Sunday, July 7, 2013

TOF was interviewed

It's a bit old, because some in-the-can references are now escaped into the wild.

http://michaelaventrella.com/2011/12/24/interview-with-hugo-nominated-author-michael-flynn/

6 comments:

  1. Serious question:

    Have you ever had any backlash from the science fiction or writing community for being a serious Catholic? I'm referring to Orson Scott Card and the way he's treated for his views on homosexuality. He's a very visible figure on the issue– as a board member of the National Organization for Marriage and such – so he's in a bit of a different situation, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone had pulled up a comment from this blog or somewhere else that they didn't like and sought to undermine your work. And what's the appropriate response for someone like Card (besides taking up his cross and following Christ) who takes a lot of heat and may have a harder time getting writing work in certain areas (though DC backed their hiring him for a story in their new Superman digital comic, the artist for that issue decided to drop the book citing the controversy).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd love to hear an answer to this as well (especially in light of the fact that you publish with Tor, and I've heard many MANY Baen authors talk about how utterly ideologically intolerant Tor editors are - something I can attest to from a very brief interaction with one of them once who twisted my words and lied about me because I pointed out that she was wrong about an ideological point).

      Delete
    2. Not so far as I know. Neither, to the best of my knowledge, has Gene Wolfe or Tim Powers. Or even J.R.R.Tolkien.

      Delete
    3. I knew about Gene Wolfe - I mean, who DOESN'T know about Gene Wolfe and Catholicism? ...but I hadn't realized that Tim Powers was a real Catholic. Interesting.

      I had the good luck to share a conversation with Michael Swanwick once, and asked him a question about the name of the dragon in the Iron Dragon's Daughter, which happened to also be the name of a theologian. He went off on a marvelous tangent talking about Catholicism and fantasy. He's not a practicing Catholic, but was raised as one and asserted that in his opinion good fantasy could only be written by either Catholics or former Catholics, because they're the only ones who think that the world operates by real, yet invisible rules.

      An interesting argument.

      Delete
    4. It might have something to do with being the kind of vocal he is. TOF keeps his cheer, more or less, at least to the public. Card, and Mr. John C. Wright, notably lose their cool online. Sort of the reason why most folks love Jim Gaffigan and some folks really don't like Mark Shea. (To their credit, Mr. Shea and Mr. Wright have cooled down some lately. However, in recent memory this principle was still in effect.)

      Delete
  2. I don't think of your work as hard science fiction. I'd call it something like "sociological science fiction", except that term was so abused and abased by silly 1970s lefty "let's-tear-down-ten-thousand-years-and-start-from-scratch" goofballs.

    If I had to put an inchoate thought into words, I'd call it "classics science fiction" or "conservative science fiction" or "Edward Gibbons science fiction".

    ReplyDelete

Wonder and Anticipation, the Likes of Which We Have Never Seen

  Hello family, friends and fans of Michael F. Flynn.   It is with sorrow and regret that I inform you that my father passed away yesterday,...