Beiträge

Kurzvorstellung von Dan_Ikoro.

Biographie

Michael G. Coney (Michael Greatrex Coney) wurde am 28. September 1932 in Birmingham, England geboren und ging dort auf die King-Edward-Schule. Er arbeitete als Wirtschaftsprüfer und Unternehmenberater bevor er in die Gastronomie-Branche wechselte.
Als Vater von drei Kindern (Kevin, Andrew und Sally) bewirtschaftete er mit seiner Frau Daphne 3 Jahre einen Pub in England und danach für weitere 3 Jahre ein Hotel auf Antigua, Westindische Inseln. Um 1972 ging er nach Kanada, zog nach Sidney, Vancouver Island (British Columbia) und arbeitete dort im Finanzwesen beim "British Columbia Forest Service" für ca. 17 Jahre bevor er schließlich in den Ruhestand wechselte.

Coneys Roman Brontomek! gewann 1977 den British Science Fiction Association Award für den besten Roman des Jahres.
Sein Werk Der Sommer geht wurde von der BSFA später zum besten britischen Roman der siebziger Jahre gewählt.

Michael Coney starb am 4. November 2005 an (durch Asbest ausgelöstem) Lungenkrebs.

Pseudonyme:

Michael G. Coney, Michael Coney

Über das Schreiben (aus einem Interview, das Mike Coney 2005 vom Krankenbett aus mit Strange Horizons führte):

"When I was a kid I used to read a particular type of writing by H. Rider Haggard, Conan Doyle, Sapper, and H. G. Wells, and I did not realize at the time why I liked this style of writing. At that time the words SF were not in common use. I wasn't at that time inspired to write but I was certainly inspired to read that kind of stuff. The writing came about much later when I was about 40 years old."

"The big change came when I read John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids and The Chrysalids and Cordwainer Smith's short stories. I was encouraged and inspired by these writers, in particular because their writing style was good enough to speak straight into my mind instead of my having to translate each sentence as I went along. I found that their literary style would, to me, stand up against any of the modern books then being touted as good literature."

"My strength as a writer lies in plotting. I find it interesting to take the disparate elements of a story and fit them together in such a way that I'm left with a story that makes sense and has a proper ending, often an unexpected ending. In order to achieve my effect, I usually fully work out the end of the story first and then work back from it with a middle and a beginning. I have struggled when I have abandoned this method because of the temptation of a good opening idea which I have then written forwards from without knowing where it's all going to come out. The biggest enjoyment comes when I reread the finished story and realize that I could not possibly have written it any better."

"My favourite serious novel is Rax (a.k.a. Pallahaxi Tide and Hello Summer, Goodbye), partly because the book was largely autobiographical and partly because everyone else seems to like it best. Who am I to say they are wrong?"

"I still write for escape inasmuch as I enjoy placing myself as protagonist in exciting situations."

"I think it's very easy for a writer to get too clever for his own damn good and to forget that his business is to entertain his readers."

Bibliographie (Auswahl):
[Auf fictionfantasy.de rezensierte Bücher sind mit Link unterlegt und fett gekennzeichnet.]