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When one looks in the box, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the cat.

Reactor

I have had a long standing love for Doctor Who, dating back to middle school when I was watching Tom Baker episodes. The nice thing about a time traveler is that he can turn up anywhere so… in each of my historical fantasy novels—Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, and Without a SummerI’ve inserted an unspoken cameo from the Doctor.

My rule is that I can slide these private jokes in only if they don’t interrupt the story.

opens in a new windowShades of Milk and Honey Mary Robinette Kowal

For instance, in Shades of Milk and Honey:

It seemed forever before the surgeon arrived. When he did, Dr. Smythe strode straight into the room, without so much as taking off his greatcoat.

The good doctor often uses the pseudonym Dr. John Smith. In my head, this was the Third Doctor, living in the Regency for a time. I thought that Lady FitzCameron would find the name “Smith” too common and insist on spelling it Smythe. It’s sheer silliness, of course but the Doctor has hopped universes before, so what’s to say that he couldn’t wind up in my version of the Regency? It’s subtle and mostly in my head.

opens in a new windowGlamour in Glass Mary Robinette Kowal

However… when it came time to write the sequel, Glamour in Glass, I was a little bolder and inserted the Tenth Doctor into the novel.

Before Jane could decide on the merits of this argument, voices and footsteps in the hall announced the arrival of the doctor, a tall, slender fellow, with a shock of dark hair. He was younger than she expected a doctor to be, but exuded such an air of confidence that Jane could not help but trust him. Settling himself on a chair at her bedside, he produced a pair of horn spectacles and slipped them over his ears.

Yes. I am a complete geek.

In Without a Summer, the Second Doctor makes an appearance as, “a man in his middle years with ruffled black hair” and uses one of his other pseudonyms, Dr. McCrimmon. Now, I’m normally a stickler for attempting to use language that is period correct. When I showed this scene to my editor, she flagged a word as being an anachronism by a hundred years or so. That’s because I had decided to allow the doctor to use language from the future.

opens in a new windowWithout a Summer Mary Robinette Kowal

That’s not as much of a giveaway as this next bit:

The doctor stood and cleared his throat. “I have some things to attend to in the back, if you will pardon me.” No one paid him any mind as he slipped behind the curtain leading to the back of the shop, which appeared to be bigger on the inside than Jane would have suspected.

I don’t expect anyone to notice these, unless I point them out. In fact, if you do, then I’ve done it wrong. But still… how can you not want a little bit of Doctor Who in your Regency fantasy? I mean, as an author I’m given license to create a universe as I see fit. It’s not complete without a Time Lord.

Is there a Doctor planned for the fourth book? Yes, and Lord Byron is his companion.


Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, Without a Summer, and the 2011 Hugo Award-winning short story “For Want of a Nail.” Her short fiction appears in Clarkesworld, Cosmos and Asimov’s. Mary, a professional puppeteer, lives in Portland, OR.

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Mary Robinette Kowal

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Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of The Glamourist Histories: Shades of Milk and Honey, Glamour in Glass, Without A Summer, Valour and Vanity, and Of Noble Family (Tor 2015). In 2008 she won the Campbell Award for Best New Writer. In 2011, her short story "For Want of a Nail" won the Hugo Award for Short Story, and her "Lady Astronaut of Mars" won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2014. Her work has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, Tor.com, and several Year's Best anthologies as well as in her collection Scenting the Dark and Other Stories from Subterranean.

Mary, a professional puppeteer and voice actor, has performed for LazyTown, the Center for Puppetry Arts, Jim Henson Pictures and founded Other Hand Productions. Her designs have garnered two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve. She also records fiction for authors such as Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi.

She served two terms as the Vice President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Mary lives in Chicago with her husband Rob and over a dozen manual typewriters.

Wikipedia |www.maryrobinettekowal.com | Goodreads

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