John Scalzi is the current president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. His novels The Old Man's War (2005) and The Last Colony (2007) were nominated for Hugo Awards. He has written several Rough Guides, including The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies (2005), and his multifarious online writing about science fiction was awarded a Hugo in 2008. Genre craftsman.

"I'm a little wary about consciously trying to sit down to write a 'great story.' There's that old saying: 'If you want to send a message, use Western Union.' I want to write a good story, one that keeps a reader wanting to read. I think that within the confines of a good story one can write some fairly significant things, so long as they are in service to that story. "