Eating Authors: Felix R. Savage

I have to say, last week was pretty good. I had more energy, consistently, day after day, then I’ve had in two months. This also manifested in a lot of writing, and believe me there was much rejoicing. Also, feedback from various doctors indicate that I’m responding well to my chemotherapy and also that the gaping holes in my femur (caused by the cancer destroying bone tissue) are beginning to fill back in with new bone cells, inside and out. In celebration of these positive developments, come this Saturday, I’ll be popping over to Philcon for the morning to appear on a panel, give a reading, and do a signing. If you’re at the convention I hope you’ll come see me.

On person who I’m confident will not be dropping in on me on Saturday is this week’s EATING AUTHORS guest, for the simple reason that he lives in Japan. And yes, that was your official segue; pretty slick, right? Anyway, I’m fairly certain — in a conventional wisdom kind of way, as opposed to empiricism from having actually met him — that Felix R. Savage, does not in fact possess the head of a cat. I’m willing to accept on face value (see what I did there?) that he’d simply prefer not to make it any easier for face recognition algorithms to further erode his privacy. Which explanation you prefer may depend on whether you’re more into fantasy or science fiction.

The other thing you need to know about Felix is that he doesn’t fit into a single science fiction niche. He writes hard SF (like his Extinction Protocol series). He writes humorous SF/space opera (check out his A Cauldron of Stars series). He writes SF techno-thrillers set in space (e.g., his Earth’s Last Gambit series). The man is everywhere! And yes, you’ll also find him in that massive anthology, The Expanding Universe 5, that I’ve been drawing on for many other recent guests here. As far as I know, he’s the only one in that work with a cat head though, so he still stands out.

LMS: Welcome, Felix. What stands out for you as your most memorable meal?

FRS: My brain is usually too busy churning through the Big Questions of life—what if microbes are discovered on Mars? How can I get Yusaku Maezawa to pick me for the #DearMoon mission? Does the baby need her nappy changed?—to notice what I’m putting in my mouth. In fact I have eaten the same thing for lunch every day for several years, a very tasty … um … uh … What would happen if a giant solar flare hit the ISS?

I’m a science maven and crazy about space, so it comes as a surprise to some to learn that I’m also a traditional Catholic. Interestingly, my Catholic faith and my love of science took root at more or less the same time, about fifteen years ago. It’s all part of my ongoing quest for truth in whatever form it might take: factual, historical, ontological, or experimentally validated and peer-reviewed. Life, after all, is a reciprocal process of accepting help from others and paying it forward. I feel the love from the Communion of Saints and also from countless scientists around the world doing their bit to expand our understanding of this grand old universe, and I try to pay it forward by writing the best books I can, as well as by changing nappies, taking the whole gang to Mass, and cooking the occasional … um … uh … Why couldn’t we build a BIG SLING to launch payloads from the moon?

(That’s the core question of my upcoming hard-SF novel from Aethon Books. Stay tuned!)

Conversion is hard. It took me years to give up being an insufferable twerp who wrote millions of words of crap, and become a happy sci-fi writer with thousands of happy readers. But truth, once apprehended, cannot be resisted. It’s a positive joy to accept that one’s purpose in life is to serve. So it was that one rainy night in central Tokyo, in a wooden-paneled chapel, I bowed my head for the trickle of water, sipped from the chalice, and ate the morsel of bread. It tasted like spiced gold. Nothing has ever tasted like that before or since. That’s one meal I will remember all my life!

Now, what if … Come on, Maezawa! You HAVE to pick at least one sci-fi writer! Wouldn’t it be cool if I could experience my next memorable meal in orbit around the moon?

#SFWApro