It wasn’t what I expected to see on Sunday morning, that’s for certain.

Unlike a lot of other places, it was almost all over by lunchtime around these parts, and the majority of it had melted by mid-afternoon. But nonetheless a strange little bout of weather - especially for Velcro City, whose location and microclimate means it rarely sees snow at all, let alone snow that lays in early April. I have been finding it hard to deal politely with climate change denialists this week.

Writing about music

No gigs to report on this week; the schedule has not permitted me to go to any, as I’m currently covering full-time hours at the day job due to the other half of my job share being on holiday. Some good albums have passed through at The Dreaded Press, though - I particularly enjoyed The Alchemy Archives Vols III & IV by Thrice

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Writing about books

Not a great deal of lit-crit action, for the reason stated above and a reason yet to be stated. Still subconsciously stewing the Book Of The New Sun piece, to some extent.

Other freelance-type gubbins

OK, so I can finally break some genuine news here. Many regular readers will already be aware that fellow sf-nal blogonaut Darren “Ariel” Turpin has been snapped up by Orbit to be their new web ubermensch. What may not be such common knowledge is that, thanks to Darren’s great generosity, yours truly has taken over much of his pre-existing portfolio of managed author websites, and another somewhat bigger client at the same time.

Yeah, you read that right. Proper paid freelance work on a regular basis! I am totally stoked.

Of course, Sod’s Law dictates that this would inevitably arrive in the same window of time as my full-time stint at the day-job and last week’s major computer failure* … so things have been completely batshit mental in this neck of the woods, and promise to remain so for the next week or thereabouts while I get myself up to speed with everything.

I’ll be introducing my new clients here at VCTB over the next few weeks, so I’ll not just rattle off a big list of them here and now. I’m all about the individual attention, y’see.

Books and magazines seen

No books worthy of mention this week. The trade paperback of Jeff Somer’s The Electric Church turned up from Orbit, but I’ve not read a single review of it that suggests I’d enjoy it, so that’ll be winging its way to the local library at some point (along with the vampire boffers, and the fantasy doorstops** my mother doesn’t want).

I did, however, receive the latest Talebones magazine - a publication which never fails to delight visually and will doubtless taunt me from the to-read pile over the coming weeks (as will pretty much everything, to be honest - that damned stack never gets any smaller).

Also, some poetry in the form of South Magazine (for which I must renew my subscription). Good stuff, though a little bit away from the material I tend to produce myself***.

And last but not least, the saga of the seemingly endless F&SF subscription rolls relentlessly forward with the arrival of the May 2008 issue. I’ve given up wondering now; as far as I’m concerned, they’re gifts from a confused universe to a man too busy to appreciate his good fortune.

Coda

So, hecticness and genuine revelations for you in this week’s FPB. Just to reiterate - I’m absolutely freaking chuffed at taking on my new roster of clients, as it’s going to give me a chance to show I can walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

And it’s only taken a year since going part-time-freelance to get here … which to be fair is longer than I originally expected, but at that time I was operating from a position of exceptional naivete. I’ve learned a lot - about writing, about website maintenance and building, and about business - since then.

On the subject of business, though, that one-year anniversary means it’s time for me to start doing my accounts for the past twelve months. *cringe* Luckily it’s mostly going to be a big list of outgoings … but hey, that’ll all change this time next year!

So that’s about your lot for this week; there’s been no Friday Flash from me because I’ve simply not had the time to work on any. I kinda feel bad about breaking the routine, but given the circumstances I think it’s fair enough for me to accept that, while I have done some creative writing this week, I’ve not had the opportunity to work it up to a point where I’m willing to share it. Once the dust settles a bit I’ll be back in the saddle, mark my words.

Right - it’s not going to be much of a weekend as far as rest is concerned, but Friday night is Friday night, and there are traditions that even us hard-graftin’ freelance types are obliged - nay, required - to observe. So I shall venture forth so as to procure The Friday Curry Of Justice … though not before bidding you all a thoroughly excellent weekend of your own.

[ * Note for geek types - Ubuntu really is as user-friendly as they say. I've had virtually no problems with it at all; certainly nothing that can't be served by a thorough search on the Ubuntu User Forums. The command line is a bit of a learning curve, but what's life without some challenge and development, eh? ]

[ ** To clarify, after receiving an email on the matter - I use "doorstops" as a literal term in this case, because the titles I receive that I know I won't read end up in an ever-growing pile that really does hold my living-room door open. I have no axe to grind about the length and size of novels, fantasy or otherwise. ]

[ *** This seems to be the case with most poetry mags I've encountered, leading me to conclude the fault lies with my work rather than the magazines. Bah. ]

Dalian Hansen isn’t real in the way that you or I are real, but he’s at least as real as the person who created him as his Second Life persona chooses him to be. Dalian is about to become the first Second Life avatar to publish a book in which the majority of the plot takes place in Linden Labs’ notorious virtual world.

He’s not the first novelist in SL, nor is the book the first to deal with the concept of the metaverse, nor is it the first book to appear in full in SL - but the combination of the three is a first, as far as I can tell.

As the book inherently has a science fictional theme at its heart, not to mention being written by someone who is a virtual extension of a real person in a way that would have been unimaginable outside of science fiction less than a decade ago, I figured I’d like to chase him down and ask him some questions about the project.

***

PR: So, tell me a little about yourself - what do you do in SL, and in RL* (if you don’t mind talking about both)?

DH: “Dalian Hansen is an Avatar that exits in Second Life. Among his many virtual projects as a computer generated simulation, Dalian is the Creative Director for Tretiak Media LLC (a SL Development firm which owns the SLQuery.com data engine service), Architect for such in-world clients as IBM and ABN-AMRO, and former Creative Director of the popular monthly Second Life magazine, SLBusiness.

His Anima connects to the virtual world from Manchuria, China. This meat version of Dalian’s digital persona is recognized as an internationally award winning Creative Director and photographer. He is also one of the first foreigners to host a Chinese network news program in China.”

PR: Have you always been a fan of science fiction novels?

DH: “I was always a fan of science fiction stories, but as a kid I didn’t read many books. So TV, movies, and comics were my primary exposure to the genre. As my tastes matured, I found novels and my imagination to be more entertaining.”

PR: Any favourite authors or books?

DH: “I like the classic Science Fiction books from Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert and Philip K. Dick. These guys understood the science of the fiction, and its social effect. They built a world around the technology and made it believable. I would say that Dean R. Koontz remains a big influence on me. I have read over 40 of his books that go back to the beginning of his career, when he wrote pure science fiction.”

PR: Have you always wanted to be writer?

DH: “My written work has been published for years in some form, I just never made a living from it. As a kid, I had all these visual ideas but lacked the talent to express them with my hands by freehand drawing. So I turned to writing as a way to paint pictures with words. It also meant I was not dependant on anyone to create my vision.

As I got older, the computer was a big liberation for me. It was a tool that allowed me to finally express these ideas in pictures. As a result, I eventually became a Creative Director for major advertising agencies and made TV commercials and such for international clients. I still enjoy writing, but being a visual artist puts food on the table. Plus, writing takes a great deal of time and emotional commitment. It is like a relationship because it consumes the mind and requires a constant focus, at least for me.”

PR: Tell me why you’ve chosen to write directly about Second Life - a personal fascination, or marketing decision?

DH: “I wanted tell a story where Second Life was more than just an environment, it would be like a character. There have been many guide books about Second Life and short stories about virtual avatar adventures. But this is my attempt to bring the idea into mainstream fiction.

I took well documented points in Second Life history and combined them with real people and fictional characters to invent a mythical story and secret world. After all, reading a book is still the ultimate virtual reality for the human imagination, and establishing this lets Second Life exist in your mind and not just the computer. So I wanted to offer a fun story connected to Second Life in the spirit of old dimestore pulp fiction novels.

“Anima” is just the beginning of a bigger saga I would like to tell. I really don’t care about fame or profit from this or future books. It was just something I wanted to do. I set my mind to it and the accomplishment is its own reward. I don’t expect or care if the novel is a success. And even if it is an utter failure, I’d rather accept that than the regret of not trying.

After all, not very much in science fiction is completely unique or original. But many stories can evolve a popular theme into something fresh and entertaining. That is all I have tried to do and never intended to deliver a groundbreaking epic.”

PR: Do you see there being a long-term future for the written word as entertainment? And if so, do virtual worlds have a part to play in it?

DH: “Human history has been documented by the stories we tell. Whether by campfire in a cave or on a computer terminal connected by the world wide web. People have told stories long before the written word was invented, which basically turned spoken sounds into pictures. The written word is just a medium. It is our nature to tell stories, and the environment only changes how this is done or what we use to do it.

Printed books created an explosion of information in their day. The Internet has created another such revolution. Technology will always provide different opportunities, but I think the purpose remains the same. Whether a story is written, painted, acted, or virtually simulated, the method is meant to communicate. The written word has been a useful tool, and it stands to reason that it will continue to have a relationship and place even in the virtual age.”

PR: According to the synopsis I read, your novel deals with SL as being a very serious and very real part of the protagonist’s life - can you tell me how you see the penetration of synthetic worlds into meatspace going in the next decade?

DH: “No one could have guessed the effect of the Internet on world cultures. It is easy to draw parallels about the direction of the metaverse, but there are many side effects that cannot be predicted. For example, velcro was invented for the space missions. The internet was invented to protect American military computers from a nuclear attack. I think the bigger effect of the future metaverse is in these side effects. Sure, it will be a simulated world where we can interact. But with the freedom it offers, economic opportunities, and technology it inspires, these other effects will be more far reaching. The influences and habits of the Internet are now far more powerful than the tool itself.”

[* Note for meatspacers - RL is Second Life slang for 'real life'.]

***

I think the real take-away for me here is that someone so obviously deeply involved with the metaverse believes there’s a valid future for the written word as entertainment - an interesting contrast to the ironically technophobic Old Guard of the genre.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding with any book is in the reading. But Hansen seems to be able to talk the author talk pretty well, even if he doesn’t seem to bothered about the project being a commercial success, so I’ll be trying to fit it into my reading schedule at some point soon - I’m curious to see what he’s come up with.

A final morsel to chew over - if it’s possible for a virtual avatar to publish and promote a book, how will this affect the gender and cultural biases that currently plague genre fiction? Will initialising and anglicising names go out, in favour of writing under an entire assumed persona - one that isn’t necessarily even human in form, let alone gendered or coloured?

PR: You’ve worked on a lot of ‘franchise’ novels, as well as producing books set in your own original worlds. Do you have a preference?

KJA: “I am a writer, but I’m also a fan. I get a great deal of pleasure from working in, and creating more pieces of, some of the universes that I enjoy as a fan.

Continue reading “Author Interview: Kevin J. Anderson (’Hunters of Dune’)”

Science fiction blogosphere habitues have probably already my SF Site interview with Ken MacLeod regarding his forthcoming novel The Execution Channel. I am pleased to tell you that there was lots of peripheral material left over, and that I have just published that material here on VCTB.

Ken’s a fascinating interviewee with lots of interests, and we covered a lot of ground. He discusses his friendship with fellow Scots science fiction legend, Iain M. Banks; their differing routes to publication; his reading and writing habits; transhumanism; the singularity; the future of publishing … and, of course, a little bit of politics! Here’s a little teaser for you, but as it’s stored on a static page, you’ll need to click through on the excerpt to read the whole thing:

***

You’ve mentioned before that you think life extension is a realistic possibility within the next handful of decades; how far would you go to extend your own life-span? And how much sympathy do you have with the transhumanist movement?

“So far, the only proven life-span extension method is calorie restriction, which I understand works in rats, and I haven’t gone for that. In matters of speculative medicine I have no intention of being an early adopter. It’s like the old joke: how many extropians does it take to change a light-bulb? None, they sit in the dark and wait for the technology to improve.”

Enjoy!

I’d read two books by Karl Schroeder in the last few months, both of which blew me away. So I took it upon myself to send the man an email to see if he could spare some time to answer some interview questions from me. He very graciously agreed, and I am therefore very pleased to present the first Velcro City author interview. Continue reading “Author Interview: Karl Schroeder”

Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to indulge in a brief spate of patting-my-own-back on a dark wet Friday evening:

Continue reading “Friday Photo Blogging! My finest hour (so far)”

Just thought I’d point people to a trio of interviews with genre authors. Continue reading “Iain Emsley interviews!”

It’s Friday once again, which can mean only one thing…Friday Plant Blogging!

Continue reading “Friday Plant Blogging! Freebies”

Talking about conscious machines often provokes visions of dark-future scenarios akin to those in the Terminator movies, where humanity is beseiged by robots which were, in a fit of typical human hubris, created in man’s own image. There are researchers trying to build conscious machines today, but their aims and ideas are as far from these science fiction movie nightmares as one could imagine - much more mundane, but at the same time quietly astonishing in their own right. Continue reading “Conscious Machines interview”