Q&A with Alan Dean Foster

  

 

 

 

Alan Dean Foster is the author of the new novel Lost on Paradise. His many other books include The Mocking Program.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Lost on Paradise, and how did you create your characters Jonos and Liina?

 

A: The idea was to write a story about people in difficult circumstances who strive to better those circumstances, succeed in doing so, and then are forced to confront an entirely new and unexpected set of difficulties. It is also, at heart, a story about how people cope with loss. Some manage to do so, and some do not.  

 

Q: What research and planning went into creating the fantastical world in which the novel is set?

 

A: No research, really, as much as thinking. What would happen if two very different cultures were compelled to live side by side, and then a third was unexpectedly introduced into the mix. Would it affect the original two cultures and if so, how? Positively, negatively, or not at all. What if one of the two cultures was superior to the one newly arrived?

 

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I did know how the novel would end, but not how. As is so often (and delightfully) the case, as the characters progressed within the story, they themselves changed numerous aspects of its progression. 

 

Writing in this way is very much like traveling to a known destination, but without a map or GPS. You know where you're going, but the roads you take may be different from those you begin with.

 

Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?

 

A: Paradise is a concept as much if not more than it is an actual destination. Not everyone's idea of Paradise is the same: many if not most are very different. 

 

The comedian Jim Jeffries speaks of arriving in Heaven only to realize that he's going to be there, with it unchanging, and that he'll be bored for all Eternity. Along with relatives he may not like. 

 

One might arrive in one's notion of Paradise only to find that it's not as anticipated, and then disconcerting things may--happen.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: A couple of short stories. Ideas for a new novel. The monthly column I do for a local paper that focuses on art and science (5enses, if anyone is curious, and it can be found online), and a 10th symphony.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: I'm not yet tired of telling stories.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb