From SFRevu, October 1997
Interview by Ernest Lilley, originally on the "Sci-Fi Talk" radio show

SFRevu: In HOLY FIRE, despite the technology of life extension and a fair amount of virtual scenes, the book seems more character than technology driven.

BS: Well, I would point out that the character is technology driven, it's true that her life is sort of "exploicated" in a very intimate way. You're always seeing things through her eyes. She's a person who is physically impossible in our current historical period. A 90 year old woman in a 20 year old body. If you can make that convincing you've made a very intense Science-Fictional move. I think this is a technique that works for me. I like embedding ideas in the character. I think it's a useful literary technique.

SFRevu: What's the quest that Mia, the central character in the book, is on?

BS: She's someone who's never been an artist and finds herself in a position where self realization and artistic expression become really a vital part of her personality. So like a lot of artists she's trying to discover who she is and what she has to say.

SFRevu: How did you settle on life extension as the technology for the book?

BS: I've always been interested in life extension. I think it's one of the simplest tricks that you can use in a Science Fictional method to really make the world seem strange. Even my first two novels had people routinely living to 200 and 300. I consider that interesting because my theme as a writer is the impact of technology on society and I think this is truly one of the most radical things that could happen to a human being...to outlive every other human being who has ever lived and remain vigorous. Just not age. If you could just remove that one aspect of the human condition I think it would be completely revolutionary, really strange, it would put people in absolutely new realms of experience.

SFRevu: I was struck by a scene where Mia dismisses a boyfriend and someone else not life extended comments that she is really cold. It struck me that immortals might not be as concerned with the lives of mortals.

BS: Well, it depends on the circumstances of the society I guess, but a lot of the things that we consider cast in iron like marriage unto death, but if you remove death, then what becomes of commitment?

SFRevu: What did you read growing up?

BS: Science Fiction.

SFRevu: Anyone in particular?

BS: I remember Edgar Rice Boroughs' Mars novels as being tremendously involving things when I was eleven or twelve. I also read quite a bit of J.G. Ballard when I was about 13 or 14, and I really think that wrecked me for life.

SFRevu: Speaking of Mars, what did you think of the life extension done by Kim Stanley Robinson in his Mars series?

BS: Stan and I both come from a generation where we recognize that it's not right to talk about science and technology as though they were magic pills or something that comes off a silver pedestal on angel wings. It's something that exists and is part of your makeup and becomes part of your personality. It's part of your expectations and part of your society. It's the process of bringing extrapolation into your daily life. Which is sort of different than the standard early 20th century SF rhetoric that always just uses the stuff in the way that a Fantasy story uses a winged horse or something. It uses technology as a charm or a means to invoke wonder. I think Cyberpunk writers in particular are not really into wonder, we're into ecstasy and dread.

SFRevu: Have any of your books been made into movies, or are there any movie projects?

BS: I've sold some rights over the years, but no, I'd never want to do screenwriting, so it doesn't happen.

SFRevu: Of the short stories you've written, are any your favorites?

BS: Well, I tend to prefer my first short story collection, CRYSTAL EXPRESS to my second, GLOBALHEAD. Although the stories in GLOBALHEAD are a lot better written, they're not in as wide a range. CRYSTAL EXPRESS has got truly off-the-wall stuff in it. It's got Fantasies and Historical Fantasies and Space Opera and really weird things whereas GLOBALHEAD is - how can I put this - more mature.

SFRevu: Novel-wise, what are you working on?

BS: I'm writing a novel right now which is about power, politics, and big science.

SFRevu: In Texas?

BS: Yeah, actually it's in East Texas and Louisiana...and Washington.

SFRevu: Is this supercollider stuff, or Net stuff?

BS: I believe it is gonna be set on the site of the old superconducting supercollider. Something very weird went down there. In fact there is a whole sea change in the way society and government treat science now and I think it's very little examined. Eventually it will have an enormous effect on SF because SF is the bastard child of science and American SF is the bastard child of American Science. So when things go badly for Mom, things are gonna change for the little gutter imp that is SF, and it's gonna wind up changing its ways.

SFRevu: Does SF have predictive value?

BS: Well yes, it does. A lot of people are dismissive about this. I certainly wouldn't claim that any SF writer is an actual prophet or anything, but I would actually argue that SF writers can be useful harbingers. They often have the tone of what is coming down pretty well. Even if they don't have technical specifics.

SFRevu: You've mentioned civilization a couple of times in different contexts, and it reminded me of something David Brin said to us a while back - that he doesn't hear people say very often that they are a member of a civilization, that they own a part of it. Are we becoming more of a civilization or are we becoming more fragmented? Does technology have a role in it?

BS: Well, it depends on where you are. If you're in Bosnia right now you sure as hell don't feel much like you're part of a civilization. Power and liberty are always sort of at one another's throats. I could kind of concur with David that people need to make some sort of commitment to some sort of larger abstract. I'm something of a Civil Libertarian. That's where I spend my political energies, such as they are. Especially electronic Civil Liberties, as it's something I happen to know a bit about. It's an area in life in which I feel I can do something useful for society as a whole. I think that people ought to speak up and take an interest in society, especially if you have children as David and I both do. Real futurists have children. Children aren't something you can neglect. You have to commit yourself to their welfare and try and see to it that they survive and are in a world worth living in.

SFRevu: Who do you recommend as alternate reading to Bruce Sterling?

BS: I think you ought to read William Gibson. You ought to read Neil Stephenson, and you ought to give some really serious thought to reading Greg Egan. Neil and Greg are where it's at in 90's SF. There are plenty of people of my generation that are established and it's not hard to find our work. It's a little bit harder to find Pat Cardigan's work, John Shirley's work, Louis Shiner's work. You can find it if you are looking for it. The people who really need help right now are the people who are just beginning to break out. If you're going to try and help them, to help the genre develop, you need to read the magazines. In fact you need to subscribe to the magazines because this is the testing ground of the next generation. Which is why SF thrives and other genres have their own little wire racks somewhere off in the middle of nowhere. SF has a good infrastructure, but like any infrastructure it needs to be maintained.