There aren't many authors out there who can claim they became published writers because they failed at embroidery and quilting. But Hugo- and Nebula-award winning author Nancy Kress can. As a stay-at-home mom with plenty of time on her hands, she found she could experiment with hobbies. And, when she discovered she wasn't cut out for needlework of any sort, she tried writing.

Since then she's written scads of short fiction and 18 books: fantasy, science fiction and young adult novels, and even two "how-to" books for aspiring writers. Kress has won three Nebulas and a Hugo for her work, and, in her own words, "lost a dozen more of these awards." Her short piece "Beggars in Spain" won both a Nebula and a Hugo, and inspired her Sleeper trilogy (Beggars in Spain, Morrow/Avon, 1994; Beggars and Choosers, Tor, 1996; and Beggars Ride, Tor, 1996). This series, arguably her best and most recognized work, is about a strain of genetically enhanced children who are brighter, more attractive and have no need for sleep. Earth becomes a battlefield between the sleepers and the sleepless—who eventually leave Earth for their own space.

Two of her stories—"The Most Famous Little Girl in the World" and "Wetlands Preserve"— can be found at our sister site, SciFiction.

Her, latest novel, Probability Space (Tor, 2002), is scheduled to arrive in bookstores in September. She refers to its style as "high-class" space opera. In this final installment of a trilogy (one that began with Probability Moon, [Tor, 2000] and Probability Sun, [Tor, 2001]), war culminates between the alien Fallers and humans, and humanity pays dearly for its discovery of artifacts which manipulate probability—a newly discovered fifth force in the universe.

Kress lives in Maryland, and is married to fellow science-fiction author Charles Sheffield. She was kind enough to answer these questions when she was the keynote speaker at the Maryland Writers' Association annual meeting.Tell us something the average reader might not know about you.

Kress: [Smiling] I was shy as a teenager. I had a four-year-long attack of shyness. This is truly ironic now, because a good part of my income comes from standing up in front of people.How did you happen to start writing science fiction? Who was your role model?

Kress: I was pregnant with my second child, and used writing as a break from child care. I'd tried needlepoint and quilting, but I wasn't any good. I didn't know what I was going to write. I was just trying something new. But when I sat down and started, it came out science fiction.

Science is going to be exploding in the next several decades. The 20th century was all about physics; there were huge discoveries. Right now, we're poised for that kind of break. I'm fascinated with it; I can't wait to see where it's going.

My role model is Ursula K. Le Guin—she walks on water; her characters are so real. My favorite story by Le Guin is The Dispossessed [Harper & Row, 1974; Avon, 1975] . It was the first science fiction I had ever read in which there seemed to be characters, especially the main characters, that had as much depth and clarity as those that I had found in mainstream fiction.

She was the first author I'd known who dealt with morally complex issues with compassion and kindness, and she'd done it, and continues to do it, in a science-fiction context.

It bowled me over then. It still bowls me over now.What did you do before you started writing?

Kress: Before I started writing I taught fourth grade—which I loved. I'm a licensed teacher in New York and I've taught as an adjunct professor at a small college in New York. I have Master's degrees in both English and education. I've also worked as a full-time contractor writing training materials in an ad agency for Xerox.Let's talk about your Writer's Digest column. How did you get started doing that?

Kress: I met a Writer's Digest editor at a conference about 10 years ago. The editor asked me to write a column. I've been doing it ever since.Tell us about your first novel: How did you submit it, and how was it received?

Kress: My first novel was a fantasy called Prince of Morning Bells [Pocket Books, 1981; reissued May 2000]. It was a feminist, tongue-in-cheek novel.

This sounds brazen now, but I found out who Ursula K. Le Guin's agent was and sent her a letter. The agent said she would send my manuscript to her librarian friend to read, and if the librarian liked it, she'd take a look.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

The librarian friend liked it. But it took five years to get published: three and a half years to sell the book to a publisher and another year and half to make it to print.When did you know it was time to quit your day job?

Kress: In 1990, when the Xerox job began to conflict with my personal time, I quit.What about aspiring authors? When is it time for them to consider a full-time writing career?

Kress: When you can pay your bills. When you can manage it mentally. Half-time is a good way to start. You have to learn how to ignore everything and concentrate on writing. If you have small kids, hire someone to look after them.

It's hard to concentrate. You have to develop the ability to compartmentalize. It's almost like Zen. You need a lot of discipline.

How do you know when it's time to just say, "I'm done. I'm not good enough?" What advice do you have for writers who write no specific genre?

Kress: If you're a slow writer, give yourself time. If you've been at it for a few years, you should be getting some encouragement. If not ... [shrugs]

People should write what they want to write. But, they should know that it's a tougher sell. Chances are much better if your writing is more easily categorized. But you should write stories that move you—even if they are weird.What about writing exercises? How should one hone one's craft?

Kress: Exercises are limited. Critique sessions are good. But there's really no substitute for writing. Teach yourself how to edit, how to cut. Point of view is very important. Learn the basics, get feedback, then apply the basics again.What are Nancy Kress' Top Things You Need to Do in Order to Get Published?

Kress: A writer has to be a reader. I've never known a writer who wasn't a reader.

And writers need to be self-disciplined. No one is going to stand over you and make sure you write your eight pages a day.

A writer has to be able to tolerate isolation. I find that if I have to go out two nights in a row, I resent it.

Writers have to be persistent—especially in the face of rejection. There were days I approached my mailbox with trepidation.You say, "A writer has to be a reader." What do you like to read?

Kress: As time goes on, I read less and less fiction but more and more nonfiction. I feel like I don't know anything. I'm trying to inform myself about the things I don't know.

As far as far as fiction goes, Jane Austen is a long-time favorite, and I believe Somerset Maugham is underrated. Anne Tyler and Toni Morrison are among my contemporary favorites.

In the field ... I think there are a number of interesting writers ... I don't want to alienate anyone ... but I do enjoy reading Bruce Sterling and Gene Wolfe.You've mentioned that sci-fi editors are looking for more "hard science" fiction. Do you think that's where the industry is going?

Kress: Editors are constantly looking for good hard SF not because "that's the way the industry is going," but because far fewer people write, or want to write, hard SF than write fantasy, social-extrapolation SF, or the other varieties.In what ways has the field of science fiction evolved?

Kress: The field has evolved by the influx of women writers, some minority writers—not enough yet—and a greater complexity of both style and moral ambiguity. This is, I think, all very good. The literature is now more interesting and mature.How do you research your books?

Kress: The amount of research depends on what I'll be writing about. My novel Probability Sun—which is about a fifth major force in the universe—required a lot of research on the theory. It was challenging. I spent four days reading nothing but superstring theory. My brain hurt.I did a little research on superstring theory and on the term "probability space." You're right, it made my brain hurt! Please tell: Is the title of your book Probability Space a play on words for the subject of DNA and amino acid sequences—since you usually write biotech novels—or is it relative to the physics definition?

Kress:Probability Moon, Probability Sun and Probability Space all refer to the discovery by physicist Tom Capelo, my character, of a fifth force in the universe, probability, subject to the same laws and equations that govern the other four forces in the universe—electromagnetism, gravity, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force.

In the third book, Probability Space, the war with the Fallers comes to a decisive ending, and humanity pays a price for what it has discovered about the ancient artifacts which manipulate probability. Did you do any research particular to Probability Space? Did anything surprise or fascinate you particularly?

Kress: No ... the research that already existed for Probability Sun and Probability Moon also existed for Probability Space. In particular, I had read Brian Greene's book, The Elegant Universe [Vintage Books, 2000]. Much of the information in his book underlies the physics in all three of my novels.

All of the superstring theory surprised me ... I didn't know anything about it. But nobody else does either! It's all conjecture, and it's all fascinating.

I'm used to thinking about genetic engineering. Thinking about physics is a whole new area for me, and it's much harder for me. I devoured Brian Greene's book, writing in the margins and making copious notes. What I didn't know, I looked up in a physics dictionary or asked my husband.

As the notes sparked fictional ideas, I wrote them down, and let it stew. I let it come together for a couple of months before I started writing. And as I finished each draft, I ran it past my husband to make sure the science was accurate.

Now, there were plot elements that surprised me while I was writing. Tom Capelo manages to figure out a lot more about the space tunnel that he didn't know about. Of course, he figures it out too late ... but I don't want to tell you too late for what!How far in the future is the Probability trilogy set? What would it take for us to get there?

Kress: The trilogy is set about 100 years into the future, and we get there only if we discover the tunnels. We don't invent them. For us to get there, we'd have to discover these tunnels, or other artifacts which would give us the technology.

However, quantum entanglement, which underlies a lot of what happens in these three books, is a real thing. If we can ever get control of it, we could do amazing things. But that's so far into the future ... evidence indicates the universe is non-local: but knowing that and knowing how to control it are two entirely different things.

Was it hard to say goodbye to the trilogy?

Kress: No. It was finished. When my work is done, it's time for me to move on. I never re-read it. Except that I have to read the stories again when I look at the galleys—and even then I hate to do that. By the time the galleys arrive, I'm usually already working on something else, and I don't want to read the old stuff.

After it's published, I never read my work again.What's next?

Kress: I've a new book coming out a year from September, called Nothing Human. I like this book very much ... my husband calls it a Childhood's End for the '90s. It's about the end of the human race as we know it. It's what might come next. In this case, we've genetically engineered what might come next.

I think it's one of my best books.

The title comes from a quote from Terrence Africanus, an ancient Roman, "I am a man; nothing human is alien to me."

And the question becomes, "When you genetically engineer the next step in human evolution, are they human? And does it matter?"As in Nothing Human, scientific responsibility plays out as a theme in many of your books—and you're speaking on scientific ethics at Hastings College in Hastings, Neb., on October 2 on "Science, Ethics and Revolution." Do you feel like we're spinning out of control with our technology? Do we have a future?

Kress: We're always out of our control with our technology. When people invented fire, there was the problem of arson. We can control technology's use ... but never control all of its uses. That's always been the case since fire onward. So I'd say technology is never more out of control that it already has been.

We have a future. I don't know what that is. It's my job to imagine one of many possible futures, then another one, and then a third one. If I knew what the future was, I'd be rich off the stock market, even this stock market.

I have no idea where the human future is going, but I'd give anything for an extra 200 years or so of life so I can find out. It would be fascinating. We are gaining the tools to direct our own evolution.