>I was wondering what's it like for you as an sf
>books/movies/TV fan when people mention you or talk to you in
>the same breath as Gene Roddenberry or George Lucas and tell
>you that what you've done in creating a universe that has
>affected so many peoples' imaginations will probably be as
>well-remembered and well-loved as the STAR TREK and/or STAR
>WARS universes?

My first reaction is generally pretty much the same...I cringe, because on some
level, it ain't me, it's the show. (This ain't falses modesty, it ain't
looking to be contradicted, I know and fully understand my role in the show
*intellectually*, I'm talking about the *emotional* response.)

To me, Lucas is LUCAS, all caps. He's a big deal, a celebrity, a truly
creative force of nature. In my head, he's seven feet tall. I'm just me. So
it's hard to look at myself in the same fashion.

Which, I suppose, is a good thing. It helps me avoid the whole ego inflation
thing which, in my view, is what's ruined a lot of Ray Bradbury's work (for me)
in recent years. It's as if he's not as much interested in telling real
stories as in being Ray Bradbury. I don't know that that's the case, but that'
s how I perceive it. I think the moment you buy into your own public image,
you're dead.

>When you set out, did you have it in the back
>of your mind, "Y'know, one of these days, my universe could
>well be up there with the others!!"

I don't think I let myself think that far ahead; if I had, I would've frozen
up. The other day, somebody referred in a message to the Straczynskiverse, and
I about fell over....

jms

From: (jmsatb5@aol.com)
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