Guyanese novelist excels with sci-fi novels

By Venessa Deosaran

Canadian-based Guyanese novelist Karin Lowachee was born in Guyana, and moved to Toronto, Canada when she was two. She has written three highly-acclaimed award-winning science fiction novels, and continues to receive rave reviews for them.
Her first novel “Warchild” won the 2001 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest. Both “Warchild” (2002) and her third novel “Cagebird” (2005) were finalists for the Philip K. Dick Award (an award given for distinguished science fiction). “Cagebird” won the Prix Aurora Award in 2006 for Best Long-Form Work in English and the Spectrum Award also in 2006. Her second novel “Burndive” debuted at No.7 on the Locus Bestseller List.
Karin’s books have been translated into French, Hebrew and Japanese, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies edited by Julie Czerneda, Nalo Hopkinson, and John Joseph Adams. Her fantasy novel, “The Gaslight Dogs”, was published through Orbit Books USA in April 2010.

“I’ve been writing stories in some form or another since kindergarten, and began to think about doing it as a career around Grade 5 or 6. In high school I became more conscious of it, and by university it was definitely a goal I was driven to attain. Looking back on it, writing is the only thing that I can remember doing my entire life consistently and without need of outside encouragement. I’ve always loved writing, and it’s the only thing I can sweat blood over without too much complaint. I have many different interests but writing is my passion. It’s the endeavour that encourages my education, exploration, and edification all in one,” she said in an interview with Orbit Books.
The writer’s inspiration comes from “the world or the universe.” She is fascinated by people, places and ideas, and writing is her way of making sense of it all, or examining things that particularly interest her. A lot of writers inspire her as well, from across many genres. Film, history, art, psychology they have always been an inspiration too. Karin is also inspired by a desire to get better. Every book she tackles is a conscious attempt to become a better writer, not just to tell a different story.
Commenting on the hours she spends writing, Karin said, “I’m not a quantitative person. For me it’s quality and working when the time is right (unless you’re under a contract and deadline of course). This doesn’t mean that I write purely on inspiration. I believe you need discipline for the long haul of novel writing, and waiting solely on inspiration is a road to nowhere.

Sometimes I write in my mind for a day; other times, when I’m on deadline or fed-up of planning/researching, I will be back and forth from my computer for 12 hours. That being said, writing isn’t the only thing in my life, and I believe it’s healthy to get my head out of the world of it and do other things. All the things that go into a book, for me, have as much to do with my development as a person as well as the development of a plot.”
Additionally, the writer also uses music as an inspiration. It is a “muse” for her. She would usually write with it on. For Karin, certain types of music will help the mood of a scene. For instance, in fight scenes, she usually plays harder music. She believes that the lyrics and vocalists have a lot to do with mood as well.  The lyrics go with a theme, or the psychology the characters are going through at the time.
For some writers the publishing process can be a tedious one; however, Karin is gathering as much experience as she gets and applying this to better her narrative skills. “I love the entire publishing process from the nitty-gritty development of the book, to the editorial conversation, to the artwork and the production and everything that follows after. I don’t find any of it tedious, probably because I’m still grateful that I get to experience it in the first place and I’ve consistently worked with truly fantastic individuals, even when editors or publishers change. I love telling stories that are important to me, and being published allows me to reach a wide audience (many of whom contact me and constantly surprise me with their dedication and creativity). There is nothing that isn’t exciting about that!”
Karin’s advises other writers to, “Just write. If you don’t discipline yourself to do that, nothing else is going to matter. And read a lot of everything good.”
Visit www.karinlowachee.com for more information on her books. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)