(2001-10-21)Q: Can you tell us a bit about "The Mad Fisherman's Daughter"?A: The book contains two novellas. The first, "ExilesAmong the Stars," is a prequel to "Exile's End." Thatwas my first published work (Electra-Light Books,1997; republished by eBooksOnThe.Net afterElectra-Light, like many an Internet pioneer,discontinued). It's both the tale of a far future inwhich humans cannot return to a poisoned Earth (or canthey?), and of a romantic triangle that turns deadly. The second (and title) novella is the story of a womanwho returns to her home-world, a quirky and ratherprimitive human colony of ex-enlisted military folk,in hopes she can keep an alien empire from taking itover. These are the same aliens, the dreaded AST, whoremained mysterious right through the end of "Regs." In other words, both novellas are responses to readerrequests. Q: What has been your experience with ebook publishing? A: Since that first book with Electra-Light in 1997, I'veworked with several publishers; most notablyeBooksOnThe.Net and Adventure Books. All of my 12books are (or soon will be) available electronically,and 11 are also available as trade paperbacks. Q: When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer? A: I'm told (and I even have evidence; my parents wrotethem down) that I started telling stories as soon as Icould speak in complete sentences, at age 2. Irealized I could do more than write "for pleasure" at17, when a high school friend surprised me by writingin my yearbook that one day he would "come live offyour royalties." Q: What areas or challenges lie ahead for you in writing? A: Right now I'm working on a second mainstream novel,with a setting on the coast of my native Maine. Ihope I'll be writing a sequel to "Regs" eventually,and a sequel to "Matushka." I'm also working (muchmore slowly, as the spirit moves me) on a couple ofnonfiction projects - the life story of my World WarII veteran father, and a second volume of pet stories. Q: Is it ever possible to write the future? A: Sometimes I think it's frighteningly possible. Iwrote in "Silent Service," completed in 1998, about aa future in which a child could have three biologicalparents. Recently (in 2000) I read about severalbabies born with the DNA of a biological father, andtwo biological mothers! That happened when aninfertile woman's nonviable egg had its, um, contentsremoved in a lab, and replaced with a fertile donor'sgenetic material. I must say I didn't expect to seesomething that similar to what I'd written happeningthat soon, though. :-) Q: What plans do you have for the future? A: Most of all, to keep writing! I would like to seeprint-on-demand gain greater acceptance; right nowlocal bookstores that don't understand how it works,and don't want to understand, either, are the bane ofmy existence. But I consider myself primarily ane-book author, so that's where I will continue toconcentrate my efforts. Q: What has the Internet meant for you as an author? A: It's meant that my cross-genre work can find itsaudience, without my having to shoehorn my imaginationinto a narrow marketing slot. That, I'm sure you'llunderstand, is priceless!
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