Nikola Danaylov sat down in my living room last week and grilled me for over an hour about my thoughts on technology, the Singularity, and my alternatives to it. The whole interview can be seen here, or downloaded as a podcast; be warned, it covers a huge amount of ground and I don't get much chance to fully flesh out the ideas I'm throwing around. Hence much of it may sound like gibberish. 

There is much that I told Nikola that bears extensive expansion and I would love to lay out these ideas (eg. about the Technological Maximum and the Rewilding) in a book... but only when somebody pays me to write it. I am sadly unable to take on a project like that without backing anymore; I'd starve before I finished the thing.

Meanwhile, others seem to be discovering my work. There's a new review of Lady of Mazes on The Atlantic's website! It's a pretty awesome exploration of the key themes of the novel; I have to say that, seven years after the novel came out, people finally seem to be ready for the conversation that it proposes. Should we control the technologies that influence our lives, or do we willy-nilly spin the roulette wheel of technological change and simply accept what comes out of it? This is the question Lady of Mazes asks; there could be no more relevant a question for the present, yet when the book first came out, there wasn't much said about that aspect of the story. People didn't really... get it. Now, it seems they're starting to.

During the interview he did with me at SFCOntario last fall, Lawrence Schoen asked me what my favourite food was. My answer, and the quirky little conversation around it, can now be found on Lawrence's site here. 

Short answer: anything Indian. 

I've got a new interview up at Grinding to Valhalla.  This is a gaming site, and as such they asked a couple of perceptive questions that I'd never be asked by literary interviewer.  

Thanks, Randolph!

We'll be at Minicon April 10-12, and I hope you can join us!  Here's what I'll be up to--although, as always, feel free to approach me in the halls, dealer's room, or where-ever if you want to chat or want me to sign something.  We're really looking forward to the weekend, and your participation will make it that much better!

Note:  it's a light schedule, since I'm still recovering from my surgery--but I'm doing pretty well these days, and hope to be around and available most of the time.

Schedule

Steampunk: the Romance of Science

Saturday 2:30

Krushenko’s

Sharon Kahn(m), Karl Schroeder, Richard Mueller, Dorf, Ceridwen Christensen

 What is Steampunk: a literary movement, an attitude, or merely fashion statement? Perhaps there is something about the buoyant spirit of the late 19th century that speaks to our feelings about technology today.

Interview and Signing: Author GoH

Saturday 7:00

Veranda 5/6

Rick Brignall(interviewer), Karl Schroeder

 Our author Guest of Honor talks about his life and his work. After the interview there will be a book signing  in the same space and a chance to chat with Karl one on one.

Breaking into publishing in the 21st Century

Sunday 10:00

Veranda 3/4

Michael Merriam(m), Karl Schroeder, Scott McCoy, Rob Callahan, Rick Brignall

An update of the perennially popular "Publishing 101" topic. What do you as a new writer need to know to get your big break? How is the process changing with the advent of printing on demand, audio books, and the paperback publishing industry in a state of freefall? Last year's advice on how to break into the business may already be obsolete

Second Foundation Discussion: The Works of Karl Schroeder

Sunday  11:30

Krushenko’s

Eric M. Heideman(m), Karl Schroeder, John Till, Greg L. Johnson

 Come and talk with the Author GOH about his work! Sponsored by Second Foundation, a speculative and science fiction-book discussion group that has met regularly since 1983 (see also Sunday evening, Krushenko's Annex)

 Hope to see you there!

The excellent French online magazine ActuSF has published an interview with me.  They wanted to know about Ventus and Permanence and some of the ideas I explored in them.  It was refreshing for me to talk about those books, because as the current Virga quartet winds to its conclusion (not that there won't be further books set there, by the way!) I find my interests and attention wandering back to the issues I explored in my first three novels.  I'm hugely interested in present developments in cognitive science, and am now thinking about how the vast array of settings and tech I developed for Ventus and Lady of Mazes might be used to support a novel about cogsci.  --Relax, I'm just daydreaming, for now.

Yesterday I was interviewed by Grant Stone, who does a nationally-syndicated radio show called Faster Than Light here in Australia.  We talked about my work, what it's like for an SF writer having a Mennonite background, and my connection to Australia (we got married there).  The interview was done over the phone, even as a local couple we hadn't seen for seven years was coming in the front door.  Embarrassingly, I had to hide in the bedroom to do the interview while Janice and her mother and aunt took care of the social essentials.

It all worked out, and yesterday Janice and Paige went to meet seals and penguins while I stayed at the hotel to catch up on my writing.  Today, we're in Geraldton and on our way to Kalbarri for a week.  Yay!  I'm really looking forward to that; Kalbarri is where we tied the knot, and it'll be great showing Paige all the places around there that we discovered together the first time. 

The interview with Mitch Wagner went very well.  I took the photo below as the amphitheatre was filling up; there were lots of people there and Mitch and I had no trouble finding things to talk about for an hour.  Mitch was particularly interested in my foresight activities, so we talked about how that works, and about the upcoming "scibarcamp" I'm helping organize here in Toronto.

I was hugely impressed by how helpful and polite people were.  No griefers in this crowd!  A lot of people hung around after the formal interview; I apologize for not finding the chat window in time (I'm new to the Second Life interface) so I'm afraid I missed a lot of questions.  But nobody got impatient with me. 

I'm impressed; and I'll be back.

Mitch and I have been going over our talking points, and we're going to cover the gamut from my work in foresight studies to how the world of Virga came to exist.  We may even discuss the very first MORPG I worked on--way back in 1982! 

Friday, February 1, 2008, I'll be interviewed by Mitch Wagner of Information Week.  The interview is going to happen inside Second Life, so if you're a member, come on over to Dr. Dobb's Island at 12:00 noon Pacific time, and find your way to the amphitheatre.  I'll be chatting with Mitch for half an hour or so about my various obsessions--augmented reality, green tech, and wild new directions for science fiction--and then we'll open up for questions and comments from the floor.  It should be a great time.