Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

Posts Tagged ‘interview’

Interview: Ysabeau S. Wilce

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Thanks for agreeing to do the interview. Whether it’s your short stories or novels, I find that you have a unique style and voice that no one else in the field is doing. How did you develop your particular writing style?

Reading, reading and reading. I have a theory that you can’t be a good writer if you aren’t a great reader. And you must read lots of different things too, with no regard for one particular genre, or for high or low literature. Obviously, I have more of an affinity towards the rococo and melodramatic, but I think it’s important not to be too limited in my reading choices, so I will read almost anything. Immersion in reading helped me develop an ear for rhythm, and made my style second nature. Now I just sit down and start typing, and out it all comes!

All your fiction so far seems to be set in the world of Califa. How did you come up with this cosmology? How do you keep track of all your characters and locations and interactions?

Califa evolved over a long long time. In the beginning elements of Califa could be found in a role playing game that my friends and I were obsessed with in high school. Back then, Califa was not called Califa, and it was more medieval. Later, when I got interested in American history, Califa began to turn into more of a California cognate. I decided, as a point of ideology, to have all my fantasy based in American mythology and geography. In my opinion, pastoral Tolkien-type fantasy is already well-picked over and I wanted to do something new. As far as keeping track of people and places, I do not do so formally. It’s all in my head. Thankfully my editor is very good at picking up continuity errors!

Have you ever considered writing fiction that’s not set in your Califa setting?

I’ve considered it, but rejected the consideration for the moment. Right now I’m still having fun with Califa and its environs, and my readers seem happy to be exploring that world along with me. But at some point I’ll have to stretch into something new.

(Read the entire interview at NebulaAwards.com)

Tags: interview, Nebula, Ysabeau S. Wilce
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Interview: Gwyneth Jones

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Our sister-site, NebulaAwards.com, interviews Gwyneth Jones about her Nebula-nominated short story “The Tomb Wife”.

First off, what’s the appeal of science fiction for you?

It’s a way of thinking: basically, I’m insatiably curious. What is sex for? What do scientific revolutions look like? Why do human societies develop the way they do? What would be the consequences of a change that seems desirable? Or undesirable? Reading and thinking about (or otherwise consuming and creating) science fiction seems to tell me more about the world around me than any other art form.

Tags: Gwyneth Jones, interview, Nebula
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Interview: James Alan Gardner

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

From our sister site, NebulaAwards.com, comes an appealing interview with James Alan Gardner. It covers writing his Nebula nominated novelette “The Ray-Gun: A Love Story,” applied mathematics, publishing hurdles and interstellar travel

First off, what’s the appeal of science fiction for you?

Science fiction seems to be the only genre interested in large-scale events. I don’t just mean intergalactic wars and blowing up suns (although that stuff can be fun); I mean anything that leads to substantial changes in the world.

Consider, for example, how conventional literature would treat Einstein. It might talk about his home life or his relationships with other scientists; it might try to analyze what made him so brilliant; it might examine the psychological consequences of being idolized as the smartest man on Earth. What conventional literature *can’t* do is say, “This guy changed the world! This guy significantly altered how we look at ourselves and the universe.” Other genres of literature ignore everything but the personal.

Science fiction can and does do the personal—not always with nuance—but it also has bigger fish to fry. Its perennial message is, “The world of today is fleeting; it wasn’t here yesterday and won’t be here tomorrow.” Science fiction says the world can and will be changed by individuals, by societies, and by impersonal forces. That’s an enormously important message that other genres barely seem to notice, let alone address.

Tags: interview, James Alan Gardner, Nebula
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Interview: Mike Allen

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

At our sister site, NebulaAwards.com, Charles Tan talks with Nebula-nominated author, Mike Allen, about his story “The Button Bin.”

Let’s talk about your nominated story, “The Button Bin.” What was the inspiration behind the piece?

Years ago my wife and I were visiting a charming fabric shop at the center of an equally charming little mountain town. While she shopped I took a seat beside an immense bin – an RC Cola machine, I believe, lying on its back with its front and all the mechanical parts removed – filled to the top with every kind of button you could imagine. Like any decent primate attracted to shinies, I started to run my hand through it, discovered I could submerge my arm in buttons at least past the elbow.

Then, I wondered: what if I pulled my arm out and the buttons had attached themselves to my skin? What if I could then unbutton my flesh, see what my soul looks like?

It may say a lot about how dark my view of the world can be that the entire plot of “The Button Bin” exploded into existence inside my head right then and there.

Tags: Charles Tan, interview, Mike Allen, Nebula
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Nebula Awards: Richard Bowes 2009 Interview

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

From our sister site, nebulaawards.com, comes an interview with Nebula nominee, Richard Bowes who was nominated for his novelette “If Angels Fight.”

When you were a kid, did you ever imagine that you’d be a writer?

Writing wasn’t that alien a career when I was growing up. My father was an editor and ended up writing high school textbooks. My mother wrote for TV in Boston in the 1950’s. A couple of her uncles were well known Irish authors. One of them was Liam O’Flaherty who wrote the Informer.

I’d had a lot of problems in school – dyslexia among other things. If something really interested me I’d read it compulsively. Otherwise it was slow torture. But I could always talk and always write – express myself in words.

When I was in my late teens I decided that I wanted to write and my parents were good with it. There was no immediate way they could see me getting killed writing – unlike some of my other interests. Unfortunately once I decided to write, I froze and couldn’t write at all.

I’d flunked out of the first college I’d gone to. At the next one I took a writing class and the teacher Mark Eisenstein was great at getting blocked kids started. Years later I wrote a novella called “My Life in Speculative Fiction” about that time and that experience. It’s in my collection Streetcar Dreams and Other Midnight Fancies and in an earlier out-of-print collection Transfigured Night and Other Stories.

Check out the whole interview.

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