Ron Collins
Science Fiction Author
Homepage: http://typosphere.com/
Feature By: Jonathan Earley
Photography By: Jonathan Earley
I found it somewhat comical that a week after seeing Gentlemen Broncos, I was contacted by a local, critically acclaimed Science Fiction writer who had happened to stumble across C-buz through a Google search. If you have seen Gentlemen Broncos, you know that it's directed by Jared Hess, who had also directed Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, and you know how socially awkward his films are. But if you haven't seen it, watch this trailer and you should get a pretty good idea. While reading Ron's email, with the movie still fresh in my mind, I was pretty geeked out by the whole situation.
I personally am a pretty big fan of sci-fi, but, like most, the term "Science Fiction" tends to conjure up images of Star Wars fanatics, Trekees, and more recently, people painting themselves blue and learning to speak Na'vi. But Ron sees the genre much more for its philosophical and psychological exploration. In fact, he believes science fiction to be the "most human" of all literatures.
After finding out more about Ron's accomplishments, and simply hearing how his mind works, I have no doubt that Ron is a creative in the purest sense. He pulls his ideas from just about anywhere, whether from his job, random objects, or podcasts on scientific developments, and elegantly weaves them together into compelling narratives. Just having a conversation with him was inspiring and also another reminder of the vast hidden talent in Columbus.
C-buz: What awards have you won for your writing?
Ron Collins: CompuServe's readers named my story "The Taranth Stone" as best novelette of 2000. And the Writers of the Future judges selected "Out of the Blue" as a prize winner in 1999 (and "The Disappearance of Josie Andrew" as a finalist the year prior). Both of the WotF stories were recognized at a banquet in Los Angeles. Kevin J. Anderson (most lately notable for his work on the Dune series) actually presented my last award, which was a big kick for me because I really like his work.
I've also been recognized by readers of Marion Zimmer Bradley's FANTASY magazine, and twice had stories included on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Preliminary Nebula Award ballot.
It's always a thrill when someone says something I did was good, of course.
CB: Have you rubbed elbows with any celebs?
RC: I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of writers - including several of the greats. I've been lucky enough to have conversations with science fiction legends like Frederik Pohl, Robert Silverberg, and Jack Williamson - all of them gave me big thrills. The world-wide science fiction community is very open and easy to get into. Go to a science fiction convention and pull up a chair with a bunch of writers and you'll be in for a great time.
Meeting people who you look up to is a heckuva lotta fun.
CB: What first sparked your interest in writing?
RC: I played with stories in high school and college, but didn't get serious until I was working at my professional career (I'm an engineer by degree) and had been posted to a 6-week liaison duty. The assignment came with a "furnished" apartment that consisted of a couch, a teeny-tiny television set, and a computer with a broken hard drive. I pounded out probably 35,000 words of terrible fiction in that six weeks, but it was great fun and I was pretty well hooked from that point on.
CB: When did you first get into sci-fi?
RC: Science fiction has always been interesting to me. I can remember being 9 or 10 and spending summer afternoons reading Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein stories out in the back yard. My uncle got me into comics, too - Spider-Man and Fantastic Four and the Flash. But I thought science fiction, and all speculative fiction for that matter, was the coolest thing - the thing that grabbed me from the very beginning. In my college years I veered off into darker fantasy and sword and sorcery-type fiction - Michael Moorcock's Elric series and the rest of the Eternal Champion stuff was great. I guess you could call those my Dungeons and Dragons years.
CB: What genre(s) of sci-fi are you into?
RC: I'm into about anything with some derivation of the fantastic. I love fiction that puts characters into situations they get stretched by. Science fiction and fantasy worlds can do that in ways more mundane settings can't.
CB: Favorite sci-fi films?
RC: There are a lot of great SF movies. I thought Primer was awesome. It's a small, independent film that I doubt too many people saw, but it's very smart and didn't speak down to the audience. I had to watch it two or three times before I understood it, though, so it's not for everyone. I liked Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind a lot, too. The Terminator was a great story, and I thought the first Matrix film was fantastic, but movies two and three reduced the impact of the first.
Of course, 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps the best SF film ever made.
CB: What is it specifically that fascinates you with sci-fi? Technological ideas? The political insinuations?
RC: Being an engineer at heart, I admit getting amped by all things techie, but that's not what brings me to science fiction. If I can be excused for using the terms "science fiction" and "literature" in the same sentence, I would say that science fiction is, to me, the most human of literatures.
“At its best, science fiction's main purpose has always been to explore society and help define exactly what makes us human.”
I guess it's the scope of science fiction that speaks to me - the way it studies and defines people.
CB: What are your predictions for the future within your lifetime?
RC: I think the world is going to be less US-centric and more truly diverse, and this will change things in ways that no one can predict. I think we'll eventually see alternate sources of energy arise, though economic factors may well slow this down. And I think genetics and genetic engineering will be absolutely fascinating to watch. We're very close to being able to make our own evolutionary paths, and the ramifications of this are, of course, huge.
But the most honest answer is really that I don't have a clue. The future is way too hard to predict.
CB: As an engineer at Cummins, does your work ever inspire your writing? Or do you ever use your ideas towards work?
RC: I'm sure the experience influences me to some degree, but I actively attempt to avoid writing Cummins-specific things. It just feels better to make that separation. And it's not too hard to make that separation either. I've been in contact with a lot of companies, so when I write about characters in corporate environments I pull from a lot of directions.
CB: How has Columbus influenced your thinking or writing?
RC: Well, I'm a Midwestern guy. I lived in South Bend, Indianapolis, and Louisville before coming here. They are who I am. But someone else would have to say how they influence me.
As I said earlier, though, I enjoy the SF field specifically because it is comprised of such a wide diversity of thought. I find myself constantly feeling I need to stretch further than I'm sometimes comfortable of doing.
CB: Are there any changes you wish to see in Columbus in terms of creative outlets?
RC: Columbus, being relatively small, is always going to struggle to support a lot of artistic careers locally. By this, I mean, as a writer, I could possibly make my living while living in Columbus because I can create my material anywhere (and the Internet makes it easier than ever for me to gain visibility). But it's always going to be hard to make a living as, for example, an actor while living here, because the population of theater consumers is relatively small.
So the goal probably needs to be focused on providing opportunities to live creative lives, and maybe find some ways to fund a few projects that would help those with passion for careers in creative fields.
At the end of the day, though, so much of success in creative fields is about not giving up. Maybe that's a direction the city can think about as they decide how to spend our tax dollars - how can the city help people who are on the edge of giving up?
I think communication can play a big role, too. To some degree creativity needs to be consumed to be relevant, and it's hard to pay attention to things you don't know about. I was pretty jazzed, for example, to find C-buz existed. Creativity is enabled by collaboration and mixing. The more information and news about creative endeavors you can put in front of people, the better off the arts will be.