Author Interview: Cyndy Edwards Lively

JC – Do you write exclusively science fiction stories or do you write other genres as well?

CL – I also write mystery stories, three of which have been published in small anthologies.

JC – What are some of your hobbies or interests?

CL – Like most writers, I’m an avid reader. Since retiring from the practice of pediatrics, I have worked as a volunteer court appointed advocate for children in foster care. An advocate’s responsibilities include investigating the circumstances that lead to children being removed from their homes and preparing a report for the court on the best interests of the children. We continue to advocate for the children until they either return to their biological families or find an permanent adoptive home.

JC – Do you prefer starting a piece with a title, an outline, or an idea? Or do you simply start writing and see where the characters lead you?

CL – I generally start with at least a vague idea of the type of story I want to write. From there, I work on my main character. The rest follows from there.

JC – What books, stories, and authors inspire you?

CL – I read what I like to write: mysteries of all types, thrillers, science fiction and anything particularly well written. Elizabeth George, James Lee Burke, Margaret Atwood, Robert Heinlein, and John Irving are particular favorites.

JC – Your story, “First Wave,” begins on Earth with a simulation. Where did you get the inspiration for your story?

CL – Selecting a compatible group of people to live together in close quarters for the rest of their lives seems like an impossible task. I imagined that a trial period, even a relatively short one, would be necessary.

JC – Do you have any advice for writers wanting to get published?

CL – Submit, submit, submit. I keep a computer file of all my submissions. When a rejection come back, I search for another place to send that story. You can’t get published if you don’t put your work out there.

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Cyndy Edwards Lively is a retired pediatrician living in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Her story “The Strike” appeared in the January 2012 issue of Jupiter. “Shareholders” was a semi-finalist in the August 2012 Writers of the Future Contest and was published in revised form in the July 2013 edition of Leading Edge.

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