Mary Robinette Kowal
@MaryRobinette
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'Mary Robinette' like 'Mary Anne.' Nebula & Hugo-awarded author, puppeteer, & narrator (she/her)
Nashville, TN
Joined January 2008
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Other places to find me.
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When I lived in Iceland, I found a lump. I had no idea how to navigate finding a doctor, so I went to our show's production manager.
Me: I found a lump. Can you help me find a doctor?
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: Okay. How do a get a referral?
PM: What's a referral?
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Let's talk about peeing in space.
Several people, in response to my NY Times essay, have said that women couldn't go into space because we lacked the technology for them to pee in space.
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Forty-five minutes after walking into the Icelandic Cancer Center and 3 krónur poorer, I had the answer.
In the US, a similar lump took two weeks and three different office visits.
I think about this every time I have to fight with medical insurance in the US.
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Me, talking a writer down from imposter syndrome: How long have you been writing?
Them: Three years.
Me: And how old are you?
Them: 28.
Me: Okay. So you're a level 28 human and a level 3 writer. How good were you as a level 3 human?
Them: Ooooooooh.
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Here's a thing 2020 got right.
A family member came out as trans. Everyone in my very Southern family switched to the new name and correct gender without resistance.
In private, there were requests to help remember.
One person said, "I don't want to be Rowling."
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PS for clarity, I used my surname, but I'm pretty sure it was my first name the entire time, because Iceland.
PPS Why don't all mammograms have warmers?
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Having accepted that I don't need a referral, I say, "How do I make an appointment?"
CC: An appointment? Yes, we can do that if your schedule is very busy, otherwise just come in.
Me: I don't need an appointment?
CC: You found a lump! You know your body, yes? Come in.
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So I go. The nurse checking me in apologizes because, since I'm not Icelandic, I'll have to pay for the visit.
It's 3 krónur.
That's 3 dollars at that point.
I pay and sit down to wait.
CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: You found a lump.
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It's not about adding diversity for the sake of diversity, it's about subtracting homogeneity for the sake of realism.
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After I explain what a referral is, he looks baffled.
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: But...referral?
He shrugs and hands me the phone number to the cancer center. I call and explain.
CC: A lump, ah yes. You should come in.
Me: Don't I need a referral?
CC: A what?
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The sheaths came in small, medium, and large. It turns out, the men were all saying that they needed a Large sheath.
They did not.
Subsequently, the astronauts called the sheaths were called "Extra-large," "Immense," and "Unbelievable."
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I've been in the building for about twenty minutes at this point when I'm strapped into the mammogram -- WHICH HAD WARMERS -- and she does her thing.
CC: There is something there, you are right. I want to see it with an ultrasound.
And then she leads me next door.
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She escorts me into an examining room and palpates the area.
CC: Yes, that does feel like a lump. Let's do a mammogram.
I prepare to hear about making an appointment for that.
CC: I'm sorry, but it's across the hall. Do you mind following me?
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She does the ultrasound and when we're finished, she tells me to get dressed and to meet her in the waiting room.
I head out to the changing room, put my top back on, and walk out to the waiting room. I sit down to wait.
CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: It is only cyst.
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Fun fact: When Sally Ride was preparing to go into space, NASA engineers asked her if 100 tampons would be the right number for a week.
She said, "No. That would not be the right number."
They cut it back to 50...
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PPPS I said 3 kronur, but it was actually 300 kronur. I got so used to throwing an imaginary decimal place in there to do conversions in my head that I botched it in the thread.
The bit about being it basically three bucks though, that was the point.
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Can we take a moment to talk about optimizing and gender?
Do you see the blue bar on the floor? Astronauts can tuck their feet under that or grab hold of it to stabilize themselves.
Luca has his feet tucked under it. Jessica does not.
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All of which is to say that the reason women didn't go into space had nothing to do with lacking the technology to pee.
We didn't have the technology for men to pee in space when they started either.
And some days, the best solution is still a diaper or a bag taped to the ass
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For the spacewalks, the Apollo astronauts were back to condoms that collected the pee in a bag in the suit.
Buzz Aldrin was the second man on the moon, but the first to pee there.
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Open the valve a fraction too late, and urine escaped to float around the cabin.
Open it too early and the vacuum of space reached through the valve to grab your manhood.
Apparently, the venting of pee into space is very pretty. It catches the sunlight and sparkles.
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Peeing or pooping in space is now a lengthy process, involving a fan, a targeting system, and a fair amount of prayer.
Fun pooping in space fact: Without gravity, the poop doesn't break off as it exits your body. You have to reach back and help with special gloves.
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Fun fact: When Yuri Gargarin was on his way to the launch pad, he realized the suit-up had taken so long that he needed to pee. He got out of the truck and peed on the tire.
Every astronaut to launch from Baikonur since has done the same.
Women squat or carry a vial of pee.
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Also, you should read Kelly's story for contrast.
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During a malfunction, it is also possible for a giant floating globe of pee to exit the toilet.
Fun fact: Due to chemicals, it is bright purple and acidic.
Fun fact: Poop regularly escapes, which is why you never eat a milk dud found floating in the ISS.
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Fun fact: Gravity creates most of the sense of urgency for peeing, so in microgravity, astronauts can't always tell when they need to go.
It's such a complicated process that they pee on a schedule.
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Talking with a 83-year-old. He said, "We were watching 'Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I hadn't seen in years. Mickey Roonie's character. I don't remember him being-- well, I was going to say 'obnoxious,' but the right word is racist."
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What about periods in space? - According to women who have been there, "It's just like a period on Earth."
It turns out menstrual blood moves via a wicking action. Gravity can speed that up, but is unnecessary.
Also, tampons exist.
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Finally, a decade later, NASA decides to send women into space. NOW they have a reason to come up with how to handle peeing in space if you don't have a penis.
To launch and for a spacewalk, they developed the MAG
Maximum Absorbency Garment.
It's a diaper.
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One of my least favorite things is when someone is rude to me when they think I'm a random volunteer or a "baby" writer and then suddenly becomes charming when they realize who I am.
I'm the same person. Both times.
What's changed is my opinion of you.
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FAQ: Erections in space? Officially, it's never happened.
However, according to Mike Mullane in his book, Riding Rockets, he woke most mornings on the shuttle with his "wooden puppet friend"
"I had an erection so intense it was painful. I could have drilled through kryptonite."
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Addendum with some FAQs:
What about Farting in space? - It does not propel you. Astronauts have tried.
What about belching? - Gravity keeps food at the bottom of the stomach. Burps in space tend to be accompanied by solid matter
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Launchpad delays meant that Shepherd hit a point where he needed to go. Badly.
He asked Mission Control for permission to go in his suit. After consultation with flight surgeons & suit technicians, they gave him permission to do so.
So he wet himself & still went into space.
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When the Mercury program was proposed, doctors were worried that people would not be able to urinate or even swallow without the aid of gravity.
And yet, they still made plans to send a man into space.
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When Alan Shepherd became the first American man to go into space, it was scheduled to be a fifteen-minute mission.
Up.
Hello space!
Back down.
They made no plans for peeing.
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Self-promotion Disguised as a Fun Fact: In my novel
#TheFatedSky
, I have an ENTIRE CHAPTER about a zero-g toilet repair complete with spinning globe of urine.
Alas, I had not yet learned that it should be bright purple so it is merely amber.
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The men switched over to using those because it was more comfortable and less prone to leave pee floating around the cabin than the condom sheath.
They also developed a zero-G toilet so that astronauts no longer had to tape a bag to their ass.
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It's a small thing, bars on the floor & the distance between rails. Obviously, Jessica has found ways to compensate.
But she *has* to compensate. Space wasn't optimized for her.
It's the astronaut version of Ginger Rogers, doing everything Astaire did, but backward & in heels.
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They had to tape a bag to their ass to poop.
That worked well for Gemini and Mercury. And by well, I mean there was still urine in the capsule and it stank of feces.
Apollo needed a different solution.
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Thanks to everyone who built a foundation made of painful conversations.
Even with social distancing, this year my family member got to come home.
For real.
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I can't stop thinking about this.
@Astro_Cady
's son saw a spacesuit picture with the visor down.
Son: Mommy, is that you in that spacesuit?
Cady: I don’t think so, sweetie.
Him: Well, if it’s not you, then whose mommy is it?
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Later, they solved this problem by developing a sheath, that looked much like a condom.
It worked great in testing, but when the actual astronauts used it, the sheath kept blowing off and leaving them with pee in their suits.
Was this about extended time in the spacesuit?
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#DearMickey
#DisneyMustPay
royalties to
#AlanDeanFoster
.
@WaltDisneyCo
argue that they acquired the rights but not the obligations to his novels.
If a publisher can break a contract by selling it to a sibling company, this could affect every writer.
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The fastest option was to store it in the collection bags they wore in their suits. Haise kept his on for hours and hours, basically bathing in pee.
He got a UTI and then a kidney infection.
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Alas, they still had to poop into a bag, but for peeing, they could slip on a condom attached to a valve, turn the valve and have their urine sucked into the vacuum of space.
If you timed it right.
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Someone has waited their entire life to write this headline.
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It will never stop pissing me off that men get credit for their "realistic and sensitive" protrayal of women, and women never fucking get credit for writing men.
Dude. I'll realistically and sensitively portray your ass. Any day.
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For those having difficulty replacing handshakes with other forms of greeting, might I offer a suggestion.
I present a gentle reminder that society already has a form of greeting that eschews contact and we need not invent something as ungainly as elbow bumping.
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Peeing is a little more straightforward. It's basically a funnel, a tube, a bag, and a fan for suction.
Sometimes though, the toilet breaks down. At that point, they return to using "relief bags" taped to their ass and "manual urine containment."
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During Apollo13, everyone who has seen the movie knows that Fred Haise got sick. Do you know why, though?
After the accident, they couldn't use the regular vent, because it needed to be heated to keep the pee from freezing.
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The alternate system caused droplets to float around the ship. Mission Control told them to stop dumping pee.
It wasn't meant to be a permanent ban, but the crew didn't understand that. So they were stashing pee in every bag or container possible.
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The family member texted before arriving. "How do I handle telling [x]?"
"He already knows and is practicing using the right pronouns. He wants to use [childhood nickname] so he doesn't screw up."
A decade ago?
There would have been mockery and resistance.
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When we're talking about unconscious bias, it's this kind of very small thing.
It's not a huge deal, but it means that the women on the crew are constantly having to compensate just to do their jobs.
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Then we had a long conversation about the things that he used to think were funny and the jokes that he now regrets telling. "I think I hurt people, but nobody ever told me."
In case you needed a reminder that being old is not an excuse for being racist.
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Look. Some of my best friends are men. I'm married to a man. But men make up less than 50% of the population and only about 20% of the fiction market.
Why spend time catering to such a niche market?
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Let's talk about spacesuits, specifically Extravehicular Mobility Units, and being a
#ladyastronaut
.
The EMUs on the ISS were designed more than 40 years ago, with a 15-year shelf life.
11 of the original 18 are still in use.
Only 4 are on the ISS.
Those are the only EMUs.
Wow, looks like NASA's first all women spacewalk has been canceled.
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The tl;dr version is that he wasn't fired for the content of the books. He was fired because his tweets were "too much politics, too much vulgarity, too much negativity."
The politest thing I can say in response is fuck that noise.
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NEVER use the excuse "product of their time." If my Southern Baptist, 103-year old Grandma could understand transgender, so can you. 5/5
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A panel moderator asked, "With a female protagonist, how much do you worry about making the book appeal to male readers?"
About as much as a male writer worries about writing books that appeal to women.
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Sets today are still built and optimized for a 6'3" man, even though Henson died in the 90s.
No one made the decision to hire more men than women. It comes as a direct causal chain from that initial optimization.
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Fantasy is when you treat magic like science and science fiction is when you treat science like magic.
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Space is accessible to everyone on that crew.
It's optimized for the men.
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I think we've got the order of words wrong. It's not social distancing, it's distance socializing.
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I just sold a story I wrote in 2005. It was a super-specific flash. Multiple rejections. Trunked.
A themed anthology opened and I was like... hey. I wonder. Cleaned the story up. Sent it off.
Sold.
NEVER DELETE ANY STORY.
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Grandma was born in 1905. One time she was showing me picture of 4 little girls, and paused, "Course, that was before Norma was a boy." 1/
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Reader: She doesn't explain how the astronauts are protected from radiation in Fated Sky, therefore, they must all be dead! Bad science!
Me: I also don't explain how refrigerators work. OH NO ALL THE FOOD IS SPOILED NOW. Bad science, no biscuit.
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Every year for the past 30 some years, my family does a Christmas Talent Show. This year, my talent was a dramatic reading of the saga of Jean and
@JortsTheCat
.
With a puppet.
Everyone approved except their pug. I'm not sure if he objected to the sweet potato or the puppet.
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When the ISS was built, pretty much everyone involved was a white man. Not all, but certainly the majority of people.
Things were designed for a mixed crew, but *optimized* for their comfort. This has a cascading effect.
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"Nathaniel York is too perfect to be realistic."
Dear reviewer,
I am so sorry for the relationships you've had in your life. Nathaniel is based on my relationship with my husband.
Neither are perfect, but both are supportive.
Supportive is a real thing.
Sincerely,
Me
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On Friday, my cousin died alone in the hospital with COVID-19. They would not let her daughter speak to her to try to save her oxygen. They would not let her speak to anyone. This is a horrifying way to die.
"Virtually nobody?" The ripple effects of her loss affect many people.
"It affects virtually nobody," Trump says of the coronavirus, which has now killed 200,000 Americans and counting
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We are not celebrating July 4th tomorrow due to supply chain issues which has limited the amount of freedom available.
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FYI... I've been married for 18 years a man who does not read my work. It hasn't hurt my career or my marriage.
There are so many other ways to support a writer.
He prioritizes my writing time. He ask the right questions. He's happy for my successes & sympathetic for the rest.
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Let me illustrate this with puppetry.
Jim Henson was 6'3"
The Muppet sets were optimized to make him comfortable.
When they hired puppeteers, the people who had the easiest time were also over 6'.
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Every time people complain about the diversity in Calculating Stars I just want to scream THESE ARE BASED ON REAL PEOPLE WHO WERE REALLY IN THE SPACE PROGRAM IN THE 1950s.
The 21st century did not invent black people.
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This is true for space as well.
If we don't look at the way things were optimized when astronauts were all white men, we'll wind up repeating it.
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When we are on set, we have to wear platform sneakers just to be tall enough to get a puppet into frame. That affects our mobility. That affects our performance.
When you look at a list of Muppet performers, it heavily skewed male.
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Grandma was born in 1905 and I asked her once if she remembered the Spanish Flu.
She would have been about 13, but she remembered. "Everyone knew someone who had died."
When I asked, it just was research for a book. Now, I keep thinking "Everyone will know someone who dies."
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We bought five small greenhouses so that my dad can play music with his buddies outside.
They've been able to do so this summer, but the weather is turning.
With small space heaters, they'll be relatively warm and dry through the winter.
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This is a picture of my cat, Sadie.
Why?
Because I need a pallet cleanser from the very predictable responses telling me that gender bias doesn't exist.
How's your pet?
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Sadie died sometime in the night. We don't know why. She was playful and her usual opinionated self yesterday.
Sadie was a rescue from the Critical Animal Relief Foundation. If you would make a donation to them, that would be a kindness.
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Anyone else thinking that the covid19 outbreak in the US, when it comes, is going to be worse than other industrial nations because our healthcare system means that people can't afford to go to the doctor?
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At some point, they realized that they didn't have a lot of women performers. They wanted to add more, but had a hard time finding people who could work in the sets.
Being over 6' is rare for women, fyi.
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Elsie has brought her favorite toy to you and asks you to stop writing and play. On a scale of one to ten, how doomed is your deadline?
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All of which is to say that I'm very okay with the astronauts deciding to be safe.
I'm less okay with the causal chain that forced that decision.
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So happy!
#CongratsChristina
!
There is truly no place like our home: Earth.
After 328 days in space,
@Astro_Christina
has returned.
#CongratsChristina
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I sold my first novel the day before my 40th birthday.
Norman Maclean published his debut novel A River Runs Through It when he was 74. His second novel? He was 90.
The youngest writer to win a fiction Hugo was 23.
Age is unrelated to skill or talent.
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I guarantee that if I wrote a story about Black women in 1899 studying the Earth's rotation around the sun at university, I'd get multiple people slamming me for an unrealistic story with an "agenda."
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Me: Hi, I'm Mary Robinette. Nice to meet you.
Them: Hi, Mary.
Me: Actually it's 'Mary Robinette.'
Them: Got it. So, Mary, we were...
Me: Mary Robinette. Like Mary Anne. I'm named after both grandmothers.
Them: That's really long. What do you go by for short?
Me: Mary Robinette
What's the biggest problem you have with your name?
My biggest problem?
Me: "Hi, I'm Marcus. Nice to meet you."
Business people: "Hi, Marcus. Do you go by Mark?"
Me: "No. If I did then don't you think I'd introduce myself as that?"
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If you are a textile nerd like me, I present to you the Instagram process photos of
@FLOTUS
's Inauguration evening gown and coat ensemble.
Federal flowers from every state and territory of the United States of America are HAND EMBROIDERED on it.
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I've done the same thing Scalzi has and it has often resulted in them hiring a man. For more money.
As a freelancer, I would write pretty much anything, but not for just any rate. When I quoted my rate, some prospective clients would say "that's a lot," and I would say "Yes" and nothing else. I very rarely didn't get the gig. Putting a value on my work was key.
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Dear Middle-Aged Rotund Man at 2am in the Denver Airport,
I see you dancing like no one is watching. I am. Thank you for the dose of joy.
And because you think no one is watching, I'm not going to be an asshole and record you for the internet. Keep dancing, sir!
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Ready to watch a couple of women do a spacewalk?
I have been waiting for this for a long, long time.
LIVE NOW: Tune in to watch the first
#AllWomanSpacewalk
in human history! 👩🏻🚀
Starting at approximately 7:50am ET,
@Astro_Christina
&
@Astro_Jessica
venture into the vacuum of space to replace a failed power controller. Watch:
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To join SFWA, "Qualifying works must be in the English language in science fiction, fantasy, horror and *related genres.*"
Romance writers are our cousins.
Ghost? = fantasy or horror trope
Premonition? = fantasy trope
Scientific discovery = SF
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As an audiobook narrator, I frequently have to pronounce names that are unfamiliar to me. Here are some steps I take to make sure that I'm getting them right.
1. I ask the author for a pronunciation guide. Ideally it is print and recorded.
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The TSA agent knew what a Nebula award was and just congratulated me.
#marygoround
Have a drink.
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@Fizzhogg
This entire thread is wrong.
Hi. I'm a multiple-Hugo award-winning author and I also deal with depression. The days that I don't write are because I'm ill.
The fact that I was able to pursue a career is BECAUSE of my safety net, not in spite of it.
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And then she has curled up and gone to sleep until I'm done and say "all done talk working."
You might think the miracle is that my cat can talk and understand. That is not it.
MY CAT DID WHAT I ASKED HER TO. Four days in a row.
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