Stephen Dedman

answers the Usual Questions

Stephen Dedman is a writer, a bookseller, book reviewer, tutor, and student who has also worked as an actor, a manuscript assessor, an academic and legal Word Processing Operator, an editorial assistant for Australian Physicist magazine, an experimental subject, and a used dinosaur parts salesman.

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

Fandom -- not necessarily fans of my work, but fans of the genre - has been a major part of my life: a source of friends, housemates, occasionally employment, and certainly ideas... and fans have helped keep my interest in the genre alive. Would I have continued to write sf, horror and fantasy if I hadn't gone to cons? Probably not: I certainly couldn't have written stories such as Amendment or Honest Ghosts.

Stephen Dedman at AussieCon 3 photograph: Richard Hryckiewicz

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

The first piece of fan mail I received from a stranger -- a blind woman who'd heard the audiobook version of my story Transit and loved it. That left me feeling good for days.

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

Theodore Sturgeon's work has been an enormous influence for many years. Edgar Allan Poe, Dan Simmons, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury... all produced short stories that have had a huge impact on me, both by teaching me the craft and by scaring me spitless.

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

Jade Pearl, from Bridge of Birds.

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

A claustrophobic suicide bomber.

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

My thumb drive and copious quantities of caffeine and sugar (preferably English Breakfast Tea).

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

To be able to make a living just doing what I enjoy.

What is the special satisfaction of your work?

Writing stories that I would want to read.

submitted by Stephen Dedman

July, 2010

For other answers to The Usual Questions Click here

Just the facts:
Born: Adelaide
Resides: moved to Western Australia in 1965 and am still there.
Bibliography/Awards:
http://www.stephendedman.com/biblio.html

Web site:
stephendedman.com

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