Patty asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

I am so happy you are answering these questions. I have a new one. What inspired you to work in the science fiction and fantasy genre instead of say the romance genre?

Lois McMaster Bujold Imprinting, mainly, I expect. These were the sorts of stories I grew up loving in my teens. (1960s vintage, plus any earlier work lingering on local library shelves.) I didn't come to reading romances or mysteries till later, in my 20s, though they were both inboard as interests by the time I started writing for professional publication in my early 30s. Also, because of my reading familiarity with the F&SF genres, and with conventions, I had at least a vague clue how to go about submitting work, and where, which I lacked for other genres.

Mostly, though, F&SF are universal receivers, like certain blood types; they can absorb any other genre's plots, tropes, styles, and ideas. So an SF writer does not, at least in theory, have to give up any literary possibilities, or restrict their creative range.

Ta, L.

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