John M. Ford
John M. Ford
John Milo "Mike" Fordwas an American science fiction and fantasy writer, game designer, and poet...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth10 April 1957
CountryUnited States of America
allow happening reader
The ideal, it seems to me, is to show things happening and allow the reader to decide what they mean.
copies given hard laughed numerous people trek wake
People tell me they laughed hard enough to wake their spouses, that they've given away numerous copies to friends, and that it's the one Trek book they'll give to people they wouldn't expect to like others.
access deal generally good reader
Naturally, the reader has access only to the events I show and the way I show them, but as has been said, there's generally a good deal of ambiguity in that presentation.
goes people surprising tend
The people who don't like it tend to dislike it intensely. That's unfortunate, but not surprising when one deliberately goes against audience expectations.
answer cynical deal expect far future good
The cynical part of the answer is that I expect to see a good deal more space opera, set far enough in the future as to be disconnected from contemporary issues.
believe expression people
There are people who believe in an absolutely transparent prose; with every respect for clarity of expression, I don't.
writing
Observe, don't imitate.
reality sometimes reader
Sometimes the reader will decide something else than the author's intent; this is certainly true of attempts to empirically decipher reality.
book two shadow
Every book is three books, after all; the one the writer intended, the one the reader expected, and the one that casts its shadow when the first two meet by moonlight.
writing different-universes next
At one point I intended to write precursor and sequel novels, about the establishment of the Web and its next evolution, but I am very unlikely to now; they would take place in a different universe.
new-york choices stuff
I'm very happy that the New York Times has spoken well of my stuff; who wouldn't be? But it's not a choice I made.
games creating world
Creating the fictional background for a game world isn't significantly different from creating a background for fiction.
giving-up book reading
I don't think anyone wants a reader to be completely lost - certainly not to the point of giving up - but there's something to be said for a book that isn't instantly disposable, that rewards a second reading.
debt pay borrowed-time
We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt.