Nancy Kress on Dogs

Mike Brotherton has an interesting interview with Nancy Kress about her new bioterrorism thriller Dogs and writing science fiction. Her inspiration for her latest novel was real deadly pathogens:

I’m fascinated by the way viruses and bacteria, including pathogens, can both mutate naturally and be genetically engineered. I’ve read everything I can find, for instance, on the outbreaks of Ebola in Congo and Sudan. Genetically engineered pathogens turn up in my books OATHS AND MIRACLES and STINGER. In fiction, the pathogens are usually transmitted by humans. But, I mused, it doesn’t have to be that way …and just about that time I happened to get a dog.

And she strives to get the science right in her novels:

Whether it’s detailed or merely sketched in, I try hard to get the science right. This isn’t always easy for me, since I have no scientific training. One of my proudest moments was a call from the Whitehead Institute for Biological Research in Boston. The scientists there had been passing around OATHS AND MIRACLES, part of which is set at Whitehead, and they wanted to know whom I knew up there that was working on envelope proteins.

That must have been a very cool moment!

You can win a copy of Dogs from Tachyon Publications by submitting a photo of your favorite canine before July 31.

Tags:Nancy Kress, Dogs