Exclusive Interview With Steven Piziks
Ben and Kendi are two of the Silents in the universe. Silents are able to tap into the Dream, the Dream being what connects all sentient minds in the Universe. Silents are genetically gifted individuals who can access and travel the Dream. They are typically discovered as children and enslaved to do the work of major corporations and political organizations."The term Silent came out by accident," Piziks explains. Zettel uses dictation software and her computer transcribed the word 'psionic' as Silent. They both liked the "error" and decided to keep it. "We had a science fiction term created by a computer."
Piziks said he tends to write by creating a situation and sticking characters in it. "I do it by getting to know them so well that it is like watching real people for me," Piziks said. "There is a whole history to Kendi and to Ben and the others which has never made it-and will never make it-into a book. I do that for fun. I like to go out on long walks by myself. I think about my characters and what their backgrounds are. I flesh them out so that when it comes time to put them in the scene, I know what they're going to do."
Piziks said that creating these long, extensive backgrounds helps him develop character arcs for all of the people in his books when he first starts writing them down. "I knew that Kendi was going to shape up and grow up. Even in Dreamer I knew that he was going to be fairly immature at the beginning of the book and by the end he would be forced to grow up. In Trickster, he would deal with being an adult for the first time. Then in Offspring, he is dealing with being a parent. I knew all this was coming and was able to keep an eye on his development that way."
Offspring is due to be released in November, 2004 and Piziks expects it will be the last Silent Empire Book. It picks up where Trickster left off and is a combination adventure, science fiction, and political thriller.
He says if he ever does return to the series, it will be to tell the real story behind Irfan Qasad and why she would marry a total lunatic.
