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08-14-09:
SF in SF Panel from July 25, 2009 — Kage Baker and Madeleine Robins
"I loved the character too much and brought him back, and that's why it's science fiction and not history"
—Kage Baker
Kage Baker is a science fiction writer who (among other things) explores history, while Madeleine Robins is an historical writer who explores science fiction by tinkering — ever so slightly — with history. Put these two smart women behind the same table, hand 'em each a mic, and your job as moderator is pretty much done.
I had grand time moderating the conversation between Kage Baker and Madeleine Robins, as they each took apart their respective works and put them back together again with the kind of entertaining critique and self-critique that one can only find at SF in SF. Robins works on the very edges of science fiction — specifically, alternate history, with just the smallest tweeze that you’d pretty much have to be a student to really grok fully. Baker works on the very edges of the historical novel, writing science fiction that partakes fully of both history and technologically powered doses of the fantastic. You can hear our conversation by following the link to the MP3 audio file.
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08-13-09:
SF in SF, July 25, 2009 — A Conversation with Kage Baker : Novella, Novel and Steampunk
Kage Baker lives in many worlds and many times. Frankly, I'm surprised that she can keep up with them. She travels in time, she pops off to Mars, she immerses herself in a secondary fantasy realm. I suppose I should have asked her if she needs a passport.
What I did end up asking Kage Baker about was 'The Empress of Mars,' and in particular, how it feels to have the Company series finished, actually finished. Moreover, though the story is finished, the world is still there for her to explore. But she's not content with one world, not Kage Baker. Once she's got a moment to spare from the entire universe she's crated for the company, well, she just takes a couple of quick steps to the left and right to end of up in the secondary fantasy world she created for 'The Anvil of the World.' And,m not content with that, well — I'll let her tell you in the linked MP3 audio file of our interview.
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08-12-09:
SF in SF, July 25, 2009 — A Conversation with Madeleine Robins : History in the Un-Making
Madeleine Robins wants to tweeze history. Some writers want to alter history, others to leap past it into the future. But Robins' changes are subtle, at least to the historically uninformed. But the sort of subtle changes she makes are merely an indication that she's paying attention to detail and it shows in her complicated characters.
I really enjoyed listening to Madeleine Robins introduce then read her work at SF in SF, but I have to admit that I had all sorts of questions for her about what she was doing and why. It’s one thing to make gross alterations in history. I loved the Harry Turtledove "WorldWar" series, for example. But Robins knows her stuff so well that she doesn't need to have aliens show up to mess around with her hard-boiled, mean-streets mysteries set in Regency England. Just a gentle tip to history is all she requires to create a milieu that is fascinating and relevant, as well as fun to read. I spoke to her during the intermission of SF in SF, and found her every bit as smart and charming as her fiction. You can be charmed as well by following this link to the MP3 audio file of our interview.
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08-11-09:
A 2009 Interview With Ray Garton
"I write horror because I was a Seventh Day Adventist, because in the Seventh Day Adventist cult, you're taught to fear"
—Ray Garton
How long have I been reading Ray Garton? I had to ask myself before I went to SF to interview him in the soon-to-open café next to Borderlands Books shortly before his signing. We were told that there were going to be picketers, and to tell the truth, I'm surprised they didn't show.
The answer to my question was, 27 years my paperback copy of 'Live Girls' is older than my oldest son! Garton's work has accompanied me through so many disparate parts of my life that it's easy to look back and think, oh, when I read the Dark Harvest version of 'Crucifax Autumn,' I was commuting here, and when I bought 'The New Neighbor', I was going there. So, getting to talk to him was quite an event for me, especially on the heels of a mind-bendingly good novel like 'Bestial.' Reading 'Bestial' took me right back to the best horror-junkie moments of the 1980's, when I would pick up something and have to read it twice just because it was so astonishingly over-the-top. That's 'Bestial' all over, that opening .... it's almost like science fiction in that it induces a sense-of-wonder because you just can't friggin' believe what you’re reading. And as the book progresses, the more frightening parts turn out to be the alarmingly accurate depictions of life in the Seventh Day Adventists. I'm wondering what's going to happen in fact, given the headlines I'm spewing here and what I'm writing and I'm a little bit afraid. As I should be, according to Ray. You can hear a fascinating story of life in an accepted cult by following this link to the MP3 audio file.
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