June 25, 1997 J. Scott Crawford

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BIO

J. Scott Crawford began writing about ten years ago while stationed at an isolated U.S. Army outpost in rural Germany. "The barracks were smack dab in the middle of this enormous apple orchard -- twenty miles from anywhere," he says. "My girlfriend at the time used to mail me a fresh pile of old paperbacks every couple of months to help pass the time, but I'd always end up finishing them long before the next pile arrived. After a while, I just started making up my own stories." The writing bug stuck with him after the Army, following him through school and a four year stint as a radio journalist in his hometown in upstate New York. A long time fan of science fiction, Scott began writing SF exclusively a little over a year ago. He currently lives in Atlanta with his two evil cats. His first professional SF sale, "JackBack", appears in the Summer 1997 issue of Absolute Magnitude Magazine.

• Absolute Magnitude.

JanCyberC Thanks. Scott, as a new author, you're still breaking into the SF scene. Do you feel it's more difficult for this generations writers to break into the genre than say the writers who were working 20 years ago?
JScottC Hmmm. Much as I want to say "yes", Janice, I really don't think so ... A lot of big SF analysts say that SF went through a bad period 20 years ago ... it was wandering, still suffering the growing pains of the 60s "new wave".
JanCyberC Do you feel we're going through a "bad" period now?
JScottC Not at all! I agree with Warren Lapine, who wrote last year that SF is going through ... a second "Golden Age". There are so many different kinds of SF out there right now. Despite the sagging magazine sales and restrictive novel publishers, this is a great time for SF.
JanCyberC Do you think that the emergence of online publishing has anything to do with this Scott?
JScottC Well, I think online publishing is still in its infancy -- which by no means guarantees that it ...won't be stillborn. Instead, I'd credit the crop of writers and visionary editors we have nowadays.
JanCyberC Thanks Scott. So you're very optimistic about SF in general and a new writer's chances.
JScottC Well, it's still a long road if you're a new writer. But the good news is that there are lots of ...silly people like me who continue to write and submit even though it won't make you a living.
Techyo That's the "Labor of love defense?"
JScottC Very nice way of putting it, Tech. I like that!
Techyo LOL well I was doing it.
JScottC Yeah, I love SF. Love to read it, love to write it. *Really* love selling it. ;)
JanCyberC Scott, what made you decide that becoming an SF Author was worth the rejection and pain and starvation?
JScottC That's a good question, Janice. I guess I wanted to try and write what I love best about SF ... and share it with other SF lovers. Did you ever read something you really liked, then find out ...that you can't find any more of that same exact stuff? Can't get enough? That's why I started submitting.
JanCyberC LOLOL! Yes, I know exactly what you mean.
Techyo Cool answer I live in that place.
JanCyberC Scott, If I can ask this without getting thwacked, how would you classify your SF...hard? Soft?
Techyo ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!
AtvarHsial LOL
JScottC I'm a hard core SF fan, but believe it or not, the stuff I've been writing varies.
Techyo I'm shocked!
JScottC "JackBack" is kind of a techno-thriller. However, I'm working on one right now that's as soft as ... can be -- time travel story about a man who loves his father.
JanCyberC Not to get you to tell us the whole plot...why do you consider it soft?
JScottC Well, the science behind the time travel technology is pretty hard, but I didn't consider that part ... to be as germane to the plot as some other points, so I really didn't go into the details. It's really about people, and how different people can come from the same place -- even though ... they may have very vast cultural divides. How's that for cryptic and circular? ;)
JanCyberC Sounds good to me. Scott, what's the most difficult part of writing for you.
JScottC Well, the actual *writing* part is difficult for me. One of the things I was lucky enough to learn ... from a great mentor is that anybody can come up with cool ideas, but it takes a little more work ... to actually sit down and write them out artfully -- or try to, at least. Also, it doesn't help when you're a part-timer, which most SF writers are. I have trouble sometimes ...
Ranger I've got a question if you don't mind ...
JanCyberC Yep...the writer's bane...writing! LOL.
JScottC disciplining myself to sit down and write after a long day's work. ;)
Ranger Do you have a personal opinion on the reality of UFOs and what do you think of the recent media flurry on the subject?
JScottC Hmmm. Well, I do believe that there are other folks out there in the stars, some smarter than us, some dumber.
Techyo More to the point do you buy the crash dummie thing?
JScottC Well, I'm actually a little skeptical when it comes to the UFO on Earth stuff.
Techyo The FTL barrier?
JScottC There's a lot of convincing evidence out there, and also a lot of bunk. I'm waiting for somebody else to sort through it all. ;)What about the FTL barrier, Tech?
Techyo The reason your sceptical about others visiting earth. Is that why?
JScottC No, not that, necessarily. To paraphrase Gregory Benford, I'm skeptical that bipedal, bilaterally symmetrical, prominent head little grey guys are visiting us ... to take our "seed" for medical experiments. Why couldn't they look like, say, ring bologna?
Mandy 8^)
JanCyberC Ring Bologna! LOLOL.
JScottC See, if somebody said they were abducted by ring bologna, I might just be a believer! ;)
JanCyberC The pickled type, I hope.
Techyo Agreed Scott on the experiment part.
Ranger Well a popular theory on UFOs is that they are our ancestors revisiting us by means of time travel.
JScottC That may be so, Ranger, but they may also be ring bologna disguised as humanoids, come to Earth ...
Techyo Do you have a grand project that is waiting for the right time to be written?
JScottC to rescue their brethren that we consume so cavalierly. I don't mean to sound flippant about it, but there's one word missing from those theories
Techyo And if it's about bologna I'll read it anyway.
Ranger LOL ;)
JScottC Yes, Tech, I do. Like probably all fledgeling SF writers, I have a continuity or "universe" that I've been ... working and honing for about the past eight years. Lots of drafts, but no finished product yet. But I am working on a novelette in that universe. ;)
JanCyberC Oooooh...you mean we might see a "TRILOGY" out of you in the future?
Techyo Cool I'll look forward to it. And how many books are in a Trilogy?[G]
JScottC More like a group of short and longer works centering around a set of characters, Janice. I'm a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's stuff, Jerry Pournelle's "Falkenberg" work, and ... Allen Steele's loose "Near Space" stuff. I'd like to work it that way.
Techyo Nice way to go to.
JanCyberC Okay...so not plans, down the line for a series of books then? Pardon me...that should read "no plans"
JScottC Well, I am working on a novel draft about the "main" character's early career. He's a private ... engineer who teams up with the Pope to save a dying commercial space liner. Sounds dull, I know, but I think it'll pick up as it goes along. ;)
JanCyberC Doesn't sound dull at all....interesting though. I noticed that THE SPARROW which was a big hit this year... dealt with religion in a way that's pretty foreign to me as a long time SF reader. May I be nosey enough to ask if the Pope is a good guy or a bad guy in your universe?
JScottC Good. Haven't figured out yet if it's a guy or a gal, though. Religion in SF is a tough room. Either you're grinding an axe, or you're going to offend somebody. Or both.
JanCyberC Yep...writers usually steer as clear as possible away from it.
AtvarHsial true
Ranger Do you feel that time travel will be a reality in the next century?
JScottC Nahhh. We're too busy keeping our eyes on the road these days, Ranger. Unless somebody comes up with some killer physics, we'll probably spend a big part of the next century ... trying to feed some folks while we shoot some others. Not the way I'd like it to be, mind you.
Ranger You don't beleive that there's a possibility that someone already has developed some type of time travel?
JScottC Well, Ranger, it's one thing to develop time travel, and another to do it in such a way that the ... results can be duplicated and laid out enough to be accepted by the scientific community.
Techyo Well if I have too.
JanCyberC Back to types and classifications and hair splitting which I am want to do...what constitutes "Hard" SF for you.
JScottC Well, I admit that I'm a purist, Janice. "Hard" SF is SF that falls apart when you take out the science.
JanCyberC Heavy on the tech, light on characterization, Scott?
JScottC Well, that's the stereotype. However, I think there are "hard" SF writers who come up with exquisite characters ... Gregory Benford's "Killian" is completely three-dimensional. Allen Steele jampacks his stuff with motley characters.
Mark Amen, Scott.
JScottC Stephen Baxter is also a very hard scientist whose command of language and characterization make us all fear him. ;)
Mark BTW, I have yet to find "your" issue of Absolute Magnitude. Any advice?
JScottC Well, Mark, I have to apologize for that. Seems the issue has been delayed.
Techyo Is the characterization just a matter of the authors style?
JScottC Look for it some time in the next two months, though. ;)
Mark ( Knuts!)
JScottC I think so, Tech. I wouldn't say that Robert Forward is any less a humanist than Connie Willis ...
Mark You'd think so, Tech. Asimov, though brilliant, had miserable characters.
JScottC ... he just has different priorities in his writing. It should also be said that characterization is not as easy as it looks.
Mark Bob Forward's a physicist though, no?
JScottC Doctor Bob. Yes, indeed!
Mark So, different frame of reference than the inestimable Ms. Willis.
JScottC You're right. Perhaps I should have contrasted him with Gregory Benford.
Mark THERE YA GO!!!
JScottC He's Doctor Greg. ;)
JanCyberC LOLOL.
Techyo (LOL someone I've read!)
Mark "Calling Dr. Howard..."
AtvarHsial LOL
JScottC When you write a character, you *own* that character. Sometimes it's difficult to delineate the ... parameters of who the character is. You don't want to go over the top, but you don't want cardboard, either.
Mandy 8^
Techyo Are your charactors an aspect of you then, Scott?
JScottC I'm sure they have pieces of me. I also use some things I observe in others, too. After all, the goal is a whole person, right?
Mark Like fond memories of chats past? ;)
Techyo LOL but of course.
JanCyberC Certainly is.
JScottC Funny you should mention that. "JackBack" has an interesting twist that relates directly to the ... online experience. I won't spoil it, but you'll recognize it immediately when you see it.
JanCyberC Scott, is there any one author you would like to compare yourself to, if not now...perhaps at some time in the future...anyone you'd emulate?
Mark Allen Steele, perhaps? }
Ranger I thought that name had an edge to it ;)
JScottC That's a dangerous path, Janice. I'm hesitant to say, because it's no secret that Allen Steele's been ... trying to live down that "next Heinlein" tag ever since it was applied.
Mark ROFL!
JScottC It would be very flattering to be compared with someone, but that's not for me to say.
Techyo I actually thought he was "the next Clarke" myself.
JScottC No, Tech, that's Baxter. I once kidded to Allen that by the time I get my first novel, the only "next" left will be the "next William Shatner."
Techyo Egadds isn't that bad karma, Scott?
JScottC Well, the "next" thing is a game that publishers play. I'm not sure I'd want to be saddled with a big name comparison.
Techyo As Allen says it's a lot of pressure?
JScottC Too much to live up to, impossible if your "nextsake" is deceased, too.
JanCyberC We can all understand that...too many authors complain about being genre cast....but many seem to jump at the chance to write "name" follow-up books.
JScottC Yeah, sort of like a death sentence unless you're extremely talented (as Allen is). I can't speak from personal experience, Janice, but I would think that's an economic decision.
Techyo Hummm... would you want to write those kind of books, Scott? Other than for money?
JScottC George R.R. Martin put it best
Techyo [G]
JanCyberC Most probably. I hear from folks that one of the best places to hype oneself is at a convention...planning on attending a few in the near future?
JScottC Not me, Tech. Well, not *as* me, let's say. ;)
Ranger LOL!
Techyo Good point.
JScottC Folks are right, Janice. I've heard from reliable sources that certain big name magazine editors ... won't even touch a story by an author they haven't met at a convention. I think I'm going to wait until I have a couple more stories in print, though. Then I'll make the rounds.
Techyo That's interesting I wonder why?
JanCyberC No itinerary so we can meet you F2F?
JScottC I've been keeping up with the convention schedules, but haven't seen any that are near Atlanta ... that I would be interested in attending. There are SF conventions, and media sci-fi conventions ...
JanCyberC Hotlanta has the Dragonfest, don't they? But that's more fantasy I believe.
JScottC Right. Dragon Con is huge. Unfortunately, it's mostly fantasy.
JanCyberC Scott...we've past the one hour mark which is usually about as long as we chain our guests to the hot seat... but we'd love to grill you some more if your game. Game?
JScottC I'm in! Grill away!
JanCyberC LOL! That's the spirit. Scott, I've heard that the best day job a writer can have is digging ditches... I take it that's not your profession.
JScottC ROFL!
Ranger What do you think of Devil Woman Hot Sauce as being used as the fuel for future time travel machines?
JScottC That's absolutely right, Janice. I'm a 'puter geek by profession, which is a thinker's job ...
Mandy grilling...Hot sauce..a pun?
Techyo LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
JanCyberC Do you think it helps or hinders you work?
JScottC ... if I were a ditch digger, I could think of stories and plots all day while I dig. Helps and hinders. Hinders because sometimes I have no brain power left at the end of the day ... It helps because I can keep my finger on the pulse of all the nastiness of corporate America ... which is a big part of everything I write. Manager's inhumanity to man, as it were.
JanCyberC Scott...can we ask what your submitting hierarchy is? Who gets a story first and when do you throw the story back in the file cabinet?
Ranger LOLOL!
JanCyberC Or should I get thwacked for that.
JScottC Well, I'll tell a tale out of school on that one, Janice. I got my hierarchy from Allen Steele, who ... reportedly got his hierarchy from Gordon R. Dickson. So it's tradition -- and two-thirds successful so far ... The money magazines get first dibs. If they reject, the second-best money mags get a shot, etc.
JanCyberC Do you ever consider fanzines?
JScottC If you're desperate, you'll submit until you get down to the mags that give out lollipops. ;)
JanCyberC Fanzines 8^7
Ranger LOL
JScottC I got my start in fanzines, actually. Ever heard of "David Brightman"? Go ahead, be honest.
JanCyberC No.
Ranger Nope
JanCyberC See...honest, blunt and concise.
JScottC Well, that's about as far as fanzines will go toward making a name in SF these days. ;)
JanCyberC So, it's not really worth it to go to the fanzines unless you are desperate to get the story into print?
JScottC To answer the second part of your question, Janice, I start to consider a re-write after the "Big 3" ... have rejected the story summarily.
JanCyberC Must be hard.
JScottC Well, you know, there are so many magazines out there these days -- really -- that if the story deserves to see print ... and the writer keeps submitting, it will eventually make it.
JanCyberC I know I gave up on the rejection train a while back because it's just so demoralizing. Scott...what do you think of the current broo-ha-ha with the SFWA and electronic publishing?
JScottC It's very difficult -- I've spoken to Hugo winners who still can't take that without a bristle. Well, as of yet I'm not a SFWA member (I will be as soon as I can prove "JackBack" has been published) ... but I have observed that a big part of what drives the SFWA is broo-ha-ha. So I guess it can't be all bad. What are you referring to, specifically?
JanCyberC LOL. For those not familiar with it, you have to pass some requirements to become a member of the Science Fiction writers of America. Right now it's one novel, or 3 short stories, correct?
Ranger Ahh
Mandy sort of like being a saint...?
JScottC One novel or three short stories in a professional mag for voting membership ... One story in a professional mag for Associate membership. All in the U.S., of course. ;)
JanCyberC However, the SFWA does not recognize electronic publishing as a valid publication. So you could be multiple published on the web, and even be up for a Nebula award, and still not be able to join the SFWA.
Mandy Could a story published on the web be picked up by a print mag?
JScottC Theoretically, yes. However, there aren't many authors who are published online who haven't published print also.
Ranger That doesn't sound fair
JScottC I think the controversy is that some quarters believe that anyone who throws a story onto a Web site can claim "electronic publishing".
JanCyberC Yes, Mandy, but many will not...they consider it a sale....so it's a damned if you do and damned if you don't sort of thing.
Mandy Hmmm...bummer...
JanCyberC Most magazines demand 1st North American Serial rights and Some demand first world.
JScottC That's right. However, now it's a bit of a tempest in a teapot ... Since the big online publishers are OMNI and Tomorrow (if they're even still online).
Techyo Then there needs to be an electronic publish group to credit online mags.
JScottC As for OMNI, you'd sooner see a blue grapefruit fly than find a brand new author there these days. ;)
Techyo It's ok Scott they'd just get you spamed anyway.
Ranger LOL ;)
JScottC Well, no disrespect to OMNI, but as a market they have more in common with Playboy than with the mainstream SF mags.
JanCyberC I'm hoping that when the cyberlawyers get the whole copyright thing settled we'll see some movement in the SFWA.
Ranger Isn't that a shame. It wasn't that way 20 years ago
JScottC I'm all for new markets, Janice. The Catch-22 is that in order to enforce copyright law correctly ... some regulation would be necessary on the Internet, which is not a very popular idea. The good news is that there are more and more author sites on the Web, and lots of authors ... are posting their previously published stuff for folks to read.
Techyo What about some sort of publisher program that "protected" the work within?
JScottC That's possible. I wouldn't feel particularly persecuted if I were an e-publisher, though ... the SFWA is notoriously cranky about broadening its membership criteria.
JanCyberC Good news for us in particular...without the internet we wouldn't have the chance to talk with you Scott...or many of the other authors who've visited us.
JScottC Amen!
AtvarHsial True
JScottC Actually, my first application to SFWA was rejected summarily on the grounds that ...
Ranger Scott, do you have any advise on how to get your first story published?
JScottC AbsMag was not considered a "professional" magazine.
JanCyberC Yikes!
JScottC That's easy to say, Ranger, hard to do Submit, Submit, Submit. The long version of that is not just what editors are buying, but to make sure that your grand story wasn't written by Cyril Kornbluth in 1938.
JanCyberC LOLOL....ah...he said the magic name.
JScottC Then write, and write some more. "JackBack" saw two revisions before I sent it to my mentor ... and he wrote 17 pages of commentary on what was wrong with my 18 page story.
JanCyberC LOLOLOL....that's a nice mentor.
AtvarHsial Sounds like the audits that I write! The response is always larger then the audit itself!
JScottC You know what? Basically *everything* was wrong with "JackBack". Only thing I got right the first time through was my name ... (and I still had that in the wrong spot on my manuscript).
JanCyberC You've spoken more than once about your Mentor, Scott, have you ever done the "writer's group" thing as well? And which would you say is more useful. A group of critiquers or a single person who knows the ropes?
JScottC Once, a long time ago. I think the group is great if you have somebody worthy of your work in the group. However, many writing groups are really folks who dabble in SF. If you're a dabbler, it's great fun. But if you're serious about writing and selling SF, a group can also be frustrating as heck.
Techyo Wouldn't that depend on the group, Scott?
JScottC Exactly right, Techyo. I prefer the mentor approach, if you're fortunate enough to find somebody savvy about both SF and the business end.
Techyo Allen mentioned a group with Harlan I think that was different that what you talked about.
JScottC That's not an easy thing to find -- I had to weasel mine -- but well worth the search. Tech, if I could get in on a group with Harlan and Allen, I'd be all for the group, too!
Techyo LOL yeah I'd learn to write for that.
JScottC I'm not anti-group at all, really. It's just that you have to be careful about which group you choose. Also keep in mind that authors are a proprietary lot when you're an unknown commodity.
JanCyberC That can be very time consuming, you know. Many require that you get into a queue for submission of your story... and you can spend months waiting to find out you're in the wrong group.
Techyo Is there a danger that you may take on too much from the one mentor?
JScottC Yeah, Janice, and if you're lucky enough to be in Harlan's group, check your ego at the door! ;) Yes, Techyo. I have that very problem, in fact. That's the down side, because you don't want your mentor to think ... that you're trying to filch his style.
JanCyberC Didn't know you were a Kornbluth fan, Scott, or if I did I forgot. How do you feel about humor in SF ?
JScottC I like serious stuff, generally, but the best serious stuff has a few giggles in it, too. There's always at least one part in an Allen Steele novel where I laugh my head off.
Techyo Just one?
JScottC Well, I find strange things funny in his work. I like the way he foils his most intimidating characters ...
Techyo Is humor often in the eye of the beholder? Er is that what you said?
JScottC I think so, Tech. My ex couldn't keep a straight face when Jon Lovitz hit the screen. Didn't even have to say anything.
JanCyberC Ok...then, one last question from me and I'll put my hot pincers away...what's your opinion of the Writer's Camps...Clarion et al.
JScottC I think they're great, Janice. I'd love to have the time and money to attend a couple. One of the first things you learn ... when you start finishing stories and submitting them is that you ain't Jules Verne, and even Jules Verne ...never stood back from a manuscript and exclaimed, "Eureka!". In other words, there's always room ... for improvement, and from what I've heard from folks who've attended those workshops, they help foster ...
Techyo Good point, then how do you know just when to leave a story be? Wait I know the answer to that..... when it sells.
JanCyberC LOLOLOL.
JScottC You don't. I've never spoken to any author who didn't think he or she could tweak their story just a little bit more. The short answer is The trick is to know when to tell yourself that it's ready. ;)
Ranger One more question... Did it make you rich? };>
JScottC ROFL!
Techyo Let me be the first .
AtvarHsial LOL
JanCyberC LOL.
JScottC Absolutely, Ranger. This was my first professional sale, and Warren Lapine was nice enough to ... actually call me on the phone to tell me that he wanted it. When I hung up, I was the richest dude on the planet.
Techyo I like that, Scott.
JanCyberC I hear ya. Hope you do a color xerox of the check.
Ranger That's the kind of riches I'm looking for
Techyo Is cool.
Mandy [g]
JScottC LOL! Already got the frame, Janice!
JanCyberC Any other questions campers?
Ranger But .. did you get the babes? ;D
Techyo Hech you got the spot on the wall picked.
Ranger I mean, like in droves?
JanCyberC LOL. Let me be the second
JScottC No babes, Ranger. You'll want the self-help books, aisle 3.
Ranger Been there .. read that ;D
JanCyberC Thanks for joining us this evening Scott! We look forward to getting the summer issue of Absolute Magnitude!

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