Questions and Answers
Short bio?
-- Hmmm. Born in France in 1953; have lived there, in Europe, Kenya, and North America; currently resident in Santa Fe, NM. I've been writing full-time since 1988.
What are you currently working on?
-- I've just finished DIES THE FIRE, the first in a series I'm doing for ROC Books, a Penguin imprint. It's an alternate-history SF novel about a mysterious change which happens in 1998, and it's (very slightly) related to the ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME series.
DIES THE FIRE be out in August of 2004, and will be followed by THE PROTECTOR'S WAR and A MEETING AT CORVALLIS.
Is there a book or story you wish you had written?
-- CAPTAIN BLOOD, by Rafael Sabatini.
Is writing your full time occupation, if not what is?
-- yes.
What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance?
-- my first professional sale was a short story for an anthology Jim Baen was putting together back in the mid-1980's. I felt rather odd about it, because he telephoned me and told me the ending was rather ambiguous, though he liked the story otherwise.
It took a few minutes before I realized I'd left off the last page when I sent him the manuscript!
Who is you favourite author?
-- Poul Anderson.
If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be author, what would it be?
-- don't write unless you're doing it for its own sake.
When did you first decide that you wanted to be an author?
-- sometime before I was 10 years old.
When did you first feel that you were an author?
-- when I started finishing things.
Are you for or against e-books?
-- that depends on whether copyright protection problems can be solved. That said, yes.
Are you a music fan? If so, what?
-- contemporary Folk and world-music.
SF, Skiffy or Sci-Fi? What is the correct shortening of Science Fiction and does it matter?
-- I'm totally indifferent, but tend to use SF out of habit.
Do you have a favourite place to write?
-- my office. It's the reason we bought the house; at last there was enough bookshelf space.
Do you enjoy book signings/conventions?
-- some; others are more a matter of work. Generally speaking I like conventions; I met my wife at one, and proposed to her at another.
Why do you like SF/F/H?
-- because of the sense of limitless possibility, together with the acceptance of variety. Conventional "literary" fiction has become entirely too tight-arsed for my taste. Which is not to say that I don't read some, of course.
What book are you reading at the moment?
-- non-fiction, mostly; and a manuscript copy of one of Eric Flint's time-travel novels. Getting things early is one of the perks of the job!
Do you prefer writing about the near future or the far distant future?
-- either the far distant future, or alternative histories, other dimensions, and so forth. Near-future prediction requires too much hubris, or that one ignore the embarassments that other SF authors have let themselves in for.
As a reader do you prefer Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
-- all three, in roughly that order.
Do you have a scientific background?
-- only as an interested amateur. My academic background is in literature and history.
Do you get inspiration from recent scientific discoveries and theories?
-- yes.
What are your thoughts on writing for shared world series such as Dragonlance and Star Trek?
-- it's not as much fun as doing your own stuff, in my experience.
Do you enjoy collaborating?
-- that depends entirely on the collaborator!
Do You Always know a Story's Ending When You Begin Writing?
-- usually, but often only in a general sense.
Why do you think SF gets a bad press?
-- cliquish elitism and snobbery, mainly.
What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work?
-- "S.M. Stirling is writing some of the best straight-ahead SF that the genre has ever seen."
Is there something you are particularly proud of?
-- enduring eight years of part-time jobs with no guarantee I'd ever be able to make a living at writing. Of work-related things, that is, not personal matters.
Many thanks!
Relevant LinksS.M. Stirling Main Bibliography
S.M. Stirling's Website