Scott Westerfeld
Here is an interview by a SF author I like, who wrote THE RISEN EMPIRE.
Now for some Science Fiction Publishing Industry Insider Info! I went on a trip to New York and saw my publisher’s office for the first time: a cramped place in the world-famous Flatiron building (in fact, TOR books occupies the very floors lashed out by Godzilla’s tail in the American remake–this is after Tor declined to do the novelization, and maybe the movie maker were feeling petulant).
We fell into a conversation about the good Mr. Westerfeld, who may not be writing SF for a while yet. It seems the publishers of ULGIES, PRETTIES and SPECIALS not to mention MIDNIGHTERS apparently bludgeoned Mr. Westerfeld with a big green plastic trashbag full of money, backing up dump trucks of greenbacks to pour it in through his bedroom window, and he simply cannot afford to write less-well-remunerated manuscripts. He also swims in it like Scrooge McDuck.
I haven’t read UGLIES, but I thought it was a Great Idea for a Book (and Why Didn’t I Think of That!) Here is the author’s description of the premise: “It’s about a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. This seems like a good thing, but it’s not. Especially if you’re one of the uglies, a bunch of radical teens who’ve decided they want to keep their own faces.”
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
