Questions and Answers What are you currently working on? Mostly I'm working to get the word out about Tritcheon Hash. This is my first book, so I'm not exactly a household name. But I'm also working on my next novel, entitled The Textile Planet. It's about a woman who works on (surprise!) the Textile Planet. It's a very healthy story: lots of fiber. Who (Fact or Fiction) would you most like to meet, and what would you ask them? Dagney Taggart, I'd like to ask her if she really believes there is only one composer of merit today. Is there a book or story you wish you had written? I wish I had written Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. In my opinion, this is the perfect short story: well-plotted and themed. Nice feel to it. Not too long, not too short and strange to boot. What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance? Part A: I was given a column to write in a now-defunct songwriting magazine. The Internet was just becoming a tool for for everyday use and my column examined ways to use it for exposure. Part B: It felt great. Who is your favorite author? No favorite, but I have a list of favorites: Joyce Carol Oates, Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck, Ayn Rand, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson. Are you a music fan? If so, what? Yes, and in fact, before I started writing seriously, I had a band. We played blues-rock and traveled around on the eastern seaboard playing little bars and nightclubs. I eventually started songwriting and that led to fiction writing which is infinitely easier and cheaper to do than run a band, so I quit music. I had three CDs and I'm willing to send any or all of them to anybody that asks for them, free o' charge. Just email me through my website: http://www.tritcheonhash.com and request. Seriously. I have to get rid of these things, they're crowding the basement which floods every once in a while. Why do you like SF? Because of all the possibility. You can make up stuff that couldn't possibly happen. You can create worlds that will never in a million years be. And take it seriously. Besides, I like strange. What book are you reading at the moment? Grave Goods, by John P. O'Grady and Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse. Is there anything else that can be done with Alien Invasion, Time Travel or Robots? Pshaw! Better to ask if anything more can be done with boy meets girl, dying family member, rags to riches, the road to enlightenment. Authors keep dragging out those themes every year with no problems. There are only six plots in Hollywood, like they say; so we have to work with them. As a reader, do you prefer Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? I prefer Science Fiction. Do you have a science background? Yes, I graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in chemistry and biology, minor in geology. I worked for a while in the lab of the local nuke plant, now I experiment with tomatoes to feed my chem/bio jones. Do you get inspiration from recent scientific discoveries and theories? Yes, but not directly. I don't go out and write a story after some new science thing is in the news, but I will include items in my stories that are direct results of current research. Lots of genetic stuff right now, designer babies, that sort of thing. Why do you think SF gets a bad press? One of the biggest reason is because there's so much money to be made in the field. Not necessarily by the authors, but by the big houses. Whenever you have a lot of money at stake, you attract businessmen and once they get involved, the art goes right down the crapper. Formulas to repeat a success get followed religiously by technicians. Technicians are not great writers. Without great writers there is no great work. This big money thing leads to serialization. Soap opera is not great fiction. It's great entertainment, but it's not lasting. Megabook I, II and III makes money for author and publisher but it does nothing for the genre besides make it look silly. To be honest, though, so what? Does it matter if the genre is maligned. I know who writes well. I know who to read, and I get infinite pleasure finding the not-so-famous sf authors that are true gems. Steve, it's been great. We really need to do this again some time. Maybe on my side of the pond this time. This is Sue Lange, signing off. Many Thanks, Sue Relevant Links Sue Lange Main Bibliography Sue Lange's Website