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Interviewed for Matrix
by Ian Whates
 Q1:
How did StarShipSofa come about?
Tony: How it started… well… If
you'll allow me, I'm going to call myself a few things here.
Most people do, so why not join in? I'm going to class myself
as part of ‘the iPod generation’, even though
I'm now forty-one. I'm also a teeny-weeny bit of a gadget
freak and, it goes without saying, an SF nerd. You mix all
those together (oh… and I forgot – also a failed
writer) and there is only one thing left to do... Podcast!
One cold and snowy morning, a good friend, Ciaran O'Carroll,
and I decided to start a podcast. The name came from a heavy
espresso glut. We sat in a coffee bar throwing words around,
two hours later, three stuck together: StarShipSofa. And that
was it…
We always knew what we wanted to say. We knew it could be
done, we just didn't know how. A very steep
learning curve was called for, which was possible due to that
gadget thing I mentioned earlier. When StarShipSofa was born,
podcasts as an entity had only been around for year at most.
We were lucky to jump on the bandwagon early and ride the
hype that came with it. It also helped that iTunes were pushing
hard this thing called ‘podcasting’.
Q2: What can a visitor to your site expect
to find?
Tony: There are two facets. Both are equally
important. First off is the site itself. When StarShipSofa
first started, the site was nothing more than a shell, and
the most it could do was display the info of each show we
put out. The other facet to the podcast is its RSS feed. This
is our audience. If the site went down, I could still put
out a show but if I was to loose the RSS feed then I'd loose
the audience.
There is the regular show which comes out each weekend. You
can subscribe to this via the home
page or through iTunes.
Once you've subscribed, that's it. You get me twice a week
for free. The RSS feed catches my shows and downloads them
onto your computer. Well, it's slightly more tech-ish than
that, but that's the basic principle. Then you can stick me
on your iPod or any mp3 player or just listen direct from
your computer. Apparently I'm popular to listen to while walking
the dog, during the journey to work, cleaning the house and
bedtime! Next on the site is the Sofa
Audio, soon to be called ‘Aural Delights’. This is the
mid-week show, which is some of the very best SF short fiction
narrated and broadcast every Wednesday. Again, if you subscribe
from the home page or iTunes, you get this feature automatically.
Sofa Audio has its own section on the site. You just listen
when and where. Writers donate stories and I get them narrated.
I don't narrate – can't do that for the life of me.
 Writers
whose work has been covered recently include Michael Moorcock:
London
Bone, Through
The Shaving Mirror, A
Slow Saturday Night At The Surrealist Sporting Club, and
The
Lost Sorceress of the Silent Citadel. Also there is Hugo
nominee writer Peter Watts with a story called The
Second Coming Of Jasmine Fitzgerald. Last week I put up
the 1985 Hugo Short Story winner The
Crystal Spheres by David Brin and a few days ago released
Bruce Sterling's We
See Things Differently . And by the time you read this,
many more will have been added.
Others who have been involved in the venture include: Ian
Watson, Pat Cadigan, Harry Harrison, Joe Haldeman, Joan D
Vinge, Norman Spinrad, Ian MacDonald, J D Nordley, Bruce Sterling,
Gwyneth Jones, Landon Jones, John Varley, Pat Murphy, John
Kessel, Laurel Winter, Jeff Vandermeer, Kevin J Anderson,
Bradley Denton and Matthew Hughes, Storm Constantine, Kage
Baker, Allen Steele, Elizabeth Bear. Oh and not forgetting
the five nominees for the BSFA Best Short Story Award 2007:
Ken MacLeod, Chaz Brenchley, Ted Chiang, Ian Whates and Alastair
Reynolds.
Then there is the Sofanaught
Blog which is my ramblings. There is also a News
blog and a Review blog and these
are open to anyone who wants to input info into the StarShipSofa
collective.
Q3: What are your long-term plans for
StarShipSofa?
Tony: Simple… keep doing what I'm doing.
If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Q4: Are there any particular stories/authors
you would love to obtain for the site but have not as yet
been able to?
Yes, many. Either because I can't find their email address
or they've unfortunately passed away and I'm not sure who
to contact. John Brunner, Bob Shaw, J G Ballard, Harlan Ellison
(I know I have no chance with Ellison) Brian Aldiss, Poul
Anderson, Alfred Bester, Tomas M Disch, C M Kornbluth, Neal
Stephenson, for example
Q5: What type of science fiction do
you most enjoy personally?
Tony: Anything that sits between The
Forever War and Flowers For Algernon.
Q6: If you were only able to
buy one SF book this year, what would it be?
Tony: Well, the last two books I bought (I
got them at the same time) were A Transatlantic Tunnel,
Hurrah! by Harry Harrison and John Sladek's The Complete
Roderick. Now, as to what I might buy if it was the only
one I could by this year… I think I'd plum for Ian McDonald's
Brasyl, just to get lost in the whole scope of what
he's created. Plus, I've already ordered it, and I might not
get my money back if I cancel!
Join the movement and listen
to the podcast they are all talking about!
StarShipSofa
www.starshipsofa.com
Dedicated to classic Science Fiction
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