Interview with Chris Moore

Chris Moore is a British illustrator, noted for the classic science fiction book covers he has created for many of the world's most famous science fiction authors, including Philip K Dick and Alfred Bester. Born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Chris was educated at Mexborough Grammar School, after which he attended Doncaster Art School. Thereafter, he enrolled on a Graphic Design course at Maidstone College of Art, and was subsequently accepted by the Royal College of Art to study illustration.

His professional career began in the early 70s, working on book, magazine and record covers. The mid 70s marked the start of his long association with the science fiction genre. But it wasn’t an exclusive association. As well as work on titles by Isaac Asimov, Larry Niven, Frederick Pohl, Anne McCaffrey, Clifford D Simak, Kurt Vonnegut, J G Ballard, Arthur C Clarke, Philip K Dick, and Samuel R Delaney, Moore was also the Artist of Choice for more mainstream writers like Arthur Hailey, Frederick Forsyth, Jackie Collins, Claire Francis, Stephen Leather, Leon Uris, Wilbur Smith, Craig Thomas, and Colin Forbes. Chris has also provided art for directors such as Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas, producing the very popular wallpaper design for The Empire Strikes Back. He was commissioned by the Isle of Man Postal Service to incorporate his cover for Arthur C Clarke’s 2001 into a special First Day Cover, an example of which was signed in orbit by the crew of NASA's space shuttle.

Despite a wide range of achievements, Moore has never sought to promote himself. Aside from a readers’ award for Best Cover Art from Asimov’s Magazine, his only public acknowledgement, to date, has come in the form of a Pink Pig Award in 1982, given by women in publishing for ‘Higher Tech’ a painting of a sensuous female robot! Chris says, "All I’ve ever wanted over the years has been to gain the respect of my peers. They know what it takes to survive in this business. I’d like to think that I’ve not only gained their respect, but also their friendship."

The Stars My Destination

1. Why did you choose to produce science fiction art, and what do you hope to achieve with it?

I had a vague interest in SF as a child, being brought up in the 50's and 60's with some of the films and comics around at the time - Superman, Batman etc. and the development of space travel with the Apollo programme. They landed on the moon when I was still at college.

In or around 1972, as part of a small design group, I met and started to work with Peter Bennett who was art director at Magnum paperbacks doing mainstream titles. He decided to try me out on a couple of PK Dick covers and an Alfred Bester. They were pretty crummy, but he persisted and gradually they got better with the Clifford D Simak's etc. I guess I was at that time full of optimism about the future and wanted to portray my vision of what the future could mean.

Download Blues

2. Is there an underlying theme or message in your work?

Not really, the object of the exercise has always been to sell books because that is my job, and as a side issue to indulge myself in my visions of the future. Largely, art directors and the book buying public at that time were content to see something on the cover that looked like SF, not necessarily relevant to the actual story and we were sometimes producing the images so quickly that there wasn't time to read the manuscript, sometimes I had up to 20 jobs on at any one time.

3. Prior to 1974, you had not produced any artwork related to science fiction. When you did move to the genre, did this delay prove helpful, and if so, how?

I have developed a technique of producing fairly realistic images, thanks to the use of my airbrush (a Conopois - no longer manufactured). I was able to apply that to pretty much any subject that I was given. SF was around 30% of the work I did at that time and, thanks mainly to Pete Bennett, I was able to channel it in the direction of SF. So I guess it was helpful. When I was at The Royal College of Art studying illustration, I was loosely in the employ of the graphic design department doing finished pieces of illustration to be used in the degree shows of some of the graphics students in my year. It was a good grounding for working at a fast pace in the actual real world.

I, Robot

4. Of the artwork you’ve created, do you have a favourite? If so, why this particular work?

I quite like some of the PK Dick covers I have done, but generally I like very few of them a lot. You do a picture and then move on to the next job. The test of an image for me, is how long these things are around; there are some things that I did in the late 70's that are still being used and they still seem fresh. I once said to my mother that the process of creating these images was more of a journey of discovery than creation and that you had almost 'found' the image, like it was a combination of some text you'd been given and a series of happy accidents that you had gone through to arrive at this window on the future. Bit strange really.

5. How is creating science fiction or fantasy art different from creating other genres?

It is different in that you can be self-indulgent and express yourself to a certain extent, but you still have to do something that's right for the cover just as you had to for other commissions.

Sandworms Of Dune

6. What do you find most rewarding in the creative process?

Certainly not the money; I still get a buzz from people's reaction to something when they look at a painting and say, "How the hell did you do that?" This happens a lot less now, because everyone is exposed to the polish of digital imagery so they aren't impressed any more by the workmanship, which is a bit sad really. It's one of the side effects of computerisation, that and the flexibility that the art director now expects from the service you provide. I still like to get it right and it's nice to go onto the Amazon website and see all your covers displayed.

7. What do you find most challenging in the creative process, and how did you overcome it?

You start with a pencil and a piece of paper and design the cover as a thumbnail sketch. Then work this up to the final image with whatever medium that you decide to use. 3D is more flexible, and it's easier to change things with this medium. Art directors are used to this flexibility now. I still produce a drawing on paper to work out my design so an ability to draw is pretty essential. It's a shame art schools don't cater for this very much now, preferring to concentrate on mastering digital software technology, drawing boards have almost disappeared.

The Exiles Trilogy

8. Have you opened your gallery in East Lancashire? Tell us about what we should expect to find on display there.

I will be opening it in October, when my kids have gone back to school and university, so I can give it more attention. The kind of work will be a mixture of SF, techno, and local landscapes with some acrylics, (mostly realistic) some oil paintings and watercolours, a mixture of original and giclée prints, framed and unframed, hopefully something for everyone. A lot of my originals head off to America but I still have quite a few in my personal collection.

9. Evolution is an inherent facet of science fiction art. What new developments are you aware of, with regards to the application of technology, in this genre

There are so many tools at one's elbow nowadays that anything is possible and there are a lot of new up and coming and established artists working in the digital idiom. I have dabbled, but I can't hope to compete with guys who have been brought up using computers all their working lives. I admit to being a struggling Luddite, surviving more by luck than judgement in today's technology-driven market. Sometimes I think I should go back to college!

War Of The Worlds

10. Tell us about your work for Stanley Kubrick and George Lucas. What aspirations, or reservations, do you have regarding your art being applied to film or television?

I didn't do very much for Stanley Kubrick, the film was 'AI', which was shelved very soon after I got involved. Steven Spielberg subsequently took it up, with Chris Baker as concept artist, and he did a great job. I did some poster work for a re-release of THX 1138 and a wallpaper design for ICI for 'The Empire Strikes Back', which sold out of sight! Regarding working in film and TV, well, I've skirted around it a little but the truth is I've been pretty busy bashing out book covers so I'm not sure if I would be able to function in that medium. I was asked a couple of years ago by my chum Fred Gambino if I'd like to go with him to Vancouver to work on a film as concept and production artist but they chose John Harris instead, which was a good choice for them; but I don't think that John found it very rewarding from what I hear.

11. What advice would you give to artists considering a career in art?

My advice would be to spend your time at art school doing lots of drawing. Learn about anatomy of people and animals, study other people’s work in detail, read about how they work, look at how your work may well be used, as well as keeping up with all the new developments in computer software. Most people are now employed in the games industry, as well as special effects in film and TV; so really, you need to decide what speciality you want to go for fairly early on because there's a lot to learn. But drawing will be something that you can always fall back on, and will generally sort the men from the boys. Check out Ridley Scott's sketches for 'Blade Runner' as well as Syd Mead’s...'nuff said!

12. Tell us a little about any good science fiction or fantasy art you’ve seen recently.

I haven't seen much really, other than in the film genre, which is amazing. My favourites are guys like Jim Burns, Fred Gambino, Les Edwards and John Harris in the UK, and Donato Giancola, Jon Foster, Phil Hale, Mike Whelan, Stephan Martiniere, Steve Hickman etc. in America; but really, there are so many talented people out there that the mind boggles.

13. What are you doing now?

Still doing SF covers, everything else has been replaced by photos and Photoshop, with some 3D thrown in.  I guess I'm now branching out to do other types of work, landscapes and private commissions. I'm still quite busy really.

14. Describe your art in one sentence.

Functional. I'm still a jobbing illustrator, working from one job to the next with a bit of time now to do things of a more personal nature.

15. Where can we find you and your art?

I live in Rural Lancashire in a barn conversion, with my wife, Katie, 2 children and 2 dogs. My art can be found in my gallery, and gracing the covers of the Orion SF Masterworks series, the latest David Weber covers, and Hannu Rajaniemi covers. My website is: http://www.chrismooreillustration.co.uk/

Interview with Kevin J. Anderson

 

Kevin J. Anderson goes to work every day in several different universes, from his own Seven Suns or Terra Incognita universes, to Dune, or Star Wars.  He is a #1 international bestselling author of more than 100 novels, 48 of which have appeared on national or international bestseller lists; he has over 20 million books in print in 30 languages. He has won or been nominated for the Nebula Award, Bram Stoker Award, the SFX Reader's Choice Award, and New York Times Notable Book.

Anderson has co-authored 11 books in the Dune saga with Brian Herbert. Anderson's popular epic SF series, The Saga of Seven Suns, is his most ambitious work, and he is currently at work on a sweeping fantasy trilogy, Terra Incognita, about sailing ships, sea monsters, and the crusades. As an innovative companion project to Terra Incognita, Anderson co-wrote and produced the lyrics for two ambitious rock CDs based on the novels, with his frequent co-author, Rebecca Moesta, with whom he has been married for 20 years.

His novel Enemies & Allies chronicles the first meeting of Batman and Superman in the 1950s; Anderson also wrote The Last Days of Krypton. He has written numerous Star Wars projects, including the Jedi Academy trilogy, the Young Jedi Knights series (with Moesta), and Tales of the Jedi comics from Dark Horse. Fans might also know him from his X-Files novels or Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son. Anderson is also a publisher at wordfirepress.com, teaches writing seminars, climbs mountains, and he cooks, too.

1. When did you first read The War of the Worlds, and what effect did it have on you?

I was only 5 years old when I saw the George Pal movie, and it blew me away. I didn’t sleep at all that night - I was so obsessively fascinated about the heat ray, the ruined cities, the feeling of hopelessness; and then that crawling 3-fingered hand covered with leprous splotches, dying because of our germs.  Amazing!

So, when I was 9 years old, I read the H. G. Wells novel, the second adult novel I ever read (the first was The Time Machine). I’ve since read a great many of Wells’s novels, read biographies, and even wrote a novel with H. G. Wells as a main character (The Martian War).  Yeah, it had a pretty big effect.

2. Since 1993, 48 of your novels have been on bestseller lists; and you have over 23 million books in print worldwide. What would you say is the key to your phenomenal success?

I write a lot, I read a lot, and I’m a die-hard fan at heart. I’m fortunate that I happen to have broad, commercial tastes so that what I like to read, and write, also matches what a lot of other fans like to read. I work very hard, have numerous projects in the works at once, and I never stop thinking about my characters and stories.

3. In the world of publishing, there seems to be ongoing tension between independents and the established, traditional publishers. Many of your titles are available in eBook form at wordfirepress.com. What advice, or encouragement, can you give to independent authors and publishers?

I work in both worlds, and intend to keep doing so (as long as the big traditional publishers will have me); I think they serve two different purposes. At wordfirepress.com, we’ve put up a great many of my hard-to-find backlist books, dozens of my novels and short stories that have been out of print, but are no longer economically viable for a major publisher to reprint and distribute. Nevertheless, I want them available for all of the fans. I can post something there, maybe a side story, a novella, a different type of writing, that wouldn’t fit with my big publishers. On the other hand, I don’t think ambitious new writers should just dive into self-publishing without going through the hard work of competing against other aspiring authors, rising to the top of the heap, getting revision requests, detailed editing, major distribution. It’s not supposed to be easy - it’s like making a major-league baseball team. I think too many new authors turn too quickly to self-publishing because they see it as a quick and easy way to get published. Work hard and earn your chops.

4. Tell us about The Saga of Seven Suns. Why did you write this series, and what do you hope to achieve with it?

The Saga of Seven Suns is my love-letter to the genre of science fiction, a big epic that I spent about eight years writing (and now I’m just about to start a new trilogy set in the same universe, twenty years after The Ashes Of Worlds). It has a huge cast of characters, hundreds of planets, a war among races on a galactic scale (not to mention alien races, monsters, space battles, ancient abandoned cities, killer robots, exploding planets and stars). What more could you want? I plotted the epic from start to finish, all seven volumes, and delivered the volumes on time, every single year. It’s really a huge scope, and I loved living there. I think it shows the scale of what science fiction can be.

5. You have studied physics, and you have worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for twelve years. Did your lifelong interest in science fiction inspire your study of science, and how has it influenced your writing?

I grew up watching and reading SF, so by the time I got to high school, I was also reading Astronomy Magazine, had my own telescope, and was interested in the science behind the science fiction. I needed to know about quasars, black holes, supernovas, etc. before I could write them. The more I learned about how the real universe worked, the more story ideas came to me (some of the ideas didn’t work, because the science precluded it, but that’s OK). Working for so many years, at a very large government research lab, allowed me to see how real scientists work and interact (believe me, it’s not the way you see it in the movies).

6. What do you find most rewarding in the writing process?

I love building the stories, painting the worlds, and constructing the plotlines like an intricate puzzle.  Also, while I’m writing, I use a digital recorder and go out for hours on the forest or mountain trails here in Colorado. I get to go hiking and do writing at the same time - the best of both worlds.

7. What do you find most challenging, and how do you overcome it?

I work on a lot of different projects at once, and balancing the priorities is often challenging. A lot of people and deadlines are all pulling at my time, so the only solution is to do it all.

8. What advice would you give to other authors regarding marketing and promoting their books?

Writing a brilliant book doesn’t do any good if nobody knows about it and nobody reads it.  You have to get out and talk about your book, meet people, write blogs, go on Facebook or Twitter - but don’t just be a monotonous “buy my book!” commercial; be interesting, and then readers will think your book is interesting.

9. Tell us about your Guinness World Record for "Largest Single Author Signing".

Hours and hours and hours - thousands of books signed, two bands playing, an entire street in Hollywood blocked off, free banana splits. I would run a pen into the ground and then toss it out to the audience like a rock drummer tossing a drumstick. I set the Guinness Record - I’m pretty sure someone has broken it since, but I’ve got the nice certificate on my wall.

10. You have collaborated with other authors including Brian Herbert, Dean Koontz, Doug Beason and your wife, Rebecca Moesta. Tell us about your writing process when collaborating.

I love to brainstorm with other writers; Brian and I meet together and spend a few days just hashing out a new Dune or Hellhole novel; we write up the outline together, break down the chapters, and then we hash out who is going to write what chapters. Then we write the draft chapters, each edit them, and then combine them for more start-to-finish editing. Brian and I have each written our chapters in Hellhole Awakening, and now I’m working through the first edit. When I’m done, I’ll send it to Brian, and he’ll do the same. It goes back and forth until it’s done.

11. Your deal with Bantam Books was the largest single science fiction contract in publishing history. Tell us about your Dune novels and the major new film currently in development by Paramount.

Dune has always been my favorite SF novel ever, so I am very pleased to be working with Frank Herbert’s son Brian on the new novels. We’ve now been working on big books together for twelve years. When we sold our first three Dune books: House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino, that contract was the largest single SF contract in publishing history, and those books outsold Bantam’s projections by three times, according to our editor. Because Dune is such an incredible classic, there has always been Hollywood interest in remaking the original film and possibly some of the other novels, but right now there’s nothing in production. We’ll keep our fingers crossed.

12. What aspirations, or reservations, do you have regarding the screen adaptation of your original books?

I would love to see film adaptations of some of my books, because it exposes a much larger audience to my work. Films are a different art form to books. I’d like to take a crack at doing a screenplay adaptation, but I’m primarily a novelist. Of course, we’ve all seen crappy adaptations of great novels more often than great adaptations, but even films like The Postman and Starship Troopers sold many hundreds of thousands of copies of the original novels. I see it as a good thing, regardless.

13. Tell us a little about a good science fiction or fantasy book you’ve read recently.

I am halfway through reading Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb and really enjoying it. I always like Robin Hobb’s work and I’m glad to revisit her universe. Next up is The Temporal Void by Peter F. Hamilton, one of my favorite big SF writers.

14. What new developments, in the world of science fact, excite you?

Good news, bad news: I was saddened to see the landing of the last space shuttle flight, the end of our shuttle program. Imagine a science fiction writer in the 1960s who wrote a future history novel about a space program that put a man on the Moon several times, then stopped due to lack of interest, then created a space shuttle program that went on for years of incredible breakthroughs, and then stopped without any successor program ready… That author would have been a laughing stock! But I was also glad to see the new launch of the Juno probe to Jupiter, even though it’ll take five years to get there, I can’t wait to see the pics.

Mt Guyot - 13,370 feet

15. Tell us about your interest in mountain climbing.

I love being on the summit, meeting the challenge of scaling a slope, working my way along the rocks, usually alone, often racing gathering thunderstorms. I have checklists of peaks and knock off as many as I can every summer.

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