Today we’d like to introduce you to Jody Lynn Nye.
Hi Jody Lynn, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started telling stories at a very early age to my brothers, friends, and fellow campers. By six, I was making my own books out of my father’s office paper. I wrote stories on any kind of paper I could find. I became interested in science fiction and fantasy because they seemed much more interesting than anything that was happening around me. I read anything I could find, taking home the maximum number of books from my public library and haunting the reading center in my schools. Naturally, Star Trek, comic books, and The Lord of the Rings, among others, became my favorite sources of entertainment. It wasn’t until I was in my early college days, when I came across SF fandom, role-play games and the Society for Creative Anachronism that I discovered people who loved what I did. Although my first professional publications were non-fiction articles on the technology of the cutting-edge television station for which I worked, I began to publish short stories, then materials for role-play games. I took opportunities where I could, building on my skills and experience.
I was chosen for a great project that combined my skills at writing and game design, which led to my first independent book contracts as well as collaborations with other authors. I was fortunate to be taken under the wing of writers much further along in my field and had the privilege of working with a few wonderful people whose work I had always admired. I understood what they were giving to me and promised myself to give back by offering a hand up to new writers. Since then, I have taught writing at a college level, participated in numerous SF convention writing workshops, including my two-day writing workshop at Dragon Con in Atlanta (now in my eleventh year), and was named in 2022 as the Coordinating Judge of the Writers of the Future Contest. I write books, short stories and am currently also editing my fourth anthology.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of the struggles were of my own making. When I was only nineteen, I submitted a story to a noted SF magazine. The editor loved my writing but said my plot was a familiar one. He told me to send him something else. As a young and sensitive person with no contact with other writers to tell me that it was an unmissable opportunity, I chickened out and never sent him anything. That meant I wasted years in which I could have been publishing. (The editor has since teased me about that.) I have started collaborations with other writers, only to run into personality snags that put an end to what would have been fun projects.
In spite of SF/fantasy being inclusive and open to new ideas, I have had times when being a woman held me back from certain opportunities.
That said, I haven’t necessarily been in the right place at the right time to volunteer for projects I would have enjoyed doing. Some of my fellows virtually live online, and others go to many more conventions than I do, so they hear about things I miss.
Other than that, I consider myself very fortunate to be where I am and doing what I do.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m best known for my humor writing. I’ve always loved to see the funny side of a situation. That is what brought me to the work of Robert Asprin. His Myth-Adventures series was and is one of my favorites. I never dreamed I would meet him, let alone end up working with him on the Myth-Adventures. Since his passing, I have taken over two of his book series. I love his books, and I miss him very much.
I’m very proud of my contemporary humorous fantasy series, Mythology 101 (no relation), among others. Keith Doyle is a college student at a central Illinois University who discovers little people living in the basement of his college library. I love my Lord Thomas Kinago series (Baen Books), which I describe as Jeeves and Wooster in space. I’ve also got a long-running chain of humorous SF detective stories in the Unidentified Funny Objects series of anthologies (edited by Alex Shvartsman), featuring an unlikely pair of characters and a whole new interpretation of “witness protection program.”
Most of my books and short stories have a humorous bent. My humor tends to be on the gentle side, and I’m not afraid to use ‘dad joke’ humor. I am proud to be the antidote for the evening news. If real-life gloom and doom get you down, I want to be there for you.
I lecture on writing humor. It comes naturally to me. I love the works of my fellow writers who bring the funny to their readers.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Read. Encourage others to read. Don’t deny people, especially children, a chance to explore all kinds of literature. We learn about others and our world through the printed word. Support your local library. Support literacy programs. I’d love it if you bought my books and anthologies, but any writer you find that you love also deserves your support.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jodynye.com
- Instagram: jody_lynn_nye
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodylynn.nye/
- Twitter: @JodyLynnNye
Image Credits
Personal photo, Author Services, Inc. Pic of me reading taken by Bill Fawcett (my husband). Pic on red carpet also taken by Bill Fawcett. Pix of my books and bookshelf by me.
