AUTHOR INTERVIEW

By Chelsea Meyer

 

 

Gareth Lyn Powell has had two short stories and numerous poems published in Aphelion. His short story CATCH A BURNING STAR and his poem COMING HOME were both included in Aphelion's "Best of 2004" selections. His follow-up story, SIX LIGHTS OFF GREEN SCAR, generated a lot of discussion in the lettercol. Full details of all his published work can be found at: http://garethlynpowell.blogspot.com

 

Gareth lives in the United Kingdom with his wife and daughters. I caught up with him by email late one Saturday night.

 

Q: How did you discover Aphelion?

 

A: I stumbled across Aphelion while looking for SF to read online. I was immediately struck by the quality of the pieces on offer, and by the sense of community among the readers and authors.

 

Q: How long have you been writing?

 

A: I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I studied creative writing for three years at University, but I only started getting serious about in the last few years.

 

Q: Who would you say were and are the greatest influences for you with your writing?

 

A: My earliest influences were writers such as Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, and Arthur C Clarke. I'm also a big fan of Walt Whitman, Jack Kerouac, Leonard Cohen and Hunter Thompson.

 

Q: Authors have an almost infinite number of methods for writing. How would you say your writing process works?

 

A: For economic reasons, I have a day-job. I work full-time in marketing for a European software company. Most of my writing tends to get done in stolen moments at the weekend, or late at night when my daughters are asleep. Because I can't sit at my computer all day, I carry a Moleskine notebook with me. I use it to jot down thoughts, impressions, and snatches of dialogue. Many of these later resurface in stories or poems.

 

Q: Your last story appeared in the April issue of Aphelion. Have you had anything published since then?

 

A: I've sold a novelette called THE LAST REEF to Interzone, and Nowa Fantastyka have published a Polish translation of SIX LIGHTS. I've also submitted a short story to Andromeda Spaceways in Australia, but I haven't heard back on that one yet.

 

Q: What are you currently working on?

 

I'm putting the finishing touches to a story called BORN FOR BLACKMAIL. It's a detective story set in Buenos Aires and features the same protagonist as THE LAST REEF. When it's finished, I want to work on a story called A NECKLACE OF IVY, which has been knocking around in one form or another for several years.

 

Q: Do you have any plans to write a full-length novel?

 

A: I've already written one! It's a SF thriller called SILVERSANDS and it's currently sitting on a publisher's slush pile in New York. I have an outline for a second, unrelated novel called RECOLLECTION, but I haven't been able to devote much time to it, as I've been using my writing time to produce short stories. It's a space opera and the outline runs to about 5,000 words. I've got a file full of background and character notes, and I plan to start work on it Real Soon Now.

 

Q: You've had both fiction and poetry published in Aphelion. Which do you prefer?

 

A: On balance, I've always preferred fiction, but it really depends on the mood I'm in.

 

Q: Do you think you'll ever release a poetry collection?

 

A: I have a collection called LOS MUERTOS & OTHER POEMS sitting on my hard drive. It contains about forty poems. Some are very down to earth while others use a lot of SF imagery. There are recurring themes of love, loss, hope, and betrayal that run through the collection, making it very much a collection, rather than just a random jumble.

 

Q: The world seems to be becoming more and more fantastic and unreal by the day. The pace of change now is greater than at any other time this side of Renaissance. Science-fiction/fantasy, by its definition, mines that fantastic and unreal territory. As the world changes, as technology evolves, as societies mature, in what directions do you think these genres will go in the future?

 

A: That's a difficult question, and I keep coming up with different answers to it. I can see more and more science fiction moving to electronic formats, as the media tie-ins strangle the printed market. I think there'll also be more blurring of distinctions between science fiction, slipstream and mainstream, as ideas that have hitherto been the focus of the genre seep into everyday life.

 

Q: What are your plans for writing in the future?

 

A: I've been building up slowly, gaining publishing credits. Now that I've had stories published in professional markets, I want to build up a portfolio of short stories, and then concentrate on novel-length projects. That said, I'll still submit pieces to Aphelion now and again. I think it does you good to remember your roots, and I'll always have a fondness for Aphelion, as it's the place where I started.