Toni Weisskopf has been working closely with Lois almost from the very beginning, when she was establishing the Vorkosigan Saga. As the current Editor-in-Chief at Baen Books, she has been instrumental in bringing out another Miles novel, as well as editing practically all of the books in the series. I asked her to share what it has been like working with Lois, and here is what she had to say.
How did Lois get discovered by Baen?
This was actually before my time at Baen, but legend has it that the three novel manuscripts The Warrior's Apprentice, Shards of Honor, and Ethan of Athos had made the rounds of all the older, established publishers, and that they had either been rejected or languished unappreciated, before they came to Baen Books, which had just shipped its first books in 1984. Jim took one look at The Warrior's Apprentice, and called Lois up to ask her if she had more. She did, two more novels, and Jim bought all three on the spot.
Did anyone see her potential during that early time?
Jim Baen certainly did. They were the first books he told me to read when I was hired at Baen as an editorial assistant. I was so jaded (straight out of college and already jaded!) that I didn't believe new SF authors could bring anything fresh to the table. Jim and Lois proved me wrong, gloriously wrong.
What do you remember best about the first time you read one of Lois's manuscripts?
The first time I spoke to Lois after reading her books, I offered to have her baby. Luckily, she declined. They made a tremendous impact on me. I started with The Warrior's Apprentice and never looked back. I got the same sort of feeling reading her works as I had gotten from classic Heinlein: a renewed faith in humanity and a desire to explore and do good in the universe. Great feeling.
Did Lois have a clear idea of what she wanted to accomplish with the Miles novels at the time, or did the series evolve in scope as the books were written?
That one you'll have to ask Lois directly, but I do know there was some give-and-take between Jim and Lois about the nature and direction of the series. Jim, of course, wanted more like The Warrior's Apprentice, with the military concerns that were so close to his interests—and pocketbook. It was the clear front-runner for sales for a long time.
Please describe the typical editorial process with one of Lois's books.
She writes, I read. It seems to me Lois really doesn't require a lot of editorial input. There have been occasions, as with any writer, that a particular point will need talking out, and I'm happy to be able to provide an interested ear for that process. Sometimes a stray comment, like mentioning I thought A Civil Campaign needed more of a science fictional feel, will be answered in odd ways, like, say, butter bugs.
How has Lois's writing changed over the years that you've been working with her?
She's always been an accomplished, smooth writer.
Do you feel there are any publishing decisions that you made that have helped Lois's books achieve their success? If so, what?
I think Jim's stubbornness and obstinacy helped build the audience for the books. Baen from the very beginning has been good about keeping backlist titles of series in print, and that was essential to the Vorkosigan Saga, especially since they weren't written in chronological order.
Jim also went against the common wisdom and published those first three books within the space of a year, and I think that jump-started the series and the awareness of Bujold within the SF community. It might have cost Lois a Campbell Award, since she didn't have the traditional career path of a Campbell winner and it looked liked she'd been writing for a long time!
On a more minor note, I think putting the Vorkosigan Saga Timeline in the back of the books has been helpful—I'd asked my colleague Hank David to put it together for me originally just so I could keep the books straight in my own mind, but I think it's helped a lot of readers sort the series out.
What are your favorite books in the Miles series, and why?
My favorites are the Shards of Honor and Barrayar combo published under one roof as Cordelia's Honor. One of my favorite scenes is in Barrayar, when Cordelia comes back from "shopping" in the city and rolls the head of the pretender onto the conference table in the midst of military men. In fact, I have a shopping bag from Siegling's (from Scott Merritt's authorized line of Vorkosigan memorabilia) in honor of that scene; I use it as my range bag and carry my ammo and ear protection in it!
Who are your favorite characters, and why?
I have a soft spot for Ivan, but don't tell anyone. . . . I like Cordelia, obviously. And I like Taura, the werewolf girl. As for why—I guess because they are all honorable people doing the best they can in situations that are not "normal" for them.
What do you think readers see in the Miles series that keeps bringing them back to the series?
There's the charm, the wit, the nice touch of invention. The intricate plotting, the real characters—and the reality is, at bottom, the key. Lois creates real people, behaving in ways you can believe in—intelligent people act intelligently, venal people are venal, and the Cetagandans have loooong plans. It all feels right. Lois has talked about the writer/reader collaboration—for that to click, there has to be enough meat for the reader to chew on. Lois gives filet mignon.
What do you look for each time a new Miles novel lands on your desk?
A free evening to read and a comfy chair! I admit, it's hard to complain about the press of work when "work" is sitting back and reading a Vorkosigan Saga book!
As the series editor, what would you like to see explored in future Miles books?
As a reader, of course I want to see Ivan settle down with a nice girl just like his mom and live happily ever after. As a series editor, I'm afraid Ivan is due for some adventures before Lois will let him settle down, if she even does let him settle down. But getting away from the personalities—which is hard; Lois makes her characters come alive for her readers so that we can talk about them like people we know, because we do know them—I think the series can grow thematically if Lois wants it to. The previous books have explored what cultures do to individuals. It might be interesting to see what individuals do to cultures. We've seen some of that with Cordelia's fairly subtle influence on Barrayar, but to me the big question is what will Miles do when serious problems shake the Barrayaran way of life he's worked so hard to protect, his Winston Churchill moment.
What kind of challenges did you face bringing this series from its early years to today's success. Were there any specific issues that come to mind?
It's been hard to market these books so that all of those whom they will appeal to will find it. In the early years if a chain store passed on a book, it would take years to build an author or series back up with that chain, even if you could prove they were losing sales. These are not easy books to put covers on, too, and the cover is your primary advertisement about the content of the book, especially before an author has built up a reputation. The Vorkosigan Saga is about heroism—but how can you portray a short guy with bone problems heroically? How do you paint charisma? The books are about family and loyalty and honor—great to read about, hard to portray in concrete images. They contain epic love stories—but how to put that on a cover without alienating the people who are first attracted to the interesting world-building and scientific extrapolation, which are also integral? Probably we needed to put three or four covers on each printing of each volume in the saga!
What goals do you have for the future Miles novels?
I think there's a tremendous, broad market for Lois's work, equal to that of the great SF of the 1980s which regularly hit the NY Times best-seller lists without media tie-ins. She has all the appeal of McCaffrey and Heinlein and I'd like to get her books into as many readers' hands as possible.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers that would like to follow in Lois's footsteps?
A young writer could scarcely do better than to follow Lois's career path. She wrote several short stories and sent them around before and during the writing of her first novels. She didn't rush to send out the novels before they were ready for a general audience. She didn't rush to accept any old agent, but by the time her career was at a point to actually benefit monetarily from an agent she was able to get one of the top agents in the field. She took and takes her writing seriously. She respects her fans and her readers and responds to them with grace and care.
And she's constantly refreshing her brain—researching all different sorts of things, from metallurgy to medieval history—which diverse inputs she can then draw on in her fiction. Keep expanding your horizons—good advice for anyone who doesn't want to get mentally flabby, not just writers.