Solver:	Hello Sirian, thanks for coming to the interview. For starters, can you tell us something about your real-life persona?
Sirian:	I'm 36, single guy, live out in the sticks in western Pennsylvania. Life is fairly quiet here and that's good. I like quiet. Er... mostly.
Solver:	The word is, you are also a writer. What exactly is it that you write?
Sirian:	When I was five years old and in kindergarten, my favorite TV show was afternoon reruns of the original Star Trek. I have been a hardcore sci-fi fan ever since. I got in to computer programming as a child, learned a lot, had an apprenticeship with a systems administrator for a shoe store chain. ... I learned a lot, including that I didn't really want to be a code jockey the rest of my life. I got inspired to try writing instead, even though math and science were my forte in school. I poured my entire adult life in to writing science fiction and fantasy, and never broke in to the publishing industry. There's an enormous amount of competition and publishers make snap decisions at a glance. However, I have no regrets. I still expect to achieve publication for my work, down the line. It is a question not only of talent and skill, but also perseverance and opportunity. The tales of bestsellers that were initially rejected many times by publishers are legion. You just have to find someone who believes in what you are doing.
Solver:	Yes, I can recall that happening with Stephen King, for example. Actually, when already famous, he found an old story of his that was once rejected, submitted it after so many years, and the publishers were happy!
Sirian:	You also have to make choices. If you experience adversity, you have to decide what matters the most to you. I was determined to stick with working on only things that I care a great deal about and can believe in.
Solver:	You're also a gamer, and have been active in the online gaming world for 10 years now. How did you initially get involved with computer games? Did your love for sci-fi contribute to that?
Sirian:	I won a contest. (Seriously!) My father's company (he was a chemical treatments salesman) was launching a new product line. They were looking for a name for the new product. At age nine, I came up with the idea they used, and my prize was an Atari 2600 video game console with four cartridges.
Solver:	Do you still happen to remember that name you came up with?
Sirian:	A screenshot from the first "Always War" game. The concept was originated by Arathorn and eventually grew to be the most popular variant for CivIII. "Floor Activator" -- it was an orange-oil based cleaner. They are more common these days. American TV viewers who've seen ads for "Orange Glow"... That's more or less what it was. This was at the end of 1978. Anyway... I played Atari at home, and started to visit the video arcades. I was good there, too. I won a contest on a new coin-op video game at the local arcade in 1979. Coin-ops faded out when the home computer started to come in to its own. I've more or less been playing video games of various kinds ever since that first Atari. I never had a Nintendo, though. By that time, I had moved to PC gaming. Who wants to play Nintendo when he could be playing Pirates, Railroad Tycoon, or Civilization? (Seriously!) Once you have Civved, you can't go back.

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