Episode 281: Paul McAuley

About this episode

Scott Edelman interviews Paul McAuley about his writing influences, experiences, and the nuances of his craft.

Join Paul McAuley for a Birmingham balti as we discuss his fascination with James Joyce and how it played out (or didn't) in his own writing, why he's thrilled the first short story he sold to a pro market was never published, the reasons he loves Los Angeles, what he learned as a scientist which helped him write better science fiction, why he compared his writing style to Raymond Chandler's, the way his world-building takes place during writing and not before, whether or not his new novel should be considered science fiction, what I feel that hovel has in common with Denis Johnson's Train Dreams , our shared love of the ambiguous ending, what he learned by rereading his short fiction to assemble a career-spanning collection, and much more.

People in this episode

Host: Scott Edelman

Guest: Paul McAuley

Topics covered

• writing process
• science fiction
• literary influences
• world-building
• short fiction
• ambiguous endings

Keywords

• Paul McAuley
• James Joyce
• Raymond Chandler
• science fiction
• world-building
• short stories
• ambiguous endings

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Denis Johnson's Train Dreams

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