A Conversation With Rick Riordan
An interview with Steven H Silver
On merging Greek and Egyptian mythology:
" It wasn't too difficult [to merge Greek and Egyptian mythology] because historically the Greeks and the Egyptians were merging
their mythologies for centuries, that's the Ptolomaic dynasty, that's what it was all about. So that really was my stepping
point: Ptolomy and when the Greeks took over Egypt, how they, in fact, tried to merge the mythologies, so that was kind of
my stepping off point."
A Conversation With Jim Burns
An interview with Sandra Scholes
On the covers for A Song of Ice and Fire:
"I did create all four of the covers for the very first editions of the series A Song of Ice and Fire of
which A Game of Thrones is Volume 1. This was in the U.K. in the late 90s. They were heavily worked pieces with lots of bonkers
detail and real wood veneers. I almost had a nervous breakdown over those! I didn't work directly with George on these. Although
I did know him slightly."
A Conversation With Reggie Oliver
An interview with Nick Gevers
On evoking the detail, atmosphere and diction of past eras:
"This is really an extension of my fascination with acting. I have always loved writing and speaking in different voices, and
the voices of the past in particular. Learning parts in plays that come from a different era is a wonderful way of getting inside
the style and thought of that age. Some people imagine that our capacity for self-expression increases and widens with each
generation. This is not so. You can sometimes say things in seventeenth or eighteenth century English that would be practically
impossible to express in a contemporary idiom."
A Conversation With Jack McDevitt, Part 2
An interview with Patrick Smith
On villains:
"I'm not big on villains. I'm not an enthusiast about detective stories generally, but I like Holmes a great
deal. I'm also a fan of Chesterton's Father Brown. The magic in the Father Brown stories never had to do with -- and I think
this is a weakness of Holmes, who is always after the guy who did it -- what the hell happened here? In one Father Brown story,
the body of a man is found on the fifteenth floor of a skyscraper. Door's locked from the inside, no other high buildings anywhere
in the area, and he's got an arrow through his heart. There's an open window. So how the hell did that happen?"
A Conversation With Jack McDevitt, Part 1
An interview with Patrick Smith
On Saturday movie serials:
"I was vaguely annoyed with Flash Gordon, because he had this great rocket ship -- which, by the way, had no airlock and no
washroom; I don't know how you go to Mars with no washroom -- but anyhow, he had this great rocket ship with a whole galaxy
to explore, and all he did was get involved in fights. I thought, Boy, I'd love to have one of these rocket ships where I
could travel and look around. Why don't you go somewhere and look at stuff, instead of fighting with this guy who
looks like one of my uncles?"
A Conversation With Ted Kosmatka
An interview with Dave Truesdale
On the science aspects of the story:
"I've always been fascinated by the big questions in life. Where do we come from? How did we get to be the way
that we are? Religion and science both seek to answer these questions, and they arrive at their answers from very
different directions, so this novel was a way for me to put them both on the same playing field, forcing them to
face each other. (I gave religion the home court advantage; it was here first after all)."
A Conversation With Kathleen Goonan
An interview with Danielle Davis
On being led to write science fiction:
"I have to say it was probably my dad's influence -- he was an electrical engineer and an avid science fiction
reader. Science fiction novels were around the house for most of the 50s and 60s. I grew up thinking it is the ultimate
form of intellectual literature. When I began writing science fiction, I had to take a crash course in science, because I
am not the least bit technical."
Fate of Worlds: An Interview with Edward M. Lerner
An interview with Dave Truesdale
On his favourite character:
"Sigmund Ausfaller, the paranoid intelligence agent, was a shadowy figure in some of Larry's early stories, more plot device than character. Those stories were written
in first person, from Beowulf's point of view, and we learned little about Sigmund. After Sigmund's starring role
throughout the Fleet series, however, we know all about him. It turns out (and I say this from reader
feedback, not merely expressing authorial opinion) that paranoia doesn't preclude a protagonist being charming and sympathetic."
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Black Bottle: An Interview with Anthony Huso
An interview with Dave Truesdale
Setting the stage for Black Bottle:
"Caliph's and Sena's story begins at a straight-laced college. It's all very sinister and oppressive since the
institution teaches holomorphy, which is a kind of blood-math. Holomorphy is essentially pseudo-science/sorcery of Lovecraftian
bent. Caliph and Sena each have unpleasant histories with this discipline, Caliph by way of his creepy uncle
Nathaniel (now deceased) and Sena through the witch coven that raised her.
Caliph and Sena have disparate and mostly vague plans for the future. This results in a collision of motives with each one more
or less using the other. Their whole relationship gets off on the wrong foot and by the time diplomas are handed out, it's a
perfectly dysfunctional affair.
Though they split up, lust, politics and the stirrings of possibly genuine affection draw Caliph and Sena together again as
the power couple at the center of Isca City."
A Conversation With Eric James Stone
An interview with Trent Walters
On advice to new writers:
"In addition to practicing your writing skills by writing, find ways of improving your skills by learning: attend
workshops/classes, read advice books, join a critique group, etc. Be willing to experiment with new ways of doing
things, but remember that not all advice applies to all writers and all stories. Find the advice that works for you,
and don't worry about the rest."
Energized: An Interview with Edward M. Lerner
An interview with Dave Truesdale
On drawbacks of electric cars:
"First, batteries are expensive and require
scarce materials. Replacing a petroleum cartel with a lithium cartel may shift wealth while leaving consumers no better
off. Second, batteries take time to recharge -- if you can find a charging station -- whereas there's a world-wide infrastructure
that lets drivers quickly refill their gas tanks. Recharging from a household power outlet (rather than with an expensive,
high-voltage charging station) is an overnight affair."
A Conversation With Kim Stanley Robinson
An interview with D. Douglas Fratz
On the genesis of the novel:
"I wanted to write a novel about a relationship between a mercurial character and a saturnine character, and I
wanted them to be from Mercury and Saturn respectively. That meant I had to describe a civilization that was
inhabiting Mercury and the Saturn system....
Once I got going, the project of describing where humanity might be three hundred years from now took
on equal interest for me, and became at least as important to the book as the original idea. The context of the
culture was crucial to making the story of the couple strong."
A Conversation With Paul Di Filippo
An interview with Trent Walters
On shaping narratives:
"I used to plot things out in much more detail than I do now. Of course, I was never someone like Poul Anderson
or Hal Clement who created immense binders of background info and character sheets for their projects. But I
still used to have step-by-step breakdowns for plots. Now I'm much more looser and organic. I usually know
beginnings and endings (mostly), and a few select key high points in between. But the passage from step stone
to stepstone is Brownian motion."
A Conversation With Douglas Lain
An interview with Trent Walters
On focus or goal of your writing:
"My goal as I set out was to be a writer and that was all. It was only through the pursuit of this practice that
any other goal formulated itself, and that goal is constantly morphing. Lately I've actually been more interested
in developing a consistent aesthetic or artistic stance beyond a vague surrealism."
A Conversation With Howard Andrew Jones
An interview with Steven H Silver
On partners:
"It is clear with all of these characters that they are stronger together than apart, and I definitely worked to show this with Dabir and Asim. Once
they learn to trust each other and work together in this book, they are greater than the sum of their parts.
I guess Asim came first, but only by a few seconds, because as soon as I could hear his voice, I knew he was
talking about the adventures he had with his scholarly friend."
A Conversation With Dan Abnett
An interview with Nathan Brazil
On which characters has been the most satisfying to write:
"I'd probably have to say some of the characters in the Gaunt's Ghosts or Inquisitor
series I write for Black Library. The first has run to thirteen books so far, the second six,
and you really begin to get to know characters when you've been writing them that long. It's like
working with good friends."
A Conversation With John Berlyne, Tim Powers, Peter Crowther and Dirk Berger
An interview with Sandy Auden
John Berlyne's Powers: Secret Histories is so much more than just a bibliography of Tim Powers' stories -- it's
a unique insight into the writing life of one of the most respected fantasy authors around. The project has been a
huge undertaking for Berlyne, taking nearly a decade to complete, and here he is joined by the book's artist Dirk
Berger, the publisher Pete Crowther and Tim Powers himself to discuss how the book came into being, the problems
with designing it, the artwork, the bodies buried in the garden and spilling beer.
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