Interview with Sean Williams

RB: As an Australian writer, how do you view the US marketplace for FSF publishing and do you feel it was important for you to reach this audience?

SW: It was very important.  I read a lot of Australian fiction now, but earlier, when I was first dreaming of and trying to be a pro, the US was the market that really mattered.  That marketplace is a lot more crowded, and it can be difficult to get yourself noticed, particularly back in the pre-Internet days for someone living on the other side of the planet, but it's not impossible.  I'm proof of that.

The market is really interesting at the moment.  As a writer, I have a lot off different options open to me.  I can produce mass-market novels through Ace that sell quite respectably and reach a lot of people, while at the same time I can be published by terrific new houses like Pyr and Monkeybrain, whose audiences are smaller but have an incredible energy and vigor.  I'm eagerly awaiting the e-book revolution to see what else emerges.  It'll be an exciting time for everyone--and it is coming, without a doubt.

RB: How much of a role did Shane Dix have in the Geodesica compared to your other collaborations, as I’ve notice his credit appears as “with Shane Dix” rather than “and Shane Dix.”

SW: The ratio of collaboration is a flexible thing with all our books.  Some have been clear-cut 50/50 works, while others have been projects that I've had more investment in.  Geodesica was always my baby, right from the start.  The story of Melilah Awad and Dominic Eogan mirrored my own in several key emotional ways, and I was loath to let go of it too much.  That said, I was still keen for Shane to have some editorial input into the duology, so we decided to do it as a "with" instead of an "and", with the ratio shifting to about 80/20.  The writing, the ideas, the characters, the plot, are all mine, but his input helped make them better books.  My next space opera, Saturn Returns, will be my first purely on my own (although Shane will still appear within the pages, in the dedication).

RB: Between the Fantasy and Science Fiction genre cousins, which do you prefer writing and reading?  That is, is it more fun to imagine a future with humanity travels and lives among the stars or a strange world where humans encounter monsters and magic?

SW: I think it's fun to read and imagine both.  My reading tastes are pretty diverse.  In fact, this year I've read much more mainstream fiction than speculative, so judging by titles alone you'd have to wonder what I'm doing writing in this genre.  That can happen, though.  One year, when I was facing a series of tough deadlines and felt a bit spec-ficced out, I read almost nothing but crime; another, during which I was trying to find new ways to write fantasy, I devoured everything by Tim Powers in no time flat.  So it depends on what I'm doing and where I'm at as to what the reader in me will crave.

RB: With the positive response you’ve been getting on your Cataclysm books, is there a chance The Books of Change will be on U.S. shelves soon?

SW: I certainly hope so, but there's nothing inked yet.  I get a lot of mail about that, and I'm looking forward to giving people a definite answer soon.

RB: What books, from your youth, put you on the path to writing, and specifically writing in genre?

SW: Many, many novels brought me here.  I've gone through phases of loving all the usual name-checks: Anne McCaffery, Larry Niven, Greg Bear, Tim Powers, Stephen Donaldson, J.R.R.Tolkien, Ursula K Le Guin, Philip K Dick, Iain Banks, Isaac Asimov, Stephen King, etc etc.  But there were other writers, less well-known or purely mainstream, who played a big role too: Alan Garner, Susan Cooper, Alan Dean Foster, Robert Anton Wilson, Terrance Dicks (particularly his Doctor Who novelizations), Agatha Christie, Barrington J Bailey, James Morrow, Brian Stableford, Ian Watson, and Peter Lovesey.  These are just the ones who come immediately to mind, and I myself struggle to see a connection between them all.  Maybe their diversity is a key to my own output: kids, YA and adult; SF and fantasy, with thrillers and hopefully a crime novel on the way too.  We are what we eat.

RB: What writer, living or dead, would you feel most honored to have read your book?

SW: I was absolutely gobsmacked recently when I learned that Anne McCaffery was reading my books.  I'm still not sure how to assimilate that news. :-)

RB: With the Books of the Cataclysm complete (or near completion) on the writing end, what kinds of relief are you feeling.

SW: I am relieved that Sal and Shilly's story is finished at last.  Eight hundred thousand words is a lot to devote to one relationship, and I really feel now that my role in it is done.  Whatever happens next, it's not up to me.  Of course, that won't stop me exploring around the edges if the urge takes me.  What will happen in the next generation is particularly interesting to me at the moment, but we'll see.  Time, as always, will tell.

RB: Can you give a brief synopsis of Astropolis? 

SW: The year is 900,000 AD.  Former mercenary Imre Bergamasc wakes up in a woman's body, recreated from a faulty back-up recorded thousands of years earlier--a back-up recently and deliberately destroyed by persons unknown.  During his "absence", the galaxy's ruling intelligences have been destroyed.  Chaos and panic are spreading, encouraged by mysterious saboteurs.  Bergamasc's initial quest, to connect with his former allies and to find out who tried to erase him, expands to find out who effectively beheaded the galaxy and how he himself might have been involved.

SW: These books are something different for me because they're self-consciously gothic in all but style: you'll find all the tropes buried in the very SFnal setting, plus quotes from Robert Charles Maturin, author of Melmoth the Wanderer, the structure of which I found very inspiring.  It's also much sexier than my earlier work, since it has that gender-bending kink in the background.  All in all, I've loved writing it, and I think that comes out in the finished book.

RB: Some authors say they have little input on their cover art/design, but with Greg Bridges, Chris Moore and Stephan Martiniere, you’ve really lucked out with these recent books. Did you have any input on these covers or was it just a combination of luck and great art direction from the publishers?

SW: Greg and Stephan were my first choices for those projects; Chris Moore was an unexpected and very welcome surprise.  I have been extraordinarily fortunate, yes, particularly when you add John Picacio and Shaun Tan to the list.  The amount of input I have in the process varies greatly from publisher to publisher and series to series.  There have been times when I've been unhappy with finished covers or designs, but at the moment I am over the moon. 

Greg Bridges has been wonderful to work with.  His work graced the cover of my first novel, Metal Fatigue, and the original artwork currently hangs on my study wall.  It's my most-prized "souvenir" of my career so far.  I'd love to buy all the originals of all my covers, but sadly there just wouldn't be room...

RB: After your experience in the Star Wars Universe, would you write media tie-in fiction again, and if so, is there a property/character you would want to write?

SW: I'd definitely do it again.  (Watch this space.)  I hope I'm not breaking any protocols by saying that in recent years I've actually been offered deals in both new and old Battlestar Galacticas, but for one reason or another it hasn't panned out.  (For the record, I'd love to work on the new one.)  And I've just written a Dr Who short story for editor Steven Savile.  That was a wonderful experience, one I'd love to repeat soon.

RB: How difficult was it saying no to BSG, which is probably the most visible, entertaining and respected SF franchise right now?

SW: More difficult than you can possibly imagine!  I am hopeful that the timing will work out better next time.  If there is a next time.

RB: Sean Williams writing BSG?  Sounds like a nice pairing.  Thanks for the time Sean!