Interview with Alan Dean Foster

Alan Dean Foster is an American writer known primarily for his work in fantasy and science fiction. Born in New York City in 1946, he was raised in Los Angeles and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and a Master of Fine Arts in Cinema from UCLA.

Foster's published oeurve includes more than 100 books featuring excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as Star Wars (Foster was the ghostwriter of the original novelization of Star Wars, which had been credited solely to George Lucas), the first three Alien films, Alien Nation, The Chronicles of Riddick, Star Trek, Terminator: Salvation, Transformers, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. His latest publications include the fantasy novel Oshenerth, and the young adult fantasy novel The Deavys. Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. His novel Shadowkeep was the first ever book adaptation of an original computer game. 

In addition to publications in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel Cyber Way won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so. He is also the recipient of the ‘Faust’ - the IAMTW Lifetime Achievement Award.

Foster's love of the far-away and exotic has led him to travel extensively. Besides traveling he enjoys listening to both classical music and heavy metal. Other pastimes include basketball, hiking, body surfing, and scuba diving. In his age and weight class he is a current world and Eurasian champion in power-lifting (bench press). He studied karate with brothers Aaron and Chuck Norris. He has taught screenwriting, literature, and film history at UCLA and Los Angeles City College as well as having lectured at universities and conferences around the world. A member of the Science-Fiction Writers of America, the Author's Guild of America, and the Writer's Guild of America, he also spent two years serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission of his home town of Prescott, Arizona. Foster's correspondence and manuscripts are in the Special Collection of the Hayden Library of Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.

    

1. What aspects of your childhood inspired your prolific writing career? 

When I was four, my parents bought me a set of small paperback books called The Golden Nature Guides.  One each for such subjects as birds, insects, etc.  They began a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and with science.  A year later I received subscriptions to a dozen or so comic books.  These came in the mail.  I learned how to read from them, especially from the great comics done by Carl Barks (Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck).  Otherwise, I had a very normal childhood.

2. Tell us about any childhood heroes. 

I didn’t really have any, except in books.  My parents had an old copy of one of the books by the famous world traveler Richard Halliburton, now little-read.  I poured over his tales and wanted to be like him. 

3. How did your career begin? 

August Derleth bought a long Lovecraftian letter I wrote to him, just for fun.  He ended up publishing it, as a short story, in his semi-annual magazine The Arkham Collector.  Subsequent to that, John W. Campbell bought a short, With Friends Like These, that appeared in the June, 1971 issue of Analog magazine.  Those were my first professional sales.

    

4. Tell us about your Humanx Commonwealth Universe. 

It started off as my first novel, The Tar-Aiym Krang.  At that time I had no idea if the book would sell.  When Betty Ballantine asked for a sequel, I ended up writing something a bit different, Bloodhype.  By the time I was asked for a third novel, which became Icerigger but which did not involve the character of Flinx, it was easier to utilize the existing background from the first two books instead of inventing an entirely new one.  At that point, the notion of writing other books in the series on a regular basis became viable.

The Humanx Commonwealth is a political and social amalgamation between two species: ours, and the insectoid Thranx.  As someone who has always rooted for the underdog, I thought it would be appropriate if, when we do go out to the stars, the intelligent species with whom we most readily get along turns out to look like creatures we have battled throughout our entire existence: namely, bugs.  The Thranx are not terrestrial insects, of course.  It’s a matter of convergent evolution.

    

5. You have either novelised or created several of the most iconic stories in science fiction, including Star Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Terminator, Transformers and The Thing. How have you developed and maintained your career for so many decades? 

As far as the novelizations are concerned, it became a matter of doing something well that others involved with similar projects also wished to see done well.  In other words, you acquire a reputation for being good at something. 

As to my original work, I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that I write in many different genres.  Those who enjoy my fantasy may not care for science fiction, and vice versa.  Those who read novelizations may not care for original fiction.  And so on.  When you go to a restaurant you may not like everything on the menu, but if the menu is large and the food is decent, you’ll find yourself returning.

6. Tell us about your working regime. What does it take to produce such a great volume of exceptional work? 

I get up, take care of the house and the critters, go out to my study, and read the news from all around the world.  I go through my email personally.  Then I write.  Which means I stare at the computer, or my surroundings, or the scenery outside, until something forms in my mind, which I then set down in print.  As to volume, you have to work at it every day.  Doesn’t matter if it’s prose, painting, sculpture, music…do a little every day and you’d be surprised how much you can produce.

It helps that I am a fast typist, but these days you can dictate without having to type.

    

7. I believe your love of adventure, travel, and exotic locations has been influential in your work. Tell us about some of the places you have visited that inspired your fictional world-building. 

Sometimes you get just a character, or a location, from traveling.  Sometimes, as with Into the Out Of (Tanzania) or Sagramanda (Northern India), you get an entire novel.   Bits and pieces end up welded together, depending on the storyline.  Interlopers utilizes locations I’ve visited in Peru, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.  The second and third books of the Tipping Point trilogy are set in South Africa and Namibia, respectively.

8. Tell us about any underlying themes or messages in your work. 

As has been noted, ecology and the state of the natural world are of great importance to me.  Books like Midworld and Drowning World are good examples.  But I don’t preach.  It’s better to write a popular novel that reaches a couple of hundred thousand readers and makes one point than to write a critically acclaimed novel that reaches a hundred readers and makes dozens of points.

9. Is there an existing film or story you would particularly love to novelize? 

The 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad.

10. Tell us about your Spellsinger series. 

When I attempt something I’ve never done before, I’ll only do it if I can be different.  Having never written a fantasy novel prior to Spellsinger, I made a conscious decision not to do aged wizards with long white beards, princesses in distress, noble heroes waving magic swords: I wanted to do something different.  And there was that influence of Carl Barks and his anthropomophosized animals.  It all came together very pleasantly.

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

When the characters and the story take over, and write themselves on autopilot.  When I can sit back and just let them do the heavy lifting for me.  In order for that to work, your characters have to be real and fully-rounded.

    

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

Sometimes you just don’t feel like writing.  It’s as if the mechanical process itself is holding you back.  When that happens, you just have to push on.  Bad writing is still writing, but it gets you from page 10 to page 15.  You can go back and fix it, revise, later.

13. Tell us about your experience filming Great White Sharks in Australia. 

That was in 1991, with Rodney Fox.  Rodney is the world’s most famous great white shark attack survivor, and has dedicated his life to their protection.  The water was very cold, so you’re heavily weighted, and in a shark cage you don’t wear fins.  So if you have to get out, you can’t swim.  You just sink.  So you’re always wondering if the cage is going to stay afloat.  But once past that, it’s the closest thing to hanging with dinosaurs you can do today.  They’re such magnificent animals.  You can reach out between the bars and touch them as they swim past.  Given the opportunity to free swim with them now, I’d do it in a moment.  Sharks are really just big dogs.  They’re curious, and they check you out, but you’re not their natural prey, and they’re more wary than aggressive.

    

14. Tell us about your collection of animals. 

All of our animals are rescued animals.  Current population is two dogs and eight cats.  I did once have a Columbian boa.  Very nice pet.  Doesn’t bark, doesn’t scratch, doesn’t  have to be walked, and easy to clean up after. 

15. Where can we find more official information about you and your work? 

www.alandeanfoster.com  Also, one of my publishers, Open Road Media, maintains a fannish Facebook page for me.  

Interview with Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne

Dr. Camille Wardrop Alleyne currently serves as the Assistant Program Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS), a science laboratory in space.  She is resident at NASA- Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas.  There she is responsible for managing the communication strategy for ISS Research and Technology that conveys the benefits of ISS scientific research to stakeholders, the public and potential users.  She also leads the integration of all international education programs across the ISS Partners (US, Japan, Russia, Europe and Canada).  Prior to this, Dr. Alleyne has held several positions at NASA, most recently as the Orion Crew Module Systems, Integration and Test Technical Manager at Johnson Space Center, the Systems Engineering and Integration Lead for Constellation Systems Requirements at NASA Headquarters and as a Flight Systems Test Engineer at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She has also held positions as an Aerospace Systems Engineer at the Missile Defense Agency and the Department of Defense, where she led analysis and integration of several ballistic missile defense projects.  

Dr. Alleyne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University in Washington DC.  She also holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Houston. 

Ms. Alleyne is a licensed Private Pilot whose accomplishments include being a Finalist in the 2004 Astronaut Selection Program.  She is the Founder of the Brightest Stars Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to educating, empowering and inspiring young women around the world to be future leaders through the study of science, math and technology. She has received numerous awards and commendations both from NASA and other national and international organizations.  She has been honored as a Caribbean Woman Icon in Science and Technology by the National Institute for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology in Trinidad and Tobago.  She was also honored as an Outstanding Woman in Aerospace by the National Society of Black Engineers.

1. You were born in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. How did your life and upbringing in Trinidad equip you for your successful career in science and assist in the realisation of your achievements?

My early childhood was very instrumental in helping me to become the person I am today.  Besides an innate curiosity about the natural world around me and about space, I had parents who held deep values for education and for allowing me to nurture my gifts and talents.  My mind was very mechanical and analytical and so I gravitated towards building and fixing things around the house, which my mother encouraged.  Additionally, I attended all-girl schools in Trinidad and Tobago, which I believe played a critical role in building my self-confidence that allowed me to navigate the career path I had chosen.

ISS and Earth (Credit: NASA)

2. During your childhood, was there a film, television show, comic or novel, which acted as a primary catalyst to your passion for science and your desire to venture into space?
   

My affinity for science truly was one that was innate.  Along with maths, these subjects were just things I naturally excelled in, again because I think my brain was wired to think that way.  My love for space started long before I knew what I was dreaming about, when at the ages of 6 and 7 years old I would sit on the trunk of my dad’s car and stargaze every night – wondering what was “out there”.  Two of my favourite shows growing up were The Jetsons and Star Trek, both of which seemed far-fetched at the time, but I enjoyed tremendously.

3. You are a role model. Did you have role models of your own?

My mom was my first role model in a very subconscious way.  I say subconscious because I was too young to know what being a role model meant.  She was a very strong and independent woman who along with my dad raised their three daughters to be strong, independent and self-sufficient.  In the last 20 years or so, my other role models were people who gave their lives in love and service of humanity – Dr. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

US Spacewalk / 1st EVA on ISS (Credit: NASA)

4. You were a finalist in the 2004 Astronaut Selection Program. Please tell us about this program and your desire to be an astronaut.

My desire to fly in space (the job of an astronaut) started when I was a freshman in college in 1986 when the Space shuttle Challenger accident happened.  At the time, just having moved from my home in the Caribbean, I did not know anything about NASA, the space shuttle or the career of being an astronaut – but I was hooked! I had just commenced my undergraduate studies in aeronautical engineering but the tragic event of the Challenger, opened my eyes, and instantly moved me, to switch my major to a focus on space and aerospace.  Six years later, after completing my college and graduate studies, I was driving into the gates of Kennedy Space Center to start what has been an amazing 18-year career.

The Astronaut Selection program is NASA’s process for recruiting candidates who train to be astronauts.  In the 2003-2004 selection process, I was one of 100 finalists who were selected from a pool of 4000+ applicants and who were invited to interview and undergo medical evaluation.  This was a week-long process that resulted in the selection of 12 of the 100 who undertook 2 years of training to be US astronauts.  Even though I wasn’t selected as one of the 12 candidates, going through the final selection process was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. 

5. Tell us about your role within the International Space Station Program.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a multidisciplinary (biology, physical sciences, human research, just to name a few) laboratory in space where we conduct scientific research and technology development in a microgravity environment.  As an Assistant Program Scientist, I am responsible for the development and implementation of the communication strategies that effectively convey the benefits of microgravity scientific research to stakeholders, the public and potential users.  I also lead the integration of all international education programs across the ISS Partners (US, Japan, Russia, Europe and Canada) that have engaged and inspired millions of students globally, in their studies of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

 

6. What is an aerospace engineer?

An aerospace engineer is a person who designs, develops, integrates and tests rockets and spacecraft vehicles and their systems.

7. What advice would you give to someone with a desire to pursue a career in engineering?

Firstly, your career choice should be something that you are passionate about.   Engineering itself is a very challenging but fulfilling career.  Engineers are trained to analyse problems, develop solutions and think critically about the world around us.  It requires determination, perseverance and tenacity to successfully complete a college engineering program, especially for women, because it is traditionally a male-dominated field.

8. Tell us about your role as a designer.

In the design of rockets or spacecrafts there are many sub-areas or subsystems that need to be designed first and then integrated to make a whole system.  The subsystems of rockets include the structures, propulsion, navigation and controls, aerodynamics (flow of air over a structure), avionics, thermal protection (specific to spacecraft).   Each of these areas is a sub-speciality in itself.  Then there are systems engineers who are responsible for integrating each of these parts into a whole and testing the whole to ensure that it meets the requirements it was designed for. Most of my career was spent involved in the design of spacecraft systems, rocket systems and the integration and testing of both.  In the last few years however, I have moved away from engineering into leading and managing projects and programs.

9. As a child, I expected jet packs, flying cars, sub-orbital commercial flight and moon bases to be a part of our everyday life by now; but after just 6 missions, manned lunar landings ended in 1972. Since then, we’ve seen Concorde retire in 2003 after 27 years of service; and after 30 years of service we’ve witnessed the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. Is science fiction unreasonably optimistic with regards to human technological potential?

Sometimes it seems that our human potential lags what we coin as “science fiction” and sometimes we have surpassed science fiction in many ways.   There is nothing wrong with human beings dreaming big and using our imagination; in fact, it is a part of our nature! But there are scientific and physical realities of how our universe works that, regardless of how innovative and imaginative our thoughts are, the universal laws always dictate. Having said that, in 2013, we are on the verge of sub-orbital commercial flights for everyday people; we have smart phones in our pockets that are revolutionary- I never would have imagined 15, 20, or 25 years ago, this small device would allow me to respond to voice commands, access the internet and give me a capability to video conference with friends and family across the globe.  We have athletes with artificial limbs competing in able-bodied Olympics.  There are cars that don’t require gasoline. Finally, something that’s near and dear to my heart, and that is our Space Station in low Earth orbit built and operated by 15 countries working together to explore and further human knowledge.

10. What does the foreseeable future of aerospace engineering and manned space exploration hold for us?

The development of a transport capability that would take humans to an asteroid by 2025 with the goal of reaching Mars by 2030. Our goal and objective is to advance space exploration capability that would allow humans to travel beyond Low Earth Orbit.

11. What do you find most rewarding in your career?

Most rewarding about my career is being in the very unique, specialized and highly technical field of human space exploration.  Also, I have had the opportunity to work with some of the most brilliant people on the planet.

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

Most challenging is the fact that I am a woman in a very male-dominated environment and career, and one that has very, very few people of color (male or female).  One is not always given the benefit of the doubt because of those physical attributes.  But what I know for sure is that there is no substitute for excellence – it transcends ethnicity, gender, culture etc.  So striving for excellence is the way to overcome those barriers.

13. Tell us about your involvement with the Caribbean Youth Science Forum.

The Caribbean Youth Forum is an annual educational event that hosts about 300+ Sixth Form students from all over the Caribbean.  The weeklong event hosted by the Trinidad and Tobago National Institute of Higher Education, Science and Technology, provides students with the opportunity to be exposed to various aspects of science and technology through a mix of academic, social and cultural activities.  In 2011, I was invited to participate as the keynote speaker at the event’s opening.  I was also able to organise for the students, with the assistance of the Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Radio League (TTARL) and NIHERST, their participation in one of the International Space Station education programs called Amateur Radio on ISS (ARISS).  This allowed the students to talk to astronauts on board the space station in real time, as it passed over Argentina.  This was an historic event for the region, as no Caribbean students had ever conducted this type of contact with the ISS.  Later that week, I also gave a public lecture on ISS Research and its Benefits to Humanity, to the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

14. Rationalism versus mysticism and the intersection between science and religion is often explored in works of fiction. Do you come from a religious family background, do you have strong religious views, or do you believe that there is no place for religion in science?

I do come from a strong religious background and was raised Catholic, but I believe strongly that there is an intersection between religion and science and they are more tightly intertwined that most people are willing to admit.  I am not religious even though I am deeply spiritual (there is a distinction) and am extremely open-minded and consistently in an “inquiry” about our place in the scope and vastness of the universe.

15. Tell us about the Brightest Stars Foundation.

The Brightest Stars Foundation is a non-governmental organization I founded in 2007 with the mission of education, empowering and inspiring young women to be future leaders through the study of science, technology and engineering.  I travel all over the world, on behalf of my foundation, advocating for the rights of girls to have access to quality education, specifically STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).  I also spend time speaking to and inspiring youth (boys and girls) to believe in themselves and live up to their fullest potential.  A vision of my foundation however, is the establishment of Science Academies for Girls in the developing world, the first one being in Kenya.  These are residential high schools that will educate girls in highly scientific and technological fields, with the goal of educating the next generation of Nobel Laureates in Science. This project has been slow getting off the ground because of the financial commitment needed, but this year it is finally taking off and I am hopeful and determined that by 2016 we would be opening our first school.

16. Do you read science fiction or fantasy? If so, tell us a little about a good science fiction or fantasy book you’ve read recently.

No I do not read science fiction or fantasy.  I often read biographies of extraordinary people and books with social consciousness like “The End of Poverty” By Dr. Jeffrey Sachs.

Mt. Etna Eruption from ISS (Credit: NASA)

Eye of Hurricane Isabel from ISS (Credit: NASA)

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

In the world of science, what excites me is something I am exposed to on a daily basis and that is the discoveries we get from conducting scientific experiments in the microgravity environment of space.  What we don’t often realize is that gravity affects every biological, chemical and physical process that occurs on Earth.  So when we take gravity out of the equation and are able to control it via the International Space Station – a science laboratory in low earth orbit – we advance our knowledge significantly on terrestrial systems including human beings. The new discoveries such as vaccine development for Salmonella bacteria, candidate treatments for a certain type of Muscular Dystrophy, development of countermeasures for osteoporosis patients, the possibility of finding real evidence for how our universe started, the ability to take images from 400 km above the Earth that assists us in natural disaster response.  All these and more are new developments courtesy of the International Space Station and ones that excite me daily.

18. Tell us about your other interests.

Besides space exploration, I have a passion for travelling the world and experiencing people of other cultures and traditions.  I also have a passion for dance (hip-hop and jazz) and flying planes (something I don’t get to do as often as I would like).  But as a mom to an amazing teenage girl who is an extremely gifted athlete and excellent scholar, I spend most of my time investing in her upbringing and ensuring that she has the supportive environment (like I did) that will allow her to realize her capacity for greatness.

     Links:

               ISS Research and Technology

               The Brightest Stars Foundation

            

Interview with Robert J. Sawyer

Photo Credit: Christina Molendyk

Robert J. Sawyer is one of only eight writers in history to win all three of the science-fiction field’s top awards for best novel of the year: the Hugo, the Nebula, and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He has published in Science (guest editorial), Nature (fiction), and Sky & Telescope, was a participant in the workshop “The Future of Intelligence in the Cosmos” sponsored jointly by the NASA Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, and is a contributor to DARPA’s “100 Year Starship Project.” His website is sfwriter.com.

1. During your childhood, was there a film, television show, comic or novel, which acted as a primary catalyst to your passion for science fiction?

All of those except for the comic.  On TV, it was Star Trek: The Original Series, on film it was 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as for novels, it was the wonderful book The Enormous Egg by Oliver P. Butterworth.

2. You have won over forty awards for fiction, including the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award and several Aurora awards. What would you say is the key to your critical acclaim and phenomenal success?

Doing that one thing that hard science fiction is traditionally the least good at:  putting believable human characters in fantastic situations.  Most SF—especially hard SF—has cardboard characters; I labor hard to make mine live and breathe.

3. In the world of publishing, there seems to be ongoing tension between independents and the established, traditional publishers. What advice, or encouragement, can you give to independent authors and publishers? 

For independent authors, remember that quality does matter.  Hire yourself an editor, a copyeditor, a proofreader, and a real cover artist—all four of them.  You’re competing with those who are having those skills brought to their books by their traditional publishers, and each of those experts brings an enormous amount to the finished product.  At the moment, for most independent authors, you’re competing mostly on price, at least in the ebook arena: you’re cheaper than the ebooks from the traditional publishers.  But ebook prices from traditional publishers are bound to drop, and then you have to compete point-for-point with authors who have a solid professional team behind them.

For independent publishers, stop overstating things.  Print publishing isn’t dead, it’s not “legacy publishing,” and you haven’t yet taken over the world and perhaps never will.  For every reader you win over with hype, you turn one off.

4. Tell us about Triggers.

Well, Publishers Weekly calls it “a turbo-charged technothriller,” and that pleases me because it’s exactly what I was trying to produce.  It’s a slam-bang novel about an attempted assassination of the US president, and an experiment that goes awry, linking people’s memories—including letting some unknown person read the president’s memories, thereby posing a huge risk to national security.

5. Why did you write this book, and what do you hope to achieve with it?

In 2009-2010, ABC aired a wonderful TV series based on my novel FlashForward.  That novel, like most of my novels, was a thoughtful, philosophical tale, but ABC turned it into a conspiracy-theory thriller—with my approval and cooperation, I hasten to add: I wrote one of the episodes and consulted on all of them. I gained an enormous number of new readers because of that series, but they expected something like what they’d seen on TV—and so I decided to give it to them, while hopefully still serving up the philosophy and introspection my existing readership has come to expect from me.

6. You are a teacher of science fiction writing who has served as Writer-in-Residence for several prestigious institutions. You are also a highly respected authority and keynote speaker on technology and future genetics with an interest in palaeontology. Did your lifelong interest in science fiction inspire your study of science, and how has it influenced your writing?

I was a science fan first, ever since I was a little boy. When I was in public school, I wanted to be a palaeontologist, and I was also fascinated by astronomy.  It was definitely my interest in science that led me to science fiction, not the other way around.  For me, the most interesting questions in science are the speculative ones  why did the dinosaurs die out (which was a big mystery when I was a kid), what causes galaxies to have the shape they do (which is still a big mystery).  The speculation fascinated me, and when I found there was a field of literature devoted to asking such questions and positing entertaining and intriguing answers, I was hooked.

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

Feedback from readers.  My readers have been hugely supportive over the years, and many have become friends.  It’s so gratifying to know that they’re enjoying my work.  I write for them.

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

Keeping up my own level of interest during the year-long process of creating a book.  Around about the halfway mark, when I’ve finished all the research and am well into the manuscript, I start to get antsy for moving on to my next project. Fortunately, I know other writers, including the wonderful horror writer Edo van Belkom, who have the exact same problem. They talk me through my crisis, and I talk them through theirs.  It’s always worked—so far!

9. Rationalism versus mysticism and the intersection between science and religion is often explored in your work. Do you come from a religious family background, do you have strong religious views, and would you argue that there is a place for religion in science fiction?

Exactly the opposite.  I come from a secular background.  My father is a non-practicing Anglican and my mother is a Unitarian—and I’m an atheist.  But unlike most atheists, I don’t disparage those who have beliefs.  I’ve met too many thoughtful, questioning, intelligent people who believe in God to dismiss them.  I don’t have any patience with fundamentalists, but those are only the fringe, fortunately.  And given that science fiction is indeed the literature of ideas, there are no more interesting ideas to explore than whether there are intellects greater than our own that might have had a hand in how we got here, and what might become of us after we die.  I explore the former in Calculating God and the latter in The Terminal Experiment, and I think it’s only in science fiction, with its tradition of grand thought experiments, that you really can grapple with such issues.

10. In a genre where many writers opt for dystopia, disaster and nihilism, your work is often refreshingly optimistic particularly regarding the future of humanity. Tell us why you believe the future of the human race is bright.

Simple:  the central skill of the science fiction writer is the extrapolation of trends, and the world has been consistently improving over time.  The smallest percentage of the population ever is currently involved in armed combat, the highest number are literate, and so on.  We also are more compassionate than we’ve ever been, according the rights of personhood to a larger proportion of the human race than ever before.  If you don’t believe me, read the excellent non-fiction books The Evolution of God by Robert Wright and The Better Angels of our Nature by Steven Pinker.

11. My wife is Armenian and the cosmopolitan approach to science fiction pioneered by the original Star Trek is very close to my heart. With prominent characters such as Karen Bessarian in Mindscan, and Professor Ranjip Singh in Triggers, can we deduce that the inclusion of diverse races and cultures is important to your work? And if so, why?

Absolutely. I grew up watching the original Star Trek, and that inclusiveness just seemed so natural to me.  Plus, I grew up in Toronto, which the UN officially recognized as the most multicultural city on the planet.  The future belongs to the whole human race; I’d be doing a disservice if I didn’t reflect that in my fiction.

12. Tell us about FlashForward.

It’s a novel about everyone on Earth blacking out for two minutes, and those who survived waking up with overlapping visions of what, it seems, the future is actually going to hold.  My novel came out in 1999, and it was adapted for television by ABC Studios in 2009. 

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

I loved the FlashForward TV series, and I’d very much like to see other works of mine adapted for the big or small screen.  I have no problem with liberal adaptations; after all, my books, with my specific visions, will always still exist.

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

Julian Comstock: A Novel of 22nd Century America, by Hugo Award-winner Robert Charles Wilson.  It takes on religious fundamentalism in the US, and, with some of the current debates going on, it could not be more timely.  Plus, it’s a joy to read.

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

Exo-planets!  I love that we finally are discovering strange new worlds—and that so many of them are so strange is just fabulous.

16. Tell us about your other interests.

I love palaeontology, I used to captain a pub-league trivia team, I enjoy reading, and I love to travel.

Links:

Website: http://sfwriter.com
Blog: http://sfwriter.com/blog
Dedicated website for my WWW trilogy: http://wakewatchwonder.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RobertJSawyer
Facebook: http://facebook.com/robertjsawyer

Interview with Syd Mead

Syd Mead is an American "visual futurist" and concept artist, best known for his visionary designs for popular science-fiction films. Syd Mead, Inc. accommodates international clients, including work with major Hollywood and Japanese film studios. His impressive portfolio includes designs for Tron’s light cycles, Blade Runner’s flying cars, Japanese toy and television characters, “The New Yamato” and the 8 robots of “Turn A Gundam” mobile suits.

An advocate of new technologies, Syd Mead has expanded his horizons to include computer illustrations and graphics, using the latest in available techniques to their full advantage. In a career that spans over 50 years, and includes an astounding range of creative activities, Syd Mead attributes his success, to the premise that imagination, or the idea, supersedes technique.

1. You are a world famous "visual futurist" and concept artist who has produced iconic work for films such as Tron, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner, Aliens and 2010. For the benefit of those who may not be familiar with your work, tell us about your career and your artistic creations.

My ‘career’ started just out of high school in 1952 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was my first ‘paid to create’ job, doing background scenes and character origination for a local animation trailer studio called Alexander Film. After three years in the Army Engineer Corps on Okinawa during the Korean War, I spent the next two and a half years at Art Center School, then in Los Angeles. I was hired by Ford Motor Company’s Advanced styling studio in Dearborn, Michigan, quit after 26 months to be hired by a small promotional company in Chicago, designing and producing a series of ‘future’ vehicular technology promotional books for United States Steel, and several promotional books for Celanese Corporation. I redesigned the corporate logo for Allis Chalmers, did a promotional book for Atlas Cement Corporation and several other promotional illustrative publications. I started my own company, the eponymous Syd Mead, Inc. in Detroit, Michigan in the fall of 1970. I moved to Southern California in 1975, and I am still here, now in Pasadena. The movie part of my career, started with designing the V’Ger entity for the finale of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, going from that post-production entrée to Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Aliens, etc. You can pursue further information on our website, www.sydmead.com.

2. You served a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army. Has this experience helped you in the creation of your concept art, and if so, how?

The Army service gave me an appreciative insight into the Asian mentality and design sensibility. That exposure served to fine-tune my already developing appreciation of proportion and interval.

3. How did you make the transition from providing designs and illustrations for Philips, to producing concept art for major Hollywood studios?

I was trained at Art Center to think, to arrange problem solving into a procedural effort. I make no distinction between various kinds of design problem solutions; it all resolves down to understanding what the challenge is, whether a consumer product, a 750 foot cruise ship, a 400 foot super yacht, a movie prop or graphical solutions to corporate graphics. It is a common mistake to put a label on any discreet field of design; that is termed ‘linear career’ limitation. I treat all design challenges as variants of procedural problem solving methodology. I have never been trapped into a ‘specialized,’ linear career parameter. That’s why I’ve been continuously and profitably active for over 50 years.

4. How did you become known as a “visual futurist”?

I created that title spontaneously after a brief call with my entertainment lawyer from New York, for my credit on the after roll of Blade Runner. It is purely a promotional ‘bumper sticker’ denotation.

5. Tell us about your latest publication, the long-anticipated Syd Mead’s Sentury II.

Sentury II is a compilation of the last ten years of design activity of Syd Mead, Inc. The peripheral exception is the anime Gundam project, which started in 1998 and finished in 2000. Sentury II is a companion sequel to Sentury. The two cover art examples are cross-related in composition, coloration and scenario presentation.

6. Why did you produce this book, and what do you hope to achieve with it?

The book serves as a ‘place holder’ in the rapidly expanding media universe. Our intention is to serialize it, at some point in the next years, as the print version sells out. This will be for archival purposes. All of our books have increased in value as re-sales over the years, many of them now on eBay or other shopping networks for many times their original price. The books serve as visibility portfolios and inspiration sources for designers and artists all over the world. Check our Guest Sign-In page or Facebook for an idea of our visibility worldwide.

7. What do you find most rewarding in the creative process, and how do you overcome that which you find challenging?

The reward in being creative is in the success of the solution, first of all to myself and secondly to the client. This sounds egotistical but think about it. I immerse myself in the specifics of the client’s problem presentation. If that presentation, or critique is inaccurate or incomplete, I can be sucked into solving either a non-existent, or a wrong problem. But if I am professionally happy with the result, operating on information I’ve been given, to me the solution is a success, and I get paid. If the client has given me the correct information, then they are happy also and become another link in the referral chain of further business, either in their field of endeavor or ancillary fields. The biggest challenge in any design problem job is getting accurate information from the client, as a basis for solving the problem. Sometimes, I’ve had to identify the problem myself, to the client, before starting. Client staff structures often obfuscate the ‘real’ problem with some vague or procedural rationale. This is disastrous.

8. Of the work you’ve created, is there one that you are particularly proud of? If so, why this particular work?

I am particularly proud of several large project involvements. The two 747 aircraft interiors for heads of state come to mind. I did these as only the second entry into the aircraft interior field of work. The other kind of project is more recent. I designed two very different food-service installations in New York City, FoodParc and Bar Basque, both on 6th Avenue at 30th. You can view these on our website, if you pursue the links with the architect group’s name of Philip Koether Architects.

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?

Science Fiction owes its fascination and literary persistence to our inherent curiosity about ‘future.’ Evolution, as referenced by your question, hopefully compliments the maturation of the genre from cheap, pulp-fiction to more serious inquiries into what the future may either promise or threaten, depending on the mental health of the writer, social invention or the purely business-minded pursuit of the movie industry. The reason why Blade Runner has become such an iconic movie, is that it is consistent to itself, involves several levels of social imperatives, and on top of it all, is a morality tale of human worth and the evolution of ‘love.’

10. Your visuals for the film Blade Runner helped shape the public perception of the look of the future, influencing the visual design of many of the science fiction films that followed. To what do you owe your uniquely inspiring vision?

My vision… Well, let’s go back. By the time I created a lot of stuff for Blade Runner, working with Sir Ridley Scott, I’d been doing elaborate scenario and design solutions for over twenty years. Working on Blade Runner followed the procedures I’ve described in previous answers. I was presented with a clearly defined ‘problem’; and I solved it, along with several parallel jobs I was doing for other clients.

11. What aspirations, or reservations, do you have regarding the continuing application of your work to film?

There are many more resources for training guys to work in the electronic game industry, and entertainment industries, than there were in 1959. My ideas are still valid, as evidenced by my continued visibility across the entire range of guys working in those industries. Movie financiers tend to like a ‘one-stop’ source for creative effort, because of the risk-factor in financing productions. They like to have ‘prior’ experience.

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

Career advice is sort of hazardous because you necessarily have to generalize. With that caveat, here goes. Notice everything. Sophistication is basically memory; how things look, why they look that way, how people react, how they stand and physically interrelate, how light plays across architecture, and how foliage softens perspective edges. A successful problem solver has to take the ‘problem’ apart, identify what the problem is and reassemble all the parts into a new solution. Big problems are combinations of smaller ones.

13. What are you doing now?

Right now I have taken a hiatus from commission work to write and compose my autobiography. I have stacks of photographic references, drawings my parents kept since I started to draw at around three years old… It’s been a fascinating life, and writing my way through seventy-eight years is entertaining.

14. Where can we find you and your work?

Our website is:

            www.sydmead.com

Our e-mail URL is:

            oblagon@att.net