If you had to describe yourself in one word, what words wouldn't you use?

Restrained. Professional. Focussed. No, that's not true, I can be all of those things when I want to, but at my advanced age, frankly, sometimes it's more important to just have fun.

Think back to when you were in school. What was your favourite subject?

Drama! I briefly considered being an actor, and then realised all the people older than me that left stage school were really struggling with employment. But man, if I had a dream job it would be voice acting on cartoons. Beyond writing. Obviously.

When you were a young 'un, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Something sciencey and researchy. Then when I got older I realised that academia was absolutely not for me. I would have been terrible at it, and I think we can all agree that the world is better off for me not being at CERN. Mostly because CERN, and the world, still exists.

What does Tevun-Krus mean to you?

'Oh no I promised Jinnis two pieces in two weeks oh no oh no what am I going to write oh no oh no' <two weeks pass, furious writing> 'there's some cool stuff here!'

Wait, you mean like what do the word sounds mean? Oh, it sounds like really nasty ship food. It would be in an unmarked packet and the old space hands would laugh at me when I opened it.

Tell us about your reading/writing habits. If you're not a writer, then simply the former will suffice!

I have an ancient Kindle Voyage which I read everything on. I love it so much and will be heartbroken when it dies. Writing: I am trying to de-pantser my self. Why? I have written most of a novel and it's just fallen apart because of a lack of planning. I wrapped myself up in knots with a really dense plot and I'm completely lost. So I am trying to get into the habit of planning everything, and then I am going to back and finish that sucker. But then... I mostly pantsed the story I wrote for this TK, Osman's Haven. So I mean, don't believe everything you read.

As your crew casts your lifeless body into the heart of the nearest star, list three pieces of music likely to be rattling the bulkheads of your beloved vessel!

I've always told my family that I want Phoenix City by Roland Alphonso played at my funeral. I love the idea of my coffin being walked to that, it's really cheerful and is a great fullstop to a life. So that's sort of a done deal.

https://youtu.be/LYR1ZHuwyxA

But I know the song I die to: when the Rebel Alliance finally persuade me to fly for them, I'll be in an A-Wing, and it will have a tape deck; and as I descend, screaming into the radio, shields failing, concussion missile tubes empty, explosions rocking the hull, I will be listening to Electric Echo by Metrik and Gunship. And my last thought will be, damn, why didn't I take a B-Wing?

https://youtu.be/fYpGHsSZXLE

Lastly Etudes Vol 1 No. 6 by Philip Glass still makes me weepy. I think it's one of the most incredible pieces of music ever written. I love how understated it is until it suddenly swells with... what? Rage? Triumph? Despair? It makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. So you bastards will have to endure it while I float away, too.

https://youtu.be/dhCluN4ZAKo

Who is your all-time favourite author? How much, if at all, has their work influenced your writing style?

There are two: Philip K Dick blew my mind away when I was younger, and his character-focused and idea-driven approach was something I'd never seen before. Then, Ursula K Le Guin's extremely humane and light touch is something I've strived to replicate, especially as I later learnt that PKD is actually pretty problematic in some important ways. I read a lot of SF and Fantasy, though, so I can't claim that Dick and Le Guin are my only two influences. But, because of those two, I strive to always write about real, flawed humans in weird situations.

But, shout out to my dad here: he always says that Clifford D Simak was the best SF writer who ever lived, and he's right about a lot of stuff!

Of everything you've written, which piece is your favourite?

It's an oldie, but it's a goody: Maketh Glad the Core of Machine, here https://www.wattpad.com/story/220202746-maketh-glad-the-core-of-machine

Pitch the above story to us. Make us really want to read it!

It's a love story about booze and robots. There's a lot of exploration based around what I think primitive AI will be like, these intelligences that are simultaneously very sophisticated and very simple. Plus it has some great jokes, and it's only six thousand words, so it will take like three quarters of an hour of your precious time.

Also: my story in TK number 97, War on Kriya Taun, is a sort of spiritual sequel to Maketh Glad. So you'll be able to feel smug about having read the stories of a connected universe. I don't think Dumas has ever met Samiad-Jones, though. She'd think he was a moron. He'd be terrified of her.

To what extent does the mythical 'real life' influence your writing?

Constantly and endlessly. I write on my commute, so if I can't get a seat, that's that, no writing that morning! I read a lot of real world stuff that inspires me, articles on politics, economics, science and technology.

And, honestly, the world is so awful at the moment that I write to make myself and my readers happy.

If you could have any superpower, what would that be and why?

I already have one: it's forgetting about emails that irritate me. I recently upgraded it to all other forms of electronic communication. My constantly high stress levels are neutralised by my appalling memory and lack of organisation. I'm Yeah, Whatever Man.

What would you do if you woke up one day and suddenly realized you were an alien from another world?

All of humanity wakes up constantly wondering how they fit in, why they feel so alone, who their real friends are. There are all days when we feel like a jigsaw piece from a different box: it's who we are. I'm no different, neither are you. So, honestly? I don't think it would make any difference to my life. Unless I had a sweet spaceship I had buried somewhere, then I'd go buzz Voyager.

The Technological Singularity presents a rather daunting, some say inevitable, future. Does the prospect of that level of artificial intelligence excite you, or leave you quaking in your space boots?

I'm very sceptical about modern approaches to AI. We've been talking about machine sentience for decades, but the reality is we are nowhere near it. However, because of some pretty pictures and primitive text parsing we have fooled ourselves into a misplaced faith in systems that are not even vaguely smart enough. So the thing that worries me right now is not true AI: it's people delegating important decisions to these heuristic algorithms without understanding how they work or what results they will produce, and ruining a lot of people's lives as a result.

Who was your first Sci-Fi crush? Who is your current one?

Ellen Ripley! I can't flush a xenomorph out of an airlock in my underwear, never could, never will.

If you could experience the world of any Sci-Fi story on Wattpad, which would that be and why?

I'm ashamed to say that beyond TK I don't read much stuff on WP. It sounds lame, but I just don't have the time. But, right now, I'm in the depths of the Ooorah Science Fiction Smackdown, a knockout writing tournament, and I'm nervously reading my opponent's entries for this round. They're all really talented; so shout outs to @AngusEcrivain, @elveloy, @potatoturnipbean, @RJGlynn, @sacredlilac, @wdhenning and @Wuckster.

And finally, any words of wisdom to new and aspiring Sci-Fi writers?

Read, beyond Wattpad, beyond SF even. There's no shame in nicking techniques from Tolstoy and Chekhov, they are the absolute pinnacle of the craft.

Second, and this is my person bugbear: beware exposition. I work really, really hard on my exposition, although I haven't mastered it yet. As a speculative fiction writer, you want to dump all these cool ideas down, but your reader just wants to get on with the plot. So when you read published work, look at how the writer reveals their world to you. Keeping it moving and also unfolding the universe at the same time is what makes SF fun, but also hard to write.

Thanks for the interview!

No, thank you! It's been a blast.

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