Question:
Will you be writing any stories pertaining to robots/androids in the near future?
Answer:
Probably not. It isn’t that I don’t find these stories interesting, I do. I tend to not write science fiction stories. Mostly because I am not a science person, so all of the ideas and themes that go with space exploration tend not to interest me. The other stories, usually about artificial intelligence do interest me but I am not sure how much is left to discuss and delve into regarding these stories.
I would like to be clear though, I do like the idea of writing stories that are part of genres and sub-genres. There is something quite freeing about working within the structures they provide. I can see how that seems like a strange answer but truthfully the most difficult part of storytelling is keeping the reader/watcher/listener engaged. One wonderful way to do so is by using a familiar structure (writing a murder mystery for example) and then doing something unexpected (having no one at the party being interested in the murder and the investigation not interrupting the party). Which is to say that if you work within the confines of a genre but make alterations to the structure your reader is familiar with they will most likely be intrigued enough by these changes to see where the story takes them. All of this assumes that you come up with an interesting premise of course, which my murder mystery most likely is not. The question though was particularly about robots and androids so let me finish on that topic.
Some excellent writers have been exploring the ideas of what it means to be human, using robots and androids developing consciousness, for quite some time now and doing it quite well. If I felt I had something to add to the discussion I certainly would try. At present I think anything I could say has already been said and quite well.
John Ryan Sullivan 