Tim Pratt
Q-1.
Do you think a certain generation gap really exists, or, if not exactly a gap, do you feel some kind of distance between veterans who started their careers before 1960s and the younger generation Y in our genre, at least?
A-1.
I think writers tend to spend more time with people of roughly their same achievement level, at least at first -- when I began writing I was friends with other dedicated would-be professionals who'd never sold any stories, and later at conventions I met young up-and-coming writers who were beginning to make their first sales at the same time I did. Many of my friends have been selling novels and winning awards for a few years now, and I note with some interest that there's a whole younger group of new writers just starting to break into the business, and they think of my friends and I as "established" -- something I find amusing, as many of us have only been in this business for a few years. I think if there is a generation gap, it's more a result of that kind of grouping than of any real philosophical differences -- certainly I've made friends and had good experiences with older, more established writers, too.
Q-2.
Do you think the general atmosphere for the genre is less passionate now than, say, thirty years ago? I know there are fewer voters for the Hugo, and even those voters usually vote for their favorite works now, rather than the ones we can boast about as the representative masterpieces of the genre that particular year, as cornerstones of SF history.
A-2.
Well, thirty years ago I was barely a toddler, so I can't speak from any direct experience, and in truth, I don't consider myself a part of "fandom" even now. I grew up in a small town in the American south, and didn't meet any other writers until college. I never met serious science fiction writers until I went to Clarion after college, and didn't attend my first convention until 2001! But I do think SF as a whole is so pervasive in popular culture now that a lot of people who would have called themselves "fans" in the past don't think of themselves that way now; many of them are just people who like watching Lost and The Dark Knight and playing video games. You no longer have to be part of fandom to find wonderful SF books, movies, and media, or to find other people passionate about those subjects -- it's everywhere in popular culture. I also think the internet makes it easier to find people to talk about your passions; you don't have to go to a Worldcon anymore. The internet is a non-stop Worldcon (though it's not as fun as the real thing).
Q-3.
Has fandom changed? Or is it writers who have changed? What are the things that concern them most? They used to be the moon, rockets, a-bombs, wars, urbanization, etc.
A-3.
Fandom has moved largely online, I think, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, though it's fun to get together in person too. As pop culture has come to absorb things like space travel, rockets, nuclear bombs, clones, etc. (we have Pulitzer-Prize-winners writing post-apocalyptic novels now!), core SF writers have started to look elsewhere for inspiration, from Vinge's notion of the Singularity to cutting-edge developments in biotech to inevitably dark extrapolations about the consequences of global warming. There's also a danger that the future will simply overtake you if you try to write near-future science fiction -- things are changing quickly enough that today's extrapolation can be tomorrow's fact. I've also noted a tendency toward new writers trying to produce "entry-level SF," science fiction that can be appreciated by a general reader, without the complex web of references and precursors that can make some modern science fiction opaque to those not well-read in the genre's classics.
Q-4.
What do you think about the current state of SF? How do you like recent works by the newer generation of writers? Who is your favorite among them, or writers to watch? Can you recommend them to your personal friends who have never read our genre?
A-4.
I think we're in a golden age, truly. There are some amazing writers working today, and established writers still producing work at the top of their game. Some newer writers I especially enjoy include Greg van Eekhout (his first novel is coming out soon), Benjamin Rosenbaum, Alan DeNiro, Theodora Goss, M. Rickert, Christopher Barzak, Daryl Gregory.... but they're perhaps all more established, with collections or novels or both out. Some writers who have only done short fiction so far, and who impress me, are David Moles, Meghan McCarron, Alice Sola Kim, Hannu Rajaniemi, Chris Nakashima-Brown... I could go on and on. It's truly a great time to read and write SF.
Q-5.
Which of your works would you like to be read by Japanese readers?
A-5.
All of them, of course! I'd love to have my collection Hart & Boot & Other Stories translated. (Some individual stories have been.) I'd also like to see my Marla Mason urban fantasy series translated there, as I'm very proud of it.
Q-6.
What is your current work? Your next project?
A-6.
I'm editing two different anthologies, one about sex and science fiction, one a reprint anthology of fantasy and horror stories. My agent is currently sending around a science-fantasy novel for children, and an adult fantasy novel. I'm also writing a great many stories lately, with work forthcoming in Interzone, Subterranean, Strange Horizons, and other publications.
