The Sterling FAQ 
Questions Frequently Asked of Bruce Sterling

Your name sounds vaguely familiar. Didn't you write some book called "Hamper Clampdown" or something?
Yes, I wrote "The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier" (Bantam Books 1993). It's a nonfiction work about computer crime, electronic networks, cops, hackers, and civil liberties. The book's become pretty well-known among the people-of-modems.

Did you really give away HACKER CRACKDOWN on the Internet so that people could copy it and read it for nothing? And, if so, where do I get my copy?
HACKER CRACKDOWN comes in four parts. The electronic version was released to the Net on New Years Day 1994. It has an introduction explaining the legal and commercial aspects of distributing the text online, and an afterword that follows some of the major issues and characters in HACKER CRACKDOWN up to 1994. Dozens of Internet sites have this full-text available. You might websearch it, or try www.eff.org for starters; there's plenty of other good related material in there. Keep in mind that the text is about 80,000 words long. It might be considerably cheaper (and far more legible) to get the book as a secondhand paperback.

Are you going to update this computer-crime book and give it away again?
No. I don't think the world requires science fiction writers to write about computer crime any more. There are plenty of other books on the subject now, and I prefer to stay ahead of our time.

Don't you think you lost a lot of money by "giving away" a whole book on the Internet? Aren't your publishers going to kill you?
No, and no.

What is "cyberpunk?"
"If you don't know by now, don't mess with it."

How come there's no Bruce Sterling movies? I bet a guy with your intense pop culture and media interests would be real eager to work for Hollywood, right? Wow! I know *I* would!
I know this would seem plausible, but I really don't have the time or much interest in this area. The only kind of cinema I really enjoy is Hong Kong commercial product. And raw computer graphic demo reels. And, okay, I was a big fan of Federico Fellini, but he's dead.

If you're a producer or director or screenwriter and you want to buy rights to one of my properties, contact my agent (Merrilee Heifetz, WRITERS HOUSE Inc, 21 West 26th Street, New York NY 10010 fax 212-685-1781, heifetz@writershouse.com). We'll cheerfully sell you an option. Just don't expect me to write any screenplays.

I have a brief cameo appearance in an independent film called DELICATE ART OF THE RIFLE. I play a demented TV weatherman. My dialogue was surprisingly good, but my performance reveals a total lack of talent.

Hello Mr Bruce "Cyberpunk Guru" Sterling, I am a journalist from some (fanzine) (e-zine) (radio station) (local American newspaper) (weird Euro cyberfashion rag) (inexplicable Nipponese technomedia magabook). Do you think we might elicit some snappy oneliners or soundbites by (voicephone) (fax) (letter) (email)?
Probably. Being a journalist myself, I try to make it a point of principle to always talk to journalists. If I'm around I'll probably talk to you.

Email is your best bet for reaching me.

What are you working on now?
My latest science fiction novel is called ZEITGEIST and will be out some time around the turn of the century. After that I plan to write more nonfiction based on a couple of internet lists that I'm running. One is about extinct forms of media and the other is about postindustrial design issues. Ask me, and I'll put you on.

Do you actually read all your own email?
So far, yeah.

What is William Gibson's (home phone number) (street address) (email address) (fax number) (credit card number)?
Leave the poor guy alone; he gets a big great green garbage bag full of mail every day.

Are you still William Gibson's friend after writing that weird DIFFERENCE ENGINE thing together? By the way, I didn't get the ending.
Yes I am still on quite good terms with William "Gomi-no-Sensei" Gibson, and if you didn't comprehend that book you should continue reading it over and over until you do.

I don't really have a question for you, but I'm a really k-k00l, k-rad hacker dood. I'm into systems all over the place, universities, hospitals, my high school, and many other such threatening centers of oppressive authority. Just last week I got root on UNIX at the server for a chain of florists shops. Nobody can catch me and nobody even knows who I am!!!
Well, since I *am* a computer crime journalist, go right ahead and tell me all about it (bruces@well.com). I'm sure that will make you feel much, much better.

What's your PGP key?
Don't use 'em. I never knew a real-life computer crime cop or investigator who paid any attention to deciphering encryption. I regard this as a 99% theoretical form of "security." Using big number-crunching high-tech to protect the brief transmission of Internet email gives people a false sense of security. If you get in trouble, it won't be because you were tapped and cracked by the NSA. It'll be because somebody you trusted ratted on you (or because you bragged). Trust me on this. If you're really worried about your privacy, stop using credit cards and shred your trash.

Who's your agent?
Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House Inc, 21 West 26th Street, New York NY 10010, FAX 212-685-1471, phone 212-685-2400. heifetz@writershouse.com

What books have you written?

In order of production (starting in 1977), Involution Ocean, The Artificial Kid, Schismatrix, Islands in the Net, The Difference Engine (with William Gibson), Heavy Weather, Holy Fire, and Distraction (1998). I also edited the anthology Mirrorshades. I have three collections of short stories: Crystal Express, Globalhead and A Good Old-Fashioned Future.

I also wrote the nonfiction book The Hacker Crackdown, and a lot of incidental journalism of various kinds: reviews, travel pieces, art criticism, speeches and so on. I've been keeping pretty busy for over 20 years now.

What kinda box ya got?
A couple of elderly Macs, an iMac, and a big Dell Windows machine.

Why do you live in Austin Texas instead of (London) (Amsterdam) (San Francisco) (Silicon Valley) (Vancouver) (Raleigh) (Manhattan) (Prague) (Milan) (in an offshore data haven built on an abandoned oil-rig and guarded by heavily armed corporate ninjas)?
Austin was cheap once upon a time, and the libraries are still good. I like all those other places, and I'll go there in a heartbeat, but I belong here, and I need my taco chips.