Dave Creek is the author of the novels CHANDA’S HOMECOMING, WATCHER OF THE SKIES, ALL HUMAN THINGS, CHANDA’S AWAKENING, and SOME DISTANT SHORE, novellas TRANQUILITY and THE SILENT SENTINELS, and short story collections A GLIMPSE OF SPLENDOR, THE HUMAN EQUATIONS, THE SECRET OF PLAINSVILLE, and KAYONGA’S DECISION.
His short stories have appeared in ANALOG SCIENCE FICTION AND FACT, AMAZING STORIES, and APEX magazines, and the anthologies FAR ORBIT APOGEE, TOUCHING THE FACE OF THE COSMOS, and DYSTOPIAN EXPRESS.
In the “real world,” Dave is a retired television news producer.
Here are my answers to the questions I selected:
If you could time travel to any point in history, which era would you choose, and why?
As a non-believer, I would travel to the Crucifixion, to see what really happened there. And at least half, or maybe a majority of people wouldn’t believe the account I came back with — no matter what I revealed!
If you were to write a love story between a human and an alien, what challenges would they face?
I’ve written such a story! My series character Chanda Kasmira, a galactic diplomat, was once married to an Arololularian — a species without sexual differentiation. The marriage didn’t work out, though. Chanda ended up being unfaithful to her husband, Pordo, sexually, with a human. Pordo was also unfaithful to her, but emotionally, also with a human. The incident is mentioned in my novel CHANDA’S AWAKENING.
If you had to choose between being a time traveler or a space explorer, which would you pick and why?
I’d definitely be a space explorer because I want to see the wonders of the universe and possibly discover alien beings. I’d have to know a lot more about time travel before I experimented with it. Might I create a paradox by going back in time and changing events? If I went into the future, would I be able to return to my present, or would knowing too much about the future prevent that? As Captain Janeway once said of time travel, “It all gives me a headache.”
If you could have any sci-fi gadget in real life, what would it be and what practical uses would you have for it?
I’d want the transporter. It would be a great time-saver, and open up the entire world for everyone. Assuming it would be essentially free as on STAR TREK, I could go to SF conventions or make any other journeys and stay in my own home each night. No packing, no expensive hotels, and people could invite groups of friends to their favorite hometown restaurants or fix home-cooked meals for everyone. Hotel and airline companies would suffer, though.
If aliens were to visit Earth, what do you think their first impression of humans would be?
My most sincere hope is that they wouldn’t watch Fox News before making any final decisions about us.
Which trope of science fiction (phasers, transporters, time machines, much more) would you like to see put into our own reality? And how would you use it in a mundane way?
I’d like to see the replicator. It would even out the wealth disparities in our society, I would hope. If we can eliminate physical want, and give people as much food, housing, clothing, and other necessities as they need, we’d have much fewer reasons to engage in physical conflict. Although I’d suspect we’d still find excuses to do just that.
My two most recent books are WATCHER OF THE SKIES, featuring my series character Mike Christopher, and CHANDA’S HOMECOMING, the latest adventure of another series character, “frontier ambassador” Chanda Kasmira.
Both books take place in the same future history, and look at the aftermath of a failed alien invasion of the Earth. They take place at the same time, and in fact share a scene, with Mike and Chanda seeing each other from their own viewpoints.
You can access both those books and all my others at my website, www.davecreek.com. Just click on a book cover to go to their Amazon page.
Other social media links:
E-mail
dave@davecreek.com
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Twitter:
@DaveCreek
