Interviewing Fiona Moore
Helloo!
I recently reviewed the excellent Human Resources by Fiona Moore a feats of short stories often exploring ramifications of technology taking from alternate 60s space races to worlds where humans are now the computers. I was very lucky to get the chance to ask Fiona some questions about the book and a few other things.
How do you like to booktempt people into reading Human Resources?
Usually I read the first few sections of the title story, up to the part where we find out that the horrible thing that happened to the protagonist’s father (a human computer who is losing his memory) wasn’t an accident… and then I leave it there. So you have to buy it to find out how!
How people react to changes in technology is a regular theme in these stories. What is the attraction of exploring this subject?
Some of it’s because of my day job, working as an anthropology professor in a business school which has a department of Digital Innovation And Management. I often hear from colleagues about new technological developments, and, because anthropologists study human cultures and societies, it often sets my mind to wondering how this might affect them. But because I’m a twisted sort who watches 1960s horror movies for fun, my mind usually goes to darker and weirder places.
We have several groups of linked stories set in the same worlds. Do you like to come back to these worlds and what has the challenge for the story when you do? Which is your favourite?
Yes, I do like to revisit particular fictional worlds: often when I create a new world, I can’t limit myself to just one story, there’s too many concepts to explore. The biggest challenge is often making sure that I’ve got the history and the geography consistent: I keep a lot of notes but it doesn’t always help!
What was the hardest story to write and why?
“Leave Only Footprints” is one that I worked on and worked on and it never quite gelled, so in the end I just sent it out there and fortunately someone did buy it. “The Ghosts of Trees” was actually one of the first stories I wrote, and it wasn’t very good at first, but the idea was compelling enough that I kept going back to it, until one day I said, “I know what’s wrong with it”, and rewrote it.
Who are some of your favourite short fiction writers?
For classic fiction, I love Thomas M. Disch, William Tenn, Vonda N McIntyre and Megan Lindholm. More recently, my favourites include Ted Chiang, Thomas Ha, Ursula Vernon and Marie Vibbert.
What else can we look forward to from you in the future and in this weird world of social media where can we find out more?
I am @drfionamoore on every social media platform—no really, I domain-squat the name all the time. Follow me for pictures of miniature WIP, since my main form of relaxation (other than writing) is making tiny houses, and also of course cat pictures, because my tortoiseshell cat is not only bent on world domination, she is very photogenic.
If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone to read what would it be and why?
A Scientific Romance by Roland Wright. It’s a response to Wells’ The Time Machine, about an archaeologist from the turn of the millennium who time travels to the future and has to piece together what happened to our civilisation. It’s a powerful piece of climate and dystopian fiction that plays with the colonial themes of Wells’ novel, but it also takes you on a gripping psychological journey. You can’t look away from it.
