INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL H. WILSON
+ 3 COPIES OF "AMPED" TO GIVEAWAY
Today on the blog I’d like to welcome
acclaimed author and Roboticist, Daniel H Wilson. Daniel has written
numerous non-fiction and fiction books with robotics as the common theme – his
most recent release is AMPED – check out my review here! Welcome Daniel…..
Hello!
Other than the book blurb…..can you please give our followers
your take on what AMPED is about?
Amped
is a technothriller set in a near future when technology is turning people with
disabilities into people with superabilities. As the larger populace realizes
that soon everyone will need a neural implant to compete, some
people begin to try and legislate away the existence of these implants (and the
people who have them). A civil rights movement (slash civil war) is sparked,
and people with implants, "amps," end up fighting for their lives.
My personal view when it comes to fiction books and movies, is
that there is an element of truth, no matter how farfetched it seems to begin
with……for scientific, medical and military breakthrough’s – someone had to have
a farfetched or impossible sounding idea first!!
The
crazy thing is that none of the technology in AMPED is far-fetched.
Consulting with neuroscientists, I found that neural implants in the novel,
such as the "Neural Autofocus" that lets kids concentrate, already
exist and are in use in a variety of forms. It is great fun to
inform people of the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are walking
around with brain implants and watch their faces.
Having the knowledge you do in robotics, how much (and what) of
your fiction writing could in fact be the next advancement in reality?
Could we in fact see implants becoming a reality?!
Ah,
see previous question. :)
“Daniel H. Wilson
Robopocalypse
Steven Speilberg”
Did it ever occur to you when writing that the
three names above would be linked for a movie/project? What sort of
impact has this movie deal had on your life?
The Robopocalypse movie
is good news with the kind of magnitude that makes me suspect I'm asleep and
dreaming, or the victim of an elaborate prank. The movie isn't filmed yet, so I
have to try and remain skeptical of it... until that giant wakes up. Payment for
the book rights has already put me (and my rapidly growing family) in a larger
house, so who says robots never did anything nice for anybody?
I read that whilst obtaining
your BS in Computer Science, you spent a semester studying at the University of
Melbourne, Australia. What made you head on Down Under? How
different did you find Uni life in Australia to the US?
Australia
is such an exotic place from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old kid in
Oklahoma, and studying abroad there was like a test for myself -- can I really
go to the other side of the planet by myself? I studied only philosophy while I
was there and had the time of my life. Realizing that there is only one test at
the end of the semester, and that it counted for 100% of the grade, was
exhilirating at first (no homework!) and then terrifying (should have done
homework!).
Out of your non-fiction books,
my son has begged me to let him read A Boy and His Bot….whilst my husband
thinks Bro-Jitsu – The Martial Art of Sibling Rivalry should be a classic
handbook in any household (just like Raising Boys and What To Expect You’re
Expecting!). What has been your most enjoyable and favourite book to
write?
Every
book that I am currently writing is my favorite book to write. This is probably
because you become a little bit better at writing every day, and therefore a
little more embarrassed of whatever you did yesterday. I'm not a good enough
writer yet to be embarrassed about what I wrote this morning. Thank goodness
for the little things.
An initial character in Amped, Samantha Blex departed very early
but has received quite a lot of interest from readers. She has a story –
and we’d love to read it! Samantha has her own Facebook page and
hopefully soon a prequel to Amped based on her.
When are we likely to expect something from
Samantha? And can you give us a little bit of her story?
Samantha
is an implanted teenager who is a catalyst for everything that happens in the
book. In the weeks before Amped was released, I thought it would be fun
to hire a writer to create a blog told from Samantha's perspective. I found an
MFA student here in Portland, Oregon (named Chelsea Bieker) and she wrote an
amazingly deep account of Samantha's days leading up to the first page of the
novel. It was wild to really get to know a character that I wrote in a whole
new way, from the perspective of another writer. You can read about Samantha
Blex at www.facebook.com/SamanthaBlex
And finally, what can we expect
from Daniel H. Wilson in the future?
I am
hard at work writing Robogenesis, the sequel to Robopocalypse.
I'm not giving away any details yet, but my research beyond robotics involves
reading Japanese fairy tales, oral accounts of the narco wars in Mexico, and
about the lives of child soldiers in Africa.
Thanks Daniel for taking time
to answer some questions. Enjoy the awesome ride that you are on with the
success of your books.
My
pleasure! You can always catch up with me at www.danielhwilson.com or follow me on
Twitter @danielwilsonPDX
I hope your enjoyed the interview and good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway below!
ENJOY!
MARISSA
GIVEAWAY TIME!!
Thanks to the lovely Carol at Simon & Schuster Australia I have 3 copies of AMPED to giveaway.
2 x copies will be open to Australian Entrants Only
1 x copy will be open to International Entrants
Entry is EASY!
Complete the Rafflecopter form below.
Starts NOW!
Closes 12.01am 21st July 2012
Starts NOW!
Closes 12.01am 21st July 2012
