Ask the Author: Sue Burke
Answered Questions (18)
Sue Burke
The story of my late grandfather is a mystery. I know he was in a street gang when he was young, he dealt in bootleg liquor during Prohibition, and he left the gang over something related to a murder. He also taught me how to cheat at dice. Those and some other clues about him lead me to believe there's quite a story there.
Sue Burke
Thank you! And thank you for asking. Yes, there will be a third book, "Usurpation," which will be published in May 2024. I hope you love that one, too.
Sue Burke
Hello Tom, thank you so much for sharing this! The plant can see and act on that information! Here on Earth, not in my imagination. This has to go into the third book in the "Semiosis" series somehow. (I'll start writing it next year.)
Thank you again! All the best,
Sue
Thank you again! All the best,
Sue
Sue Burke
One bit of family lore has long interested me. Apparently my grandfather, as a very young man, was picked up on suspicion of murder and had to stand in a police lineup. He was released because a scar on his forehead didn’t match the witness’s recollection. He got the scar falling off a tavern porch as a young child.
That scared him straight, as the story goes. He had been in a Polish street gang on the south side of Milwaukee, and he quit. The gang had probably been involved in bootleg liquor and possibly something worse.
He grew up in poverty with an abusive father and a broken home, and didn’t go to school beyond eighth grade. He also taught me how to cheat at dice. I think cheating at dice has to be in the book somewhere. He was also very proud when I became the first in the family to get a college degree.
That’s all I know. He died forty years ago, and everyone who could have supplied more details has also passed. A lot of drama was going on as the Roaring 20s came crashing down, and his story is a tiny part of that history.
That scared him straight, as the story goes. He had been in a Polish street gang on the south side of Milwaukee, and he quit. The gang had probably been involved in bootleg liquor and possibly something worse.
He grew up in poverty with an abusive father and a broken home, and didn’t go to school beyond eighth grade. He also taught me how to cheat at dice. I think cheating at dice has to be in the book somewhere. He was also very proud when I became the first in the family to get a college degree.
That’s all I know. He died forty years ago, and everyone who could have supplied more details has also passed. A lot of drama was going on as the Roaring 20s came crashing down, and his story is a tiny part of that history.
Sue Burke
Yes! It will be called "Usurpation" and will be released in October of 2024. I'm sorry about the delay, but covid and other problems caused issues for publishers.
So hang on, more rainbow bamboo are coming.
So hang on, more rainbow bamboo are coming.
Sue Burke
Hello Joseph,
Thank you! I really enjoyed writing the books, and I always had in mind a trilogy.
I've just signed a contract for it with Tor books -- but due to covid, which has done weird things to publishing, it won't be published as soon as I'd like. I've started it, though, and I hope the story will be exciting.
Thank you again!
Sue
Thank you! I really enjoyed writing the books, and I always had in mind a trilogy.
I've just signed a contract for it with Tor books -- but due to covid, which has done weird things to publishing, it won't be published as soon as I'd like. I've started it, though, and I hope the story will be exciting.
Thank you again!
Sue
Sue Burke
Thank you, Lachlan! I have worked from home for a long time, so in some ways, little has changed -- but I deeply miss seeing friends and family in person. Hope you're staying well and safe!
Sue Burke
Frankly, it all depends on sales. I have an outline for a third book, and the epilogue gives you a clue....
It would be fun!
It would be fun!
Sue Burke
That's a good question. We're deciding that right now. I've turned in a manuscript for a novel completely distinct from "Semiosis and "Interference," and I'll find out soon if it's accepted. The title is still undecided.
Sue Burke
Thank you! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. Everything that the plants do in the book are things that plants can do on Earth -- except think, of course.
Sue Burke
I began the research before I thought about writing the novel. It started because one day I discovered that one of my houseplants had killed another plant -- a pothos had wrapped around another plant, which died from a lack of light. Then a few weeks later another plant tried to sink roots into different plant.
I decided to find out if this was normal plant behavior, and it was. Plants are often aggressive against each other and sometimes against animals, too. They often try to manipulate animals, as well. The more I learned, the more I thought there could be a story to tell.
The research took a while, since every answer led to another question and botany keeps making new discoveries, but the research also gave me more ideas to enrich the story. I now have a shelf of books.
Slowly, the novel began to take shape, although sometimes I had to research a specific detail as I went along, such as the communication scents of the Glassmakers (based on Earth ants) and how plants could duplicate the odors.
I decided to find out if this was normal plant behavior, and it was. Plants are often aggressive against each other and sometimes against animals, too. They often try to manipulate animals, as well. The more I learned, the more I thought there could be a story to tell.
The research took a while, since every answer led to another question and botany keeps making new discoveries, but the research also gave me more ideas to enrich the story. I now have a shelf of books.
Slowly, the novel began to take shape, although sometimes I had to research a specific detail as I went along, such as the communication scents of the Glassmakers (based on Earth ants) and how plants could duplicate the odors.
Sue Burke
Hi, Sieglined! Yes, I do attend conventions. I'll be at Wiscon this month, and at Worldcon in August. In fact, I'll be one of the editors for the daily newsletter at Worldcon. Will you be there? I also usually attend Windycon and Capricon here in Chicago.
As for the Hugo, that's up to the voters next year, but I would be honored! Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I'm working on the sequel right now.
As for the Hugo, that's up to the voters next year, but I would be honored! Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I'm working on the sequel right now.
Sue Burke
Hello Helen,
Plants on Earth communicate with each other a lot. Here’s an article in Smithsonian Magazine about communication among trees:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...
I also read and highly recommend the book mentioned in the article: “The Hidden Life of Trees,” by Peter Wohlleben. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The inspiration for the book came from my own plants. I have a lot of houseplants, and I caught a couple of vines attacking other plants. I began to do research, and I discovered that plants can be aggressive to each other and employ some amazing strategies. They actively respond to their environment.
There’s really only one difference between botany on Earth and Pax. Pax plants have nervous systems, and they can make more conscious decisions and communicate with more complexity. On Earth, plants do send information within themselves, but it moves from one cell to another through no special route. A specific message, such as an attack by a specific kind of beetle, can take hours to get up and down a tree.
Otherwise, the plants on Pax have the same capabilities as plants on Earth – including the desire of fruit trees and plants to have animals eat their fruit and spread their seeds.
Plants on Earth communicate with each other a lot. Here’s an article in Smithsonian Magazine about communication among trees:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...
I also read and highly recommend the book mentioned in the article: “The Hidden Life of Trees,” by Peter Wohlleben. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
The inspiration for the book came from my own plants. I have a lot of houseplants, and I caught a couple of vines attacking other plants. I began to do research, and I discovered that plants can be aggressive to each other and employ some amazing strategies. They actively respond to their environment.
There’s really only one difference between botany on Earth and Pax. Pax plants have nervous systems, and they can make more conscious decisions and communicate with more complexity. On Earth, plants do send information within themselves, but it moves from one cell to another through no special route. A specific message, such as an attack by a specific kind of beetle, can take hours to get up and down a tree.
Otherwise, the plants on Pax have the same capabilities as plants on Earth – including the desire of fruit trees and plants to have animals eat their fruit and spread their seeds.
Sue Burke
Hi Ben,
Yes, I see now I missed the chance for a good plot twist.
The Glassmakers left because they were failing to thrive and hoped that returning to their nomadic lifestyle would solve the problem. If they had hung on a little longer, Stevland would have figured out how to help them, but they didn't know that, and they didn't understand him well enough even to say goodbye. Besides that, nomadic life didn't solve the problem.
But now that you mention it, I could have made it more dramatic....
Yes, I see now I missed the chance for a good plot twist.
The Glassmakers left because they were failing to thrive and hoped that returning to their nomadic lifestyle would solve the problem. If they had hung on a little longer, Stevland would have figured out how to help them, but they didn't know that, and they didn't understand him well enough even to say goodbye. Besides that, nomadic life didn't solve the problem.
But now that you mention it, I could have made it more dramatic....
Sue Burke
My sister-in-law invented the fippokat in grade school, and she gave the imaginary animal its name. She no longer recalls why she gave it that name -- it's one of those things lost to childhood. I first learned about it one Christmas when she made a cookie in the shape of a fippokat, sprinkled with green sugar, and she graciously gave me permission to use and abuse the animal in my story.
So I'm sorry there's no reason for the name besides childhood whimsy.
So I'm sorry there's no reason for the name besides childhood whimsy.
Sue Burke
I was awoken at 4:30 a.m. and asked, "Do we have a toilet plunger?" I knew we didn't.
Sue Burke
Authors of speculative fiction have a habit that other authors don’t have. They like to invent non-existent things: planets, countries, animals, social relationships, technologies, and medical treatments, for example. Then they invent names for them. Sometimes they even invent languages. No bilingual dictionary will list these words. I have to re-invent them in English on my own.
Sometimes it’s not hard. The imaginary metal iandamio would be “iandamum” in English, the same way that aluminio is “aluminum.” But then there’s the imaginary island named Quyrlich. What should its residents be called?
A short story I’m working on now includes a system of symbols and abbreviated words called “Short Language.” I need to recreate it in English, adapting it to English grammatical structures and conveying the same word play as in the original. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do, but I know it will take some time and research into English vocabulary and grammar.
I needed to do a couple of hours of research when a fantasy novel invented a menagerie of fabulous animals on the Moon: manadas de tortugarios lunarios, recuas de musarántigos luníferos, piaras de bufalústridos lunácaros, y rebaños de urubúniculos lunarésquidos. After a long visit with dictionaries and reference books about synonyms and word formation, I came up with: “troops of lunary turtlets, schools of lunamatic shrewers, droves of lunacule buffalodonts, and flocks of lunacious black vulturery.”
All authors use their imagination, but speculative fiction authors use theirs more – which means I must, too. In the end, I always hope I reach a solution that works for readers, and I inevitably learn a little more about the English language.
Sometimes it’s not hard. The imaginary metal iandamio would be “iandamum” in English, the same way that aluminio is “aluminum.” But then there’s the imaginary island named Quyrlich. What should its residents be called?
A short story I’m working on now includes a system of symbols and abbreviated words called “Short Language.” I need to recreate it in English, adapting it to English grammatical structures and conveying the same word play as in the original. I’m not sure exactly what I’ll do, but I know it will take some time and research into English vocabulary and grammar.
I needed to do a couple of hours of research when a fantasy novel invented a menagerie of fabulous animals on the Moon: manadas de tortugarios lunarios, recuas de musarántigos luníferos, piaras de bufalústridos lunácaros, y rebaños de urubúniculos lunarésquidos. After a long visit with dictionaries and reference books about synonyms and word formation, I came up with: “troops of lunary turtlets, schools of lunamatic shrewers, droves of lunacule buffalodonts, and flocks of lunacious black vulturery.”
All authors use their imagination, but speculative fiction authors use theirs more – which means I must, too. In the end, I always hope I reach a solution that works for readers, and I inevitably learn a little more about the English language.
Sue Burke
I usually have several projects going on at once. I recently finished a science fiction novel, gave it to some beta-readers, and I’m waiting for their suggestions. In the meantime I’m researching a historical novel about Queen Urraca, who reigned in Spain in the early 1100s.
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