Matt Weber is a data scientist and published writer. His mission is to join the SFWA (and who could blame him?), while also reminding everyone that he has "two small children who are better than all of you stacked on top of one another" but it's "nothing personal" :D

1. Show us behind the curtain of Matt Weber's universe.

Behind the curtain is a standard suburban situation: Herding small children, inept cooking, constant mild sleep deprivation, too many carbs, gamified to-do lists, long hours of nerdy knowledge work whose particulars are of interest to no one.

But, for at least a few minutes each day, I sit down and add a bit of embroidery to the curtain. Which is why I'm here.

2. What does speculative literature mean to you?

I'm under some sort of weird geas to link the following Gene Wolfe interview at the slightest provocation: http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/interviews/wolfe46interview.htm

"It's a matter of whether you're content to focus on everyday events or whether you want to try to encompass the entire universe."

Another view: In my boring universe, THE WEST WING is science fiction. It is alternate history: Presidential elections happen in the wrong years, a bunch of Bartlet's predecessors are fictional, &c. "Literary" fiction tries to exist in the interstices of what's known to be true. Dare to tinker, and you've put a toe into my world.

(West Wing = sci-fi, say whaaaa?)

3. What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject/genre, that isn't so?

That women and people of color aren't interested in it. That Shakespeare didn't write in it. I could go on.

4. When you walk into a book store, where do you head first?

If I'm with my kids, it's to the toy trains in the kids' section. Otherwise: SF, then comics, then maybe history or cookbooks.

5. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Convincing people who don't write that it's worth my time.

6. Any tips on what to do and what not to do?

Do write. Don't not write.

Also, do hug and kiss your kids all the time while they're little. They might grow up like me and aspire to be Vulcans for like a goddamn decade while they sort their shit out.

7. Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you'd love to work with?

For a while now, I've been tossing around the idea of a bog-standard billionaire erotica (and isn't it amazing that this genre is now "bog-standard"?) that functions perfectly *as* bog-standard billionaire erotica *while also* providing a mounting set of hints, to the watchful reader, that some crazy sinister conspiracy shit is going on in the background (e.g., the world is gradually being taken over by pod people; the minions of Cthulhu are coming).

I'm not sure I have the necessary toolkit for bog-standard billionaire erotica, though, or the grit to cultivate it.

8. Some sci-fi fans love techno-porn! What real-life science (or pseudo-science) did you research for any of your work?

I have a bachelor's in computer science and a PhD in neuroscience. Basically anything faintly biological, neuroscientific, or AI-like in my writing comes from experience or extrapolation from experience. (Which does not necessarily mean I get it right all the time.)

9. Any thoughts on soft sci-fi versus hard sci-fi?

Well, there are people who don't like chocolate, and people who don't like peanut butter, and no one should be *forced* to eat a dessert they don't want... but at the same time, know that the rest of us are pitying you for not knowing what you're missing.

10. What are your future project(s)?

Wrap up the sequel to THE DANDELION KNIGHT. Bludgeon an agent into representing my wuxia fantasy, THE EIGHTH KING. Qualify for full membership in the SFWA (by selling a novel or another short story). Six-pack abs.

11. Many of your readers have commented on your unique prose. Who inspired your writing style?

Harlan Ellison, Warren Ellis, China Mieville, Gene Wolfe. This is an autobiographical fact impervious to politics, but since it is four white men, let me also refer you to: Ursula Le Guin, Octavia Butler, Carla Speed McNeil, Catherynne Valente.

Ah, a writer who aspires for six-pack abs, while at the same time talking about dessert and "bog-standard erotica". Fun times! If you had fun, follow Matt_Weber and add Dispatch from a Colored Room to your reading list. Feelin' generous? Add all of his stories, because they're exemplary works. Be sure to look him up on Amazon as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Matt-Weber/e/B00E1GX8TY/?tag=cobapr-2