What was the inspiration for this story? / Where did it come from?
I wanted to contrast the present with a future where death was nonexistence, or at worst temporary. Where genetic engineering is new, with one where it is commonplace. And with our present, where the economics of scarcity devalues labor, with a future where the economics of abundance make labor precious
What are some of your favorite short stories?
“Fondly Fahrenheit” by Alfred Bester
“A Rose for Ecclesiastes” by Roger Zelazny
“Vintage Season” by Catherine L. Moore and Henry Kuttner
“That Only a Mother” by Judith Merrill
“Scanners Live in Vain” by Cordwainer Smith
. . . and hey, that only takes us to 1963!
If you can only live to see one science fictional innovation, what would it be? Why?
I’d like to see the Eternal Youth Pill, because then I’d live long enough to see the others.
What are you working on?
I’m working on a big project rather different from anything I've done before. Anything else would be premature.
I’m also digitizing and making available my entire backlist as ebooks. So far I’ve put out twenty books and a lot of short fiction, so readers shouldn’t run out anytime soon.