by Brad Balfour

G21 Contributing Editor

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NEW YORK, NY, USA - The initial screenwriter of the hit cult film "THE CROW" (he was also instrumental in getting James O Barr's graphic novels transformed into the films and series), veteran author John Shirley made his mark as one of science fiction's cyberpunk posse - which also included William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Neal Stephenson. While these guys created a new, gritty scifi that incorporated the cyber-realities we live with, Shirley lived them performing in rock bands, hanging out in smoky drug dens and gathering a catalog of experience that flows into his work. He even became primary lyricist for metal progenitors BLUE OYSTER CULT's recent albums "HEAVEN FORBID" and "CURSE OF THE HIDDEN MIRROR."

Recently, Shirley came back to the New York area (he lived here nearly a decade) to read from his latest timely, frightening and provocative techno-thriller Crawlers (Del Rey/Random House) last December (on the 9th from 7-9pm at The South Street Seaport Museum's Melville Gallery--213 Water St.) as part of the 15 year old NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION READINGS. The highly praised novel details a secret government bio-weapon (it forms a Borg-like hive mind that takes over its hosts) that runs amok in a northern Califorian town in order to infect the world with nano-bots.

G21: WHEN DID YOU TAKE AN INTEREST IN NANO TECHNOLOGY?

JS: I started thinking about nanotechnology when it was first discussed in science magazines, at least 20 years ago. My first thought was the idea that machines could be fashioned -- like a nano "submarine"- -to rebuild damaged cells. But I read later that there could be a kind of colony communication between groups of these nanocells and that led to the Crawlers concept.

G21: THE BOOK'S TEEN HEROES HAVE A VERY AUTHENTIC FEEL.

JS: I studied them in their native habita t and I spend a lot of time with them [since I have three sons]. Of course I was one. They change in some ways more than others, but teenagers are teenagers. Today's teenagers have more to deal with than in the past -- more distractions, more burden of information processing, a more complex threatening world and things like 9/11. I tried to be sensitive to those particularities.

G21: WHY CRAWLERS?

JS: That term develops in the story for the creatures. They do crawl. And it's also designed to tweak the unconscious of the reader, like other things are in my work -- aimed as much at the unconscious as at the conscious. It is also about human beings degrading themselves.

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G21: THE BOOK HAS A GREAT ORDINARY-PERSON-IN-A-HORRIBLE-SITUATION QUALITY.

JS: Nearly all horror stories have been about an ordinary person in a horrible situation, back to The Pit and the Pendulum. My book is about a whole town in a horrible situation, and about how individuals come to terms with it, surviving a living nightmare, and even triumphing, while living with the damage done on the way.

G21: IS THIS A HORROR, SCIENCE FICTION OR MAINSTREAM THRILLER?

I've alway s been whatever genre my project falls into -- not a writer of any particular genre. My first novel was horrific science fiction, my second was ho rror, and I've alway s mixed them up and published suspense novels too. I consider CRAWLERS a kind of modern, updated pod-people story, possibly a cyberpunk-horror fusion. But I generally dislike categories.

G21: YOU SHOW A STRONG SUSPICION OF GOVERNMENT...

JS: The book is an entertainment, an examination of people in extraordinary circumstances, a thrill ride, but its story is social commentary. There is an implicit assumption that pretty much everyone shares, that the military and the government frequently act irresponsibly, and engage in weapons development that's badly thought out. Why do we have stockpiles of nerve gas and biological weapons at all? We shouldn't have to worry about eliminating them later. We already had sufficient deterrent with a huge army and nuclear weapons. Some weapons development is inevitable and defendable but the military again and again crosses the line. CRAWLERS is not about bio warfare or nerve gas but it's the same principle. Then there's the issue of secrecy, and government extremism and control in the age of [John] Ashcroft -- all that comes up in the book.

G21: THIS BOOK WORKS BRILLIANTLY AS CINEMATIC MATERIAL.

JS: Crawlers was originally conceived as a movie, and I wrote it first as a movie outline. I write cinematically anyway, with active, visual scenes, sharp dialogue, and clear imagery. So it's halfway to a movie anyway. The International Film Group is developing my novella HER HUNGER as a movie. Of course I'd like to see CRAWLERS made.

G21: WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE BEING CAST IN IT?

JS: Maybe some kids from Gilmore Girls, my son Julian loves that show. They seem good.

For more about the author go to http://www.darkecho.com/JohnShirley and for the reading go to www.hourwolf.com

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