some of that has worked its way into my characters' personalities and struggles. So far, I haven't explicitly explored any (that's just not the kind of book I write), but I haven't ruled it out.
Author Bio: Mary Fan writes sci-fi/fantasy stories about intrepid heroines and far-off worlds. Her books include the Jane Colt sci-fi trilogy (comprising Artificial Absolutes, Synthetic Illusions, and Virtual Shadows), Starswept (YA sci-fi), and Flynn Nightsider and the Edge of Evil (YA dark fantasy). She is also the co-editor of the Brave New Girls anthologies about tech-savvy teen girls that aims to inspire more young women to enter science and technology careers. Her short stories have appeared in multiple anthologies, including Love, Murder & Mayhem (Crazy 8 Press), Mine! (ComicMix), and Magic at Midnight (Snowy Wings Publishing). Her next release will be Stronger Than A Bronze Dragon (Page Street Publishing), a YA adventure about a girl warrior who fights demons and evil automatons a China-inspired steampunk fantasyland.
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