Micro-interview with R.M. Pérez-Padilla

Today’s micro-interview is with the wonderful R.M. Pérez-Padilla, author of “Transmogrification” in The Future Fire #70.

---

Art © 2024 Joel Bisaillon

TFF: What does “Transmogrification” mean to you?

R.M. Pérez-Padilla: I wrote “Transmogrification” when I, like Max, was a few months into HRT, balancing new gender euphorias and the strangeness of a changing body. Rereading it now, three years later, I find it holds a special place for me as a marker of my gender journey. The title is partly inspired by a favorite poem, “notes on the seasons” by trans Puerto Rican poet Roque Salas Rivera, which speaks about “wait[ing] for transmogrification.”

TFF: What is the most important thing to remember about writing?

RMPP: That it is at its best when it is honest, and that it can be anything! All my work has improved when I’ve been able to let the characters and the story lead me to new possibilities, even if they're not quite in line with my original plans.

TFF: What are you working on next?

RMPP: I’m currently editing a (hopefully final!) draft of my romance/science fiction novel, starring an augmented human, a surveillance AI, and an alien ex-revolutionary. Like “Transmogrification,” the novel explores how our intimate relationships, romantic and otherwise, can heal our wounds and help us to become more truly ourselves.

---

Extract:

“You tried to finger yourself and had a panic attack,” my girlfriend concludes. Not unkindly, but not with much gentleness, either, like I’m the dumbass for not realizing what I experienced. Which, generally speaking, is the issue with us.

---

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/07/new-issue-202470.html.