I asked Alan Dean Foster in August 1999 if he would answer some questions I collected from fans on my website. He responded and here are his answers.
September 27, 1999
For what movies have you written screenplays, or original stories, besides Star Wars and Star Trek The Motion Picture?
Most interesting one was the screenplay I did based on James Clavell's
(Shogun, Tai-Pan) illustrated children's book, THRUMP-O-MOTO, about a young
Japanese wizard and his Australian girlfriend. This was to be a full-length animated film from Rankin-Bass (The Last Unicorn, etc.). It got to
the point of receiving formal go-ahead approval from Clavell before he
died, but the financing never materialized (or so I was told). Too
bad. It would have made a nice film.
Perhaps you saw the so-so adaptation of my story OUR LADY OF THE MACHINE,
which was the lead episode of the short-lived series Welcome to Paradox
on the SF channel last year. Many of my books and stories have been
optioned for film/tv production, but none have made it further than pre-production so far...though I have great hopes for MONTEZUMA STRIP, currently under
development.
Have you ever been approached to, or just for fun, written a screenplay or treatment for any of the Commonwealth books? (As I've stated in my reviews, they have all of the good parts of Star Wars, et al.)
Not yet. Expensive stuff...but easier to do in these days of advancing CGI. One hopes.... Some day Disney will try its hand at real SF, too.
I've got two books from 1975/76 about Ranger Farstar and his son Dawnboy, written by "Bill Starr". I've always wondered if you had a hand in ghostwriting them. Did you, or do you know who did? (They were on the bookshelves with a lot of the early Commonwealth stuff, and compare well in style)
I remember seeing the "Bill Starr" books. I had nothing to do with them, and don't know who did.
When are we going to get a chance to go kick the butts of the Aann? Sometime after MidFlinx? I'm sure the Ulru-Ujurrians will help. (And freak out the church when they show up in a fleet of ships looking for another game!)
The AAnn keep their butts in strategic motion, so they're hard to kick (hence the success of their Empire). They get kicked (a little) at the beginning of PHYLOGENESIS, which I'm sure you've encountered by now. Further butt-kicking to come. As for the Ulru-Ujurrians, they'll be back, but not in ships. Ships make the Game too easy for them.
Do you think you will ever go back to the Spellsinger universe?
All things are possible...but in this specific case, not in the immediate future (hello, animators...film waiting here....)
The first book of yours I read was Glory Lane and I consider it one of my favorites. Will you ever explore any of those characters again or do a follow up book?
Glad you liked it so much, but probably not. GLORY LANE is one of those books that's almost too self-contained to demand a sequel. It was briefly under option to a major Japanese anime company.
Do you have a particular plan for what's going to happen with Flinx and Pip? If so, when did you decide on the plan?
Oh, yes. All in good time. The overriding storyline and penultimate conclusion did not occur to me until some time after I had written THE END OF THE MATTER. Trouble is, modern astrophysics keep giving me new ideas, while seriously screwing around with old ones. But that makes it all the more fun.
When will "Reunion" be coming out and what's it about?
I don't have a release date for REUNION (the completed and accepted new Flinx & Pip book). Better to inquire of Del Rey as to a publication date. The story (and Flinx's life) pick up right after MID-FLINX. I think the content will surprise you, and please fans of the series. A number of earlier books in the series are tied directly into the plot. Also, some minor AAnn butt gets kicked.
You seem to publish primarily science fiction novels, although as you mentioned in one of your interviews you have written in a variety of genres. What is the best and worst thing about writing science fiction and as being thought of as a "science fiction writer"?
Best thing is that I get to write anything I want. There are no restrictions in writing SF (as opposed to getting it published, but that's a different question). The worst is being categorized...and the category doesn't matter.
In "Nor Crystal Tears", Ryo is not racially horrified at eating meat, yet in Phylogenesis, Des is. Is this accidental oversight or revising the story to make the next 2 books better? (I understand we need to work out the Human-Pitar thing to get to the Human-Thranx understanding of the Commonwealth) I also noticed that the books used different words for snow, and Ryo has far greater tolerance for the cold, but I figured that to be dialect and upbringing.
The eating meat business is truly an oversight (score one for the alert reader). I always thought of the thranx as omnivores in their earlier incarnations, and vegans in the latter. This is one I'll have to work out. The second book (DIRGE) in the Founding of the Commonwealth trilogy that begins with PHYLOGENESIS deals directly with the humanx-Pitar war, and should answer all your questions about that incident. DIRGE, along with REUNION, is completed and at the publisher. The Laplanders have something like thirty words for snow, so I expect the thranx can have a couple. And let's assume that the single-minded, art-driven Des is indeed a tougher individual than was Ryo.
Personal Question of mine pertaining to the web site: When people ask me where they can send fan letters or fan e-mail, I usually tell them to send a letter through the postal service In Care Of Del Rey. Is there a postal address or e-mail address which I could put up on my site that you would prefer to have them sent to? How do you feel about autograph requests through the mail?
No, I'm afraid fan email and letters should go through my publishers (Del Rey, Warner, Ace, Tor, or HarperPrism)... What individual privacy I have I prefer to preserve (that's why I don't have a personal website, for example). But I do try to answer every missive that comes my way. As for doing autographs through the mail, I have no objection at all, so long as the sender includes an SASE with their request, whether for signatures or included books to be signed.
Personal Question of mine pertaining to the web site: I also get requests from people who want to interview you or want to ask you to appear at an event of some kind. Is there someone specific I could tell them to contact?
Sorry, but requests of that nature should similarly go through the publishers. They always forward items of such nature to me. I hope that answers your questions.
He also talked a little about upcoming projects of his.
Upcoming are a number of short stories in assorted original anthologies (mostly from DAW). Upcoming and already delivered-to-the-publisher books include DIRGE (Del Rey: second in the Founding of the Commonwealth trilogy), REUNION (Del Rey: the new Flinx & Pip book), A TRIUMPH OF SOULS (Warner: final book in the Journeys of the Catechist trilogy), and INTERLOPERS (Ace: original contemporary dark fantasy). Books on the burner include DIUTURNITY'S DAWN (Del Rey: final book in The Founding of the Commonwealth trilogy), my current project KINGDOMS OF LIGHT (Warner: original stand-alone heroic fantasy), and TIME BELONG MOUNTAIN (possibly Tor/Forge: non-SF adventure novel set in contemporary Papua New Guinea).