{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/3909", "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it. Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.", "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'" }, "archive": "urth", "thread": { "id": 3909, "subject": "Gene Wolfe Chat", "messages": 3, "voices": 3, "first": "2003-04-04T16:01:56+00:00", "last": "2003-04-06T00:50:13+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "James Wynn", "address": "crushtv at hotpop.com" }, "date": "2003-04-04T16:01:56+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Gene Wolfe Chat", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "The following is the text of the Gene Wolfe Chat on Sci-Fi.com last night.\nI've edited it for readability:\n\n\n\n\n\n*** -\n*** - ********************************************************\n*** - ********************************************************\n*** -\n*** - WELCOME TO IRC.SCIFI.COM\n*** -\n\n*** Topic for #auditorium: Chat w/ master science fiction writer Gene Wolfe\n9PM ET\n\nChatMod:\nHi everybody, thanks for joining us. I'm Ben Trumble for SCIFI.\nGene Wolfe began writing science fiction in the 1950s and sold his first\nstory, \"The Dead Man,\" to Sir in 1965. Since then he's written over 20\nnovels and nearly 250 short stories.\n From his Nebula Award-winning The Island of Dr. Death and Other Stories to\nhis acclaimed Sun series to his numerous short stories. Along the way he's\nearned a reputation as perhaps the best living writer of literary science\nfiction. Brief word about the drill. This is a moderated chat -- please\nsend your questions for our guest to ChatMod, as private messages.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nWill there ever be another Sun series?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI don't plan one at this time. But never is a long time and I CAN'T answer\nabsolutely\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nAfter the experience of working on \"A Walking Tour Of The Shambles\" with\nNeil Gaiman, would you ever consider co-writing a novel with him. Or with\nanyone for that matter?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nCertainly. He was a joy to work with. I would certainly consider it.\n\n\nNeophyte:\nGene, is going to college a necessary step in becoming a good writer?\n\nGeneWolfe: No Of course not. I believe that Pred Pohl is the only well-known\nwriter who didn't finish high school. But college isn't absolutely\nnecessary.\n\n\nChatMod:\nMany writers call you a writers writer. What does that mean?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nWell, some people say I've influenced them. But I honestly can't always see\nit. I assume if they mention me they liked my work.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nWhen can we expect the first volume of The Wizard Knight to see print?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI'm told...in January...But understand publishers make predictions, not\npromises. But I think it will likely be January.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nThe Knight first, and then The Wizard to follow?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nCorrect. My inkling is the second book will follow the first by a year with\na story collection in between.\n\n\nJames-Wynn:\nI'm almost finished with with 'Hamlet's Mill'. I really enjoyed it, and I\nhave to thank for [you for] it largely because I wouldn't have read it\nnormally except because you indirectly recommended it. (Same for Brazillian\nAdventure). You have a lot of references to alchemy in your works. What is\nyour favorite source on the subject?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI don't know that I've refered to a source. And I'm not very current on it.\nI've read a few books and articles but I don't have a favorite source.\nSorry.\n\n\n\nAleb:\nYour writing seems to blur the distinction between \"the others\" and \"us\" so\nwe can't tell who is friend or foe. Is this something that comes from\nexperiences in the military?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nWell, it comes from experience. But not the military per se. People do\nchange sides. And people do play one side against the other. When you hold a\nmirror up to life you have to show that.\n\n\nfalchion:\nWas there ever an intentional connection between the goddess Scylla on the\nWhorl, and the monster Scylla who is contemporaneous with Erebus and Abaia?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nYes. Certainly. I tried to make that clear in the last book. I don't mean\nthey were the same person. They were not. But there was a connection.\n\n\n\nMikeJasper:\nGene, what's the process for you as you start work on a new novel? How do\nyou know it's going to be a novel vs. a short story?\n\nGeneWolfe: It's never a question that comes up. It's generally clear to me\nwhich it's going to be. Though I've been sadly deceived by Shadow of the\nTorturer. That was to be a novella. But when I reached the end I wasn't\nfinished and carried it\nforward. So maybe sometimes I don't know\n\n\n{NOTE: AT THIS POINT THE WRONG QUESTION SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN MISTAKENLY\nPOSTED. MIKEJASPER'S QUESTION IS PUT UP BUT WOLFE'S ANSWER IS TO MY\n(UNPOSTED) QUESTION. JW}\n\n[MikeJasper:\nGene, what's the process for you as you start work on a new novel? How do\nyou know it's going to be a novel vs. a short story?]\n\nJames-Wynn:\nRE:\"the others\" and \"us\" -- but \"identity\" and it's definition seems to be a\ntheme that keeps popping up in your writings. Care to explain your interest\nin this theme?]\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI think that identity and memory are the fascinating themes of\nlife. That and our relationship with God. These are the major, major themes\nthrough fiction and myth. I'm sure if we could trace back far enough we'd\nfind they are inherant in the huiman consition. It would be interesting to\nknow if they are equally important to an alien race. We can speculate but we\ncan't answer that.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nWhen you wrote Urth Of The New Sun, among other things was it intended to be\nbridge between New Sun and Long Sun?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nIt was to be a capstone to Book of the New Sun. People though it was\nincomplete. when I began New Sun I intended to show the rise of a boy to the\nthrone. But some people felt without the New Sun itself I hadn't finished\ntelling the story. So it wasn't a bridge.\n\n\nChatMod:\nHow did you get started as a writer?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI started writing to please my college roommate. He was an illustrator. He\nneeded stories to illustrate. I wrote some ghost stories. Much later I found\nmyself married and living in two rooms and we wanted money to buy furniture\nand rent a house. I though maybe I could earn some money writing. So I did.\nIt didn't exactly work out. It took me six years to begin to sell, more or\nless. It's not the best way to but furniture, depending on your time scale.\n\n\nEileenGunn:\nGene, you are a remarkable and remarkably prolific writer. Have you ever\nbeen blocked, or gone through unproductive times?\n\nGeneWolfe: Yes but only for brief periods. I think Writers Block is a\ndisorder embraced by its victims. I know how to end block, and I do that.\nSome writers seem to have no interest in ending it. So it goes on and on. It\nresults from fatigue in the part of the mind that deals with language. So\nstay away from language. Paint the house. Walk the dog. Don't read. Or\nwrite. Or talk. Rest the language centers. Thomas Wolfe would go on long\nmidnight walks through Brooklynn at midnight. He was doing the same thing.\n\n\nAleb: There are various commentaries about your writing on the internet. Do\nyou feel people tend to read too much into particular words and phrases that\nyou choose? Or, not enough? :)\n\nGeneWolfe: Both. Depending. Some people skip lightly over what I might think\nis important. Other people grab a word and blow it way out of proportion. I\ndon't read a great deal of the commentary. I've been surprised and shocked\nby some of it While some has been very insightful. I don't make a hobby of\nmyself. I don't collect my own books. I'm not interested in me per se.\n\n\nLatro:\nMr. Wolfe, will you write any more about me? I can't seem to remember the\nend of my story.\n\nGeneWolfe: I can't either... Seriously, I'm trying to write a new Latro\nnovel. Can't promise to finish. It's in the early stages, but I'm trying.\n\n\njf:\nGene, do you have a favorite supernatural Issac Bashevis Singer story?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nNo. I've read some Singer, but I don't think I've read him in many years or\ncan remember the stories well\n\n\nChatMod:\nHow do you work. How many stories are you working on now?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nThat varies. Between one and three. Too often I'm working on a novel, but\nI've promised somebody a story. So then I have a lot of chainsaws in the\nair.\n\n\nJudiR: How does a writer of your experience best help a new writer?\n\nGeneWolfe: It's very difficult. It depends on how far along that writer is,\nand what that writer requires. It has be tailored to the student. I start by\nreading several short stories, then I have an idea where to begin coaching.\nThe pleasure of all teaching depends on the students and how eager they are\nto learn. When the students are eager I enjoy teaching. I was at an art\ncollege in Savannah and I talked to several classes. There was one man in\nevery class who fell asleep each time in 5 minutes. He needed the rest.\n\n\nJames-Wynn:\nDo you feel trapped by the Sci-fi genre and what publishers and readers\nexpect of you?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nNot really. I write whatever I want to write and try to find a market.\nSometimes I don't find a market but it's a very broad genre. Obviously the\nmarket is so much more inclusive now. Listen to the definitions of science\nfiction over the years. Even the naysayers of ten years ago embrace\nmaterials now they once excluded. Along that line, I wrote a novel called\nFree Live Free with a witch and PI in it. I was told by a number of people\nthat I couldn't have a detective and a witch in the same book. I pointed out\nthat both could be found in the yellow pages, but to no avail. It's a time\ntravel novel. It worked and it's still in print.\n\n\narchtelamon:\nThoughts on newly released Latro in the Mist.\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI think it was a good move. My wife just read it in the combined volume. I\nlike that\n\n\nAleb: What motivates you to write? BTW, I appreciate the humor in some of\nyour answers tonight.\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI don't have a good answer. Sure, there are things I want to say. I want to\ntalk and I want to listen, like my grand daughter does.\n\n\nChatMod:\nDid you write Wizard Knight as a single work?\n\nGeneWolfe: Yes I saw it as one novel. But when I finished the very long\nfirst draft I realized that some sections were sketchy. Doing it as a single\nbook would have been impossibly lengthy.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nWhat comes after The Wizard Knight? Anything definite you will be working on\nnext?\n\nGeneWolfe: The third Latro book I mentioned and the short story collection.\n\n\narchtelamon:\nWould you ever give permission to a movie studio to do a movie on one of\nyour works? If not, why?\n\nGeneWolfe> Certainly I would if I reached agreement with the studio.\n\n\nJames-Wynn:\nIf your next Latro novel is ever finished, do you plan to wrap it up? In\nreading the second volume, I kind of expected him to go to India, Central\nAmerica, and Britain before he got home.\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI've felt the same way. I don't think the third will end with a wrap up.\nIt's laid in Egy[pt during the Persian occupation.\n\n\nAleb:\nI'm new to your writing. so I apologize if you have had to answer this too\nmany times before. Is Gene Wolfe your real name? Do the shape-shifting\ncharacters in your books stem in part from your name or is it the other way\naround?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nI suppose it does stem from my name. As a small boy I was interested in\nwolves and wolf lore. The kind of things we read as children crop up in our\nwork. Gaiman and I talk about this and agree on that.\n\n\narchtelamon: What was your definitive/favorite book you've written?\n\nGeneWolfe: That varies according to my mood. Probably...There are Doors more\nthan any other. I think because there is a great deal in it, and it turned\nout very as I had hoped it would when I started it.\n\n\nSFExplorer:\nWould you prefer to write a movie script for one of your books yourself or\nlet someone else do it?\n\nGeneWolfe: No, I'm a book person. I don'tlive in LA and I'm not fascinated\nwith film. Children's book writers love to write for children. Film writers\nlove to write film. I love books.\n\n\nCorwin:\nGene, which of your books was the hardest to write?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nProbably Peace, because I had a very poor idea of where the book was going\nafter\nI began it, and it was so fertile inproducing new characters and situations\n\n\nJames-Wynn: I'm sure you are obligated to read a lot of books as a writer\nand teacher, but when you walk through a bookstore, what sort of books catch\nyour eye? What sections do you go to first?\n\nGeneWolfe:\nThat depends on what I'm writing. Usually I'm looking for books that will\nhelp me with a [story]. Probably Space travel, Ancient Greece, Fairy lore;\nwhatever I need.\n\n\ndulac:\nDo you tend to plan things out meticulously before you write, or do you try\nand see where the I try to know the end of the story when I begin Kate\nWilhelm is the only write I know who plots meticulously. She only writes\nafter she's bored with the story. That's not the way I work\n\n{NOTE: KATE WILHELM WROTE \"THE MILE LONG SPACESHIP\" WHICH IS MENTIONED IN\n\"THE FIFTH HEAD OF CERBERUS. JW}\n\n\ndulac: Do you find the many plot connections and themes coming together\nnaturally?\n\nGeneWolfe: Absolutely.\n\n\nChatMod:\nWe're about out of time\n\nGeneWolfe:\nThanks for coming and talking with me. I appreciate it. Good night." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Matt DeLuca", "address": "archdragon at wotmania.com" }, "date": "2003-04-05T11:28:52+00:00", "subject": "Re: (urth) Gene Wolfe Chat", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I am archtelamon and i asked a few questions. It was a good chat.\n\n\n_____________________________________________________________\nhttp://wotmania.com\nfeed your wot addiction" } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Brandon Mason", "address": "suck_at_life at yahoo.com" }, "date": "2003-04-06T00:50:13+00:00", "subject": "(urth) Gene Wolfe Chat", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "I was Neophyte, and I think that I got the third\nquestion asked. I also asked a question that didn't\nget selected, and that was if the depiction of\nSeverian on the cover of Citadel of the Autarch was\nwhat Gene always expected him to look like. I had to\nleave at 9:30 because I was at work, which was a\nshame. Good questions, all." } ] } ] }