I think the diversity of authors and readers is expanding, which is wonderful, because it means the type of story being told is also expanding.

All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there.

I myself was born in Sacramento, California in 1966.

So, one of the things I was doing with the aliens in The Quiet Invasion was creating that advanced society which had ideas about morality and proper use of natural resources that were radically different from ours, as the Europeans were from the American Indians.

Now, Venus is an extremely hostile environment, and as such presents a lot of challenges for a science fiction author who wants to create life there. However, as I began to research it more thoroughly, I found myself intrigued by the possibilities the world offers.

Octavia Butler, of course, is brilliant and disturbing.

As far as the writing goes, I started telling stories as soon as I could talk, and started writing them down as soon as I could string words together.