Pierre_bleue

Except the symptoms of toxoplasmosis infection on women seems to be the exact opposite of the stereotypical crazy cat lady : more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and more attractive

Hello mr Watts! New fan here! I discovered your work by downloading Starfish” (a very bold move, to leave your books available for free!), that I devoured, in a poorly-lit and murmur-filled cabin, during the short course of an idle boat trip. -A setting that was wonderfully fit for this kind of lecture!- I was instantly won over and bought the paperback version (as well as all of your books !), out of enthusiasm, as soon as I went back ashore. I found it mind blowing, with a very shaking and vivid rendition of the point of view of people with mental traumas, all grounded in a solid plot and astonishingly full of technical details.

To the questions: -You mentioned (in the beginning of Starfish, notably) that you seek advice from friends and the internet in order to get the science right for some of the trickiest part of your stories. But your books are chock-full of scientific references, usually very sharp, thrown casually, sometimes not to be seen again or used as a vital plot device. Do you have an army of PhD laureates from multiple fields that give you suggestions as you are writing? Or do you write your story around fields you thoroughly researched beforehand and constellate your books with thought-provoking lateral discoveries that you found along the way? I mean… The spaceship in Blindsight” is not only among the painfully rare ones to have a plausible design: Incredibly, it manages to have a very creative one! And all of this, thrown in a couple of lines around the first chapters, with a story that doesn't even revolves around precise orbital physics or rocket science. It’s amazing!

-In terms of sci-fi literature, who are your models? The ones that made you think “whoa! That’s the kind of piece of literature I want to write!”.

-Still in Sci-fi: Do you have any old-time classic favorite of the moment? And any modern (say.. last 15 years) favorite of the moment?

-Your characters are very memorable. Do you have any details you could give us, about the way you picture some of them, that wasn't explicitly indicated in the stories? Like: Are Szpindel (from Blindsight) prosthetics’ entirely subcutaneous and/or hidden behind simili-skin (Ghost-in-the-Shell style) or does he have some exterior visible ones, like a more classical cyborg? What does Siri Keeton looks like, in your mind? Stuff like this..

Thank you for everything! As a non-native English speaker, our books are a very challenging read, but a very rewarding and worthy one. I have been an avid reader of sci-fi, for years and yours immediately stood out among my favorites. Exceeding expectations I didn't even knew I could have. Keep on the good work!

Thank you very much! (Sh*t. I came up with a good question, but you answered the post before I had the time to edit..)(Well.. Here it is anyway)

Related to Blindsight: How do you think the idea of intelligence without consciousness relate to the concept of selflessness an the abandonment of the ego you found in Buddhist theology?

That would put a huge twist in the understanding of the book ! That this theoretical evolutionary process could be also seen as a path towards spiritual enlightenment. And an escape from the dead ends of solipsistic egotism represented by "the last men". Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions !

It would need a bit of tweaking. Blindsight is screaming for a theatre adaptation. You have a unity of place (the drum), a limited cast, a narration revolving around dialogues and expositions.. With a staging making a creative use of video display and projection, it would make for an outstanding play.