#6: Cyberpunk With Author Bruce Bethke

This interview with the author who coined the term cyberpunk covers everything you’d hope it would, and then some. Bruce’s term inspired all the other punk genres we celebrate on this show. No big deal!

He also runs Rampant Loon Press, which publishes Stupefying Stories. And he’s pretty much an all-around very smart human!

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Watch on YouTube:

We get a peak at Bruce’s guitar collection, Philip K. Dick Award, and other fun stuff.

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Show Notes: What You’ll Find in Episode 6

Personal Update

This week I share my main productivity resolution for the New Year, which I’ve kind-of already finished. Check! No more improvement or goals needed for the rest of the year!

If only. 😉

So basically, check in with the YouTube video above if you’re a sucker for “before and afters” and you want to see a desk makeover. I’m a wildly messy person who just went paperless! (Okay, not just–it took me a solid couple of months).

Interview With Cyberpunk Author and Publisher Bruce Bethke

Bruce shares some exciting new projects and updates (if you’re already a Bethke fan, you’re going to really love what he announces!).

Bruce also shares what he’s looking for in submissions to his Friday Challenge opportunity for authors.

And if all this wasn’t enough, he also supplies THE best reaction I’ve ever heard to a brief technical timeout in our conference call.

In the bio, Bruce shares some past interviews for an additional look into his work and ideas:

Six Questions For… Bruce Bethke (Interview, 8/9/2013)
The Story Behind Stupefying Stories (Interview, 7/27/2012)
Strange Horizons Interview: Bruce Bethke (Interview, 07/11/2005)

But if you really want to know The Secret, read:

How to Become a Writer (Editorial, The Friday Challenge, 05/25/2012)

Also, here’s a list of questions I asked Bruce:

In this show, we discuss “the punks”, and today we’re focusing on cyberpunk. I mean, of course we are, because I’m talking to the man who coined the term cyberpunk, which has spurred the creation of all the other punks we explore on this show. So of course I have to ask Bruce Bethke: What’s your take on cyberpunk, how do you define it, and what do you feel qualifies as in-bounds?
Do you have an opinion on the term post-cyberpunk?
Tell us about your cyberpunk books as well as the Stupefying Stories volumes and why new readers should check them out. Specifically, what themes do these stories focus on?

Regarding Stupefying Stories, I know many listeners will be interested in submitting work to you. You’ve also already given us several resources for these listeners to check out, so I’m going to ask something at the most basic level: Why stupefying? What is it about that term that called to you?
What types of cyberpunk do you feel are missing in the market? From your unique position and perspective, have you identified any gaps?
Show phone line: Malcolm from Sacramento asks, “Do you feel cyberpunk loses relevance or popularity faster than other science fiction genres? When you wrote Headcrash or other stories, was it tricky to decide how far in the future you would place it?”
If we have time: Bruce, I hate drones. Even more than the privacy issue, it’s about how much they tick me off when I’m trying to enjoy nature. Tell me how to get over my angst, since all this and more is probably inevitable.

Take Your Storypunking to the Stratosphere

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