Until recently, I answered every single letter from a reader (who wasn't nasty) personally. It's something I still would love to do, but the volume is getting so great that, between writing the books and answering the mail, my sons were beginning to ask their mother who I was and she was having trouble remembering herself. As a result. I've been forced to this, which contains the answers to many of the most asked questions. So, unless you gave a compelling reason for requiring a personal answer (in which case you will receive an email reply if you left your Internet address) this is what you must content yourself with. Sorry but what can I do? Oh--I know it's not the best photo, but.... See the one in Grolier's SF CD for a better one. I don't have the rights to it.

(1) Where do you get your ideas?
A: K-Mart Idea Sales.

(2) Why do you live in Maryland when you could live in southern California or Florida?
A: How can anyone live in regions where you can't get Old Bay Seasoning, crab soup, and fresh oysters off the dock? Besides, I figure there's something wrong with a climate so boring it induces people to get up before noon and even jog.

(3) Will there be more (a) Well World novels (b) Four Lords novels [c] Dancing Gods novels?
A: [a] yes, see below, [b] definitely not, [c] see below under Novels.

(4) What do you do for a living?
A: I write novels.

(5) Can you get me copies of books of yours that are out of print?
A: No. For first editions, try the SF/F out of print booksellers and prepare to part with at least one arm and one leg. I do not have surplus copies lying about. If you just want to read them, all of my book-length fiction's in print anyway no matter what your bookstore tells you.

(6) Which SF writers do you particularly like to read?
A: Eric Frank Russell. James White, some Phil Farmer, early Raymond F. Jones, early Heinlein, Jack Vance, and others too numerous to mention. I do not read SF as much as I used to. It's too much like a busman's holiday.

(7) Do you play role playing games?
A: No. Why should I spend my free time doing for nothing what I get paid to do?

(8) What SF movies do you like?
A: Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth (MST3K notwithstanding), the even numbered Trek movies, several George Pals, all 4 Quatermass, and the first two Star Wars. O.K.?

(9) If I send you something to autograph, will you?
A: If it's a copy of one or more of my books, not all of them, and is accompanied by a return mailer (postpaid), sure I will. If not accompanied by return mailer and postage, it will be eaten. If you have too many, bring them to a convention I'm at. No, I don't autograph blank slips, checks, or stickers, and certainly no books without me in them.

(10) Will you read my manuscript or help me with my writing?
A: And you also get free doctor advice, free legal advice, etc.? Do you know how much they charge you at Clarion? And, yes, I am also a professional editor but I accept no unsolicited manuscripts. I have no incentive, economic or otherwise, to collaborat e with anyone, either. If you got what it takes, you'll make it. If you don't, Shakespeare couldn't help you.

(11) You write so much. Is there a list of all you've done?
A: Glad you asked that question...

Education: Baltimore City public schools, Towson State College (B.S.), graduate degrees from Johns Hopkins University. Although I have a strong science background, my degrees are in history and English. My graduate specialty is the "History of Ideas," which is to say I'm a certified expert on isms and ologies. I have taught history on the high school and college levels, and am or have been a lecturer at the Smithsonian, The National Institutes of Health, and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on science fiction and technological subjects.

Occupations: Aside from the usual kid occupations, I've been a professional typesetter, a sound engineer for outdoor rock concerts, an audio and computer reviewer, free-lance editor, a publisher (founder and now sole owner of The Mirage Press, Ltd.), a book packager, an Air National Guard Information Director, new and used book dealer, and teacher as mentioned above. I was a special forces Air Commando during the Vietnam war period but never served west of Amarillo (note, however, that no Viet Cong penetrated east of Albuquerque while I was there). I was, however, in the war--my TDY duty tour in Vietnam lasted a bit over 4 hours, but I got the ribbon and combat pay. Since 1978 I have made my living solely by writing, although Mirage Press continues in business and produced The Harlan Ellison Hornbook/Harlan Ellison's Movie in 1990 and The Science-Fantasy Publishers in 1991 and its continuing supplements, with possibly more as time and market permits.

Family: Married Eva C. Whitley on the ferryboat Roaring Bull in the middle of the Susquehanna River in 1978; 2 sons, David Whitley Chalker, b.1981; Steven Lloyd Chalker, b.1991. They complain their photos aren't on my web page but I'm not on theirs, either! Also inhabiting the house is Stonewall J. Alleycat, one of the dumbest cats in history and a strong argument against evolution, and a newcomer about which more below, and Mavra Chang, the Valley Girl of Pekinese.

Memberships: Sierra Club (life member), National Parks & Monuments Association, Amnesty International, The Natural Resources Defense Council, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, The National Aquarium, Maryland Academy of Sciences, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Smithsonian, Maryland Historical Society, Washington Science Fiction Association, American Film Institute, American Legion, many others, with varying degrees of activism. I have long been active in and supportive of conservation and historical preservation causes. I'm also a past 3-term treasurer of the Science Fiction Writers of America. I am a registered Democrat and two-time unsuccessful candidate for office. I am also a Kentucky Colonel and an Honorary Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, among other things. This information is given not as advocacy to my readers but basically to show you where the "real" Jack L. Chalker is coming from, which, I know, is not the political image I tend to have from people who read and don't quite understand my works.

Awards include the Dedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), others of varying importance. 2 time John W. Campbell Award nominee, no wins. Hugo nominee 4 times, 0 wins (but, hey, Spielberg finally got an Oscar and Hitchcock never did so who knows?).

Continuing Interests and Avocations: Ferryboats, travel, national arks and monuments, consumer electronics, politics, history, space program, printing and publishing, boo collecting, auctioneering, old time radio and classic TV, computers. This one is a Gateway 2000 Pentium 133 running, yes, Windows 95 if you care, and also around is a Toshiba 405CS notebook computer that I take with me when I travel. My wife uses my old 486 DX2/66E and my oldest son uses his HP Pavilion P100. Printing is via a Lexmark Optra R+ in Postscript mode or the HP 1200C/PS inkjet. My novels are written and spell checked in what used to be called FinalWord then called Sprint (you'll find most writers use old word processors because they let you write, not desktop publish). Yes, I know how to program but consider it in the same thrilling vein as being asked to inventory sand grains in Libya. I am frequently on Compuserve in the CORELCORP (Sec. 14) section (not in the SF section there--too huge), but if you have a specific question for me the best way (if you have a computer and modem) is to ask it on Delphi's SF SiG, where I tend to hang out regularly. Any EMail for me should be sent there, or to the SF SiG Forum. Many SF writers hang out Wednesday nights in Delphi's SF conference, occasionally including me. You can reach me via the Internet at JCHALKER@Delphi.com and on CompuServe as 72205,613.

For those wondering, that is me in Faces of Science Fiction, and my satellite dish, and my oldest son (who's 14 now), and my dog, but it's not my house. The photo was taken with my old house at the photographer's back. She wanted the dish more than the house in the picture; it seems I'm the only US SF author she photographed who owned one. Now you'll never see that house; I moved to a much larger one further into the mountains. I still have a dish, though, whose input I can watch from the indoor Jacuzzi. Decadence is wonderful. Incidentally, not only is that not my house, but my son's now far older and my beloved little puppy dog in the photo, Hoy, died Nolacon weekend (1988). He could not be replaced, but his successor is Mavra Chang, a sable Pekinese who is giving a good imitation of a canine airheaded valley girl, and is David's dog in the same way Hoy was mine. Steve has tried to appropriate her, but really demands a dog of his own. I tell him that this will happen sooner or later, but Not That Soon….

Content © 1984-1996 by Jack L. Chalker. All rights reserved including electronic. Permission is granted to distribute this in electronic or print form so long as there is no charge to the receiving party for it and that nothing is added or subtrac ted from the entire text including this copyright notice. All other rights and all exceptions are reserved under the Universal, Pan American, and Berne copyright conventions and all other applicable conventions. The Mirage symbol, created by David Prosser, is © 1962, renewed 1990 by Jack L. Chalker.
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