Simba Wiltz is the embodiment of a prodigy. He came to Carolina with a Morehead Scholarship and an invitation to play Division I football. As a freshman, he started writing his first novel. In December of 2001, MainFrame: Beginnings was published by the Xlibris Corporation. Currently, Wiltz is a professional student in the Pharmacy School. The official Site for MainFrame is available at http://www.wiltzworks.com/mainframe/

Beacon: Well let's start with an easy one: What do you look for when you write a read a story for fun?

Simba: That I read for fun? (laughs) Well I guess when I have time to read for fun, it has to be something that keeps me interested, has artistic merit. A lot times you see people write a story just to tell a story, and they don't really pay attention to the art of it. And action, you gotta love action. And I like a character that has what I consider to have an interesting problem.

Beacon: And who are some of your favorite authors to read?

Simba: Clive Cussler I suppose, though in a lot of other realms, certain others have certainly had an influence like Octavia Barnes, who does a lot of science fiction. Isaac Asimov was the first science fiction author I ever read. But I'll generally just pick up a book and read just about anybody, though with school, I rarely get the chance to read the whole thing.

Beacon: Is there a literary focus in your family?

Simba: There's an educational focus. My mother actually teaches or is an instructor of writing in Orange County, Florida, and she's done all kinds of great things teaching the nuts and bolts of writing. She's very focused on some of the scientific aspects of writing. Other than that, people just kind of write for fun.

Beacon: Who else do you credit for helping you become a writer?

Simba: My fifth grade teacher. She was the first one to introduce us to the short story, and instead of always reading, she would have us write stories of our own design. Her focus was on creating worlds outside of worlds, and I have just never let that go. Her, and also my high school instructor for English. I had her for two years, through International Baccalaureate, and she was phenomenal. One of the things I remember especially was that she was really into the literary techniques that writers employ, and once you start breaking down a piece by the techniques that are used, the piece becomes that much more interesting. You can see the tools; you can see where someone sat and thought about what word they were going to pick; it all becomes just that much more complex.

As a fire alarm interrupts the interview, Simba and I evacuate to seek the shelter of the Bull's Head Bookshop.

Beacon: You published MainFrame just in December, but you are still a student in the Pharmacy School. How do you balance those two things?

Simba: I don't really know if I do. There are certain times when pharmacy is more important, and there are certain times when MainFrame is more important. When I can tell pharmacy is more important are times like this week when I have four exams coming up in a couple days, and when I can tell MainFrame is more important are those times when I wake up at four o'clock in the morning with an idea that just cannot quit. I have to wake and get it out, just so I can get to sleep. It is time management, and I do have to give up certain things just so I can find time to do what I care about most. TV-I don't watch that at all because they are feeding you information, where I like to produce it. And there are the Friday nights when I stay in just to work, and I cannot allow myself to mind that too much.

Beacon: Could you just talk for a bit about how Pellicia, the world you create in MainFrame, came to be?

Simba: How did it come to be? (smiles) Bouts of mania and a little bit of philosophical thought. It was very important that the world be believable because, if I showed you a picture of a character, you may not be immediately able to relate because naturally, they aren't human. Once I knew that this was the way I wanted to go, it really became important that the world be based on logic. It began about two years ago when I was taking a Philosophy class and Organic Chemistry. Those really don't come together very easily, but when you start to thinking about the reasons why people think the way they do and the different ways of thinking, you start slowly to create worlds of thought, and if you start with worlds of thought, they slowly become physical worlds.

Beacon: In your first novel, there were a lot of questions that were left with the reader, and many were partially answered with the conclusion of the book. Are these questions going to be drawn into with the second novel?

Simba: Drawn into and answered. Not completely of course. That is going to take a different novel all in itself. That is sort of a tease on purpose, just to have the reader at the end, pause and say, "There is just not something right there." But that will be taken care of.

Beacon: Do you have a title for book two yet?

Simba: A Matter of Transfer, at least that's what it's been for the last four years, so I don't really see a change any time soon.
Beacon: What is it that appeals to you about science fiction as a genre?

Simba: (Big Smile) Unlimited opportunity!

Beacon: What do you say to those critics who write off science fiction as being too fantastic, or the phrase that is used a lot, escapist?

Simba: Escapist? Why are people reading for fun if they aren't going to have some sort of escape? I think that there are much more dangerous things in this world than allowing someone to create another world in your mind and allow them to manipulate it. If they think that's escapist, that's fine, that's their opinion, but there are a lot of very interested, intelligent people who are interested in the worlds that we can create because they are mirrors oftentimes. There are many writers who are trying to think inside the box, trying to describe the inside of the box. Only by taking yourself out of that box, into a science fiction realm, can you look at the outside of the box. Science fiction writers are trying to create a new realm and say, "This is not our world, but it's a whole lot like it."

Beacon: What themes do you find yourself repeating as you write, even across genres?

Simba: Struggle comes to mind immediately, the conflict between intelligence and the world that does not necessarily accept intelligence. I find it interesting that there is always an attack on intelligence, from something as simple as putting a warning label on something that should be obvious, to more complex things like if you are talking to a group and use a word that the audience doesn't understand, then they will somehow foist the embarrassment of not understanding onto you because you used the word. I always find this very funny, so how intelligent people handle themselves in difficult things. Finally now, I find myself examining the concept of the human animal. It has kind of a philosophical edge to it, some really interesting questions with it, kind of difficult things to put a hand on.

Beacon: While you are on campus, which places do you find yourself writing the most?

Simba: Mostly in my room, and the way my room is set up, under my bed because I have it lofted. My desk is under there, and I have almost no room. I call it the cockpit. But there is really no place that I reserve for my writing. In past years, this story has seen New York City; it has seen Washington, DC; Orlando, of course; plane rides, it's seen Eringhaus, and I'm sorry for that. (laughs) It's been everywhere with me, and all those things end up making it in the work somehow.

Beacon: Well we started with reading, and now I'll ask you a question about books to end. If you were banished to a deserted island and could only take three books with you, what would you take?

Simba: Can't I just take my computer? That way, I'll write my own!