Question for Mr. Chiang

Mr. Chiang,

In your interview with Jeremy Smith, you said that you do not write more stories because your ideas only come occasionally. This leads me to several questions. Where do you get your ideas and do you have to be in a certain mindset to be able to write a compelling story? Do you use writing as a release or more as a hobby? Your stories seem so complex, so I would imagine that your ideas are usually slow developing. I enjoy writing as well, but I usually use it to convey emotions or relieve stress. I have attempted to write short stories before but my thoughts just end up turning into scatter-brained garbage, so I would like to gain a better understanding into the process of short story writing.

-Jose

Question for Mr. Chiang

In reference to the story "Hell is the Absence of God", I find it hard to believe that if it was physically evident that heaven and hell actually existed, everyone wouldn't be religious. I realize that this story is science fiction, but do you believe that all people (in our world) would not strive for salvation in heaven, knowing for sure that it existed?

Also, I was wondering why you decided that the papers inserted into the backs of the automata should be comprised of 72 letters, and not any other amount of letters, or why you decided that a random assortment of letters could animate these clay figures in the first place.

PKD

A friend recently informed me about the SF author Philip K Dick, so I ran a search through blogger to find out more about him. His works to name a few include "Minority Report", "Blade Runner","Paycheck", and "Total Recall." He is described as writing some of the best SF during the 50's, but his work not recieve much admiration until decades later. My question of concern is why did the critics during the 50's not credit PKD with the recognition he apparently deserved? How has the standard of worthy SF changed over the past 50 years???