As a long time Philadelphia resident, do you find that Philadelphia
influences your science fiction world, your alternate realities?
In a way, yes. And I like Center City. When I came here, I only had lived mostly in suburban and rural areas when I was a kid, on military bases, military bases really being a little like a city. And I find I really liked living in a city. I like living in a place where everything is close together, you can walk most of the places you want to go. If you want to go a little further, you've got the public transportation. I would say that when I write about an asteroid colony, a city on the moon, I know from my experience that it's possible to have a place where you've got a lot of people and stuff in a small space and people can live very comfortable and really happy and fulfilling lives. And so I think that's somewhere in the back of all these asteroid cities and other space cities I write about. It's Center City, Philadelphia, you know? Maybe Vienna and places like that, too, obviously. But here I have experience.
Let's talk about your nonfiction writing a little bit. You've published essays, business writing. You've become a music critic. What appeals to you about writing about the arts?
Well, I like music. I like the arts. And when you write about it, it's sort of like reliving things. I'm not really a music critic now, but when we were going to a lot of concerts, it was like people said to me, "You're just like a man about town." Other people go to nightclubs and things. We go to Mozart and Brahms and Vivaldi.
And the stuff has such a glow and wonder to it. And it's a little like science writing, because you've got to explain to a general audience specialized stuff. And so you've got the poetry of the subject, and you've got that challenge. And it gives you opportunities to be good-humored and all that. And I like the musicians.
You said that you get a lot of your ideas from reading. You also find inspiration in music. Many people would argue that especially classical music is rich fuel for the imagination.
I think if you know anything about any specialized subject, you're going to use it in your fiction. For a long time I did not do it, because I didn't have that much confidence. And when I finally found myself writing about it regularly, I felt I could write about music. And so I did. It's a great subject, and it adds something. One problem you run into, of course, is most people nowadays in your audience, they don't know anything but rock music. And so often what you're referring to isn't going to mean that much to them.
What's your writing process like? Are you an outline writer? Do you have a rough idea in your head and then flesh it out?
What I found works for me is I get an idea that looks like it can be developed. And then I start typing up notes to myself. I found out if I say, "That's a good idea. I've got to think about it," nothing happens, you know? And so I write notes to myself. What I find is you free associate thoughts on the character, and you write a couple of paragraphs. And then you veer over to setting. And somewhere in your head there's always how is this going to work into a plot? So a plot begins to develop the setting. And sometimes you realize the plot's stuck, so let's just put my thoughts about the setting, so maybe a plot will emerge. And that's the process. I just keep at it until something emerges that I really feel I want to write.
The moment that's most important is the moment I think, "What a great story that will make." And sometimes, that's when you get the idea. You say, "Oh, that will make a great story." And sometimes you think an idea just looks intriguing and you keep at it until suddenly you add an element to something and suddenly that pops into your head: "This is something really worth writing. It's going to be a great story. If I can do it well, it will be a great story." That's really, to me, the thing.
Sometimes you can start with background and things like that, but the trick is it's got to be something. The trick there is you talk about the background from the viewpoint of the character and how it affected them. You can start by that and for two or three paragraphs telling about this character, how the world changed and affected them. Then you sort of zoom into the character's consciousness.
A story I sold to Asimov's, called "Bank Run." And it's basically about banking, which most people do not feel is an exciting subject. It's an interstellar story. And it takes place on a world where people are gradually building a society. And it's sort of a freewielding world where the first arrivals had become like feudal lords. And there really isn't any central government. And the hero is a banker. You need someone in the society who can finance the things that need to be done. And he finds himself getting attacked by this guy that wants a bigger loan. And so he finds he has to manipulate the situation with his banking skills and at the same time, he's being pursued in a chase situation. So you get the two things going on together.
Wow. A banker thriller.
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Some thoughts on banking and how it works and money, you know. The role it plays in life. To me it's very interesting. And a lot of people don't understand that kind of stuff. It's a subject I thought was worth writing about.
