© 2004 Mimika Cooney Ian Hocking works for the Higher Education Academy's Psychology Subject Centre at the University of York, UK, as a Web Development Officer. He completed a PhD in psycholinguistics at the University of Exeter. He is currently officially 'on a break' from Research while concentrating on writing. The themes in his writing include free will, religion, the impact of technology, the mind, and vanilla ice-cream Questions and Answers What are you currently working on? I'm currently working on a follow-up to my novel, Deja Vu. It's slow going, but fun. Otherwise, I still produce short fiction and the occasional journalistic piece. Who (Fact or Fiction) would you most like to meet, and what would you ask them? I would certainly like to meet Arthur C. Clarke. I discovered his work when I was very young and devoured practically all of it. Over a pint, I'd chat about the future, patents for geo-stationary orbits and being from the Westcountry. If I could meet a dead person, I would choose Douglas Adams. Is there a book or story you wish you had written? I wish I'd written Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell. It's a wonderful book that demonstrates a commitment to old-fashioned storytelling combined with a willingness to experiment with it. Mitchell is an author to watch. Is writing your full time occupation, if not what is? I'm a psychology teaching fellow at the University of Exeter, UK. I write in the evenings and at the weekends. What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance? My first professional sale came at the age of 17 when Cornwall Today accepted my short story 'Miss Tanner's Old School' for publication. Unfortunately, they folded about two weeks later before I could be paid! The story was eventually published last year (some ten years later) in Thirteen Magazine (http://www.thirteenmagazine.co.uk/). Who is you favourite author? My favourites shift, but there is definitely something about Hemmingway. If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be author, what would it be? Listen to your feedback. When did you first decide that you wanted to be an author? Probably around the age of thirteen. I found it straightforward to get A's in English and English Literature and figured, hell, how hard can it be? Answer: very. :-) When did you first feel that you were an author? I don't feel like an author. Perhaps when I receive my first royalty cheque. Are you for or against e-books? I'm for them, but the epublishing industry needs to maintain its drive for good editorial support of authors. We also need to see an improvement in the technologies available for ebook reading. SF, Skiffy or Sci-Fi? What is the correct shortening of Science Fiction and does it matter? I'm in favour of prison terms for people who use variants other than 'sci-fi'. Those who omit the hyphen should be subject to an on-the-spot fine. Do you have a favourite place to write? Yes. I write at a large bureau I picked up at Exeter's recycling centre for a fiver. It's against a blank wall in my study, so there's nowehere to look but at the computer screen. Do you enjoy book signings/conventions? I've been to one convention (Eastercon 2005) and it was quite exhausting, but in a good way. Why do you like SF/F/H? There's a quote from Asimov that SF is a genre interested in the changes that face mankind, and I can't improve on that. As for fantasy and horror, I like these purely because of their imaginative leaps. What book are you reading at the moment? I'm currently reading The Light Ages by Ian R. MacLeod. This is an ambitious work that echoes Dickens and Hardy. In it, Britain has been transformed not by an industrial revolution but a magical revolution following the discovery of aether, a substance that powers our trains, supports our bridges, and pushes the British Navy across the waves. I haven't yet finished the book, but so far it is outstanding. Is there anything else that can be done with Alien Invasion, Time Travel or Robots? Of course. Any given element in a piece of new fiction might have a precedent (it might even have been done to death), but if nobody wanted to return to these important things, literature would be much the poorer. Do you prefer writing about the near future or the far distant future? I don't have a preference for either, but I tend to write about the near future simply on the basis that readers will find it easier to identify with characters from the near future. As a reader do you prefer Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? My preference would be for science fiction, although horror comes a close second. Short Story, Single Novel or Novel Series - which do you think is the best medium for Science Fiction? Crikey, that's a difficult one. Science fiction ideas work best when their implications are described. There's probably more room for this in the novel but, having said that, I've read a number of short stories that have successively hinted as these implications. Do you have a scientific background? That depends whether you consider psychology to be a science or not. I do, at least for the aspects that I study. In my PhD I investigated theories of language processing and developed a computational model of grammar processing. Do you get inspiration from recent scientific discoveries and theories? Yes, but only in general terms. Frankly, if I read an article in the New Scientist I don't quite believe it unless I can read the original research. This is a poor policy, of course, because there aren't many scientific areas for which I understand the papers. What are your thoughts on writing for shared world series such as Dragonlance and Star Trek? Pass. Do you enjoy collaborating? So far, I haven't done any collaboration in the realm of science fiction. Writing is a very solitary process and I believe it would be difficult to justify nascent ideas to another person before I really know what those ideas are myself. I would collaborate within the realm of comedy fiction, however, because you can never have too many gags. Plus, a partner would provide a useful sounding board for the gags I think are brilliant but which are, in reality, bloody awful. Do You Always know a Story's Ending When You Begin Writing? Absolutely not. I don't know if I write stories in the best way, but, for me, writing is a process of exploration. I couldn't imagine starting a story where I know the ending beforehand; how could I, when the characters start moving around their world? It would be like predicting the final configuration of chess game before it has begun. Why do you think SF gets a bad press? Pure snobbery, I would guess. Book for book, I think there as many bad 'literary' or 'contemporary' books are there are bad sci-fi books. What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work? Apparently, my work has a post-cyberpunk, 1950s feel (The Guardian). I'm not sure what that means, but I like it! Have you won any awards for your writing? No, I'm an awards virgin. Is there something you are particularly proud of? Yes, I'm proud of my girlfriend, Britta. Plug away - what do you have coming out? Well, I've got a sequel to Deja Vu in the pipeline, provisionally entitled 'Saboteur'. I'm also writing a comedy novel set in the Cornish ice-cream industry, which will be called 'Proper Job'. The first chapter for the latter is available on my website (link below). Many Thanks, Ian! Relevant Links Ian Hocking's Website