Some writers begin work on the new novel by writing the last scene first. I’ve never thought of doing that. That would make the process of writing the novel so boring! I usually start writing once I have a solid idea and a collection of sketches. Often I don’t even know how the chapter will end! But the whole of the novel, the tree of the plot, is already there. Who is the first person to read your new works? My publisher. My family reads it only after it’s been published. Many authors complain that it can be very hard to come up with names for their novels. I have the name ready even before I write the opening line. There have been three or four instances when I had to make concessions to my publisher: for example, Envoy was originally supposed to be called The Shadow of Lucifer’s Wing. I didn’t make a big deal out of changing the name for publication, but a couple of reprints have the original title. What are you working on right now? There’s a science fiction adventure novel In The Time Of My Tears that’s scheduled to come out in the beginning of 2005. I’m not going to describe the plot; suffice it to say, the mood of the novel is quite unusual for me, very lyrical. I insisted on adding a subtitle, The Rain Novel. Your website has a long list of books you want to buy… I’m an inveterate bibliophile. Every Saturday, I drive out to the Olympic sports complex, which has the best and biggest book fair in Moscow. I’ve been collecting science fiction books for many years now; as you can imagine, my collection is quite impressive. Just this past Sunday, I found the 1956 two-volume edition of Wells at the Olympic fair. It looked like it had never been opened. You are an electronic engineer. Does your profession help you in your writing? I left my Head of Department job at a prestigious scientific organization over 15 years ago, but I still constantly read scientific journals. I follow all new discoveries through the internet – not just in my own field, but in the field of medicine, psychology, astrology, cosmology, plasma and string theories… Naturally, it helps me write believable science fiction. How long does it usually take you to complete and release a novel? It takes at least half a year, including the month or so that I spend collecting information for the book. I’m a very fast writer. My older novels have been continuously in print for more than a quarter of the century, but I know full well that to keep my readers’ interest I have to give them two new books a year. So I have to write fast. Giving advice to young writers, an eminent published author once said that a writer shouldn’t quit his day job and start living on his royalties until his fifth book. What do you think? I disagree completely! That all depends on the writer’s abilities and on the abilities of his publisher. There are so many amazing authors, but their books come out in tiny editions. Right now, people mostly read two kinds of books: books to kill time in the subway and forget once they’re done, and books that make them think, that have to be read carefully and attentively.