SSOOMMEE FFAANNTTAASSTTIICC Issue #8, Spring, 2006 An Interview with Karen Traviss Vol. 2, No. 3 by Matthew Appleton http://www.somefantastic.us/ Before embarking on a career as a science fiction writer, Karen ISSN # 1555-2241 Traviss worked as a journalist, an advertising copywriter, a media Features/Featurettes liaison officer for the police, a journalism lecturer, a public relations An Interview with Karen Traviss, 1 manager and a defense correspondent. She was also a reservist in the by Matthew Appleton UK Territorial Army and Royal Naval Auxiliary Service. Her debut Evangelion & the Hikikomori 8 Phenomenon, by Sara K. Ellis novel, City of Pearl, was a finalist for both the John W. Campbell The Problem of Sodor and its 17 Memorial Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. The two sequels, Animatronic Trains, by Cheryl Appleton Crossing the Line and The World Before, have both received Sci-Fi Geeks Versus Football 23 Morons, by Danny Adams critical acclaim as well. The fourth novel in the Wess’har series, Ma‐ The Dagobah Conundrum, 50 triarch, is due out in October. by Matthew Appleton She has also written a couple Star Wars tie‐in novels, Repub‐ lic Commando: Triple Zero and, more recently, Republic Com‐ Book Reviews mando: Hard Contact, which arrived at American bookstores at Ultimate Iron Man, Vol. 1 (graphic 18 novel), reviewed by Hawk the end of February. Her next Star Wars novel, Legacy of the The Mammoth Book of Best New 21 Force: Bloodlines, is due out in August. Horror #16, edited by Stephen Jones, She is a full‐time novelist and currently resides in Devizes, reviewed by Mario Guslandi Lucius Shepard’s A Handbook of 26 United Kingdom (just north of Stonehenge for those of you outside American Prayer, reviewed by the UK). You can find her website at www.karentraviss.com and her Matthew Appleton blog at karentraviss.livejournal.com. Futureshocks, edited by Lou Anders, 32 reviewed by Christopher Garcia Justina Robson’s Silver Screen, 33 MA: What influenced you to decide to finally start writ‐ reviewed by Chris Elliot ing science fiction? You mentioned in an interview with the Adventure, Vol. 1, edited by Chris 42 Roberson, reviewed by Danny Adams BSFA critical magazine Vector that the television show A for Octovia E. Butler’s Fledgling, 45 Andromeda started you on science fiction when you were a reviewed by Sara K. Ellis child, but you didn’t start writing SF until well after you Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job, 55 Reviewed by Steven H Silver established yourself in other careers. John Scalzi’s The Ghost Brigades, 56 KT: I was only interested in SF: simple as that really. You reviewed by Matthew Appleton know the story about the career development guy who put me on the road to novels, so I won’t bore you with that. Obvi‐ DVD Reviews ously my fascination with SF goes back a very long way, but Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 15 reviewed by Caroline-Isabelle Caron as an adult it took on a new dimension for me as a writer: I’m & Stéphane Vermette a journalist by background, and the classic journalist ap‐ Death Race 2000 – Special Edition, 22 proach is often “What if?” SF is the ultimate “what if” genre. reviewed by Christopher Garcia Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, 25 There’s absolutely nothing you can’t examine in that frame‐ reviewed by Edna Stumpf work. It’s a very broad canvas, and it covers so many sub‐ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 29 genres that you have no limits. reviewed by Richard Fuller Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the 35 My writer buddy Sean Baggaley, who’s half‐Italian, has a Were-Rabbit, reviewed by very different take on genre based on the Italian approach to Caroline-Isabelle Caron fiction, and he thinks SF is a total misnomer, like shelving ti‐ King Kong – Collector’s Edition 39 (1933), reviewed by Alex Esten tles by the location—books set in Scotland, books set in Star Wars III: The Revenge of the 47 France—because that’s not actually the genre, but the setting. Sith, reviewed by Alex Esten He says SF is a setting, and I tend to agree with him—there’s thrillers, romances, detective novels, and just teller, because writing is a medium for me, not an about any of the other genres existing within SF. I end in itself. I happen to tell stories by writing. I can write military techno‐thrillers and political thrill‐ tell stories other ways, but right now, I write them. ers and whatever, but in a SF setting. In your biography, you state that in addition I write “people” books—they’re all utterly re‐ to serving in two different branches of the mili‐ liant on characters, and that’s the sort of work you tary you previously worked as a journalist, a pub‐ can only really do properly when you’ve lived a lic relations manager and a media liaison officer bit, so I felt I knew a lot more about human dy‐ for the police. What elements from these experi‐ namics and psychology after I’d got a fair few ences did you work into the Wess’har novels? miles of life experience on my clock. I was a reservist in humble roles, and I like to The only other thing I’d write would be mili‐ make that very clear at the outset, because the tary—small elite unit, as it’s known in the trade. I wild rumors that fly round about my military ca‐ like military. I’m a navy girl at heart, but I can be reer are hilarious—no, folks, I was never in the as tri‐service as the next person! SAS; or a fighter pilot; or MI5. My main career was City of Pearl garnered far more critical ac‐ journalism, and I spent a few years as a defense claim than most other first novels. Were the correspondent, which was priceless technical and award nominations and cita‐ political experience. Politics is a tions surprising, and how did big chunk of a news journalist’s they affect your work, if at all? life too, and I did work in po‐ I’m not dismissing awards, litical PR, which was also fabu‐ and it’s nice that folks nominate lous training for being a novel‐ my books, but it had no impact ist. It was fun working for the on me at all: not me, nor my police, but most journalists work. And I’m not sure how work cheek by jowl with police awards can impact you, except for some part of their careers with a big prize, or if you like anyway, so it was just a differ‐ awards and they validate your ent take on that. What all these self‐esteem. Most awards don’t jobs gave me was scenarios and seem to make any difference to technical detail. your sales, and sales is what it’s Readers always say, “Oh, all about—not only to earn a all the interesting people you living, but if you’re a storyteller meet must be useful for the like me, you want a big audience to react to you books...” But, they’re not. I never use real people and for you to interact with. (Which is why I love for characters. Apart from the fact that the whole writing Star Wars books so much: big, enthusiastic point of my fiction is to build new characters, real readership who talks to you and debate with you people just aren’t built right or stylized enough to and give the books a life of their own.) use in novels. Many writers will disagree loudly I have seen some people changed by awards, with me about that, but it’s anathema to me: I but it tends to be in a rather negative way: the want to explore a new mind that I’ve never seen folks who think they’ve become Important Writers before. I don’t want me in the book, or my friends with something to teach the masses and mighty and neighbors and colleagues. I want fresh meat. concepts to lay upon the world. You can take In Crossing the Line, you had Eddie reference awards way too seriously, and end up looking a an incident during the Falklands War which in‐ right dickhead, to be frank. volved the HMS Conqueror. Was it an incident Again, this is the crabby journalist in me, but that you were somehow involved with, or was it awards don’t relate to what makes me write. just something that you felt was very germane to They’re in a parallel universe for me. I’m a story‐ the story? Some Fantastic 2 Spring, 2006 No. I knew a guy who was serving in Con‐ Rayat. People project their own politics and feelings queror when she sunk the Belgrano, but that had onto fiction, especially quite neutral fiction like nothing to do with my reason for using it. It was mine. (If you don’t think it’s neutral, take a look— just a very good trigger for Eddie to slip a “this is all the characters get their say. It’s whatever you a big row” tip past the government watchdogs. It want to believe it is.) That’s what fiction is partly was a code. But yes, the Falklands War is very im‐ there for—identity and resonance for the reader. portant to me, for personal reasons which are just I’ve said before that I know this is happening too long and complex to go into here, and because with some readers because they tell me what it’s a war that’s compact enough to be analyzed “message” I’m trying to send—and then they all fully, and because of the role of the media and the tell me radically different things.