As part of our SFFWorld.com’s Member Spotlight Series, Nila interviews Mark Yon, avid reader, teacher, and an all-round awesome moderator.
Hello Mark, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to chat with me. I promise I’ll make this quick.
Mark : Hi Nila. Thank you for asking me to do this.
SFFWorld: What’s your SFFWorld.com’s forum alias and why did you pick it?
Mark : Oh yes, THAT alias. It’s been with me a long time now. Much of the original reasoning has been lost to the mists of time, but if I remember right it was an old nickname that was something to do with the fact that I always had a copy of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in my room when younger. It may have been that it took me a while to get to the 5’ 10” in height I am now. Later in life it may also have involved hairy feet, a love of food and (eventually) beer. Choosing it as a forum name was therefore a bit of a no-brainer. Though it has been suggested on more than one occasion that I should drop it, being a shy and retiring type I am still a little loathe to get rid of it entirely. The Cookie Monster icon was created for me by an old staff member – one of the things I used to do when I started at SFFWorld was offer biscuits/cookies to staff whilst working behind the scenes at the legendary (and totally virtual) ‘Hobbit Towers’.
SFFWorld: How did you discover SFFWorld.com and why did you decide to join?
Mark/Hobbit : A very happy accident around 1999/2000. I had recently got this new thing called the Internet at home (back in the good old days of dial-up) and was looking for places to talk books with people of similar minds. Luckily (for me) SFFWorld was one of the first places I found. I lurked for quite a while, then joined up.
SFFWorld: When and why did you become a moderator?
Mark/Hobbit : Oh – I’m in it for the fame, celebrity status, and the vast amounts of money that Dag puts into my secret Swiss Bank account every now and then. (Only joking, but there are people who do think that’s what it’s like here at Hobbit Towers…)
More seriously, if I remember right, I was asked by Dag (the owner) and persuaded by Rob Bedford. Things were taking off generally on the Internet by this point – 2001, appropriately enough – and as the popularity of SFFWorld grew, more hands were needed at the wheel, so to speak.
My main reason for becoming a staff member was to contribute ‘something’ to a site that had given so much to me and also enable those conversations with people who, despite being thousands of miles away, have shared a mutual understanding and a love (or a dislike!) for things in the genres.
I’ll always be grateful to have been given the opportunities that SFFWorld has given me. I’ve worked with some wonderful people whilst here, and been involved in some fantastic discussions, in more than one sense of the word! It’s also led to me meeting people in real life I would never have met otherwise, and making connections with people I’m proud to call friends that I’ve yet to actually meet in person.
And the free books…
(Well, not quite. But I must admit finding a quote on a book from the website still gives me a thrill.)
Actually, doing what we do here has given me even greater respect for those working in the industry, whether a writer, reviewer, publisher or (these days) blogger. It’s an amazing world of opportunities, and getting better all the time – but also (sometimes) bloody hard work.
If I’m being honest (something I’m often being told I do too much!) there have been times when I have questioned why I am doing what I do – it’s not necessarily a bad thing to do, by the way, questioning what we do keeps us on our toes! – and as Dag has said, we’ve had our fair share of trolls, spammers and ‘storms in a teacup’ over the years. They can wear you down, if you let them. I must admit that, as much as I love the global nature of the site, there have been times when I’ve wondered what I’m doing – sorting out fights, misunderstandings and squabbles across continents through messages and emails at 2am, is not always easy! But I can say, hand on heart, that personally my life has been richer and better for my time at SFFWorld. When there are places out there on t’web that count themselves long-lived after a year, being around and being involved on a site for fifteen years is something to be pleased about.
SFFWorld: What’s your favorite book (genre or not)?
Mark/Hobbit : Oh, there are SO many. I don’t know if you saw last year that, for my 50th birthday, I came up with a list of 50 books/series I liked and keep going back to (LINK.) You should’ve seen the difficulty I had reducing it to 50! (Now that I’m 51, perhaps I should add another book…)
Actually, I was asked this by a staff member, five years ago. My answer (then) was as follows:
“My first choice is a bit of a cheat. I have a complete Arthur C Clarke story collection I love to dip into. It’s a very large book! 2001 was the first (Clarke) novel I read, borrowed from school, but I read the rest of his books as soon as I could get them. My favourite is usually The City and the Stars.
The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov. I’m fortunate enough to have a signed copy of this one now. These were the first SF books I borrowed off my dad. They had lovely Chris Foss covers that made up one picture if you put the book covers in order.”
(Update: I was lucky enough to be bought a signed print of this last year – and met the great artist Chris Foss as well!)
“M.R. James Collected Stories: I actually have a lot of copies of this one, in various editions.
Like Lovecraft, there’s a strange style there that really shouldn’t work, but does. There’s something about old artifacts, academia, old large houses and that indefinable presence of something there but not seen. See also Robert Bloch, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury.None of the above can really be quoted as the best examples of the genre in terms of style or characterization, but if I had to pick out common criteria, there’s often a certain atmosphere there, or an engaging enthusiasm in a style that at some time I have really appreciated. I will be the first to admit that some of them have dated!
Of more recent authors, then here’s another obvious choice: George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I think many know that I was reading GRRM’s work before Song of Ice and Fire, and there’s a lot there I love: Fevre Dream, Tuf Voyaging. But this series is my favourite (so far), even with its delays and annoyances!
And I guess I wouldn’t get away without mentioning Mary Gentle’s ASH: A Secret History, which became a regularly mentioned recommendation by me at SFFWorld. It was a book that was one of those unexpected surprises, and so not what I was expecting when I started it. It’s also something I wouldn’t have said was something that I would normally appreciate. It is a book I can read and reread, as well as being a good, big, meaty SF/Fantasy novel. The ideas within it are quite awesome, the ending still baffling.
As for anthologies: I find any of the David Hartwell monster anthologies are usually great: their range and their knowledgeable commentary usually win me over, even when I don’t agree with everything said! See Hard SF Renaissance, the Space Opera one, The Dark Descent. Again, all BIG reads!”
I guess, I’ll give those as options. Thinking of the Big Three SF authors (Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein), I would probably add Robert A. Heinlein’s story collection The Past Through Tomorrow as one of my favourite comfort reads.
Those stories, like the Asimov and Clarke tales mentioned already, really opened my eyes to the possibilities of SF.
SFFWorld: What’s your favorite author (genre or not)?
Mark/Hobbit : Please see answer above: this changes all the time, but there are authors I will keep going back to. I’ll always have a soft spot for Arthur C. Clarke, Asimov and Heinlein – that’s where I started, in SF. So, too, Tolkien (already mentioned), Michael Moorcock and Raymond Feist’s Magician for Fantasy, which happened a little later. In Horror, it was M. R. James, as I’ve said above. I guess that over time my tastes have changed and become more complex. My favourite contemporary authors these days are (in no particular order) Robin Hobb, Peter F. Hamilton, Connie Willis, Neal Asher, Stephen Baxter, George RR Martin, Jim Butcher, Patrick Rothfuss and Daniel Abraham, but I am finding new ones all the time! I try and read at least 50 books a year for review – not everything I read is for review.
I have been very lucky in my time at SFFWorld to meet and interview many authors. Though there have been odd exceptions, I’m very pleased to say that by far the majority of them have been wonderfully gracious, supremely kind and great fun. I think we’re very lucky to have such gifted people writing for us. Even if I’ve sometimes been less impressed by their writing than the person.
SFFWorld: What’s your favorite genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk, etc)?
Mark/Hobbit : As you might guess from my previous answer, I do like to mix up my genres. From a very young age, I would read anything. These days I am lucky enough to be able to be more selective and, in my opinion, it’s that enormous range that I find most fun and that’s what I love about the genre – I can be reading a creepy ghost story one day, an Epic Fantasy and a galaxy-spanning Space Opera the next – and still not get fed up! It still stretches my imagination after all this time. I revel in the diversity – which is why I can still be excited about what I read, even after forty-something years. So, no real favourites – love them all.
SFFWorld: Where’s your favorite place to read?
Mark/Hobbit : I have favourite chairs. I like to be near tea or the means to make a cup. (It used to be near to a biscuit/cookie, too, which is why my avatar is what it is, but in these days of diabetes, sadly less often than it used to be.) More and more these days I appreciate being able to sit in my garden at home when the weather’s appropriate. On a comfy chair, in the shade, with a cup of tea… you get the idea.
I must admit though that just being in a wonderful location can create amazing ambiance and memories. When I was younger, I had a habit of reading anywhere – on a beach, on mountainsides, anywhere I could grab a minute. One of my favourites was when I was reading ghost stories in a deathly quiet graveyard, under a tree, in the shadow of a majestic cathedral. It’s a place that has always stayed with me.
It has been noticed by some that I like my home comforts more and more here at Hobbit Towers, and so more and more my favourite place is probably in bed, reading before I go to sleep – occasionally falling asleep when reading. (I have realised that the Kindle hurts less when it falls down on you than those great 1000-page tomes…)
SFFWorld: Favorite con (convention)?
Mark/Hobbit : One of the great things about SFFWorld is the way that it has opened doors for me. I’ve met people and done things I never would have had the chance to do otherwise – although that was never my original intention for helping out on the site, I am very pleased it happened. My first ‘big’ convention was at the Worldcon in Glasgow in 2005, where I met so many people and did so many things. I barely slept for four days! I’m very pleased to say that some of those people I met there I’ve kept in touch with all this time – more impressive when these days things can change so fast. I greatly enjoyed the LonCon this summer too – though it seemed a much busier and less personal event, somehow.
Another ‘favourite’ event was when I had to step in and co-host The David Gemmell Legend Award ceremony a few years ago with the much-missed Deborah Miller, because one of the founders was suddenly ill. That was both scary and fun at the same time!
I also like the smaller, more intimate events too – I’ve been to a few FantasyCons, which I always enjoy – I’m hoping to go again this year! – and the more local Edge Lit events are always lovely. I would recommend them to anyone.
SFFWorld: What do you do when you are not reading or messing around on SFFWorld.com?
Mark/Hobbit : Sleeping! To be honest, there’s not a lot of spare time – I post less in the Forums these days, not because I want to post less, but simply because there are only 24 hours in a day, and there are books to read and review, interviews to do and things to sort on-site.
So when I do get time, family time’s always important, even with them all being 18+. I do like my music and my films. I like to visit places (with a book!), though sadly that seems to be less and less of an option these days.
Being a teacher, the ‘other job’ takes up a lot of time. Like SFFWorld, in teaching there’s a lot to do behind the scenes, in the shadows where no-one notices – unless, of course, you don’t put the preparation in – then everybody notices!
SFFWorld: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Mark, and catch ya around the forum.
Mark/Hobbit : Many thanks again, Nila.
© 2015 N. E. White / Mark Yon / SFFWorld.com
