John Scalzi

John Scalzi on Diving into Sci-Fi:

It’s kind of a funny thing—despite the decades-long massive success of science fiction in film, television and video games and culture in general, people are sometimes hesitant to dive into science fiction as literature. It’s the final frontier, as it were.

Hey: Dive in! The good news is, there’s never been a better time to dive into the written (and spoken!) world of the genre. The field is wide and deep—there’s a huge diversity of writers, writing more variations of genre than ever before. Whatever you thought science fiction literature was, it is...and it’s so much more than that, too.

As a writer, I love working alongside some amazing creators. And as a fan of the genre, I love getting a chance to explore the unexpected worlds they’ve put into words.

So don’t be shy: Worlds await. I’ll see you out there.

John Scalzi on Listening:

I admit that as an author it was strange to listen to the first audiobook narration of one of my works—those were my words, being spoken in someone else’s voice! It was different than what I imagined in my head.

But as it turns out, “different” was interesting. For the first time it gave me a chance to experience my work from the outside: As a listener, instead of a writer. It changed my relationship to my own work. Plus, I’ve had amazing narrators: Wil Wheaton, Tavia Gilbert, William Dufris and Zachary Quinto among others.

So, when you’re listening to my audiobooks, remember: we’re all sharing this new experience of them together. And that’s kind of cool.