Why do you often reply to people saying "sci-fi" and say "SF" or science fiction instead? I've seen other authors do this, but then sometimes they use sci-fi still, and I'm confused... it feels like being corrected, but I don't know why!

So the answer to this question is actually rooted in the history of science fiction as a genre, and a subject of debate for decades. It’s not so much a focus nowadays, which is probably why not everyone is aware of the distinction.

Historically, “sci-fi” has referred to more pulpy, plot-oriented, big-explosions-and-half-naked-slave-girls type stories. Movies likeIndependence Day—which I love, mind you, but would never try to call deep science fiction—that make it big at the box office, but tha...