S&L Podcast - #133 - Interview with Joe Haldeman

[Ben]

It's part two of three of Veronica and Goodreads moderator Josh Lawrence's adventures from the Nebula Awards! Our intrepid heroes chat with the author of The Forever War, Joe Haldeman. We're posting these interviews in our off weeks from the regular episodes. Please enjoy.

http://swordandlaser.com/home/2013/6/...

[Tamahome]

Wow, you're getting all the heavy hitters. Gene Wolfe is next, right?

If I could ask follow up questions it would be:

If not plot, what is most interesting or hardest about writing fiction?

What do you consider the best sf novels with good science?

He is kind of like Hemingway, very succinct, also like John Scalzi.

Good interview. I only wish it was longer.

I'm kind of like Hemingway, aren't I.

[Nancy]

I agree about getting the heavy hitters. It's great to see new writers (like Saladin Ahmed and James SA Corey on the video show) but it's another thing completely to get to interview someone who's been in the industry for a long time and has gotten so see how their work has impacted people in the long run.

[Kris]

Great interview with one of the all time great writers....found him engaging and interesting.

[Tamahome]

Anyone read one of his Star Trek books? I hear they're racy. :)

[terpkristin]

Great interview! I didn't read Forever War with the group (really not that into military sci fi) and now I kind of regret it. It was cool that this interview kind of crossed boundaries/exceeded the normal types of discussions about just books. I've headed the two he recommended to my queue. :)

[Casey]

This is fantastic. I only wish it was longer. Thanks for sharing this with all of us.

[Darren]

I really enjoyed this one. Biking to coffee shops to write in bound journals longhand! You guys should have asked the fountain pen/ballpoint question, though!

I've only read The Forever War. I'll have to add Camouflage.

[Tom]

Thanks for asking my question, really got him talking!

[AndrewP]

I don't know if anyone caught this but Joe Haldeman, Larry Niven, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Paul Di Filippo were on Coast to Coast AM last Sat night. I only heard part of the show before I fell asleep so I wish I had recorded it :(

[Robert of Dale]

I haven't read any of his works yet (but am going to add something to my impossibly long queue soon). The one thing I found disappointing in the interview was it's abrupt end; you normally end by asking an author about current projects and upcoming or recent releases, but you didn't this time. The ends of interviews are safe spaces for an author to promote new work (or for the host to do it for them), without having to feel like they're imposing on listeners/viewers.

[Veronica, Supreme Sword]

Robert of Dale wrote: "I haven't read any of his works yet (but am going to add something to my impossibly long queue soon). The one thing I found disappointing in the interview was it's abrupt end; you normally end by a..."

We had another interview breathing down our neck, we were already going long. Sorry!

Edit: To be clear, it was a press room where everyone was doing their interviews, so someone else was next in line for the location.

[bookthump]

I really enjoyed this interview. Joe Haldeman makes no attempt to hide or soften his opinions. He was refreshingly honest. I added Camouflage and The Hemingway Hoax to my wish list.