New issue: 2024.71

“Europeans brought with them the view that men were the absolute head of households, and women were to be submissive to them. It was then that the role of women in Cherokee society began to decline. One of the new values Europeans brought to the Cherokees was a lack of balance and harmony between men and women. It was what we today call sexism. This was not a Cherokee concept. Sexism was borrowed from Europeans.”

—Maria Mankiller

Issue 2024.71

Short stories

• ‘Whiskey Mud’, Jonathan Olfert - art by Cécile Matthey
• ‘Deep Sea Baby’, Faith Allington - art by Sebastian Timpe
• ‘That Small, Hard Thing on the Back of Your Neck’, Vanessa Fogg - art by Ellis Bray
• ‘In the Field’, Shelly Jones - art by L.E. Badillo
• ‘Deirdre’s Skin’, Amalie N. Ingham - art by Sarah Salcedo

Poetry

• ‘A Moon Witch Seeks a Shell’, Devan Barlow - art by Melkorka
• ‘Two Hybrids’, Rachel Rodman - art by Fluffgar

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB

Micro-interview with Joel Bisaillon

Joel Bisaillon, artist of “Transmogrification” in The Future Fire #70, is with us for the next in this season of micro-interviews.

Art © 2024 Joel Bisaillon

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Transmogrification”?

Joel Bisaillon: I have to be honest. It wasn’t easy. Like any piece you try to do the author justice by honoring their work with the best of your understanding. Having chosen most of my labels as a goth/punk kid, I’ve understood the labelling others cast out towards me, but I know that mine was personally elected. This isn’t that whatsoever. This is part of the character's core being and to get that right without falling into a caricature of what a straight white male might project isn’t the easiest. I want to ensure the protagonist is respected, and the story is honoured. So, in short with more hearty and thinky than arty.

TFF: What is the thing you lost and wish you could find again?

JB: Focus.

TFF: How do you imagine early digital graphics will be seen by future art historians?

JB: Unfortunately, I don’t think that digital art will be that significant to future artists or historians. I know it’s a bleak outlook but with the advent of generative AI instilling the acceptance of demanding unearned rewards without learning the skills to do so, and the fact that one can simply copy/paste digital art we have lost the ability to be enamoured by its uniqueness. Art Historians (should they recover from this) will see a “dark ages” loom over this time saturated with big-breasted inbred anime girls corrupted by the generation loss of AI feeding upon its product like Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son.

TFF: Have you ever seen a piece of art that you wished was alive?

JB: I know I’m an odd duck for this but Diane Arbus’ photograph – Child with Toy Hand Grenade. That kid has seen some shit and needs to unleash it.

TFF: Can you tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

JB: Recently I’ve been enjoying the old pulp horror/sci-fi art of weird tales and one of my favorites is Lee Brown Coye. Amazing macabre black and white ink works yet whimsical.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

JB: Besides my own webcomic Eirgsmoth, I’ve a few projects due for Roses & Wildflowers Magazine. Oh and still trying to quit my day job.

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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.

Micro-interview with Zoe Kaplan

Zoe Kaplan, author of “The End of Rain” in The Future Fire #70, joins us for today’s micro-interview about her story, mountains, and other friends.

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Art © 2024 Joyce Chng

TFF: What does “The End of Rain” mean to you?

Zoe Kaplan: “The End of Rain” is a reflection on the end of a relationship. It's abstracted in the story, enough so that (hopefully!) all kinds of readers can resonate with it, but it grew out of one real specific friendship I had as a teenager. It was intimate and sustaining until it wasn't. Not every relationship gets to be forever, which sucks, but I'd like to think we're both stronger for the time we had together. At least, I am—and their Instagram makes it look like they're doing okay, too!

TFF: Which natural or geographical feature do you feel most affinity for?

ZK: I grew up in the Appalachian mountains, and they have my heart forever. And I love to be in a forest! The denser the trees, the less sky I can see, the better. I love the way a forest makes you feel so held.

TFF: What are you working on next?

ZK: I've got a story coming out at the end of this month from Dragon Gems. It's a contemporary sapphic retelling of Sleeping Beauty, with magic and swords and penthouses and subways. It should be a lot of fun! Follow my socials or my newsletter to be notified when it comes out. 😊 Beyond that, I'm currently working on a Gothic ghost story that's turning out way longer than I expected, so wish me luck taming that beast.

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Extract:

I made my home on a patch of damp farmland. I was young and so was she, her trees mere saplings next to the neighboring forests. I tilled her soil and trimmed her branches, and in return, she provided me with fruits and grains, more than I could eat.

It rained often in those days. I would lie on the grass and let the water seep into us both as we talked for hours at a time. We were sustained like that for perhaps two years, growing into each other like vines.

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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.

Micro-interview with Katharine A. Viola

We’re delighted to be joined today by Katharine A. Viola, artist of “Matryoshka City” in The Future Fire #70, for a very quick chat.

Art © 2024, Katharine A. Viola

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Matryoshka City”?

Katharine A. Viola: This was such an intriguing story with great details, so it wasn't too hard to find something I wanted to paint. The macabre imagery of bodies in boxes really stood out to me.

TFF: Would you like to visit another planet?

KAV: Yes! Supposedly it rains diamonds on Neptune, so I'd like to go there with a couple of large bags!

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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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Micro-interview with Toeken

This week we’re joined by Toeken, artist of “The Ships That Sang” in The Future Fire #70, for our series of micro-interviews.

Art © 2024 Toeken

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “The Ships That Sang”?

Toeken: Gorgeous piece of work by Joss Cho. I began sketching after reading the piece about a dozen times, designing and painting about twenty-something screwheads (chucking most of them away ~ less is more, right?) and then painting/assembling the portholes so they don't look quite so 'obvious.'

TFF: How do you imagine early digital graphics will be seen by future art historians?

T: Any art of real value, creatively speaking, is born of effort and, to some extent, torment. Hopefully the 'art historians' of the future will still be able to recognize this.

TFF: What is under your bed?

T: I'm looking after two dogs right now. And they are both under my bed. They don't like the heat… or each other, it seems.

TFF: Can you tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

T: Again, there's a whole bunch but the works I've been digging into lately by Christophe Jacrot, Laura Rich, Eric Brenner, Ikkō Narahara and Juan Ruiz are extraordinary.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

T: I've just finished a few pieces for Shoreline of Infinity, The Future Fire (obviously), Lovecraftiana Magazine and working on a cover with the author Simon Bleaken. There's also a short graphic novella that I'm trying to finish that's based on Phil Emery's excellent tale, 'Hammek', who I've worked with in the past on the graphic novel Razor's Edge. There's an illustrated spec fiction/horror anthology that I've been wanting to finish for years on the way too.

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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.

Micro-interview with Mary Soon Lee

We welcome old friend Mary Soon Lee, author of the poem “What Heroines Read” in The Future Fire #70, for a quick chat about poems, animals and fantasy.

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Art © 2024 Dr T. Eratopo

TFF: What does “What Heroines Read” mean to you?

Mary Soon Lee: I primarily hoped the poem would entertain readers. It's part of a series of poems with similar titles ("What Trolls Read," "What Aliens Read," "What Cacti Read," etc.), and the series as a whole draws on my lifelong addiction to reading. This particular entry in the series has also been infiltrated by my feminism.    

TFF: Into which animal would you like to be able to morph?

MSL: A dragon. Or, for real-world animals, then a cat, either a small house-cat or a snow leopard. I am very partial to guanacos, alpacas, llamas, but I'd prefer to be a cat.

TFF: What are you working on next?

MSL: I'm writing standalone poems, plus poems that add onto slowly-growing poem sequences, including the series mentioned above with "What Heroines Read." I have completed another poetry collection, though it isn't in submission yet (nearly!) And an illustrated print edition of my epic fantasy The Sign of the Dragon is inching closer to publication: the wonderful Gary McCluskey recently completed the forty interior illustrations.

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Extract:

The selfsame canon that any hero does—
From Airavata to Zeus: A Pantheon,
The Point of Swordsmanship,
The Care and Feeding of Sidekicks.

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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.

Micro-interview with Auke Pols

Auke Pols, author of “The Transformative Three and the Clean Cooking Revolution (grant no. 437-775)” in The Future Fire #70, joins us for this week’s microinterview.

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Art © 2024 Cécile Matthey

TFF: What does “The Transformative Three and the Clean Cooking Revolution (grant no. 437-775)” mean to you

Auke Pols: The story was inspired by watching one too many superhero movies in which hyper-competent individuals solve world problems (usually other hyper-competent individuals) through technology and violence. Which made me wonder what superpowers one would really need to tackle wicked issues in international development, an area in which I’ve done both research and teaching. Unsurprisingly, it quickly became clear that the story would become a kind of antithesis of the classic superhero story. For one, the focus is on communities and institutions rather than individuals. Instead of flashy destruction, it is about creation, patience, hard work and upscaling. And most importantly, it is about setting aside individual agency and your own convictions and being open to the wants and needs of the other. In the words of Ernesto Sirolli: “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!” All this made it a challenge to write—but a deliciously subversive one!

TFF: Who is the most interesting person you've ever met while travelling?

AK: Visiting Eastern Europe, I once met a friendly and somewhat melancholic old Russian logician. I was mostly impressed by his dedication to his craft when his university board had instigated book bans, because they were ‘of the Devil’.

“What do we do with the Devil?” he asked his students.
“We fight him!’ was the answer.
“What do you need to fight an enemy?” he asked.
“Knowledge of the enemy!’ was, after some deliberation, the response.
“So if someone bans you from gaining knowledge about the enemy, should we not regard him as being in league with the enemy?”

His logic was ruthless, his dedication to his craft admirable. He also got fired. I never met him again: I hope the best for him.

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

AK: Two things come to mind—I hope you’ll indulge me. The first is that speculative fiction is important because it shows us that things can be otherwise, for better or worse. As the proverb says, we live in interesting times. This is a problem, because many people are suffering from their more violent aspects, and many more will suffer before we are through them. But a crisis is also always an opportunity to question our assumptions of what we really value as individuals and as society, how to share what we have and what future we want to create for our descendants. Good writing can help us think through these fundamental questions.

The second is that writing (and reading) is a way to help process emotions, your own and others’. Many years ago, a friend who I knew from Live Action Role-Playing died in a tragic accident. Our friend group deliberated on how to deal with this in the game, as characters perishing is not that unusual. So I wrote a story in which his character was called away on an epic quest from which it was clear that he could never return. It helped us deal with the grief, and for me, it was a realisation that I could not only write for fun, but that my writing could also do emotional work.

TFF: What are you working on next?

AK: I’ve just finalised a post-apocalyptic steampunk novel in which an elderly and an armless priest have to solve a murder in a crumbling island city. Currently I’m starting up a spiritual science fiction novel following a diplomat, a veteran and a scientist on a peace mission to a group of powerful aliens, whose welcoming gift to humanity may expand its consciousness—or destroy it entirely. Of course, finishing writing a novel is not quite the same as publishing it, so no promises on when you’ll be able to to read it—but I’ll keep The Future Fire updated!

More news in my LinkedIn or Hebban (Dutch).

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Extract: 

The sun sets in a dusty orange haze when our jeep bumps over the dirt road towards the low brick houses of the Bihari village. To anyone else it would have looked like the many villages dotting the North Indian countryside that we passed earlier, by train and by jeep. But when you’re a team of superheroes—determined Grace, silent Vlinder, Vinod sleeping in the back and me, Bram, you know when there’s change in the air.

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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.

Micro-interview with Joyce Chng

Joyce Chng, artist of “The End of Rain” in The Future Fire #70, joins us today for this month's micro-interview series.

Art © 2024 Joyce Chng

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “The End of Rain”?

Joyce Chng: What I did was to let the images come to me while I read the story. It was lyrical and beautiful, immediately inspiring some visual imagery. The first was the mandala of water/droplets, followed by two people embracing.

TFF: Have you ever had a close affinity with a piece of land or other geographical feature?

JC: Interestingly enough, I have had close affinity to… the sea. I feel calm when I touch sea water. As for land or geographical feature, I love mountains, hills and cliffs.

TFF: Have you ever seen a piece of art that you wished was alive?

JC: Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci. I am intrigued by her and her backstory. Her eyes seem to indicate a warm personality who loves to laugh.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

JC: A YA duology (Sapphic, swords, friendship, coming-of-age) and a collection of my own SFF stories.

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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

Micro-interview with Alexandra Brandt

We’re joined by Alexandra Brandt, author of “The Shape of Her Shadow” in The Future Fire #70, for a quick chat about monsters, #metoo and magic.

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Art © 2024 Fluffgar

 

 TFF: What does “The Shape of Her Shadow” mean to you?

Alexandra Brandt: I wrote this story in early 2018, in the middle of all the #MeToo revelations, and completed it the day after the Women's March in Washington, DC. We know who was in power in the US at the time. As an American and a woman, I was… really angry. Prior to that, I don't think I'd ever written a story while angry! I felt powerless (and to be honest, I still do)—but I needed to write something in the face of all that. Something that didn't give in to despair. For me, “The Shape of Her Shadow” is both rage and hope.

TFF: Who or what is your favourite monster?

AB: I don't think I have a favorite, but I did just watch Nimona last night, and she's pretty delightful.

TFF: What magical power would you like to possess?

AB: To open a door and have it go anywhere in the world in an instant. Preferably in a way that I could bring people along with me. (If I asked for any world-changing powers, I fear that I would abuse them in the name of "fixing" everything…)

TFF: What are you working on next?

AB: I have these three Sapphic fey historical romantasy novellas out right now, but they really need to be a proper novel. So my next goal is to make the novel happen and publish it by December.    

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Extract:

I wonder which monsters they mean: the shadowy creatures lurking deep in the Wilds that I and mine must soon enter… or these warlike men who now claim to protect my daughters from them.

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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.

New issue: 2024.70

“If we continue on this path of little by little destroying forests, destroying rivers, destroying air, the consequences are going to be awful for humans and cultures around the world, for all forms of life. And I want people to wake up.”

—Nemonte Nenquimo

Issue 2024.70

Flash fiction

• ‘The End of Rain’, Zoe Kaplan - art by Joyce Chng

Short stories

• ‘Transmogrification’, R.M. Pérez-Padilla - art by Joel Bisaillon
• ‘The Shape of Her Shadow’, Alexandra Brandt - art by Fluffgar

Novelettes

• ‘Matryoshka City’, Albert Chu - art by Katharine A. Viola
• ‘The Transformative Three and the Clean Cooking Revolution (grant no. 437-775)’, Auke Pols - art by Cécile Matthey

Poetry

• ‘The Ships That Sang’, Jess Cho - art by Toeken
• ‘What Heroines Read’, Mary Soon Lee - art by Dr T. Eratopo

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB

Full issue and editorial 

Micro-interview with Mahaila Smith

And this week we’re joined by Mahaila Smith, author of the poem “Manipulating the Light” in The Future Fire #69, to talk about solarpunk, climate crisis and future work.

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Art © 2024, Fluffgar

TFF: What does “Manipulating the Light” mean to you?

Mahaila Smith: I wrote “Manipulating the Light” after reading The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson. This book made me think about the specific impacts of the climate crisis in India and the technology being adopted in response. I find it important to read and write solarpunk in settings where the climate crisis is experienced most severely. The poem centres around a sapphic relationship which, as a queer person, was significant for me to include.

TFF: What are you working on next?

MS: My novelette in verse, Seed Beetle is forthcoming with Stelliform Press in 2025. This story explores themes of eco-dystopia, feminism, social organizing and the relationship between marine life and outer space. It is set in a Southern Ontario community that has experienced widespread desertification and loss of land to industrialization. The community looks to a robotics corporation to heal the land through its megafaunal automated beetles, however community members are harmed by exploitative labour practices and non-consensual brain implants.

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Extract:

The open skylights lance
drops of sunlight that slip
through prisms and bounce
off mirrors, leaving a spill
of colour and light
at the altar of the temple.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Katharine A. Viola

Katharine A. Viola, artist of “Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo” in TFF #69, joins us for today’s micro-interview on her work in this issue and other art.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo”?

Katharine A. Viola: The author made great use of imagery when describing the city’s relationship with nature. I really enjoyed how the two concepts meshed together and the picture I painted represents the image I had in my head while reading the story.

TFF: If you were able to draw a map of a real or imaginary place, what would that be?

KAV: Map of the universe!

TFF: What would be the most important thing for you to hold onto if civilization started to break down in your city?

KAV: Morals and integrity, though I would imagine it would be difficult as very little is ever black and white.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with L.E. Badillo

Please welcome L.E. Badillo, artist of “Space Gardens” in The Future Fire #69 (and cover artist) for today’s brief chat about illustrating and artistic medium.

 

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Space Gardens”?

L.E. Badillo: L. J. Lacey wrote a great story that was easy to work from. The feeling of loneliness and a repressed need to fill that place in one’s life played a huge part in my approach. A feeling of desolation, duty, and the perseverance of age.

TFF: What's the most unusual or challenging medium you can imagine working with?

LEB: I’d love to fully commit to working in oils. That’s an area I’ve never been able to put real time in. I find the amazing works of Bram and Patrick J. Jones equally intimidating and inspiring.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Lae Astra

We welcome Lae Astra, author of the poem “Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo” in The Future Fire #69, to join us for a brief chat about their work and the future.

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Art © 2024 Katharine A. Viola

TFF: What does “Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo” mean to you?

Lae Astra: Being able to imagine a better future is such a necessary and beautiful thing. I wanted to tell the story of one possible future that bloomed vividly in my mind while writing, one where we coexist peacefully with the fellow beings who share our planet.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LA: I am currently on a break from writing, but I hope to dream up more stories and pieces of art that connect to hopeful futures.

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Extract:

At the observation deck of Skytree 22,
we sit waiting for hatsuhinode,
the first sunrise of the new year.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Katie Kopajtic

We’re delighted to welcome Katie Kopajtic, author of “Terranueva” in The Future Fire #69, over for a quick chat.

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Art © 2024 Melkorka

TFF: What does “Terranueva” mean to you?

Katie Kopajtic: “Terranueva” is how I honor my experience marrying into a Puerto Rican family. My wife's hometown of Dorado has earned a reputation for an increasing number of wealthy continental American residents, as the government continues to spend on development to encourage further gentrification.

It is also a love letter to cross-generational relationships in a family, and to the jibara lifestyle as a means of resistance against colonization. Jibaro is simply the term used to describe a laborer of Puerto Rico's mountainous regions, but it can also be wielded as an insult, synonymous with country bumpkin, hick, or someone who is uneducated. But a new generation of Puerto Ricans have reclaimed jibaro as a culture to be honored, and worth preserving, especially as resort development continues to threaten the island's natural landscapes and working class.

TFF: What is the oldest memory you have?

KK: My oldest memory is of being a toddler and watching my immigrant grandfather Mirko play the accordion while my grandmother sings Croatian ballads. Mirko was a proud Yugoslavian, and a jibaro in his own way. His ‘old world’ ways and nostalgia for the village had an impact on my father and his siblings, and it continues to inspire me.

TFF: What are you working on next?

KK: My next project is completing my feature length documentary Heritage Fantasy, which tells the story of a struggling actress's journey to connect with her Croatian heritage and overcome her self-doubt: Believing that making a film about her roots will help with her brand and overall marketability, she travels to Croatia and interviews three generations of her family, uncovering themes of escapism, longing, and the artist's struggle. But when her film fails to solve her problems, she must confront her own expectations of what success means.

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Extract:

Even with a healthy brain, Marisol would not have recognized her old neighborhood. Turf grass yawned from the wrought iron gate to the ocean, crisscrossed with glittering quartz pathways that led to identical cream condos. She stared at The Ritz Bungalow #4 (‘Pearl’), supposing that the concrete walls, at least, hadn’t changed.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with L.J. Lacey

L.J. Lacey, author of “Space Gardens” in The Future Fire #69, joins us for today’s micro-interview.

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Art © 2024, L.E. Badillo

TFF: What does “Space Gardens” mean to you?

L.J. Lacey: “Space Gardens” reflects two concepts that are critical to me as a writer and thinker. First, we must embrace knowledges from throughout the world, and prioritize life over profits in the ways we implement those knowledges. Second, we need more and many representations of older people, especially women and nonbinary folks, who can inspire us to see a worthwhile future, both for ourselves and for our planet.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LJL: I am in the midst of two longer projects. My eco-fantasy novel is in the final stages of revision, and my newest project is a solarpunk novella.

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Extract:

Rita swept the small porch for a third or fourth time, glancing up to scan the rocky landscape for Ana’s ambling form. It had been an unsettling day and Ana’s absence only added to Rita’s feeling that things were off. Seeing nothing but the setting sun spreading a glow across the mountainside, Rita sighed and made the “ssspppss” sound that let the cats know dinner was ready. She kept the broom handy in case Vali was lurking about and gave a stern look to the small pack of dogs lazing in front of the house. A few rumbles of annoyance emerged from the dogs at the feline swarm taking over the side of the house, but they had already been fed and were content to stay put.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Ellis Bray

Ellis Bray, artist of “Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain” in The Future Fire #69, joins us for today’s micro-interview celebrating the release of the hopeful SF issue.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain”?

Ellis Bray: I actually created a couple of pieces for this one. The first one was a view of Saturn through a rain-streaked visor but I felt like it didn’t get the full feel of the story, which had a sense of longing to me. So I found a reference photo of someone staring off into the distance in a field, and used a combination of Procreate and NASA’s free images to build up the painting, using the reference to add our main character to the scene.

TFF: What famous work of art would you like to hang over your bed?

EB: It’s probably cliche, but I’m in love with Van Gogh’s “Starry Night.”

TFF: What's the most unusual or challenging medium you can imagine working with?

EB: Marble. Bernini’s ability to create flesh from hard rock is witchcraft, I’m pretty sure.

TFF: Can you tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

EB: I really love watching the adventures of Lisa Snellings’ poppets, which are handmade ceramic tiny dolls that she then professionally photographs in unusual situations. It’s so creative, and the poppets are eerie and gorgeous.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

EB: I’m in the early stages of a tattoo career, so I’m finishing up the last parts of the training before I can start taking clients. It’s a huge leap in mediums but everything else (color theory, composition, style) is roughly the same, which helps a lot.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Amanda Cook

We’re delighted that Amanda Cook, author of “Guidelines for Living Your Fairy Tale (in no Particular Order)” in The Future Fire #69, is joining us for a quick chat.

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Art © 2024 Joel Bisaillon

TFF: What does “Guidelines for Living Your Fairy Tale (in no Particular Order)” mean to you?

Amanda Cook: When I wrote “Guidelines…”, I already had a trunked story about Red Riding Hood getting tired of how her fairy tale was being read and literally carving her own path into a new story. She goes on to help all the other female fairy tale characters find their way to a happier existence on their own terms. This poem is sort of an extension of that story and also a reminder to myself that I don't have to wait on anyone else to forge my path in the world, but it's also okay to ask for help when I need it.

TFF: What was your favourite fairy tale when you were a child?

AC: I loved all the fairy tales I read as a child, but I was particularly drawn to Alice in Wonderland in book form. There was something about the absurdity of Wonderland that I loved, and again, Alice was a protagonist who eventually made her way home by thinking for herself (and with a little help here and there). I also loved Disney's Belle in Beauty and the Beast, because I was and still am that quirky, daydreaming, book-reading girl who loves libraries.

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

AC: I've come to learn over the years that I should write for myself, first and foremost. If I find I really connect with a piece I've written, whether it's poetry or prose, I tend to think (or, at the very least, hope) there is someone else in the world who will connect with it too.

TFF: What are you working on next?

AC: I'm in between projects and trying to write more poetry. I may end up creating a chapbook of some of my favorites later this year. I also have another poem that's supposed to be published by the end of 2024 that I can't wait to see in the world!

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Extract:

If you happen to find yourself
Locked in a tower, read away
Those quiet days and enjoy
The gift of alone time

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Melkorka

Melkorka, artist of “Terranueva” in The Future Fire #69, joins us for today’s mini-interview on the subject of antiquity, materials and art.

TFF: To which famous wedding (in any period of history) would have you liked to be invited?

Melkorka: Cleopatra and Mark Anthony’s! I am obsessed with Egypt, and hope to visit one day.

TFF: What's the most unusual or challenging medium you can imagine working with?

M: Old cassettes—I have found the tape to be quite unwieldy. Though as the fantastic work of Erika Iris Simmons demonstrates, it's worth persevering.

TFF: Can you tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

M: Henry Meynell Rheam. I am particularly enchanted by his work ‘The Fairy Woods.’

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

Micro-interview with Marc A. Criley

For today’s micro-interview we are joined by Marc A. Criley, author of “Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain” in The Future Fire #69.

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Art © 2024 Ellis Bray

TFF: What does “Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain” mean to you?

Marc A. Criley: The solar system is full of wonders, so far only glimpsed through our robotic spacecrafts’ cameras and sensors. How astonishing is it going to be when we can go and see them with our own eyes?

TFF: Would you like to visit another planet?

MAC: See question 1! 😁 Seriously, all the places in SDSoMR exist—I’d like to visit them all just to get started on my planetary “bucket list.”

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

MAC: Write the story you want to write—and read. Tell it the way you want to tell it; don’t muffle your unique voice, make sure the story is your story.

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Extract:

A few scattered raindrops float down from a hazy orange sky. They’re as big as my child-thumbs, plopping onto my enviro suit and spotting the visor. The liquid methane evaporates fast, leaving sooty splotches. The rain tapers off. Dad and I wait. I get antsy. Dad sighs.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/04/new-issue-202469.html.

New issue: 2024.69

“L’abolition [de la peine de mort] a connu une irrésistible progression à travers le monde. Ce mouvement, comme en Europe, influence le droit international dont, en retour, les évolutions confortent l’abolitionnisme et lui donnent les assises nécessaires pour connaître un rayonnement encore plus grand.”

—Robert Badinter, 1928–2024

Issue 2024.69

Special issue on hopeful SFF

Flash fiction

• ‘Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain’, Marc A. Criley - art by Ellis Bray

Short stories

• ‘Space Gardens’, L.J. Lacey - art by L.E. Badillo
• ‘Terranueva’, Katie Kopajtic - art by Melkorka

Poetry

• ‘Sunrise over Neo-Tokyo’, Lae Astra - art by Katharine A. Viola
• ‘Manipulating the Light’, Mahaila Smith - art by Fluffgar
• ‘Guidelines for Living Your Fairy Tale (in no Particular Order)’, Amanda Cook - art by Joel Bisaillon

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB

What is your favourite optimistic or cozy SFF?

We’ve been thinking a lot about optimistic, cozy or otherwise nice SFF recently, so we’d love to hear your thoughts about this category of genre fiction (whether written, visual, or in any other medium); give us your favorite examples of happy SFF, spoopy horror, even gritty utopian thinking, or tell us about why you think these kinds of fiction work or are needed (or otherwise). To start us off, a few editors, authors and other friends of TFF give us their examples.

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M.L. Clark

Some stories carry great wisdom in their simplicity, and it can take a lifetime to realize the strength of their gentleness. I've returned to My Neighbor Totoro at many phases of life, each time with a deeper sense of comfort and astonishment. It's not just that the story illustrates that one need not have antagonists to develop emotional weight: that realization comes with early viewings. Later, though, one watches the film and notices everything not included in this postwar Japan snapshot of a childhood impacted by a sick mother and soothed by animist wonder. One considers what the director lived through, and the antagonism he saw shape and shatter lives, before choosing to lean into the inner life of deeply feeling human beings. One remembers, too, the Cold War world into which this film was released in 1988, and the fact that Studio Ghibli launched another film the very same day, about a boy and his little sister dying in war-torn Japan. The world is often a difficult place in which to retain a sense of wonder, and hope. But still, even in difficult times, we manage to create oases of uplift in our art. My Neighbor Totoro reminds us that we contain multitudes--and that the gentle and kind in them are very much worth protecting.

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Cécile Matthey

Image © James Gurney via Dinotopia wiki

In 1860, biologist Arthur Denison and his young son Will set out on a Darwinian voyage of exploration in search of unknown lands. But during the voyage, their ship is caught in a storm and sinks. With the help of dolphins, they are transported to the lost island of Dinotopia: a land where humans and dinosaurs live together in perfect harmony.

James Gurney’s 1992 novel recounts, in the form of a richly illustrated travelogue, Professor Denison's discoveries as he explores this incredible and exciting new world. As a trained professional, he records his experiences in meticulous details: the flora and fauna, the often spectacular architecture of the cities, the daily life (celebrations, sports, art, food…), the history of the island, the peculiar alphabet… With him, we meet dinosaurs tending human children, working as translators, craftsmen or timekeepers, and we even fly on a Quetzalcoatlus’s back.

To me it’s a great feelgood piece: it is full of wonder, freshness and humour, reminding me of the stories by Jules Verne (and of my childhood love for dinosaurs!). What's more, James Gurney’s realistic and detailed illustrations are a real treat for the eyes. It is an optimistic and hopeful piece too, because it shows a peaceful, culturally advanced and well-organised world, where two radically different species manage not only to live together peacefully, but to work together while learning from each other. In short, « Dinotopia » is a must !

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Toby MacNutt

When I want to be wrapped up in a cozy read I reach for Erin Morgenstern's The Starless Sea. Its layers of symbols, books, and myths weave around the romance and adventure (can a cozy book have a sword, a gun, some poison, a bit of light arson? sure!) like the most exquisite blanket. Its improbable spaces are softly lit, time-worn, rich with color and texture and scent. Everything is warm, dreamy, golden—and every complex thread ties up just right in the end. The lost are found, the key meets the door, the left-behind are reunited. Also—of course—there's queers!

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Djibril al-Ayad

I’ve long felt that a utopian setting need not be perfect in every way, lacking in conflict and adventure—any more than a dystopia is a completely unlivable hellscape with no redeeming features—it only need show by example one or a few ways in which our own world could be better with a bit less cruelty, greed, bigotry or self-destruction. Just so is Vonda N. McIntyre’s Starfarers tetralogy: famously invented as a hoax response to a boring panel about SF TV shows, then written by popular demand, this glorious space opera show features not a military starship but a literal university campus in space (faculty and staff rather than crew, a principal rather than a captain, decisions made by senate rather than a command structure); multiple queer, polyamorous, accepting relationships; multi-generational or inter-species friendships; posthumanism and eco-engineering; a space artist making fake archaeology; wonderfully alien aliens; and a science fiction writer as alien first-contact specialist. And while the world isn’t perfect (the principal is even more of a politicking bureaucrat than any vice chancellor I’ve worked under), conflict and peril abound, not all of the positive characters—even protagonists—are entirely likeable, they’re wonderful books, full of comforting adventures, and I could happily read a dozen more volumes. And really: why has no one made the TV show yet!

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Please share your examples of hopeful or cozy SFF, whether utopian, optimistic or just comfort reading, in the comments below. Or feel free to ping us on Mastodon or Bluesky to join the conversation there instead.

Micro-interview with Avra Margariti

Avra Margariti, author of the poem “Homunculi of Creation” in The Future Fire #68, joined us for a lightning chat about alchemy, cosmogony and mythology.

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Art © 2024 Melkorka

TFF: What does “Homunculi of Creation” mean to you?

Avra Margariti: I have always been an avid reader of historical alchemy and its related customs. This is how I first encountered the concept of the homunculus. A homunculus is an artificial humanoid being that can be created through alchemy. So I asked myself—what if that act of creation was also a cosmogony, the birth of the universe on the largest scale?

TFF: What are you working on next?

AM: I’m trying to write more speculative stories that use characters from Greek mythology in new and surprising settings. I've also been trying to write more literary Weird, though I'm not sure yet what exactly that means to me. (so far: seahorse pregnancy stories, apparently).

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Extract:

He pulls out of His womb
A reliquary of small and inviting things:

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Fluffgar

We’re chatting again with regular TFF illustrator Fluffgar, artist of “The Rose Sisterhood” in The Future Fire #68, about this issue, castles and fairytales.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “The Rose Sisterhood”?

Fluffgar: Castles. Everyone knows Scotland has castles. That's where I began with these illustrations. In particular pink castles. The colour is down to a very old tradition of lime washing the exterior of such buildings. The pinkish result is known to has inspired the fairytale pink castles of Disney among others.

TFF: What was your favourite fairy tale when you were a child?

Fluffgar: I have a vague recollection of a fairytale about a person who is reborn over and over as different things. I think it could have been an animation of part of “The Tale of Taliesin.” But the emphasis seemed to be more on the cycles of life. So it may have been a different tale.

My current favourite is a tale about The Cailleach. Don't let the title fool you, it’s about her. “Bride and Angus” as told by David Campbell.

There's also Scàthach. Which is an interesting one.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Jennifer R. Donohue

Jennifer R. Donohue, author of “The Ensanguined Shore” in The Future Fire #68, joins us for a chat about mythology, mythography, and the sea.

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Art © 2024 Sebastian Timpe

TFF: What does “The Ensanguined Shore” mean to you?

Jennifer R. Donohue: I’ve been a reader of Greek mythology practically since I could read; D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths is one of the first longer books I remember reading. I checked it out from my local public library, and pored over the stories and the illustrations. I even have a copy of that same edition now, that I bought at a church rummage sale. I don't have it at hand, so I can't double-check how whether/how detailed the material from the Iliad is there, but the Harpies and Sirens are definitely mentioned, and that’s largely where “my” sirens come from, bird people with wings, but also arms, and bird legs, and powerful voices that can hurt, or soothe, or beguile. I read the Fagles translation of the Iliad in college, and the detailing of everybody's interpersonal conflicts on the beach outside of Troy, in addition to the ongoing war, really gripped me. Transporting it to a future setting, and inserting a journalist like National Geographic or Evan Wright’s Generation Kill, was an approach that flowed freely once I happened upon it, and there were some scenes that I had crystal-clear in my mind's eye as I wrote them, like I was scrolling through the longform article that Patty would later publish.

TFF: What is your favourite (real or literary) sea creature and why?

JD: I really like crabs, actually. Horseshoe crabs specifically, and that's reflected in my short story “Nothing Left But Mud,” which takes its title from “The Crab Who Played With the Sea” by Rudyard Kipling. I like crabs in general, though, I think that they're weird and interesting little guys, and certainly have more crab stories in me. I don't think it's because my Zodiac sign is Cancer, but maybe that's a strong contributor and I'm just in denial about it.

TFF: What are you working on next?

JD: I've got Run With the Hunted 7: [title to be determined? maybe The Casino Job] started for its October release. I’m also releasing, throughout 2024, a werewolf trilogy! Learn to Howl comes out on March 5, and the other books will come out in July and September.

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Extract:

Most of us have bags packed when it comes down from command that there’s a freeze on leave, again. Groans and growls ripple through the ranks as us officers are told via HUD, and we tell our soldiers.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Toeken

We’re pleased to have over for a chat our friend Toeken, artist of “Bone Planet” in The Future Fire #68.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Bone Planet”?

Toeken: I read Petra Kupper’s fascinating poem quite a few times, making sure I could get a handle on it, then left it alone for a couple of days before firing up the digital tablet. Aside from a few pencilled layers the piece is a combination of photographs and digital art. For example, the initial background template is a shot I took of a sunset outside my home and then digitally painted over.

TFF: Tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

Tk: There’s always a bunch but right now it’s Rahul Chakraborty, Rachael Mia Allen and Andrea Sorrentino.

TFF: What is your favourite example of hopeful, cosy or low-stakes SFF or horror?

Tk: I just finished with Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind. Fantastic, creepy stuff.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

Tk: I just finished some stuff for Shoreline of Infinity magazine, a couple of private commissions while working with the writer Phil Emery on a science fiction/noir project.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Melkorka

Melkorka, artist of “Humunculi of Creation” in The Future Fire #68, joins us for a brief chat about her work in this issue.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Humunculi of Creation”?

Melkorka: Before an illustration project like this, I plan a close reading of the text, and then create a mind map featuring words or phrases that stand out to me.

TFF: Who or what is the Sheela na gig, in origin?

M: Sheela Na Gigs are stone carvings found in on Norman churches, and some secular buildings. They depict an old woman squatting and pulling apart her vulva. The carvings are old and often do not seem to be part of the church but have been taken from an older building. There is much controversy as to their age—historians claim they are no earlier than the 11th century but many people believe they are older. Even though the image is overtly sexual the representation is always grotesque, sometimes even comical. They can be found all over Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. The symbolism of Sheela is a mystery; neo-pagans call her a portal of transformation and fertility idol, while some historians argue she was a figure created by the Church to warn congregations of the dangers of lust.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Sebastian Timpe

Today we’re chatting with Sebastian Timpe, artist of “The Ensanguined Shore” in The Future Fire #68.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “The Ensanguined Shore”?

Sebastian Timpe: While reading through “The Ensanguined Shore” I was gripped by the image of Patty’s best photograph. I knew that had to be one of the illustrations for this story. I scoured the story for all descriptions of the sirens, I love the way Jennifer Donohue gives us just enough detail to imagine them but not confine the audiences imagination. For the second illustration I had never created anything with a mech suit in it and I wanted a challenge.

TFF: Do you have a superstition or quirk you insist on while working/painting?

ST: Given my most recent experience with extreme wind and rain storms knocking out the power to my house for a week, my new superstition is any time the wind blows make sure my computer is charged!

TFF: Would you rather be on a ship that is about to leave or that is bringing you home?

ST: Headed home; home is where the cat is.

TFF: Tell us about an artist whose work you’re particularly enjoying at the moment?

ST: Andrew Salgado is a painter I’ve admired since high school. I just adore his expressive portraits and use of color.

TFF: What is your favourite example of hopeful, cosy or low-stakes SFF or horror?

ST: While Star Trek is my go to for the coziest of vibes, fan fiction always has something to warm my heart.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

ST: In December I finally got my hands on the Time Warp Puzzle: Rock the Cats Paw which I created in collaboration with Da Vinci’s Room games. It was the first puzzle I have ever put together and it was a blast. Now I am on a mission to create art for puzzles—it’s such an exiting genre because you can create really detailed works meant for a large format.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Mirco-interview with Emma Burnett

We were delighted to invite Emma Burnett, author of “Escape Choice” in TFF #68, to join us for a chat about SF, the sea, and future work.

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Art © 2024 Cécile Matthey

TFF: What does “Escape Choice” mean to you?

Emma Burnett: The title, it just felt like a good fit for the things that come up in the story. People escaping from Earth. People escaping from a colony ship. People escaping from each other. They’re all choices that have to be made.

The story, I wanted Max’s decisions to be recognised as valid for him. Even if they don't always make sense to other people, his lived reality is legitimate, and I wanted him to have that space. Maybe because I haven’t, always.

TFF: Do you remember the first time you saw the sea?

EB: No. But I remember the first time I nearly died in the sea. It was nothing, we were at the beach. But a wave caught me behind the knees, and suddenly I was under water and upside down, and I remember thinking very calmly, “Oh. This is how I die.” I must have been, like, 14. I didn’t die, obviously. Except maybe in another timeline where I did. It didn’t make me scared of the sea, but it did give me what might be considered empathy for those lost in it. She’s a powerful beast.

TFF: What are you working on next?

EB: I’m always working on things all the time. I’ve always got a few short stories on the go. I’m about a third of the way through writing a novel, but then I have to type it up because I’m hand writing it like an epic loon. I'm also working on improving my handstands and learning to play the ukulele.

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Extract:

Max glanced at his mother’s face. She had that line between her eyebrows, which sometimes meant that she was thinking, and sometimes meant she was annoyed. He looked briefly at his teacher, sitting across from them. Her face was too blank for him to interpret.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Sarah Salcedo

Welcome, Sarah Salcedo, artist of “A Witch, a Wakening” in The Future Fire #68, to our micro-interviews series!

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “A Witch, a Wakening”?

Sarah Salcedo: I read the story and thought about the kind of cabins I tend to see while hiking: the type of forgotten home that seems always on the verge of being reclaimed by the woods. I dream about those from time to time, and it seemed a fitting image for the piece.

TFF: Have you ever tried to paint or write one of your own dreams?

SS: I haven’t ever tried to draw a dream, but I have written many of them down. Especially the surreal ones. They're fun to chase, to try and stay creatively in that liminal space between a critical waking mind and the abstract freedom that dreams afford.

TFF: If you could shut down the power so we all just have to stare at the night, would you?

SS: Probably not, but I’d definitely like to write a story about someone who would and the consequences that would follow, but for better and worse.

TFF: Tell us about an artist whose work you're particularly enjoying at the moment?

SS: A visual artist I love, not only in the moment but for always, is Anselm Kiefer. His work has been amongst my favorite since I was really young and I'm excited to see the newest documentary featuring his work by Wim Wenders. I've also been revisiting Jean Giraud aka Mœbius’s The World of Edena lately, another artist I find constantly inspiring.

Aside from those two, a new artist I’m absolutely in love with is Dianna Settles. Her work is vibrant not only with color but collectivism. Her work makes me feel deeply about community, and finding joy in these uncertain times. I cannot state how big a fan I am of hers.

TFF: What is your favourite example of hopeful, cosy or low-stakes SFF or horror?

SS: I haven't read anything cosy or low-stakes in a while, but a friend just lent me Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree and pitched to me as exactly that.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

SS: I am currently in the midst of two documentaries, a screenplay, and preparing to send my novel out to friends and colleagues for one final revision pass before it goes on submission. I miss short fiction, though (the work that initially brought me to the digital pages of The Future Fire) and hope that this year I get to focus more on that. The last year has just been devoted to lengthy works, and there isn’t an end to that, but I'm eager to carve out some time for the more dreamlike prose you get to play with when you're working in shorter forms.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Petra Kuppers

We’re delighted to have Petra Kuppers, author of the poem “Bone Planet” in The Future Fire #68, join us for a short chat.

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Art © 2024 Toeken

TFF: What does “Bone Planet” mean to you?

Petra Kuppers: “Bone Planet” is a poem about pain, and about my ongoing long-term speculative engagement with my deteriorating joints as a world of experience. As a somatic practitioner and dance artist, I often travel into my own body’s fields, and then through its sensations and imagery out into the wider cosmic world. So this sonnet is part of a crown (i.e. seven linked sonnets) that all travel around a planet of my inflamed interior.

TFF: If you moved to another planet, what animal from Earth would you bring with you?

PK: As I do travel so often, all the time, to other planets, I take with me what lives in me: mitochondria and other organelles, bacteria, all the tiny creatures that surround the particular energy of my own conscious life.

TFF: Would you like to live forever?

PK: In terms of material and energetics, I might anyway: stardust, transformed, vibrations, shimmerings… in terms of unified consciousness, probably not.

TFF: What are you working on next?

PK: I have just released a poetry collection that brings together true crime, decaying bodies, horror tropes and ecopoetry, full of nematodes, springtails and worms and the aliveness of soil (Diver Beneath the Street, Wayne State University Press, 2024). Now I am working on the material this poem is part of, a kind of Starship Poetics, a science fiction pain/joy universe.

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Extract:

In the grey-green shelter of living bone, you grow ragged,
edges blood-less, crusted. Leucocytes eat this brown lump

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.htm.

Micro-interview with Susan Taitel

Welcome, Susan Taitel, author of “The Rose Sisterhood” in The Future Fire #68, to join the micro-interviews season!

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Art © 2024 Fluffgar

TFF: What does “The Rose Sisterhood” mean to you?

Susan Taitel: “The Rose Sisterhood” has the strongest ending of any story I’d written to that point. If I were not the author, I would think that the seed of the story was the ending and the rest had been written to bring the reader to that final moment and final line. In truth I started writing with only with the premise of the Beast’s invisible servants being ghosts of girls who had previously failed to break his curse.

TFF: If you were a mermaid, would you try to save shipwrecked sailors or to drag them down to your coraly kingdom?

ST: I strive to be helpful but I’m not a strong swimmer so I’d probably try to save the sailors but drag them down unintentionally.

TFF: What is your favourite example of hopeful, cosy or low-stakes SFF or horror?

ST: “Cat Pictures Please” by Naomi Kritzer is a great one. An AI that becomes self aware and able to break its programming but instead of going the Terminator route it uses its ability to hack websites to nudge people into making better choices for themselves. And all it wants in return is more cat pictures, very relatable.

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Extract:

My Sisters and I await the next girl. She will be beautiful. We always are. We hope she’ll be the one to break the curse, that she will have the wherewithal to see our master as he truly is. To succeed where we all failed.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

Micro-interview with Laura Blackwell

We invited Laura Blackwell, author of “A Witch, a Wakening” in The Future Fire #68, to join our micro-interview series.

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Art © 2024 Sarah Salcedo

TFF: What does “A Witch, a Wakening” mean to you?

Laura Blackwell: I wanted to play with the idea that we can learn from our dreams even if we don't know what they are. I feel that the protagonist is very brave and hopeful to want to keep on being her best self even when that isn't welcomed.

TFF: Have you ever used your own dreams as inspiration for your writing or art?

LB: Dreams do sometimes give me ideas, usually just images or notions that get me thinking. I'm honestly not sure if "A Witch, a Wakening" is one of them or not.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LB: I'm usually working on something short (right now, a retelling of Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter"), something long (right now, a suburban fantasy novel), and some querying (right now, an exoplanetary Gothic novel).

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Extract:

“I cannot read it,” says the boy in a regretful tone. “It is not in my language.”

“It’s not in mine, either,” I say, and because this is a dream, it does not seem strange that I add, “but I can read it. It says ‘Witch’s House.’”

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2024/01/new-issue-202468.html.

New Issue 2024.68

“I have always loved playing around with words. I didn’t know it was called poetry. I was just an innocent kid messing around with words.”

—Benjamin Zephaniah, 1958–2023

Issue 2024.68

Short stories

• ‘The Rose Sisterhood’, Susan Taitel - art by Fluffgar
• ‘Escape Choice’, Emma Burnett - art by Cécile Matthey
• ‘A Witch, a Wakening’, Laura Blackwell - art by Sarah Salcedo

Novelettes

• ‘The Ensanguined Shore’, Jennifer R. Donohue - art by Sebastian Timpe

Poetry

• ‘Bone Planet’, Petra Kuppers - art by Toeken
• ‘Homunculi of Creation’, Avra Margariti - art by Melkorka

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Interview with Sarah Day

We are delighted to host on our blog a conversation with Sarah Day, author of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and many other flavors of speculative fiction. Her work is heavily influenced by festival culture, body modification, non-traditional relationships, and scary ghosts. Sarah has been published in PseudoPod, Underland Arcana, The Future Fire (see “The Heart of the Party”), and many other fine places. She lives in the SF Bay Area with her cat. Connect with her at sarahday.org. Her novella, Greyhowler, is released today by Underland Press.

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Rhia is a Courier, a transient messenger who freely travels the land without calling any town or port home.

The job suits her, for in a land ruled by the Temple, it is difficult to find your own way, especially when you have a Talent. Rhia's is water, and when she arrives in distant Cerretour to deliver a message, she finds a village wracked with suffering.

The well is dry. It hasn't rained. The only person who can save these villagers is missing. At night, a strange creature prowls the prairie. The villagers have a name for it: greyhowler.

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The Future Fire: Greyhowler is both a story about freedom (from being tied to a place, from oppression) and being trapped (by secrets, by the past); can you tell us a bit more about how the story navigates these two seemingly contradictory states? Do you find a happy medium?

Sarah Day: I think a big topic in Greyhowler is illusion, or self-deception. Some of the major characters are trapped by the lies they tell themselves. Being trapped by their secrets, or their circumstances, is a side effect of self-delusion. I think this is how a lot of people are, honestly—we make choices that we believe are only from a sense of agency or self-determination, but we’re often reacting to influences and experiences in our history that we can’t escape, and maybe aren’t even aware of. 

Connecting our present-day actions to the experiences buried in our past can be a rich vein for personal development–and, in fiction, for plot and character work. For example, Rhia would love to only be a Courier and not have to address her upbringing in the Temple at all… but she can’t help the people in Cerretour without the skills she learned in her past. That’s where her inner conflict comes from, and it’s really fun to write. Some of my favorite parts of Greyhowler are where the characters lean hard one way, either rejecting their self-delusions or embracing them.

TFF: Do you already know what is going to happen in the next book in the series?

SD: I’ve written a couple of other books in this universe already; one about Rhia and her past, and one about two characters who don’t feature in Greyhowler at all. This universe is a land I visit when I want to write fantasy. I hope more of these books get to see daylight with an ISBN attached to them someday, but even if they don’t, I love the characters and have learned a lot from the experience.

TFF: Do you think that writing (and reading) speculative fiction—in particular fantasy that has sometimes been seen as pure escapism—can actually be an act of resistance?

SD: Absolutely! I think reading for “escapism” gets a bad rap, and that when we say we’re reading for escapism, we’re actually recharging our emotional batteries in a way that can contribute to our resilience. Charging the batteries is important for long-term fights.

I spent a lot of 2022 taking care of someone close to me who was going through cancer treatment. For a couple of months during chemo, all he wanted to do was watch YouTube videos of old boxing matches. Neither of us have ever been boxers or done any kind of martial art, so it’s not like we were watching for our education… but he found it galvanizing and encouraging. There was strong symbolic resonance for him to watch smaller guys take on larger guys and win—it was a clear metaphor for his fight against cancer. Was that pure escapism? I don’t think so.

TFF: Your short story “The Heart of the Party” both celebrates the anarchic joy of the free use of transformative technologies, and warns of its potential to aid in our repression by those in power. How do you see this tension?

SD: Speculative fiction uses imagined technology or magic to explore different manifestations of power. Exploring or subverting hierarchical power structures is something I write about a lot. Systems of power constantly seek to shore themselves up, to reinforce themselves. The Temple in Greyhowler and the state police apparatus in “The Heart of the Party” both require compliance and punish deviation with disproportionate severity, because the ability to punish with impunity is part of how they reinforce their legitimacy.

You might notice that the protagonists in both works are people who have a lot of privilege assigned to them by the dominant power structures and are trying to divest from those structures, with varying degrees of success. The theme of privileged people wrestling with the things they have but have done nothing to deserve, or trying to reconcile their privilege with others’ circumstances, shows up a lot in my writing.

TFF: Have you ever killed a character that you loved?

SD: Would I be a terrible person if I said I loved all my characters, even the bad guys? Every time one dies, I’ve killed someone I love. I don’t think I can write a believable character unless I can find them relatable somehow. I have to be a chameleon this way; each character I write has to have the strength of their own convictions. They might make terrible decisions, or do things I personally find morally indefensible, but have relatable motivations. Everyone’s morality is internally consistent. We’re each the hero of our own story.

At the end of Greyhowler, two characters discuss a third who has done terrible things, and whether actions like that can ever be understood or forgiven… I guess I think everything can be understood, even if it can’t be forgiven. To write a character well, I have to understand them, and by understanding them, I come to love them.

TFF: Thank you for being our guest, Sarah, we look forward to falling in love with the characters of the Greyhowler! Best of luck, and happy writing.

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Greyhowler is out today, and can be bought here.