quote:

"I've been writing stuff set in the 21st century since 1981. Now that I've actually arrived into the 21st century the hard way, the real 21st century is so much wackier and more perverse than anything I've been able to make up. I wake up in the morning, look at the newsfeed on my computer and away I go."

In the case of "Spook Country," he even surprised himself. Gibson admits he had no idea what was in the container until he was well into the novel. He made lists; he played with ideas.

In the end, he says, "I feel like I found the punch line." The reader in him was pleased by the trick.

"It came as kind of a surprise for me and I actually enjoyed it," he says. "I usually don't enjoy writing the ending of a book as much as I enjoyed writing the end of this one."