Pamela Sargent is the author of several highly praised novels, among them Cloned Lives (1976), The Sudden Star (1979), The Golden Space (1982), The Alien Upstairs (1983), and Alien Child (1988). Her novel Venus of Dreams (1986) was selected by The Easton Press for its Masterpieces of Science Fiction series. Venus of Shadows (1988), the sequel, was called a masterly piece of world-building by James Morrow. The Shore of Women (1986), one of Sargent's best-known books, was praised as a compelling and emotionally involving novel by Publishers Weekly.

Sargent is also the author of Earthseed (1983), chosen as a Best Book for Young Adults by the American Library Association, and the short fiction collections Starshadows (1977) and The Best of Pamela Sargent (1987). Her novels Watchstar (1980), Eye of the Comet (1984), and Homesmind (1984) comprise a trilogy. She has won the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and has been a finalist for the Hugo Award. Ruler of the Sky (1993), Sargent's epic historical novel about Genghis Khan, tells the Mongol conqueror's story largely from the points-of-view of women.

Sargent is also an editor and anthologist. In the 1970s, she edited the Women of Wonder series, the first collections of science fiction by women. Her other anthologies include Bio-Futures and, with British writer Ian Watson as co-editor, Afterlives. Two anthologies, Women of Wonder, The Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s and Women of Wonder, The Contemporary Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1970s to the 1990s, were published by Harcourt Brace in 1995. With artist Ron Miller, she collaborated on Firebrands: The Heroines of Science Fiction and Fantasy (1998).

Her novel Climb the Wind: A Novel of Another America in 1999 was a finalist for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History. Child of Venus, the third novel in Sargent's Venus trilogy, was published in May 2001. Two collections, The Mountain Cage and Other Stories (Meisha Merlin) and Behind the Eyes of Dreamers and Other Short Novels (Thorndike Press/Five Star) were published in 2002, and a third collection of fantasy stories, Eye of Flame (Thorndike Press/Five Star), came out at the end of 2003.

Her publications in 2004 included Conqueror Fantastic (DAW), an anthology of original stories, Thumbprints (Golden Gryphon), a collection of Sargent's short fiction with an introduction by James Morrow, and a reissue of The Shore of Women from BenBella Books.

Pamela Sargent has lectured on science fiction, historical fiction, and science fiction by women at high schools, colleges, and universities in the United States and abroad, and lives in Albany, New York.

She was a principal speaker at Philcon in 2004 and graciously agreed to do an interview in between her panels, readings and lectures.

biographical information from Philcon.org

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You've written in various genres, such as historical novels, alternate histories, fantasy. How do you decide which form an idea should take? How does that process work for you?

Well, actually, I think the idea decides that. I'll have an idea and then I'll sort of say, "OK, it's this kind of a thing." And sometimes I don't even know what it's going to be until I start working on it. For instance, right now I have a novel that I finished. I'm doing about the fourth rewrite on it now. I want to add some things. I want to tighten certain emotional things that in it. And I'm not sure what it is. It's sort of fantasy, because there are fantasy elements, but not quite. It sort of has historical elements, but not quite. It takes place in the present day, but it's not really a story of contemporary life either. I'm not sure what it is yet. I'm hoping by the time I've finished this next draft, I'll have some idea of what it is. But right now it's sort of falling between the cracks. And I wrote my curse of the writer is that I keep trying to do different things. So I'll write it. I'll cut it if need be. I'll say, OK, I know what that is. I've done that. I'll write a hard science fiction novel, and then I'll want to do something else. And that's sort of a curse in the current marketplace, because I think a lot of the editors and a lot of the publishers are thinking of writers that become a certain kind of brand. And I keep writing different things, so I have to hope that eventually somebody is just going to want a Pamela Sargent book, no matter what kind of a book it is.

I was thinking that maybe you were in a position to be in that category now, because you've had so many things published.

In a sense I am, and in a sense I'm not, because the trouble with that is that, unless you've had a certain amount of success doing this in the past, you know, editors don't really quite know what to do with you. I'm in the position where I have to keep finding new editors. I have to keep finding new publishers. And that's part of the price you pay, I think.

I mean, I cannot get away with, say, with what Dan Simmons can get away with. He's certainly written different kinds of books. But apparently, there are enough people who want to buy a Dan Simmons novel that that doesn't really matter. And so I'm just hoping that eventually I'll get to the point where it doesn't matter, because I just simply like to write different kinds of novels. And I enjoy each one for what it is, and I try to follow the rule for what that particular kind of book is, too, and that particular kind of story.

So when it comes to writing different kinds of genres, do you find that the historical novel requires more research, or is research an important part of any novel?

Research is an important part of any work, and you also have to know when to stop doing the research, because the research often becomes the greatest excuse ever for never finishing anything. You're always going to do more than you have to do. I'll give you an example with Climb the Wind. I was running so close to the deadline throughout, because I had been hoping I could write my third Venus novel before I wrote this. Then the publisher decided they wanted Climb the Wind first. So I was in a position of having to do what I call guerrilla research. I already had done enough so that I knew I could write without fear and I could write without violating known history. Then I would keep reaching points, "OK, now I have to know about this." And I would go running off to the library. I would go running off to the New York State Archives to look at something. And it was that kind of a thing. And frankly, I think it's probably the kind that a lot of writers at some point have to engage in as they're finishing a book. Because otherwise, if you have to do all the research before you start, you will never finish.