"[14] Willis's first published story was "The Secret of Santa Titicaca" in Worlds of Fantasy, Winter 1970 (December).

[15] At least seven stories followed (1978–81) before her debut novel, Water Witch by Willis and Cynthia Felice, published by Ace Books in 1982.

[15] After receiving a National Endowment for the Arts grant that year, she left her teaching job and became a full-time writer.

[16] Scholar Gary K. Wolfe has written, "Willis, the erstwhile stand-up superstar of SF conventions—having her as your MC is like getting Billy Crystal back as host of the Oscars—and the author of some of the field's funniest stories, is a woman of considerably greater complexity and gravity than her personal popularity reflects, and for all her facility at screwball comedy knock-offs and snappy parody, she wants us to know that she's a writer of some gravity as well.

She often weaves technology into her stories in order to prompt readers to question what impact it has on the world.

When she asked the question a second time, Ellison put the microphone in his mouth, to the crowd's laughter.