F. Paul Wilson

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SUNNI: Let's back up a minute. I absolutely do not want to live in a world where creative works don't exist. And while some people create simply for the love of creating, I'm sure most do hope for some kind of payment -- some return on their investment, as you put it. That's completely understandable and reasonable. I told you some time ago that as a result of enjoying your Repairman Jack novels -- many of which you've given me -- I'd bought some of your other novels -- hardcovers even, not paperbacks. That probably wouldn't have happened if you hadn't piqued my interest in your writing. Writ larger, music file-sharing seems to be having the same effect. Several musicians -- Janis Ian, Chuck D, I read a USA Today article that listed some others, and a Pew/Internet survey of musicians got very interesting results -- have stated that file sharing has actually increased sales of their works .

But it seems to me to be a big leap to go from "some kind of payment" for a creative work to our current system of copyrights and IP, which is based on a model of information dispersal that is fast becoming obsolete. There doesn't seem to be a way for that grafting of old system onto new tech to work well, and in addition, the current system, in the name of stopping a small number of unwanted activities, will penalize just about every computer user in some way. Can we agree that it's worthwhile to explore alternatives that pay creators -- possibly even more than they're currently getting, if they rely on today's corporate middlemen -- without punishing millions of computer users?

PAUL: I think the anarchy and amorality of the Internet will make that impossible. Stephen King tried it with his serialized novel The Plant. He asked for an honor system -- that his readers keep the download to themselves and not send it all over the place. Sure, paper books get lent around, but that doesn't have a crippling impact on sales. Well, sure enough, some a-holes started posting the episodes to make them freely available. Steve saw a precipitous dropoff in downloads, got disgusted, and abandoned the program. The result: no one got to read the whole novel -- and it was looking to be a good one. But what really infuriated me was how these thieves suffered no opprobrium. They were proud of what they did and were celebrated instead of castigated. That's a sickening ethic. And another example of no social fabric.

SUNNI: Do you see anything wrong with the idea of improving upon older systems of rewarding creators? Like raising money to fund a specific project -- JPFO's Innocents Betrayed did that -- or a better patronage system? I sure would pay to support pro-freedom movies instead of much of the claptrap Hollywood currently splatters us with. Wouldn't it be cool to see RJ, or Sims portrayed as close to your books as a movie can get?

PAUL: How about pay as you go? Here's my book. Want it? Buy it. Not interested? Sayonara. I don't want to get involved with fundraisers and patronage. I simply want to get paid for my work.

SUNNI: Of course. And I, and many others, want you to get paid so that we can see more of your work. Thanks for tossing some of these ideas back and forth with me. I've read a few things that have told me part of what makes you tick, Paul -- for example, that you read Lovecraft and watched horror movies when you were young. Those influences are pretty inescapable in your work. What thinkers have influenced you and/or your writing?

PAUL: Jerome Tuccille said It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand and that's true with me. But Rothbard, Friedman, Spooner, and Von Mises were there too, all helping me build an intellectual framework for what my gut was telling me. As for my writing, in no particular order: H.P. Lovecraft, Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Sax Rohmer, William Blatty, Robert Heinlein, Victor Hugo, Robert B. Parker, Poul Anderson, Raymond Chandler, Larry Niven, Charles Dickens, Fred Pohl, C.M. Kornbluth, Henry Kuttner, and lots of others whose names escape me at the moment. And I suppose I shouldn't leave out EC Comics, Captain Video, The Shadow, King Kong, the old Flash Gordon serials.

SUNNI: I've seen you say, in various forms over the past few years, that your creative rheostat seems to have been cranked up -- you have more stories in your head than you're able to get to in a reasonable time. I can see where that would be some comfort on one hand, but do you like that feeling? Does it make writing easier or harder for you?

PAUL: It's very comforting to be working two books ahead. But it can be frustrating to be writing more books than your publisher thinks -- justifiably so -- the market will bear. In the 13 months between April '03 and May '04 I published five novels on my own -- Sims, Gateways, The Fifth Harmonic, Midnight Mass, and Crisscross -- plus was part of a collaborative novel, Artifact. That's crazy. I didn't write them in 13 months, but that's the way the publishing schedule worked out.

SUNNI: Does that high rheostat mean you don't expect to have writer's block anytime soon? Or is that a different mechanism?

PAUL: You can be stalled because you have nothing to write, or you can stall because of too many possible directions -- like standing in a supermarket aisle and trying to choose a toothpaste. I'm kind of in the latter situation now. Harbingers is a watershed in the Repairman Jack series. I've answered a lot of questions and resolved a number of arcs. Now ... what's the best course to take on the final leg to Nightworld? I've not decided yet.

SUNNI: Are there any minor characters from your books who niggle your noggin, wanting to get some of the RJ treatment for themselves? Any places you'd like to revisit after a long time away?

PAUL: I'm sure there are but I can't come up with one at the moment.

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