Here's that interview meme. Say "interview me!" in the comments and I'll give you five questions; at least for the first two or three who ask. Here are my questions and answers:

Questions by Michael Thomas.

1- How did you meet your wife?

Mary Anne Mohanraj and Strange Horizons held a brunch for Nalo Hopkinson back in 2001, hosted at Heather's house. I was living down in Santa Cruz at the time, and I'd contributed to SH, so they invited me to come up. It was pretty much love at first sight for me. Heather took a little convincing. :)

2- When you look at old pictures of Fred Pohl and Forry Ackerman with other famous authors in A CERTAIN MAGAZINE, do you think about your own SF literary circle and how it compares?

I think of a story I've heard, attributed to Michael Swanwick; the gist of it was, when Swanwick (or whomever) was a young whipper-snapper, he went to conventions, and wanted to hang out with the giants of the genre -- his childhood idols -- and they mostly ignored him or were polite, but didn't invite him to their private parties and such. Gradually he became a name in the field and hung out with his friends -- who were also becoming names in the field -- and found himself approached by young whipper-snappers who seemed to want to be his friends, but he preferred just to hang out with his own friends. I'm perfectly happy hanging out with my friends. A lot of them are selling books and winning awards. Some will likely be perceived as giants of the genre by future generations. But I don't consciously compare us to those who came before, not in terms of social circles. (Except for noting that probably none of us have relationships as weird as, say, Theodore Sturgeon did...)

3- What would you rather be: an award-winning critical darling or a frequent NYT Bestseller who everybody in the industry thinks is a hack?

Bestseller. I grew up poor; I want financial security. Besides, somebody will always think you're a hack. Who cares? As long as I'm happy with the work I'm doing, and enough readers like it to keep my career going, I'm content. You can't please everybody, and trying to do so just results in lukewater tepid work.

4- What are your top five desert island discs?

What are these discs of which you speak? Some primitive means for storing music? I'll just take an ipod loaded with a few thousand hours of material, thanks; then I don't have to choose. (Yes, I'm ducking the question, but truthfully, I don't think in terms of albums anymore; the whole way I listen to music and organize it mentally and practically is alien to that kind of thinking.)

5- Who are your favorite non-SF authors?

Faulkner (love the Snopes trilogy especially). Lorrie Moore. Wodehouse. Sayers. Westlake. I could go on and on. I read nearly as much outside SF as I do inside it.