James Glass Interview

E-Reads spoke to James Glass about his novel in April 2004.

E-Reads: Shanji is the start of your trilogy, but did you consider that it would be such when you sat down and began your writing?

James: I started out with the idea of writing a stand-alone female-warrior novel. Its evolution led to the coming birth of a super-child and led directly to the second book, Empress of Light, which I thought might end it. By the middle of Empress of Light I realized there had to be a third book [The Creators - also available from E-Reads] to finish up the story of Kati and her amazing family.

What have you heard from your readers and fans about this book? Not many male SF writers can do so well with strong female protagonists, which is quite an accomplishment on your part.

I've received very positive feedback on Shanji and the other books from both women and men. Women comment more on the emotions and the romance, and do seem to like how I handle female protagonists. The men, on the average, comment more on the action scenes, but appreciate strong female characters, too. And people who liked Shanji have enjoyed all three books in the trilogy. (The Creators was actually my favorite to write, and the one most emotionally draining for me.) Catherine Asaro, who writes good romance in her science fiction, has been very complimentary about the books and I appreciate her encouragement. I'm a romantic at heart, and I like passion in my characters.

E-Reads has released the first and last book of the series. Is the second book, Empress of Light, available, too?

The Baen mass-market edition of Empress of Light is still available, though the numbers are getting down there. Baen is very good about keeping books in print until the last one is out of the warehouse.

I understand you're fast becoming a popular writer of short fiction with some of the best SF magazines. What are your current projects and what is your booksigning schedule for the summer?

I write the shorter stuff in spurts every couple of years and in between novels. The recent 'spurt' seems to be ending up in Analog, with a novelet in the March issue and two short stories to come out later. My science fiction appears mostly in Analog, and my dark fantasy is in Talebones. A general bibliography is on my website at www.sff.net/people/jglass/.

I wrote off and on for years, getting my first hand-written rejection slip when I was thirteen, but didn't publish until I was nearly fifty. Getting college degrees, raising a family, being a rocket scientist and then a thirty-five year career as physics professor and dean took most of the time. I published over 80 papers in molecular biophysics and superconductivity, but my serious fiction writing began in 1988. I won the Grand Prize of Writers of the Future in 1990 and things took off from there. Since then I've sold seven books and three dozen shorter pieces. Readers can get a good sampling of my short fiction over the past fifteen years by getting my new collection "Matrix Dreams and Other Stories" just out this month from Fairwood Press. Go to www.fairwoodpress.com for details.

Currently I'm working on two books. In one, an immortal son pursues his father across a galaxy to help save a civilization, only to find the job is his to do. The other book is my 'Stargate meets X-files in Sedona, Arizona' novel, which I call a fast read on an airplane. And I continue to scribble notes for other novels and short stuff. I'll be signing at Miscon in Missoula, Montana in May, and Westercon in the Phoenix area in July. Bookstore signings for summer will be in the northwest, but in fall I'll also sign at Orycon in Portland in November and Archon, near St. Louis in October. Check my newsgroup for news through the link on my web page.

Thanks, James.