I am going to be interviewing Tim Powers

[pegkerr]

I have been asked to be the interviewer of Guest of Honor Tim Powers at Arcana 34 the first weekend of October.

If you could ask Tim a question, what would it be?

Comments

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

How exciting! I'd love to know what his next book is going to deal with, for one. And how long he researches each book, because he packs a lot of information in each. And something along the lines of his writing process - does he become interested in a timeperiod first, then researches it and finds the story buried there, or is it a historical person that first draws his interest?

Woo!

wow.

[talking-sock.livejournal.com]

I can think of a few, which may be a little trite, but I'd like to know:

Who do you read? Who inspires YOUR work?

If you had to use genre labels on your own stuff, what would best describe it? ("Urban fantasy" is obviously an overloaded term, and one I personally hate for the Denny's and elves stuff...)

Do you ever get writer's block, and if so, what do you do about it?

What 5 books would you want to have with you if you got locked in a bank vault with a lot of food and light for a month?

Which of your books is your favorite and why?

Man, let me think harder when I have more time....

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

I'd ask him for a personal story of something he finds eerie IRL.

[anoisblue.livejournal.com]

I'd like to know how he goes about character development as his characters are multi-dimensional and complex in a way that makes one feel for them, even with their flaws and weaknesses.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

So, how is that Ashbless dude doing?

[rysmiel.livejournal.com]

I would be fascinated to know what his process was with regard to writing The Anubis Gates, because the precision with which that unfolds is so close to perfect for me I can't see how one would even begin to approach it, it's just one perfect complex Swiss watch of a thing.

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

How did you figure out the organic and sensible way that magic and the occult works in your books?

[volkhvoi.livejournal.com]

Which book of his is he happiest with from the standpoint of his writing craft, and why?

Which book would he most like to rewrite, and why?

If there was one thing about the book publishing business he would like to change, what would it be, and why?


Wonderful journal by the way; I confess I've been lurking for quite some time now.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

*Laughs* Thank you for the question suggestions, and for the compliment!

[eileenlufkin.livejournal.com]

How very cool! Powers is one of my and Martin's favorite writers. Something we argue about is, did he always intend Last Call and Expiration Date to be in the universe and if not, when did he realize they were? Are any of his other books in the same universe?

[serendipoz.livejournal.com]

Ask him about Phil Dick, please!

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Have you read Earthquake Weather? That's the one where he ties Last Call and Expiration Date together. Actually, in Expiration Date, Arky (from Last Call is one of the people who gives Kootie a dollar when he is on the streets. So yeah, I think it was intentional, and he was setting things up for Earthquake Weather. But I'll ask him at what point when writing Expiration Date did he decide that the two books would be tied together.