Please welcome Natacha from the “Science Fiction, Transmedia & Fandom”. Natacha has a very unique site looking essentially at Sci-fi from a feminist perspective. She is also a contributor to “The Sourcererblog”. I would like to thank Natacha for featuring this week and share with you what she had to say.

LaChouett: I noticed that you described yourself as a hybrid author. So from your perspective, what is the definition of a hybrid author and why do you feel you fit in this category?

Natacha: A hybrid author is an author who publishes both traditionally and independently. These days, we have so many options, which can also vary depending on what type of writing we do. I started as a scholar with academic pieces that got published as individual chapters in books or journals, so to me this is another kind of traditional publishing, even besides having a single authored book come out with a publisher. I was lucky to be approached for a couple of books I released, or will soon. In terms of fiction, I am solely self publishing for now, but I hope to query some future projects to agents. I enjoy being able to publish in different ways, depending on the project and the moment in my life.

LaChouett: How do you go from being a public speaker to becoming an author and which do you enjoy most?

Natacha: I was a writer before being a public speaker, given how much I have always enjoyed telling stories. Becoming a public speaker and then an author, came as a development from higher education, especially at Master level. Even after quitting my Ph.D., I still had opportunities to speak at conferences and university lectures (http://natachaguyot.org/projects/), which is always a gift. I can live without public speaking opportunities, but I can’t live without writing. So I’m an author at heart, but I enjoy how you can connect when speaking publicly. It can give so many new ideas! But even if I’m on full introvert mode, taking rest in my room, petting my cat and drinking tea, you’ll always see me typing words away on a computer or scribbling down new ideas or pieces of my current work in progress!

LaChouett: When it comes to what I call “the industry of the word” whether, publishing, blogging or writing, how do you feel the UK differs from our French neighbours? Can you give one example of what you have experienced?

Natacha: I have traditionally published in the UK, the US, Belgium, Germany and Canada (http://natachaguyot.org/publications/). I have never been published as such in my home country. My nonfiction work’s topics are more internationally oriented, not out of a marketing approach, but because I’m passionate about them (Science Fiction, Gender Studies, Transmedia, Fan Studies, Children Media). I am not so familiar with the publishing landscape in the UK, for my one experience as co-editor or published author was in the academic world, though it was a pretty good one with this company! My experience with publishing in the UK came from participating to two conferences in 2012, which led to publishing papers stemming from these presentations. I enjoyed the opportunities I had to also co-edit two volumes with them, which made me realize that I also enjoyed doing such things as an author!

LaChouett: I really love that you use your blog to further the women’s agenda by featuring 2 elements that you are obviously passionate about: Sci-fi and feminism. What advice would you like to give to women writers who want to become authors of the sci-fi genre?

Natacha: Love Science Fiction. It sounds obvious but I am a firm believer that you must love the genre you write in. Science Fiction is a huge and extremely versatile genre, so it’s perfectly okay to like one or two subgenres. Maybe you want to write cyberpunk, space opera, dystopia, or even a blend of several. That’s the beauty of Science Fiction, you can go wild (though making sure you make sense and your universe mostly holds together is a must!) Reading and watching (and playing given how many good games there are in this genre too) are important. Reading to educate yourself about feminism, mythical studies and writing craft can be incredible helps to develop your voice as well. Being able to find like minded women can also help a lot, which was the inspiration for me to start the #SciFi Women Interview blog series in March 2015, featuring one woman who likes/writes/creates/supports Science Fiction every last Friday of the month (http://natachaguyot.org/blog-series/scifi-women-interviews/). I was blown away to find so many women easily accepting invitations to be guests for this!

LaChouett: Can you share with us one book/author that influenced your career and the direction is took?

Natacha: One book? One author? I like your sense of humor. Really, I do. But… Just one isn’t something I’m good at (just ask my horde of muses, they’ll be laughing on the floor or laughing in a very maniac way). On the fiction side, C. J. Cherryh, Anne McCaffrey and Joan D. Vinge have inspired me to start writing my own Science Fiction stories. On the nonfiction side, Clarissa Pinkola Estès, especially Women Who Run With The Wolves, has been one of my strongest inspiration. Joseph Campbell‘s numerous books are favorites of mine too.

Thank you Natacha

LaChouett

The “Science Fiction, Transmedia & Fandom” blog will feature on Chouett to the end of the week