Without knowledge you cannot choose wisely. And without wise choice, there is no freedom.
Science fiction readers probably have the gene for novelty, and seem to enjoy a cascade of invention as much as a writer enjoys providing one.
The mass-market paperback, for one, is too expensive.
I'm not afraid of werewolves or vampires or haunted hotels, I'm afraid of what real human beings to do other real human beings.
The Rift, which was well over a thousand pages of manuscript, took two years.
I've learned that I get blocked when my subconscious mind is telling me that I've taken the work in a wrong direction, and that once I start listening to what my subconscious is trying to tell me, I can work out the problem and get moving again.
For every SF reader of that period, Robert A. Heinlein was also a touchstone.
It's a tough job to tell a story when the audience already knows the ending, and the ending is bleak.
