Audi 2007 Annual Report Download - page 75

using fact and fiction in a novel can have a tan-
gible impact: A survivor of the South East
Asian tsunami owes his life to the accurate descrip-
tion of a sea swell in your novel “The Swarm.” Does
that ever cross your mind as you write?
Not at first. I’m not trying to write a “User’s Guide to Planet
Earth.” My job is to tell stories. I make my money by wri-
ting about monsters, mass murderers and psychopaths.
That’s entertainment. I relish toying with the esthetics of
fear. The question of educating the public only comes in
when I transport horror into the real world. Although at this
point, you do start to take on a certain responsibility. After
all, if I want to write about natural disasters in a credible
way, I know I will need to do a lot of research on my own
because what I write will be influencing the public’s opi-
nion and even society’s code of values.
But some of your characters really do exist. Sam
in your novel is actually called Jill Tartar; she’s a
researcher with SETI, an organization that searches
space for signs of intelligent life. Do you believe in
alien life forms?
Of course. There are masses of them. Life has developed on
countless planets, and intelligent civilizations have evolved
on a lot of them. To think anything else would be arrogant
and naive.
What do you trust in?
In my own power of judgment, my intellect, my clear vision.
F