Kathleen Ann Goonan is the author of six novels. Her story in The Starry Rift is “Sundiver Day”.

1. When did you start reading science fiction? How old were you, and can you remember the first book or story that really excited you as a reader?

Ursula K. Le Guin stands out as the first science fiction that I read, and I was about twenty years old! At that time, other women, such as Joan Vinge and Elizabeth Lynn were also at the forefront of science fiction. But I also remember that when A Wizard of Earthsea came out, in 1968, when I was sixteen, it made a huge impression on me.

And during the 1960’s, I read as much Kurt Vonnegut as I possibly could. Perhaps, then, Slaughterhouse Five was the first science fiction book that deeply impressed me.

2. What do you think science fiction has to offer young readers today?

First of all, the experience of thinking outside the box, following extrapolations that are grounded in reality, but which lead to unexpected places. Perhaps most important is helping them become aware of the world in which we live, a world made possible by science and technology, which it is very easy to take for granted. Perhaps science fiction can make young readers aware that the world we live in exists because of the work of scientists and engineers, and perhaps make them more interested in the world within and behind our everyday experiences with computers, text messages, and medicine.

3. Tell us about your story for The Starry Rift.

“Sundiver Day” is what the character, Elendilia, calls herself, because it is what her missing-in-action brother called her. The story is about how she comes to terms with his loss.

4. Did you find there was a real difference between writing for younger readers, or was your approach basically the same as when you’re writing for any other audience?

My approach with any piece of fiction is to be the point-of-view character. I try to see how they would see, feel how they would feel, do what they would do, all the time trying to fashion a deep, coherent, real person.

5. What are you writing now? Is there something you’d recommend to readers who enjoyed your story in The Starry Rift?

Right now I’m working on THIS SHARED DREAM CALLED EARTH, a follow-up to IN WAR TIMES, which is the ALA’s Best Adult Genre Novel of the Year. Actually, readers who enjoyed “Sundiver Day” might also enjoy QUEEN CITY JAZZ, my first novel, which was classified as a YA novel by some librarians. It is about seventeen-year-old Verity, who lives in nanotech-changed Ohio, and who manages to get inside Cincinnati, a Flower-City, to find out the truth about herself.