What are you currently working on?
I am half finished with the next book in the 'Ehvelen' series. This has been fun. In the other books, I have been definitely on the side of the Ehvelen, who are the REAL Little Folk, the ones the myths are based on. In this one, my hero is a young man on the other side of the conflict.
Problem is I hardly have the time to write, because I am too busy editing books for other writers. I actually earn money with this. Things would be a lot easier if technology didn't hate me. I have spent all winter doing what I am sure no-one else does: typing by candle light.
No, no, I don't live in a cave. My house is on solar electricity, and last winter I happily worked away 5 or 6 hours a night without problems. I had open cell nicad batteries, which don't mind being run down. Unfortunately, the third or fourth hand battery bank I bought 10 years ago died this winter. After months of mucking around, I bought a new set of batteries. Even second hand nicads were well beyond my means, so these are new flooded cell lead acids. Cost me a couple of months' worth of earnings, so I want them to last. Now, these things have their lives shortened if they are discharged below a certain level. Guess what this is?
10%! So, 90% of the expense is for the battery, 10% for me.
Since it's winter here, we have not yet managed to get the things fully charged. Until we do, it's candlelight, and rationed computer use, particularly going online (because I can't do that elsewhere).
Who or what has been a major influence on your writing and why?
WHAT: 58 years of seeing the world in all its wonderfully stuffed up state. I have been a victim of discrimination and bullying, and so I love to poke fun at cruelty. I am a committed conservationist, and all my writing is coloured by this. I am an observer, a bystander, an outsider, and so my head is chock full of raw materials. Come near me, and you might find yourself as part of a character in one of my stories.
WHO: Dick Francis is my favourite writer and role model, though I have never written his kind of book. His heroes are ordinary people until tested by unusual circumstances. Then they react in the way I hope I would in their situation. He always has something about horse racing, which doesn't interest me. I can forgive him this -- after all, he is a retired champion jockey. The point is his writing holds my interest even though the subject matter doesn't. I want to be able to do the same. He also has some other specialty within each book, and I also like to describe technical matters in a way that is captivating rather than boring.
With which of your works are you most satisfied and why?
My best book so far is SLEEPER, AWAKE. It's the first one that was organically grown instead of being meticulously planned. Normally I am obsessive about planning, accurate research, the plot set down in detail before I start to write. With this book, I started with an idea, then a person, and other characters came along as I needed them, without any action on my part. I didn't know what was going to happen. Instead, the action was determined by the details of the world I created at the start (and I learned about these details more or less at the same time as my heroine), and by the personalities of the people in the story. I didn't realise what the ending was going to be until after I had written it. Then suddenly I saw the whole book from a new, now inevitable perspective.
And don't you DARE read the end first!
What are your favourite and least favourite words?
Least favourite word is 'bit'. It's a bit too easy to use it in bits and pieces, and when my writing has the bit in its mouth I feel I've been bitten by this wretched little word that means a bit too many different things.
I don't have a most favourite word. Words are tools. I use the one that fits.
Who (Fact or Fiction) would you most like to meet, and what would you ask them?
For a start, the editor in me: 'Whom', not 'who'.
<Oops! Steve>
My special little friends from the Stories of the Ehvelen are favourite people of mine: Heather the Mother and Porcupine the Inventor.
Is there a book or story you wish you had written?
That's easy. THE HOBBIT.
If you could have one wish granted what would it be?
Ask that from a writer? A million copies sold of each of my books. By the way, if I ever achieve something like that, I'll give most of the money away. I'll establish the Ehvelen Foundation, which will hand out money to cause the Ehvelen would have approved of (environmental and humanitarian work). I'll hire myself as Director at a modest salary, and live my life unspoiled by having to worry about money.
Is writing your full time occupation, if not what is?
Writing is MORE than a full time occupation. I am engaged in it even when I am supposed to be doing other things, such as driving a car (I don't become dangerous, but might lose my way), eating, earning money.
My other activities are all part time. I used to be a research psychologist. When I retired at 35 years of age, I decided I never wanted to work full time again. Life is too short to be treated with the seriousness it deserves. (Incidentally, I didn't make this up. I am quoting a young fellow from one of my books who was talking to the supreme leader of his people. I'd never think of something so profound!). I became a Mudsmith (no I won't explain. Have a look at http://mudsmith.net/). Then I had some bad luck and ran out of money, so I trained as a nurse. Ever since then, to the present day, that's been by bread and butter. I can always get as many nursing shifts as I want. When I don't have extra expenses, I can live off two shifts a week. When I need more, I work more.
Then I found that nursing had toughened me up enough to allow me to do counselling, and that's my second occupation after writing. The trouble is that I am too good as a psychologist and lousy as a businessman. That is, my clients get strong and self-reliant too fast, and I am too slow in finding new ones. I have a mere trickle. And also I am a softie, and charge too little, particularly to people who have only slightly more of an income than myself: single parents, unemployed people, invalid pensioners.
My newest occupation is editing. I seem to have a flair for it, at least according to the overwhelming proportion of my customers. Currently I have a waiting list of three books, and two are due to arrive any time.
What was your first professional sale? How did it feel when you received the acceptance?
I started writing in 1980. That was when I sent my first article to 'Earth Garden' magazine. They actually paid me money for it, and there was my name in print. Much more satisfying than the articles in learned journals, this led directly to my first book, which appeared in 1987, and is still in print in its third edition. It has been reviewed as the 'Australian owner-builder's bible'.
Who is you favourite author?
Don't you listen? I told you it was Dick Francis. Tolkien and David Eddings are pretty good too, and Jonathan Kellerman if I don't read too many of his books too close together. And Katharine Kerr, and the Pern books by Anne McCaffrey.
If you could give one piece of advice to a would-be author, what would it be?
It may be true that a flower is a device for making seeds, and a book is a device for being published. But a potato flower makes no seed, and yet, have a look at it, it's beautiful. A book is designed to be read by many people, but think of a flower that blooms and withers in the depths of a forest, never seen by anyone. It is still beautiful.
Write for yourself, because you must, because you want to create beauty, because you strive for perfection.
When did you first decide that you wanted to be an author?
In 1972, I had a sort of a religious conversion: I became a born-again conservationist. I dedicated my life to fighting for a better world to bring up my children in. Well, they're grown now, but I still want a better world for my grandchildren, and for your grandchildren too. Writing has been one of my tools in working for this goal.
When did you first feel that you were an author?
When SLEEPER, AWAKE won the EPPIE 2001 Award for Science Fiction. My two paper books are not Literature, but how-to, pedestrian stuff. This is not to say I didn't do my best to write them well, but they are tools, not Art. My Ehvelen books and short stories have received wonderful reviews, and I have won prizes in many short story competitions, but... well, the sales were lacking. Being that flower in the forest is all very well, but I DO want to make seeds too!
Are you for or against e-books?
You asking this from a greenie? E-books don't eat paper. You are in Britain, kept alive by the Gulf Stream. Right now, the polar ice is melting. What if the cold water from the poles interferes with the Gulf Stream? If I was the dictator of Europe (no thanks) I'd declare war on George W Bush, because his energy policies are acts of war against Western Europe, including Britain. Anything and everything that slows the Greenhouse Effect is a life saver for billions, probably including you. Please note that this interview was before> September 11th.
SF, Skiffy or Sci-Fi? What is the correct shortening of Science Fiction and does it matter?
It matters only to the small-minded. Old Shaky said, ' A rose by any other name...' Actually, I don't like cagegories at all (not a typo). All writing is about basic human issues, only the wrapping paper varies.
Do you have a favourite place to write?
Inside my head. the rest is just mechanics.
Do you enjoy book signings/conventions?
Never had the doubtful pleasure, but I am sure I'd HATE them. At one time, I did wood carving. That was fine, but then I made the mistake of going to markets and exhibitions. Every time someone went by without buying the children of my spirit, I was devastated. I'd feel the same with my books, but even more so.
Besides, I am not a party animal. I like people in small doses, hate chatter, and prefer my own company.
Why do you like SF/F/H?
Well, I don't like horror for its own sake. My daughter Natalie has forced me to read three Stephen King books. I didn't manage to finish any of them. Horror for its own sake, like romance for its own sake, is silly and boring. I WILL use horror to make a point, and I delight in including romance as a component of a plot. But I don't eat either chili powder or sugar by the spoonful.
Sf and fantasy are just writing to me, two of an infinite selection of options. I will quite happily insert futuristic technology within a murder mystery, or a mystical experience within a romantic passage. There is no such thing as genre, there are only fashions and tastes. Ultimately, all writing is the same in that if it's any good it teaches you about people, entertains you by taking you within the mind of someone else. And that someone could be a person with an insect-like appearance, or a tree, or a bunny rabbit.
What book are you reading at the moment?
Sorry mate, I have no time to read at the moment. I am too busy typing this by candle light. I used to read during meal breaks when nursing, or while sitting and waiting for a counselling client, but at the moment I have my notebook with me, and I am probably editing a book.
Do you enjoy collaborating?
It can be wonderful, if you strike sparks off each other. Or it can be frustrating as hell if you are pulling in different directions. I've been in both places.
How does your approach to the editing role differ from that of writing?
Not much. I edit as I write, and when I edit I use a creative approach, considering all aspects from plot and characterisation to mundane things like commas and syntax.
Do You Always know a Story's Ending When You Begin Writing?
No. I did with full length novels until SLEEPER, AWAKE, but short stories often jump into my mind, complete except for a good ending. That has been known to take me a week or two.
Are you a member of any writing groups?
Several, over the internet. But in real life I am a loner, besides I live in a country area.
What's the most memorable thing said in a review of your work?
My EARTH GARDEN BUILDING BOOK being called an 'owner-builder's bible; Kate Saundby, whose writing is delightful, wrote that my THE START OF MAGIC made her lose a night's sleep; Christine Spindler, who is a writer of talent and style has had the highest praise possible for ANGER AND ANXIETY. She had suffered from multiple phobias, and wrote that she wished my book had been available twenty years ago.
Have you won any awards for your writing?
I could attach a table. To date, I have won nineteen prizes, awards or commendations, and I only enter contests in spurts. Not that I like bragging, but you did ask...
What's you main ambition?
To be part of a movement to create a world that is fair to all, and sustainable in the long term.
Is there something you are particularly proud of?
My three children. They are delightful, decent people I am proud of, and who are my friends.
Plug away - what do you have coming out?
THE MOTHER'S SWORD is one of the Ehvelen series, and was released in August 2001. It gave me a lot of trouble for quite some time, but I am happy with it now.
PERSONALLY SPEAKING: SINGLE SESSION EMAIL THERAPY WITH DR BOB RICH is coming out in September. It is a collection of fifty answers to cries for help. Basically, I invite you to look over my shoulder as I do therapy.
THROUGH OTHER EYES is a short story collection: twenty-six stories in each of which I show you the world though the eyes of a different person. I've had a lot of fun writing these stories, and several had won prizes. It is due to be released by Crossroads publishers... when they are ready.
Many Thanks, Bob
I pestered Steve and Lesley for information about themselves. This is what they sent me:
Steve is 6' 7", Lesley 6' 3". Both are honorary Little People (we have the certificates).
Now both in our early thirties we have both been lifelong fans of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Fiction which has had the effect of making the house resemble a rather comfortable library.
We started the Eternal Night website in response to a number of things. As a computer programmer it seemed like a good idea to me to know how to create websites; many people had asked for recommendations on books over the years that we had started to keep lists; we wanted to keep track of what some of our favourite authors had written; we thought people might like to find out what other books their favourite authors had written (although we were still thinking of friends).
What it has become largely came about by accident. We 'met' an American author (Brian A. Hopkins) when he won an eBay auction I had listed for horror Hardbacks and promptly sent him back the money he sent for the eBay items in exchange for some of his works. Soon after we were contacted by the wife of another American author (Adrian Drake) who was about to publish his first novel and was looking for any help with promotion.
Then we read the obituary and appreciations of Gordon R. Dickson in Locus magazine and were appalled that a writer as gifted as he struggled to make a living from his writing. We felt that as we have so much pleasure in our lives given to us by authors that we wanted to help.
We have now had the great pleasure in interviewing over 50 authors, posting many sample chapters, reviewing great work from newer authors, and publishing many original short fiction pieces since we added the Chronicle to our site in May 2001.