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Hrvoje Bubić | Interview with Kevin J. Anderson
Hrvoje Bubić
Kevin James Anderson is a prolific science-fiction author and the author of The Jedi Academy Trilogy of books, which told the story of Luke Skywalker’s attempts to begin training Jedi on Yavin 4. It also introduced characters such as Kyp Durronand Admiral Daala. He also co-wrote the Young Jedi Knights series with his wife, Rebecca Moesta. During the writing of his early Star Wars novels, he communicated with fans as a member of the FidoNet Star Wars Echo.
For the start, please tell us about your influences as a writer and science fiction fan. You said that you wrote your first story Injection at age of 8 years, first story of yours was published during your teenage age for $12.50. Is it true that you got over 750 rejection slips , you are know as “The Writer with No Future” and yet you were nominated for Hugo, Nebula awards as well New York Times’s Best Seller list, could you tell us what is your secret of your success, you said it is permanence and the more you harder work, more you get luckier. Please tell us more about that and what is actually pop-corn theory?
Yes, it has been a long and hard journey. When I started I was very young, and I was untrained but I was persistent. I wanted to be a writer, so I kept writing and writing. Most magazines rejected my stories, but then I wrote another one and another one. I did collect over 750 rejection slips (though I did have stories published, too). It is like trying to become an athlete for the Olympics. When you start out you aren’t very good, but you practice and practice and practice until you get good. And, as you say, I have now been nominated for many awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker and many others, and I have had over 50 bestsellers. I don’t know if your readers know or eat popcorn, which is a very popular snack here in America. When you cook popcorn kernels, you add a lot of them into a pot and heat them up — you wait and wait, but eventually some kernels will pop, but you never know which one will happen first. That is the «Popcorn Theory of Success» — I don’t know if I explained that well enough.
You most know works are Saga of Seven Suns, Climbing on Olympus, Blindford, Terra Icognita, collaboration with Dean Koontz on Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, you were wrote Captain Nemo: The Fantastic History of a Dark Genius, based on classic of Jules Verne, novelization of film League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and you also wrote for X-Files, Star Wars and Dune series with Brian Herbert, son of Dune’s author Frank Herbert. Since I am huge fan of Dune & Star Wars, could you tell us how is feel to work on masterpieces as Dune and Star Wars , been influence on popular culture since they released, what is your opinion on David Lynch’s Dune movie and 2000.’s mini-series by Sci-Fi Channel and Star Wars ‘s sequels. Do you believe that Dune’s author Frank Herbert predicted today’s situacion like spice as oil, planet Arrakis were is spice is gathering is like Middle East with their residents as Arrakis’s Fremens, George Bush Jr. as Emperor Shaddam IV Corrino? You also collaborated with Brian Herbert on Hellhole trilogy and is there more collaborations with Frank and Brian Herbert and other writers?
Thank you! I have written many books of my own, original science fiction and fantasy stories, and I have also worked a lot with famous properties like Star Wars, Dune, Batman, Superman, and X-Files. I am a fan, and I really enjoy telling stories with some of my favorite characters. When I started writing Star Wars, I was one of the very first authors to do it, so I got a lot of attention and a lot of fans. I wrote more than 50 Star Wars books and stories. But DUNE was always my favorite, and after Frank Herbert died I really wanted to know how the story ended. Brian Herbert is one of my greatest friends, and we have a lot of imagination together, exchanging ideas. We are very involved in Dune and all the stories. Yes, DUNE seems to be just as relevant every single year, with more and more stories in the news that are just like what Frank Herbert predicted. At present, we just published our book TALES OF DUNE, which are all the Dune short stories we’ve written. We may do other stories in the future, but nothing definite just yet.
You are very versatile person: mountain climbing, cooperation with rock band Rosswell Six and band Rush on album Clockwork Angels, you are technical writer and editor at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory since you have Ph.D in physics and astronomy and you run your own publishing imprint, WordFire Press, to reissue some of their out-of-print books in paperback and/or e-book formats. Please tell us more about what you also among the writing,is it really that you even get a letter from Arthur C. Clarke himself,how is actually living by writing,publishing and run your own business and what are advantages and disadvantages of e-books formats?
I live in the Rocky Mountains in America, which is one of the most beautiful places in the country. I love to hike and climb mountains, and that is also where I do most of my writing, while I am on the trail. I like to do different things, because the more activities I do, the more I know to write about. I am a big fan of music, and my friendship with Neil Peart from the band Rush has gone on for 28 years. I am currently in college, again, to get a Masters degree in writing so I can be a writing professor. The writing and publishing world is changing greatly now, because eBooks are changing the way books are published and sold. It is like the Industrial Revolution, and creates lots of turmoil. So I have to be versatile so I can keep paying for my family and my house!
Yes, I wrote a Mars novel called CLIMBING OLYMPUS and I mailed a copy to Arthur C. Clarke. He wrote me a very nice letter back and sent me a signed book. I wish I had been able to meet him in person. I was very impressed! (It was the only letter I got from him, though.)
For end, what are your future plans,new projects, collaborations, the future of science-fiction, horrors and fantasy genre and will you ever visit Split,Croatia?
I am writing a lot of comics and graphic novels, and I have a new fantasy trilogy, SPINE OF THE DRAGON, and a new vampire thriller STAKE — which needs some research in Eastern Europe. It would be wonderful if I could visit Croatia! I have seen photographs and it looks very beautiful, and I know the people are friendly. Maybe someday I can come there for a convention and a book signing. Thank you for contacting me. I know I have a lot of books and readers in Croatia. I hope to see you in person.
Za početak, recite što je na Vas utjecalo kao scenarista i ljubitelja znanstvene fantastike. Rekli ste da ste napisali prvu priču „Injection“ u dobi od 8 godina, prva Vaša priča objavljena je još dok ste bili tinejdžer, a zaradili ste 12,50 dolara. Je li istina da ste dobili više od 750 odbijenica, poznati ste kao “Pisac bez budućnosti”, a ipak ste bili nominirani za nagrade Hugo, Nebula i bili na popis najbolje prodavanih New York Timesa, možete li nam reći koja je tajna Vašeg uspjeha, rekli ste da je upornost i to što teže radite, sretniji ste. Recite nam više o tome i što je zapravo teorija o pop-corn teorija?
Da, to je bio dug i težak put. Počeo sam kao vrlo mlad, bio sam neobučen, ali bio sam uporan. Htio sam biti pisac, stoga sam nastavio pisati i pisati. Većina časopisa odbacilo je moje priče, ali onda sam napisao još jednu i još jednu… Prikupio sam više od 750 odbijenica (iako sam i objavio neke priče). To je kao da pokušavate postati sportaš za Olimpijske igre. Kada počnete, niste baš dobri, ali vježbate i vježbate dok ne postanete dobri. I, kao što kažete, već sam nominiran za mnoge nagrade, uključujući Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker i mnoge druge, a imam više od 50 bestselera. Ne znam jesu li vaši čitatelji ikada jeli kokice, vrlo popularne grickalice ovdje u Americi. Kad pečete kokice, dodajete ih mnogo u lonac i zagrijete ih – čekate i čekate, ali naposljetku će neke puknuti, ali nikad ne znate koja će biti prva. To je “Popcorn teorija uspjeha” – ne znam jesam li to dobro objasnio.
Najpoznatija djela su Saga od sedam Sunca, Uspon na Olimp, Blindford, Terra Icognita, suradnja s Deanom Koontzom na Frankensteinu: Prodigal Son, pisali ste Kapetana Nema: Fantastičnu povijest mračnog genija, temeljenog na klasičnom romanu Julesua Verna, romanizacija filmske Družbe pravih gentlemena, a također ste pisali za seriju Dosje X, Zvjezdane ratove i Dinu s Brianom Herbertom, sinom autora Dine, Franka Herberta. Budući da sam veliki obožavatelj Dine i Zvjezdanih ratova, možete li nam reći kako ste se osjećali dok ste radili na remek djelima poput Dine i Zvjezdanih ratova, a uz to utjecali na popularnu kulturu od trenutka od kada su izašli, kakvo je vaše mišljenje o filmu Dina Davida Lyncha i o mini seriji iz 2000. Sci-Fi Channela te o nastavaku Zvjezdanih ratova. Vjerujete li da je autor Dine Frank Herbert predvidio današnje situacije, začin kao nafta, planeta Arrakis kao prostor gdje se vadi začin poput nafte na Bliskom istoku sa svojim stanovnicima kao Arrakis i Fremeni, George Bush Jr. kao car Shaddam IV Corrino? Također ste surađivali s Brian Herbertom na trilogiji Hellhole kao i još suradja sa Frankom i Brian Herbertom te drugim piscima?
Hvala vam! Napisao sam mnoge knjige, izvorne znanstveno-fantastične priče i fantasy priče, a puno sam radio i na popularnim djelima poput Zvjezdani ratovi, Dina, Batman, Superman i Dosje X. Ja sam obožavatelj i stvarno uživam pričati priče uz pomoć nekih od mojih omiljenih likova. Kad sam počeo pisati Zvjezdane ratove, bio sam jedan od prvih autora koji su to učinili, pa sam dobio veliku pozornost i puno obožavatelja. Napisao sam više od 50 naslova Zvjezdanih ratova. Ali Dina je uvijek bila moja omiljena, a nakon što je Frank Herbert umro, stvarno sam želio znati kako je priča završila. Brian Herbert je jedan od mojih najvećih prijatelja, imamo mnogo zajedničkih ideja, mnogo toga razmjenjujemo. Vrlo smo uključeni u Dinu i sve priče. Da, čini se da je Dina jednako važna svake godine, uz sve više priča u vijestima koje su baš kao što je Frank Herbert predvidio. Trenutačno smo upravo objavili našu knjigu TALES OF DUNE (PRIČE DINE, op.prev.), u kojoj su sve kratke priče o DUNE koje smo ikad napisali. U budućnosti možemo napraviti i druge priče, ali još uvijek nije ništa definitivno.
Imate vrlo širok spektar interesa: planinarenje, surađujete s rock bandom Rosswell Six i bendom Rush na albumu Clockwork Angels, vi ste tehnički pisac i urednik National Laboratorya Lawrence Livermore, imate doktorat iz fizike i astronomije, pokrenuli ste i vlastitu izdavačku djelatnost, WordFire Press, kako bi ponovo izdali neke od knjiga u mekom uvezi ili kao e-knjige. Recite nam više o tome što ste i vi u pisanju, jeste li doista dobili pismo od samog Arthura C. Clarkea, kako se zapravo živi od pisanja, objavljivanja i pokretanja vlastitog posla i kakve su prednosti i nedostaci e- formata knjiga?
Ja živim na Rocky Mountains u Americi, što je jedno od najljepših mjesta u zemlji. Volim pješačiti i popeti se planinama, a to je i tamo gdje radim većinu svog pisanja, dok sam na stazi. Volim raditi različite stvari, jer što više aktivnosti radim, to više znam za pisanje. Ja sam veliki obožavatelj glazbe, a moje prijateljstvo s Neilom Peartom iz benda Rush traje 28 godina. Trenutno sam na faksu, kako bih dobio diplomu magistra pisanja što će mi omogućiti da radim kao profesor pisanja. Pisanje i objavljivanje se danas uvelike mijenja, jer e-knjige mijenjaju način objavljivanja i prodaje knjiga. To je poput industrijske revolucije i stvara mnoštvo previranja. Stoga moram biti svestran, tako da mogu brinuti za moju obitelj i moju kuću!
Da, napisao sam priču o Marsu i nazvao je CLIMBING OLYMPUS (USPON NA OLYMPUS, op.prev.). Kopiju sam poslao i Arthuru C. Clarkeu. Napisao mi je jako lijep odgovor te mi poslao i svoju potpisanu knjigu. Volio bih da sam imao priliku osobno ga sresti. Bio sam jako impresioniran. (To je bilo jedino pismo koje sam dobio od njega, na žalost.)
Za kraj, koje su vaše buduće planove, nove projekte, suradnju, budućnost znanstvene fantastike, horora i fantastičan žanr i hoćete li ikada posjetiti Split, Hrvatska?
Pišem puno stripova i priča u formatu stripa, a imam novu fantasy trilogiju, SPINE OF DRAGON i novi vampirski triler STAKE – za kojeg je potrebno istraživanje u istočnoj Europi. Bilo bi lijepo da posjetim Hrvatsku! Vidio sam fotografije i izgleda vrlo lijepo, i znam da su ljudi prijateljski. Možda jednoga dana mogu doći na konvenciju i potpisivanje knjige. Hvala što ste me kontaktirali. Znam da imam puno knjiga i čitatelja u Hrvatskoj. Nadam se da ćemo se sresti i osobno.
