[00:00:03.110] – John Knych
And everyone. Thank you for being here for a discussion with Robert Charles Wilson and his books spine and we will jump right into the discussions. So thank you for being here. Spain was your thirteenth novel and my question is the two part number one CAN you share with us the origin of the book here you came to the idea of how you came to write it and also why you are writing it Did you know it would be so successful because it was the two thousand six Hugo award winner. That’s really and you know how that process was like, but where you surprised that it was so successful.
[00:00:39.830] – Robert Charles Wilson
Well, it’s it’s been about twenty years now at that time out. So it’s a little how to create my mind when I was writing it, but. You know some of the team and there I’ve been addressing since I first started writing one of my earliest books was a book called the harvest which was about the. Extraterrestrial Century arrived on earth and offer everyone immortality. So the idea of what we might expect from a more advanced Civilization. How that would interact with our own biological nature ? These things have had been on my mind for a long time. So it seemed like a natural book to write at the time. Now, I did not know that it would be lucky thirteen. I did not know that when I wrote it. It was just my next book and I was in my books. I’ve been doing well, I mean I’ve just before I write my editor Described me is that that I think a successful writer. So what because I’ve been doing reasonably well and. Many of them have been translated and published overseas.
[00:01:53.780] – Robert Charles Wilson
But I have no idea that would take off the way it did It is exactly make mainstream bestsellers in North America, but it is so well and persistently and it is received the ultimately received the Hugo award and was published overseas. It was translated more broadly than any of my other books had been so yeah, It’s access to all that want. It was a gradual process and I could acclimate to it. But it came as a welcome to me.
[00:02:35.900] – John Knych
And before it would want to. Brandon. I’m pretty I’m very certaines that Gabriel is French and live in Australia and I think Spain had a successful in France and I’ve seen the French readers talk about it online. Alright. Thank you wanted to Brandon.
[00:02:54.140] – Orateur 3
Yeah ! Thanks again for Here we always when authors and talk to us.
[00:03:01.550] – Robert Charles Wilson
Not my pleasure.
[00:03:02.960] – Orateur 3
So I guess my is so a lot of this. It seems like tyler is kind of almost the secondary. Caractère de Jason. Jason, He is the one. He’s the one in charge of he’s making all the plan the strategy to deal with this. So why did you use to write the point of view of Tyler ? Instead of Jason.
[00:03:31.160] – Robert Charles Wilson
Again. I have to write the years of this one and I should see that I think this is the usual among others. I’ve finished the book, I put it the side and don’t look at it again. I’m always on my next work. And I haven’t literally haven’t looked at or any part of the spine, except for the usual public reading of a few paragraphes In the last decade, so it’s a little difficult to answer some of these questions, but I have always been attracted to the idea of looking at some of larger than life caractères. Through the eyes of someone much more down to earth. And I think that’s what I was doing with the relationship between Tyler and Jason. It also been kind of claustrophobique to spend a lot of time inside Jason had so I thought Tyler had a more interesting of broader point of view you could look at different from from different angles. I guess that’s the best. I can say thank you.
[00:04:35.590] – John Knych
Thank you and it’s before he moved to the gene is almost like a parallels between your reflecting on this book from twenty years ago and now in the book the director are reflecting on the right what happened decades before their childhood that is interesting parallel You.
[00:04:56.710] – Orateur 4
Are also thanks for being here. I really enjoy the book. So this might be another one. It’s hard to answer. WE don’t find out much about the hypothetical during the course of the book. And I was wondering when you are reading. It did you have like this concrete idea of what they were in your mind, And you just didn’t want to tell the reader or was it more nebulous for you to.
[00:05:20.320] – Robert Charles Wilson
All I do remember that one of the things I wanted to do with the structure of the book was to. Buy a bunch of questions at the beginning and answers them one by one. I felt like building a suspension bridge between the beginning and the end of the book. So yeah, I think that play it and I did that it create a certain kind of intellectual suspense at least after I was trying to do so that I had a fairly firm idea of I wrote that book a little more than some of my others. I didn’t have a really strict outline as to how was I was gonna let myself improvise a little bit. But in terms of the outline of the book and where it was going into the picture is where and what the what the hypothetical were in those were pretty fairly fixed in my mind, but I started writing.
[00:06:13.460] – Orateur 4
Thank you.
[00:06:15.920] – John Knych
With you, babe. Brian. Gabrielle, you see you did something that you have any reason to have a question. Now. Gabrielle. Gabrielle. Question. Okay. Back to me the again. If you can this just like I said. No problem. WE can I can move to another question. But to continue with the theme of the hypothetical am I found it. I found your explanation of the spine and why was happening and deeply satisfying Meaning. It is as a sci-fi reader when you are right thing about alien’s right. There are so many ways, you can go wrong or destroy the ability of the of the book to do as a sci-fi writer is that always have the ability like a goal of years like extreme ability and that allow the review of Spain really focused on how this is a literary. It’s really like. It’s not alien Shooting laser out of the sky is that always been a team for you or was that new with with this book ?
[00:07:27.970] – Robert Charles Wilson
Oh, no, I think I think that’s always been the same for me. The idea of it. I always liked stories and that explored something extraordinary by putting it in the context of the ordinary or the familiar with the recognizable, and that was something I tried to do with the most of the books I’ve and you know it is far from the only way to write a science-fiction story and this is certainly not the only legitimate way to write the science-fiction story, but it’s it’s the way. It’s a kind of story. I’d like to read and it’s a kind of story. I’d like to write so so that that aspect of it can naturally to me. I think.
[00:08:08.980] – John Knych
Thank you to.
[00:08:13.900] – Orateur 3
All let me maybe it’s more about the present day, but also and what so you can have you can’t talk about a little bit about how space travel and conventional space travel is extremely difficult. Kind of the sun is von Neumann at the space instead. So what ? What are your thoughts on like today’s space travel technology with SpaceX and. NASA and the state of all that I mean. Do you think you think WE have you have the chance to get back in the space ? I mean what you are. What would you think you’re on space travel realistically.
[00:09:02.360] – Robert Charles Wilson
Where obviously, I don’t know, but it seems to be that the eu the exploration of the solar system has been ongoing for many years robotics and we will be achieved an enormous amount we’ve got a lot of knowledge about the solar system. WE live in over my life time in the amount of when I was born at the time when people want you whether they were here and now when you know what I knew what people speculate that might be rainy. And over the course of my life time will find a lot of that stuff so certainly the robotic exploration of the solar system has been enormously successful it With every increase in our technological capacity it becomes easier to do that. The man in the exploration of the solar system is is a much more difficult propositions, but it is it really is only a technological challenge I expect date sooner or later in the us. WE really do something dreadful to ourselves that that that will happen. Whether we will ever really calling the solar system that is impossible for me to say it depends what drives this And why we were doing it and what we do and what we’re looking for and whether we get it.
[00:10:21.840] – Robert Charles Wilson
But if you’re talking about Interstellar travel. It’s worth. It is all. You know. Interstellar travel is the device. The science fiction readers like to use because it’s a way of exploring questions. You couldn’t really explore it as a practical proposition that is extremely unlikely. Why would you travel to other stars where you have to be ? You would need longevity and Curiosity. And and better technology that we have. I’m assuming that the speed of life is of living is this is a feature built in our universe and how fast we’re gonna get to anywhere outside of our own solar system. So but the idea of a. Machine exploring the galaxy machine can be extraordinarily patients if there is soft replicating machines. There’s nothing that would I have seen the calculation somewhere that could cross the galaxy in something like ten thousand years and. Even at the end of something reasonably short of the speed of light. So if any civilization want to put that it into the progress of the day. They can do that I suppose we might be able to do it and a century or so we’re here, but the question is why would you do that I mean if you are driven by Curiosity a human life time isn’t long enough to see the results from that.
[00:11:58.800] – Robert Charles Wilson
On the other hand. I’m not a big believer in the idea of uploading consciousness in the machine, but if that were a practical proposition or something something like human consciousness consciousness could be carried out to other stars and long enough that we could afford it for curiosity that won’t be satisfied for century of millennia. So you know, and you know that that could make it happened what kind of exploring the idea and in the published novels. I’ve just my mind is just started something for the summer, the I returned again and I take for the third time in my career to this idea of. machine intelligence in the galaxy, so it obviously. I can only guess that the ability of it.
[00:12:53.940] – Orateur 3
Thank you. That’s really interesting.
[00:12:58.230] – John Knych
And I see before we moved to you. And I see in the chat. Gabrielle, you can’t talk with his camera, but he he wants to ask you to describe your side categories. If you have to I guess place yourself in the in the general is really interested to have him described this category even if even if the world is awful. I don’t know if it means world is awful world is useful. So you how would you describe your your category ?
[00:13:27.150] – Robert Charles Wilson
I’m not sure, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by categories.
[00:13:34.770] – John Knych
I’m not sure maybe or Un if. If it wasn’t mind all these questions to be like in what authors ? Do you read and like ? Where do you see your place and in the in the case of. Of science-fiction.
[00:13:53.970] – Robert Charles Wilson
Where I. I I grew up and classic postwar science-fiction and those influences with you. So all the usual name. There are working there, you know in my Cranium. Heinlein Asimov in all of those names. There is there. In in terms of writing about it and how to approach the story from where I was actually enormously influenced by Stephen King and I started reading Stephen King when when he was a brand new paperback and the Rotary racks and I followed found everything sense and what really struck me about that was the way the way you could use. In the town of the generation to get inside your details to get inside a protagoniste head and to bring it to life on the page. I think he’s better and bring it to life on the page and sometimes bringing settings to life on the page than any other reader, name and in fact it very seldom right anything, you can describe a science-fiction, but the approach to take is the transportable and I’ve tried to use some of that in my writing.
[00:15:16.950] – John Knych
Thank you So I have you read all books like that you found his career. Thank you.
[00:15:23.790] – Robert Charles Wilson
It’s pretty much. I mean there might be something here and there is that I haven’t read. But I’ve gotta have got a book in another room with his books on them. And he did me when I’ve never get him. But he did my big favor shortly after spin came out as he he made in the book and he was ready for entertainment weekly at the time. And he did you buy ? He was, he was listening, he was a list of best western readers about mystery writers best writers and he he for him apparently, I was the best science-fiction writer and he promoted and promoting spin was afraid to be calling by the best science-fiction writer was not necessarily. I don’t like that and I don’t know what else who would but in terms of promoting my work. It was, it was an enormous favor to me and it was nice suddenly feel recognized by someone. I had been used to all those years and to realize that he had been playing the amount of attention to my work to.
[00:16:28.950] – John Knych
Thank you and my copy of spin. There’s a Stephen King. Stephen King on the back pressing. Raising your work.
[00:16:37.220] – Robert Charles Wilson
That would be.
[00:16:39.200] – John Knych
Wonderful alright if you have a question or you can pass.
[00:16:44.300] – Orateur 4
I want more questions. So you write about intelligent species across the Galaxy inevitably just burning themselves out and make me think about the drake occasion and maybe how long intelligence BCS or intelligent civilisations might existe before that happens and I’m wondering if you feel like that that is in the ability like you or for humanity or maybe any other potential civilization out there or do you take a more positive view ?
[00:17:18.290] – Robert Charles Wilson
I take it that of the diagnostic view it. Is becoming clear that that evolving the kind of Intelligence. If you want I used to make it possible to create a technological society doesn’t necessarily included the kind of intelligence you need to manage it and to avoid over stepping yourself and over stepping. Ecological limits and doing yourself are in the process. Clearly it’s possible not to drive yourself into extinction. Not the drive for species, not to drive itself and. WE could be dealing with this much better than who we are. So if if there are multiple technological civilization out there, I would that at least some of them find a way around the roadblock and and traps, but the roadblock and trap or real too. But in terms of the Drake. I mean in terms of the Fermi Paradox, the question of if they have those of the civilisations existent. We’re here we are and we. Are really suspect that they would not be present in ways that we could readily detect necessarily. And they might not announce themselves to it to us for any number of plausible reasons so I’m kind of agnostic on this subject of.
[00:18:51.950] – Robert Charles Wilson
Interstellar Civilization as they may not if they do exist. WE might not be able to detect their signatures and they may not be used to show themselves to us are there for their protection or for our so it’s an open question which makes it interesting for me. Use of science fiction writer.
[00:19:11.780] – Orateur 4
Thank you.
[00:19:14.420] – John Knych
Thank you alright. I’ll see you are there any questions from Brian Gabriel now. The. End of this question is like a Research questions page one hundred eighteen, you are talking about more and then Tyler brings like the martian. Read more like the actual book is how much if you can remember from twenty years ago, How much where you are researching more and what we have learned about our solar system at the time and how the types of riders that incorporated that into your writing are where you are specializing. How much as your research research relates to your writing at the time.
[00:20:02.840] – Robert Charles Wilson
Of research and what to the book, not necessarily the subject brightly. So was looking at the idea of terraforming Mars. And again because that wasn’t the central point. I didn’t go into it and great details. The reason the reason I’ve made in the Kim Stanley Robinson is that I just ? I don’t know at the time. It seems to be there is that you need to write science fiction week end to forget that there’s other science-fiction world week end to our science-fiction universe where there people don’t write science-fiction. So I wanted to acknowledge that there is a literature on this that pré-existe whatever I wrote and it just seems that kind of pleased to me and that you are at the time. You know we research is interesting things that can be you can do it like a black hole or or you can neglected, you know and come up with it and your products, but so I tried to strike a balance, but sometimes the research has its own rewards. Sometimes it’s the struggle. It depends on the subject.
[00:21:18.710] – John Knych
Thank you before moving back to Brandon. I see you have questions about your writing routine. You share with What does your your writing routine ?
[00:21:28.730] – Robert Charles Wilson
Is it’s changed over the decades ? I’ve been working on it. It took a certain month of discipline the first to how you know the traditional device back and I started was to try to write a day. If it’s just you can’t throw it out the next day, but it establish the routine and keep the discipline and I tried to do that, but I mean, I was working day job for much of that time to do. So it wasn’t always be there were a few period of my career when I would start writing for time. And I couldn’t really like it wasn’t a conçu to recharge ma batterie. It wasn’t because what they call writer’s block. It was just I would because of other issues in my life or or for no reason that all I would say things that the work of side for for a while I have my first. my first published story came out in night in seven years old, but I didn’t publish anything else is still. A part of that time, I was reading and just looking away what I wrote occasionally.
[00:22:38.440] – Robert Charles Wilson
I would be something that would be rejected, but I was all that time I was learning by writing and learning by other writers to understand what they were doing trying to get a more look at it from the creators perspective and see how it worked so none of that was wasted time I think but I mean you know in general and and these days. You know I’m gonna be something next month and. Of the writing and publishing environment is so different from what I want was that I don’t discipline myself away I used to figure. I have another book, but whether that provide to be the things I will see I’m taking it a little more of these days.
[00:23:26.630] – John Knych
Take it back to.
[00:23:31.490] – Orateur 3
You. So I want to do with Jacques about researching of you. I have you done a lot of research for that one.
[00:23:46.400] – Robert Charles Wilson
Of the. The new book was. It came out of interest and I’ve had for many many years in the since I’ve been doing the research for it. For decades. There were specific areas where it had to look at specific questions, but since it was a book that play the mystery and play the things that I was already fascinated by. I didn’t have to do a lot of specific research for that particular book now.
[00:24:21.490] – John Knych
Que oui. Jeanne. If you have a question or you can pass. Thanks all right and I don’t think Ryan or Gabrielle has the. One of the things I loved about Spain is there were many intimate moments between the caractère really deeply moving, especially with Jason. I mean the relationship between Jason and Tyler et Tyler. The passing of Tyler mother I found deeply poignant. Do you might not be able to ensure this because of two years ago, but do you try and do you put personal life details into your books because it felt so felt so real that I can’t help wonder, you know that had you had a loved one passes away while reading the book. Do you try to keep your personal life ? Completely out of your your story ? You are what is what was the balance of your personal and and engineering in this war of the real in the relationship between the director.
[00:25:38.030] – Robert Charles Wilson
I can’t imagine not using my personal experience and my writing I mean that that is part of a really, of course you transform experience and take them apart and put the back together in different shape of my father died when I was night in its kind of a vulnerable. I was was for me. And he was a protracted. He died from lung cancer was a protracted death and he died at home so And I became one of the caregiver for him so going through that of that. Wasn’t available experience. And yeah, it’s what I think one of the privilege is that you can take often sometimes deeply disturbing the experience and make something make out of them. If I can use that world. Of course those experiences play in the writing of. The day they often do there’s a. In one of my blind like there is the scene where one of the character is. His father asks for a if you get what it was exactly a photographe or something like that that. That you wanted to see and this is his sun doesn’t want to that he’s getting rid of the photograph is no longer exist and.
[00:27:26.620] – Robert Charles Wilson
And that. That was exactly what happened with my dad ? He had made of a home recording at some point of himself with the before I was born of him with my brother and sister, and he wanted to hear that in his in his last days and I had put it in a box and give it away the box at some point, and it was a hour of experience and I’ve been looking for it and that I couldn’t find it, but I knew I knew what it happened to it. And you know so you know what you do is something like that you know it. It’s it once you did it again. You know for you the place that you can find a decade of experience that you might not otherwise be able to write consistently about all about it. So yeah yeah, of course your personal life comes in your right thing. I think you’re writing the most superficial possible. You have to draw in this kind of experience.
[00:28:37.710] – John Knych
Thank you. Yes before moving into the person who just arrived. Yeah ! I want you again. It’s so it’s rare in sci-fi to have died for me. Like the emotional go punches of the moment between caractère. Tenderness loss. Love and Spain. Had it all I mean and to have that have that be with the art of love at the end of the world of all of you to have to have it will be with us. It is extremely rare. Enjoy it all right. Hello ! Welcome. CAN you ? It is this. Are you ? Virginie. Virginie. Friends. Colleagues.
[00:29:21.540] – Orateur 5
Yeah ! I’m fatty benaribi. I’m a mathematicians. And I’m calling of Virginie.
[00:29:27.990] – John Knych
Welcome to everyone in my my wife. She worked with someone who really in the science-fiction. So I shared with them the link. Do you know who Robert Charles Wilson is would you like to ask a question or just back and and.
[00:29:45.540] – Orateur 5
You are sorry for for the rising sun that I u I actually read in many years ago and I loved it. Love the whole trilogy and so yeah. I particularly enjoyed how you conjugated the how you join the scientific aspects and the sociological aspects like how the society evolves from its consequences of the scientific constraints and the whole end of the trilogy was really ? Yeah ! It was really a shock and I don’t know how much I can spoils You can everyone and read the whole body. You are the whole, the whole part with time travel and and how to connect people from several timelines to their personal backstory, you are really human backstory. It really interests me and I try to write myself and I see is what ? It is of inspiration. So thank you. And maybe if I have a question it would be. How do you ? Have ? How do you do you ? Do you see the science ? More as the strength to to create a story around or something like an inspiration or where you think of the story first and think of what the science ?
[00:31:30.660] – Orateur 5
I could I like to think about interactions between science and literature fiction. So I’m we’ll be really glad to hear if if if if it has already been said before. Sorry for.
[00:31:52.050] – Robert Charles Wilson
What if if I was the question was whether how I thought the science and the human story which comes first the. Sorry anyway I. Will I mean for me ? There’s always there is there is the big idea that there is there’s always the big idea that makes it an exciting science-fiction story, which is involved some kind of scientific speculation where you know in this case about. It is about what technological civilizations eventually produce and what the consequences are on the galactic sky, but the question is always ask yourself and what are the human consequences of this ? What does it mean to you know the person out the window. There is looking down the street and. How does it play into our human experiences ? Hum. Hum. I used to say that. That the real question science fiction is not not how well the future by but how our how might the future be what what will it feel like you know what I mean ? The scientifique question is how do you travel to the the science fiction ? Question is what it like when you get there ?
[00:33:35.220] – Robert Charles Wilson
You know what you do there ? Are you lonely ? Are there other people ? You know ? How can you see the stars at night ? Are you underground ? Is it claustrophobic ? How does it feel like a transcendence ? Where does it feel like ? I love those are human question that you ask about scientific subject. So that’s a century the approach. I take I hope that is the question.
[00:34:03.720] – John Knych
So I think. I lost the the take it back to me for the question. Is that I’m not jumping anyone ? Because this question is actually back and what you just said babe ? Did you know this would be a trilogy when you started writing because the ending definitely left open possibilities or what is the success of Spain that then you are you ready to say look ? This should be the trilogy or did you know going into it ? That is that it had a trois possibilités.
[00:34:39.120] – Robert Charles Wilson
Now now, I wrote at the standalone and I think it’s still works as a standalone. I was in all about the possibility of following it up and I was. I was open to that suggestions. I’ve never been completely happy with the the two Because to be honest. I don’t think they did what ? What ? What did you mean ? I’m not. I’m not happy with them. But I don’t know. I would never touch the book like spinning, but if I had a if I was given the opportunity to go back and look at the walls. I would probably do something with them. But you know you’re right what you’re right and that’s what it is so.
[00:35:33.290] – John Knych
Right back to brandon. If you have, I have a question.
[00:35:39.470] – Orateur 3
You can you can you on how the publishing industry is over your career ? And do you think it’s hard now to publish or is that you are now like what you are your thoughts and that ?
[00:35:55.940] – Robert Charles Wilson
It’s changed dramatically over the course of my career. I mean when I broke in the field. Basically, there was a big audience for treating science-fiction. And there were published in magazines trying to beat that the mind. And if you had any kind of time and all you would be welcomed. I published a story with a who. Is everybody there ? I can’t hear from here. I am very early in my career before I had published in I saw the story two. Isaac Asimov, Science-Fiction magazine by the editor was Sean McCarthy. And it was only my second published story. This was like a night in two or three. And I’m only did she publish the story that Sean McCarty When she moved to. Write to me and said. Do you have a novel ? I’m really like to look at the novel from you. And so I lied and said yeah, I’m working on it right now. So I came up and that was the genesis of my first story of my first novel which was called the hidden place, which was published way back and I’m so yeah, that that situation, which I think you know obtained for.
[00:37:28.580] – Robert Charles Wilson
The fifties sixties, the seven days the advice to stay in the night is there was a big audience and and publisher is looking to feel it all of what I look around now. I see is a lot of people computing for attention publishers computing with each other for for an audience readers computing with each other for attention people desperate to to find a way to get people to know what I’ve written and to respond to it and and the audience. Maybe I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it shrinking, but the reasons that have the audience everything now. The audience is usually I think and there’s a and of course we have so much media science-fiction. Now, it is easy to say the appetite for science-fiction. What ever opening you are looking at a magazine. So. It’s a very different situations and I think it must be a very uncomfortable one for people trying to break it with the field right now and yet people still do it and you know you still sit and interesting books been published and finding it.
[00:38:37.250] – Robert Charles Wilson
So it’s certainly not impossible, but the kind of ease with which I found the career in the field. It doesn’t seem to get it anymore, Unfortunately.
[00:38:56.600] – John Knych
Yes, thank you, Thank you. Thank you. Yes ! Yes ! I just saw that I’m Gabrielle. Ryan Asking about your writing influence. And then Gabrielle asking about him with some distance. Now looking back at blind lake and anything about the book of their structure ideas. Would you see different today ? So yeah. Influence and looking back at blind lake. Do you see it ?
[00:39:25.940] – Robert Charles Wilson
Differently today Looking back at blind Lake. Specifically.
[00:39:29.720] – John Knych
Yes.
[00:39:31.100] – Robert Charles Wilson
Oh well that goes even farther back, then and so I don’t know I mean there’s uh uh uh every book. I write was kind of provisional. I mean, I was the best book. I can write at the time. I think I’ve learned a lot since then I’m reading is a profession where you keep learning. I can do a lot of those books. box in the. Right now, but I wouldn’t do it now. Those of the books are right because of the person, I was then and with the skills that I had then I can’t think of a specific specific than that to say about blind lake. As far as influence has got you know I already in the story of postwar science-fiction and Steven King that I am I would like to go in there because. In those few books that he wrote that are considered science-fiction classique and a lot of his short stories pretty much invented a lot of the tropes. WE use and are still exploring. I mean, he was at the time when those those ideas were out there and there was the idea of the geological past and the possible future of political and technological.
[00:40:50.750] – Robert Charles Wilson
But the victorian were through their telescope for the first time. And he grabbed that low-hanging fruits and and he he would at our story like the time machine seemed to be so so perfect and that it is it delivers that science-fiction rush so direct directly. It. It. It. It takes a miracle time travel which is not scientifique at all. But it was the miracle to explore and current ideas about the possible future of the geological. Over the past time and cultural evolution over time and biological evolution over time. And I think a lot of science-fiction. I loved it has that that kind of structure. Where you know where there’s an obvious miracle. Interstellar Travels says that we use this device for you not going somewhere. You can’t really got literary and using that for some really substantive. SPECULATION and that is something I really tried to do with my eyes yet to be published book is too. It’s very well and then I said that it takes a community of people and put them literally forty years in the future.
[00:42:21.820] – Robert Charles Wilson
On a transfiguré Earth and use that for some. You know it’s a story. It is there. It also explore some speculation about what the deep future might hold for us as a species. I love that kind of fiction. So I would have to put well, it’s one of those influences.
[00:42:45.370] – John Knych
Thank you and then in the shade having. How people reacted to the pandemic information speculations the science world, not fully understanding it, etc. And the psychology impact of it. How do you feel about how you wrote the psychology impact of people in Spain because for me the sci-fi premisse felt so terrifying and I think this I felt some pandemic echoes or reading Spain and how you discuss the political menu, you know and what I loved you did to his people is also just continuing to leave their lives because what else can they do right ? If you have their economically limited, right ? You just keep going to work. So how are you ? How do you feel about what you want ? You were observed in the pandemic and how you wrote Spain with how people reacted.
[00:43:43.600] – Robert Charles Wilson
Yeah, I get that resonance and make sense to me. Ah ! I guess I was just. It just seems to be a realistic way of humans and the way we don’t understand. Or or or rush to cope with things. WE don’t understand why try to explain the way things. WE don’t understand or try to ease our discomfort with things. WE don’t understand and we do that politically emotionally culturally for better for worse. Oh yeah. So that’s the kind of thinking that when in the spine and and I can’t say I’m gratifying. This is the cause of that and in the pandemic or in contemporary politiques. But yeah, you know and I don’t think I took a new approach at that way. I think we’ve seen how people historically have they are not dealt with the CATASTROPHIQUE. I didn’t have any particular in mind and I write the book, but I have had enough history to do all those things you know in in in our culture and other cultures at time. So yeah.
[00:45:05.530] – John Knych
Thank you. And then I hear your passing in this way. To go back to Paris if you have. If you have a question. Of the list. But if you have a question.
[00:45:24.190] – Orateur 5
To go back to spin like if I take the example of the initial initial problem de de de de spherical force field around the earth you you put this in the in the story and you explore the consequences of it Notably scientifique consequences of it like if there is such a forced field and time flows differently. What would they simply to this this and that and at some point you need you need to stop making this cooking with her physical laws because at some point you have to break the physical lose it like with time travel or anything else. My question is when and how do you decide ? Okay, now, I’ll say this is magic U opposed to I want to go to explore if the rest of all physical laws remained the same with this would like this. This and this so how do you decide when to take this is magic ?
[00:46:39.670] – Robert Charles Wilson
A eu By magic in terms of technology. Is that what.
[00:46:47.380] – Orateur 5
Exactly like saying ? Okay, you could see if I. Time travel, then the space, the space, I was before will disappear so. Pressure of air will will go rush out and this is like a real physical consequence of an Unreal happening the time travel so same for the spine of or any of your books. When do you decide okay ? And now I don’t need to u to be realistic in the sense anymore.
[00:47:25.300] – Robert Charles Wilson
I think it’s just the ability. I mean the idea of the. Of the spine bubble that surrounds the earth is obviously not something I will ever expected to happen. I have no idea, whether it would be technologically possible. I really do it. But. Given that I think one of the ways to create ability or very similitude is by addressing some of the question around it. About how it affects how it buffers between. What ? If time were passing that slowly on earth the exterior universe will look extraordinarily energy and how would you buffer buffer against that of it ? So I mean, I can’t all those questions of technology. I don’t understand but be raising them and suggesting the possibility of something. I just take it creates a greater level of possibility of various similitudes. It is it is of course, it’s magic, but it is less like magic it to it being a technological process rather than a arbitrary magical when I guess I could say that.
[00:48:47.130] – John Knych
This is shifting back to your development by the. This might be me reading into spin and create my own interpretation of it and I’ve only spend the only. I’ve had of years. So I’m not sure if I’m about to ask you down in other books, but I I kept wandering while following Giants, Jason and Tyler that they were representative of larger forces like that page one hundred ten I wonder if Jason represented the health of Civilization because I know he was getting to do with Spain, where you are just to remember just giving them this creative director that you and I wanted things to happen to them or was there a plan that you wanted them to represent and other things in the book like broader teams or did you just go into it ? Just these are the factors that things are going to happen to.
[00:49:52.510] – Robert Charles Wilson
Well to take represented different possible reactions. To the spine. There are other resistance and I hate you pointed out some of those and you’re not. I did not deliberately those out. But they seem to pop out of the text and time to time. So you make the most of it make the most of what you find the right thing is a process of discovery and so that. That. That was part of the discovery process and writing the book. But there was those some of those echo and resistance and were not something that I had in mind when I started writing the book.
[00:50:41.070] – John Knych
Thank you alright. Let’s do final round around the round table and do you have ? I have a question to ask.
[00:50:51.750] – Orateur 3
So I know Alastair Reynolds is said that he he doesn’t really science-fiction. He doesn’t read much more, especially when he is writing. So my question is Do you keep up with the current science-fiction books that comes out ? Do you have my favourite ?
[00:51:11.430] – Robert Charles Wilson
I have following way behind I have found way behind partly for that reason. I don’t like to read other science-fiction books while I’m writing and since I’m generally writing. Partly because the field is gotten. So that it’s hard to keep track. Partly Because so much of my reading has been devoted to non-fiction. You know if I’m reading history of science. It’s something that is something that helps to generate ideas and play is back in my work. So no, I have to confess. I have not keeping up with the field. I mean I fell in love like I said before I fell in love with postwar science-fiction and I keeping up with the field up till the turn of the century up and maybe. I was still keeping up with it. But now this thing nothing is the last thing you live here and there and enjoy them, but it’s been sporadic and very powerful. So I can’t really speak to current science-fiction with any authorities.
[00:52:24.600] – Orateur 3
Do you have books ? I would like to recommend to us.
[00:52:30.630] – Robert Charles Wilson
Oh gosh. Oh my gosh, I know nothing springs to mind at the moment. I’m sure it is as soon as we finished this discussion and turn off my computer titles will appear to me. But are the tip of my tongue. No.
[00:52:48.480] – Orateur 3
Thank you.
[00:52:51.390] – John Knych
I think you have two questions in the chat from. From Gabriel and Ryan. So this is back to the blind lake, so Gabriel said which one of the mystery and blind lake is whether the observation system itself have some kind of intelligence is to know whether you were exploring this idea that complex system can create their own agency like and I were you doing that with which blind lake or or no yes.
[00:53:21.930] – Robert Charles Wilson
I can I was playing with the idea all that was able to think of it as I and any modern sense, but there had been some ideas about how algorithmes creating algorithmes and coming up with results were unpredictable and sometimes indéchiffrables in the way that often modern I will so I had this, I had the idea of this sort of some sort of. Quantum télescope for a better world hooked up to some sort of what we would now and artificial intelligence system that would consistently refine refine images. To the point where in the center of practice of the book. WE could literally observed in daily life on the planet outside of our solar system. The planet circling all the stars. WE could observed in such details that we could take a look at what ? WE could take a look and try to decipher what what was going on there without being able to Using visual information, but this is happening by a process that was itself difficult to understand so the same time people are trying to understand life on this world. You have to ask questions is this really happening or is this just one is it a hallucination as we would say it now ?
[00:54:47.540] – Robert Charles Wilson
So yeah and given what we know now about that kind of process. It would be fun to revisit that idea to be honest, but I did I did with that what I could at the time.
[00:54:58.250] – John Knych
Thank you. Yes ! Gabriel feels vindicated. He said I knew it great and then before moving to I want it to echo Branden said before about Alastair Reynolds because we discussed we had to discuss with him and he said something similar to you and that when he first started out in the Syfy field, he felt like he could read everything that he was aware of everything that was being published, but is just expanded so much that now it’s it’s an impossible task and even if and said he could feel like it could be uptodate and scientific progress. But now there is just were drowning in in in information. Alright, Ryan is one thing that really impressed me and Spain was how your narrative spend decades and they were obvious great changes taking place globally you cover this element in such a way that you gave the broad Strokes and let the readers imagination run with the morsels that you gave you’re not getting stuck in the needs of the details and I agree with this year you moved to cross time very smoothly and he was wondering how you made those decisions in the writing process and was it deliberate decision to keep the navel as aerodynamic as possible.
[00:56:12.200] – Robert Charles Wilson
Again I. Must have that is now I don’t know I don’t remember too much about the process except I had this idea of trying to create. The structure was at the idea was to for the first half of the novel, I would have question big and small one after the other one after the other and at the point of the novel. I would begin to answer them the small question and big question. One after the other and the conclusion. I had not attempted to do that you have particular structure with anything. I’d written before. I don’t even if you call that the structure or a strategy, but it is very large in my mind when I was imagining reading the level of blocking it out of my head. So and I think that helped me bridges, not only the range of ideas and things in the book, but also the period of time that it that it was so I guess what ? But that’s the best answer. I can give you is that that’s what I was trying to do when I wrote it.
[00:57:23.660] – John Knych
Thank you alright. My last question is very small in the title of Spain. Did you choose to using this title or where you were you happy with it because at one point like this is the the face of the world spine as describing the process do remember. Did you like you to use it ? Or or not.
[00:57:48.950] – Robert Charles Wilson
In my books, I’ve had characterized by the title of the book in Spain was always called spine and my mind. I’ve got another novel called the crown of. The book somebody there is that appear in the present from the future commemoration events that have it happened yet and the cold chronos Chronos this time. Stone Chronos is a combination of great and latin, and that become the popular name for the object and at one point in the book when the director is what I got ugly name for these things. This is it. It’s a terrible name for these things. So I’m the character is often the title of the book of their character. But I was always been in my mind and that I think it worked as a title. That’s it simple short and it is memorable.
[00:58:49.110] – John Knych
Thank you. Brandon. Jane.
[00:59:00.090] – Orateur 5
Euh, il y a un header Model of time travel that you prefer between like stable time loop or multiple timelines that you that you find easier to write stories in all the person of paper.
[00:59:18.000] – Robert Charles Wilson
I’m sorry, I can’t hear that.
[00:59:21.160] – Orateur 5
CAN you hear me now ? Il y a eu Is there a model of time travel that you prefer between stable time loops multiples timeline and search and why ?
[00:59:35.440] – Robert Charles Wilson
The question is about time travel and the. Weather how I approach the idea that the world.
[00:59:43.960] – John Knych
I wish you prefer I guess to explore the types of.
[00:59:50.710] – Robert Charles Wilson
Ideas. Hum hum hum. In terms of you know I mean something about time travel is that time travel travelling through time in the future is perfectly plausible all you have to do is somehow hold still and that the universe change around you traveling in the past is almost certainly impossible because you would have to hold yourself static and understand the entire universe back to where you want it to go. Much more energy intensive than just trying to hold yourself still. It is nevertheless deeply alluring idea I’ve written various versions of all of the time travel stories. I read a book called last year and which traveling did this idea of traveling to the past and traveling to a different versions of the past that you could interact with only two and alternative that it worked with all the year zero or something that way you could interact with that environment without creating the obvious paradox. Time travel paradox themselves don’t trust me that much, they seem to. It’s the subject has been done that I think in the eu nevertheless. it’s the time travel itself.
[01:01:20.590] – Robert Charles Wilson
The idea is just so well, it’s impossible to resist. So I haven’t done a whole lot of time travel, but I have not been able to really know it better.
[01:01:35.350] – John Knych
I think that he has a final question you find your good. Thank you so much for doing this really enjoyed this conversation. I’ll get the transcript. Share it with the readers in the group and we hope to read your your next novel used for the thousand summer of that the correct.
[01:02:03.400] – Robert Charles Wilson
Is great and you guys appreciate it the question. It was. It was a conversation. Thank you.
[01:02:08.680] – John Knych
Wonderful everyone. Have a good night. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good day.
[01:02:13.390] – Orateur 6
Thank you.
[01:02:14.350] – John Knych
Bye bye.
[01:02:15.520] – Orateur 7
Bye.