Interview with fantasy and science fiction author Nancy Kress. I’ve never read anything by Kress but after reading the interview I am definitely interested.

…very little about my career has been planned. As time went on, my “soft SF” turned to medium-viscosity, then actually hardened. What interests me now about hard SF is that this is the future we will be living in, and not that long ahead, either. For some reason, knowing that enables me to create characters that feel more real than those I created for fantasy.

[...]

Genetic engineering intrigues me so much because it’s the most intimate of the sciences, impacting our bodies and brains and those of our children. Whereas quasars, say, are happening millions of light years away. The other “aspect of our progress” — or lack of it — that concerns me most is managing the planetary environment, including food crops.

That sounds interesting and timely. I actually prefer science fiction that features spaceships and weird alien planets but authors seem to be getting more interested in Earth and its near future, which can be interesting.

There are also a number of wonderful fantasy art images in the article, with links to the artists’ sites. Lots to explore.