One of my optional tasks…

One of my optional tasks for today (and for the next while) is to work on a Mary Anne FAQ. I figure with the new book, there'll be a fair number of people coming by the site who have never heard of me before, and they'll likely have many of the same questions that I get from interviewers, over and over again. (AsianWeek interviewed me after my class did their reading in S.F. last week, which is what started me on this track -- her questions were so very familiar...) If I answer them all in a FAQ, maybe I won't have to re-answer them over and over again? Faint hope, perhaps, but worth attempting, at any rate.

So I've come up with a few questions so far -- if you want to throw more into the mix, feel free. I won't add them to the FAQ unless they really are frequently asked ones, though. I may answer the less frequent ones here. :-)

FAQ

  1. How did you get started writing sex stories?
  2. How has your South Asian background affected your sex writing?
  3. What do your parents think about your writing so much about sex?
  4. Have there been any negative repercussions from being so open about your own sex life (re: queer/poly)?
  5. How has erotic fiction (writing or publishing) changed in the ten years you've been working?
  6. How did you find your agent?
  7. How did you get published?
Hmm...there are more, but those are the ones I hear the most, I think. Any suggestions for rephrasings also welcome -- #4 is especially awkward right now, but I can't remember how they usually phrase it. (They usually ramble a lot more too...)

If I have more time later today, I may add some answers. :-)

4 thoughts on “One of my optional tasks…”

  1. Good list – but perhaps there should be some really, really basic questions in the FAQ as well, i.e. things like:

    (note many of these could have “answers” as links to various sections of your website….)

    1. What else has Mary Anne written? (or something like “Where can I read more works by Mary Anne” with perhaps some categorization.

    2. Who is Mary Anne Mohanraj (i.e. answer being bio and/or link to bio)

    3. Are you the same Mary Anne Mohanraj who… (wrote a specific story, founded Clean Sheets, Founded Strange Horizons, Went the University of Chicago, etc)

    4. Do you have any suggestions for writers (in genre, outside of genre – with links to the Speculative Fiction Society etc)

    5. What authors have influenced your work? (perhaps also other artists)

    6. Specific to Sri Lankan, do you have an opinion on the civil war? (the Tamil Tigers, etc) and/or can you provide links and resources for readers interested in learning more about Sri Lankan history (perhaps also a small plug for your cookbook could be worked in here as well)

    7. Will there be any more stories about these characters/ (i.e. free plug for the next book)

    hope this helps!

    Shannon

  2. How did you go about selecting the stories for your first erotic collection? Did you consult with or receive advice from anyone? Did you aim for a particular theme in the collection or was variety more important? What advice would you give an author wishing to produce a collection of their work, specifically erotica?

    P. S. That’s probably not a frequently asked question, but it’s one that I always want to ask authors who have published short story collections. I always wonder what their ultimate goal is, what they wish to communicate through the collection, if anything.

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