Jack Dann

answers the Usual Questions

Jack Dann

Jack Dann like many others who write in the science fiction/fantasy field, has real-life work in the science. A novelist and anthologist, he has recently received a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for a highly flexible system for synthesising voices.

Jack Dann lives with partner Janeen Webb in Melbourne, Victoria.

Has your interaction with fans, for example, at conventions, affected your work?

For the most part, probably not. A lot of the people who I interact with are also writers. I had sworn that I would never do what I call fantasy (but) seeing what people are doing (has affected that) especially since I have been writing historical and mainstream novels.

Is there any particular incident (a letter, a meeting, a comment that stands out?

I remember getting a very long letter than ended up being used as a blurb.

Do you have a favourite author or book (or writer or film or series) that has influenced you or that you return to?

Series: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Pullman's Dark Material trilogy; Patrick O'Briens Aubrey Maturin novels because of the attention to detail and the accuracy of the writing. Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.

For influences: Aldiss, J. G. Ballard, Salinger F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fflowles, Ballard.

Who is the person you would most like to be trapped in a lift with? or a spaceship?

There's people I like, people who are interesting. John Crowley, Woody Allen, Bertram Russell, Lorin Eisley (the naturalist), Joseph Campbell, Janeen, the young Sophia Loren, Susan Sarandon, Lilian Hellman, Gough Whitlam.

Who is the person you would most DISlike to be trapped in a lift with? Or a spaceship?

The younger George Bush, Paul Keating, Jeff Kennett.

What would you pack for space? (Is there a food, beverage, book, teddy bear, etc that you couldn't do without?)

A laptop with the Gutenberg Library, a video collection with all the works of Fred Astaire, Woody Allen, The Godfather, The West Wing, The Big Chill, and Diner.

What is the most important thing you would like to get/achieve from your work?

I write for two reasons. One, the intensely personal reason of putting something into the world that in my imagination has some kind of perfection. It's what I imagine and try to capture.

To communicate -- to reach people. This solitary thing that we do is very public when it is done. When it works, when people are talking about it: that's the pleasure for me.

What is the special satisfaction of your work?

The process. I'm currently working on a film project. Editing anthologies, writing novels.

I just had a patent a friend of mine Mark Levy and I, U.S. # 7,657,289 for synthesised voice production. You can type into a keyboard or talk into it, generating a stylised sound imitating a voice or generating a voice.

submitted by Jack Dann

15th February, 2010

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Just the facts:
Born: U.S.A. 15-Feb-1945
Resides: Melbourne, Australia
Bibliography/Awards:

Web site: www.jackdann.com

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