A Conversation With Pat Cadigan
An interview with Jakob Schmidt
On the evolution of Cyberpunk:
"When Cyberpunk started, the desktop computer was still a fairly new idea. Now everybody's got one. Not only has everybody got one, but everyone either has a palm pilot or a laptop or both. Cyberpunk isn't dead, it's just much more part of everybody's day-to-day existence. So naturally, the way you write about these things changes. You don't go on writing about the impact of the telephone on society. There is no impact of the telephone on society any more. The telephone is part of the standard furniture of our lives. So if you write about the telephone, you don't write about its impact on society as a whole -- unless of course you're writing historical fiction."

Pat Cadigan
An interview with David Mathew
On finding titles:
"Titles should encapsulate everything about the project you're working on, and to be honest, titles have never been my strong point. Meaning: I've always found them a little bit tough to do. Tea from an Empty Cup is obviously a pretty long title, but it's not as long as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, so I think I'm okay. None of my publishers liked "Bunraku."

A Conversation With Mike Carey
An interview with Matthew Peckham
On characters:
"In a broader and more banal sense, too, I use human characters in almost every story line to provide an anchor for the reader, so that the story doesn't lose itself in rarefied cosmic transactions. I try to make sure that there's always an emotional focus that's real and -- to some extent -- universal, running alongside the "mythical" narratives in a way that's a bit like a commentary track on a DVD."

A Conversation With Jonathan Carroll
An interview with Rodger Turner
On women:
"In my experience, women are the only organic, constantly changing labyrinths in life. You go in and after a while think you know where you're going -- only to walk into a dead end (or a minotaur) one turn or one hour later. At the same time, they are so utterly compelling and interesting to be around, that I don't mind bumping into their 'walls.'"

Enter the Dark Age: an interview with Mark Chadbourn
An interview with Sandy Auden
On duality:
"Much of my writing is about duality, how everything is defined by its opposite. You can only understand true goodness by seeing it in the context of evil. And the issues of hope, redemption and transcendence that I tackle in Devil In Green needed to be set against despair. That's why I love fantasy -- because it allows you to tackle big issues in a big way. Overcoming the worst possible scenario means you need the best possible abilities to do it. The issues become polarized, and therefore very clear."

Computer Viruses in Books: an interview with Mark Chadbourn
conducted by Sandy Auden
"Stories are the best way for transmitting ideas, because the ideas are put into a structure where they can sink deep into our subconscious, where memes do their work. One example that illustrates the power of stories to transmit memes is the TV series Hill Street Blues. Academic studies have noted police acted a certain way before the series was broadcast, and then subtly adjusted their behaviour, subconsciously, afterwards, so they acted more like the characters."

A Conversation With Ted Chiang
An interview with Lou Anders
On his 1st story winning a Nebula:
"Winning the Nebula was bewildering. After years of receiving form-letter rejections, suddenly winning an award like that made me wonder if something were wrong somewhere; it's okay for art to be surreal, but uncomfortable when real life is. And yes, afterwards I felt the weight of expectation on me, which made writing difficult for me. It was so difficult for me, in fact, that I found it easier to put all my energy into my day job..."

A Conversation With Alan M. Clark
An interview with Jeff VanderMeer
On the influence of the subconscious:
"The subconscious is not only important for me in my process, but it is equally important that the work props open the door to the subconscious within my audience. I dip into the subconscious every time I create a painting. I look for ways to access it, promoting free association, throughout the process of my work. The trick is to take the chaos of the subconscious and give it context, but not create such definition that the work closes the door on the audiences' subconscious."

A Walk in the Dark: an interview with Simon Clark
conducted by Sandy Auden
"Just look at the word horror, it's from the French word horreuse which means 'to bristle.' Looking at my dog, I try to look through his eyes sometimes. He's a creature who responds at an emotional and purely instinctive level, rather than at an intellectual level. If something scares him, his fur literally bristles. When he sees something that frightens or disturbs him, he's pulling away but he's also looking at it, he's fascinated by what it is."

A Conversation With Susanna Clarke, Part 2
An interview with Steven H Silver
On non-fiction related to Joanthan Strange and Mr Norrell:
"On the historical side, Elizabeth Longford, I would think. And a lot of memoirs of the Peninsula and Wellington. On the fairy tale side, I would think anything by Katherine M. Griggs, who was the collector and folklorist in the mid-twentieth century who collected together what was left of the fairy lore on the British Isles."

A Conversation With Susanna Clarke, Part 1
An interview with Steven H Silver
On serendipity while researching:
"There was a wonderful bit about Waterloo. All these people came out to watch Waterloo from Brussels. It was very, very dangerous, but apparently they didn't care. A lot of Wellington's messengers, his aides-de-camp, were being killed. He had no one to deliver his orders, so he used civilians. He got them to deliver his orders, and one of them was a commercial traveler for Birmingham Button manufacturer. He had been wandering around getting orders for buttons on the battlefield of Waterloo. "

A Conversation With John Clute
An interview with Ernest Lilley
On his first taste of SF:
"The first science fiction story I read that I knew was a science fiction story when I read it was "The Variable Man" by Philip K Dick, in (I think) Space Science Fiction, in 1953. Like Proust's Madeleine, the smell of the books and magazines of the early 50s yanks me backwards, face burning with the speed of time, to that better world."

A Conversation With Glen Cook
An interview with Jeff VanderMeer
On advice for beginning writers:
"This is the easiest answer of all. Write. Don't talk about writing. Don't tell me about your wonderful story ideas. Don't give me a bunch of 'somedays.' Plant your ass and scribble, type, keyboard. If you have any talent at all, it will leak out despite your failure to pay attention in English. And if you didn't pay attention, learn. A carpenter needs to know how to use a hammer, level, saw, and so forth. You need to know how to use the tools of writing."

Elaine Cunningham
An interview with Don Bassingthwaite
In the last issue, Don did a review of Thornhold by Elaine Cunningham, the last book in The Harpers series from TSR. Because the series concluded with her book, Don has asked Elaine to share some of her thoughts on The Harpers and on her books within the series.

A Conversation With Julie Czerneda
An interview with Kim Fawcett
On the biggest challenge to become a SF writer:
"Learning what I needed to do after writing the book -- and then having the patience to do it. You see, I didn't know anything about fiction publishing when I started out, so the challenge was teaching myself about the business side. If I'd known then about science fiction conventions -- or been on the Internet -- that might not have been such an uphill climb. Once I did meet people who could talk to me about who published what, what was involved, all those things, then it was a case of being very patient. Publishing is definitely hurry up and wait. Fortunately, I was busy writing science non-fiction which made the waiting part a little easier."