Andromeda Magazin Interview

An Interview in Andromeda SF Magazin 157 by Martin Stricker with Heiner Wolf on the Publication of the First Contact Story: 2544 The First Alien Visitor to the Solar System

10.05.2019 by Martin Stricker, Heiner Wolf, Ralf Bayer #Interview #Andromeda Nachrichten #SFCD #2019

Andromeda Magazin Interview

### Who is Heiner Wolf? Where do you come from, where do you live today, what is your education, and tell us a bit about your jobs? I grew up in Freiburg/Germany and I now live in Hamburg. I studied physics and received a PhD in computer science from Ulm University. I am an IT manager, software developer and agile methodology coach. And I love developing things that benefit users with my team. I founded several IT companies and served as their CTO. Currently, I am self-employed. Writing is my primary hobby. I go to book fairs and conventions to meet like minded people. ### How did you get into science fiction? I learned about science fiction when someone handed me one of these yellow Utopia books. It was on a bus ride during a youth camp at the age of 14. I still remember that very well. A new world opened up to me. After that, I systematically searched our public library for science fiction. As a high school student, I read about 300 Perry Rhodan books. I'm no longer into Perry, but I still follow the main story occasionally. For a long time, I have been reading English science fiction with a technical focus. Sometimes I also read SciFi roleplaying sourcebooks because I'm as interested in background scenarios as I am in stories. My favorite Science-Fiction novels: http://blog.wolfspelz.de/2012/11/die-besten-science-fiction-romane.html ### How did you start writing? What was your career as author? I painted spaceships with pen and paper when I was 16. I was inspired by the Perry Rhodan crack drawings. Then I came up with background stories for the drawings and fit everything into a common timeline. So, came my first history book of the future into being. When I was 18, I started anew. At the time, I wanted to be bold, so I let the future begin in the year 2000. But nothing came about as I had planned. Reality is even crazier than I imagined then. That's a SciFi author's destiny. So, I started the third history book of the future and I'm still at it. ### How does your writing process work? I start with an idea that might be interesting in the future, say "extreme sports of the future". Then I write down keywords, examples, and secondary topics that might have something to do with it, say "Saturn ring ice rock jumping". After I have collected these ideas, I work through the list and describe the facts. Then the magic happens. Suddenly the text begins to flow from my keyboard. New ideas appear: events and people, drama, heroes and surprising twists. The story comes to life. It is always fascinating. I often work with current topics and project them into the future. That's standard futurism. But for me it is very important to think even further, much further. I am thinking about the step after the next step. I am writing a history book. And the future always continues - even after the future. I wonder: how does the future of the future look like? ### Do you have favorite themes in your works? What fascinates you about these themes? I describe social, economic and technical developments. I don't think the future is determined by a particular technology. No overpowering AI that force uploads all people. No time travel that can turn everything we know upside down. I believe that history develops normally, as it has been for thousands of years. Still, dramatic and exciting things happen. We have had world wars, middle ages wiped by plagues and civilizations have perished. But humanity is still there. I am a dramatic optimist. I don't believe in Utopia and that everything will be all right. But, I also don't believe, that the world is going to end by nuclear war or climate change. We can manage that, even if it gets difficult. The future continues beyond the horizon. It always does. The question is not if, but how it will continue. Often, I am working with the idea that everything takes time to develop. Suppose we invent a Star Trek like warp bubble. The principle is to move a piece of space which surrounds the spaceship. This is called an Alcubierre-Drive. However, moving a piece of space-time is difficult. If you can do that, you'll receive the Nobel Prize even for one micrometer per hour. That's how it starts. We don' just switch it on and zoom beyond light speed. We do research and improve slowly. That's a complicated technology. Like a space station or a particle accelerator. Thousands of scientists and technicians are working on it for decades. At some point it will be possible to move the piece of space 3000 kilometers per second. That's pretty fast for travel in the solar system. But its only one percent of light speed. Another 100 years of research and you're at the speed of light. You won't get far with that either, because it still takes 4 years to reach Alpha-Centauri. For decent journeys you have to go 100 or 1000 times faster. That again takes time, during which history plays out. 500 years, as long as from Columbus to us today. A lot can happen in so much time. Humanity expands into the solar system. An interplanetary civilization develops with inventions and discoveries, politics and intrigues. Interplanetary powers come and go... ### A favorite literary figure is ... Christopher Sim from "A Talent for War" by Jack McDevitt. A history teacher who becomes a hero. He obviously is a great military leader. But he is also a tragical figure. At least that's what official historiography says. There are many stories about unlikely heroes and Christopher Sim is one of them. I believe that normal people can outgrow themselves when they are challenged. The story takes place thousands of years in the future, but it is not overloaded with technology, cyber, virtual, AI, or hyperspace. They also travel faster than light, they talk to the AI, and make VR phone calls as if they were standing next to each other. But the focus is on normal people in an unusual situation in which they must write history to survive. ### Who would you like to change places with for a day? Which skills would you like to have? George R. R. Martin. I would like to write novels in a rich and living universe. Currently, I am describing how humanity and the solar system develop. I can cover more territory with this approach. Basically, I write lots of ideas for novels. But I did not dare writing a longer novel, yet. Maybe there are other science fiction writers who want to write stories in a rich interplanetary and interstellar setting. A setting that provides context and history. I would love to read these stories. Do you have works in languages other than German? Galactic Developments, the history of the future, is only available in German because I write more precisely in German. Or, that's what I thought until recently. I just met a German author who wrote in English and found a London publisher. I will give it a try. You grow with the challenges. ### Anything else you would like to say to your (potential) readers? Yes, the future continues after tomorrow. Despite all current problems and dangers: our children will experience the future of the future. You can read what might happen in Galactic Developments. A realistic timeline of the future. As book or on www.galactic-developments.de, as Facebook feed, Twitter, Wattpad, and Blog. Always new events, discoveries and adventures from a possible future. https://sfcd.eu/publikationen/andromeda-sf-magazin.html Story: [2544 The First Alien Visitor to the Solar System](https://www.galactic-developments.de/Timeline/ersterbesuch-2544-The_First_Alien_Visitor_to_the_Solar_System)