Micro-interview with Sylvie Althoff

Sylvie Althoff, author of “The Visitor” in The Future Fire #75, joins us to talk about writing, time travel and other decisions for today’s microinterview.

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Art © 2026 Leyelle M.G.

TFF: What does “The Visitor” mean to you?

Sylvie Althoff: “The Visitor” was a hugely important story in my understanding of my own identity as a writer and a trans woman. I’ve had to do a lot of reflection on my own actions, in my past and to this day, and I struggle to forgive myself for my mistakes in the past while holding myself to a higher standard moving forward. “The Visitor” put a lot of my mid-transition queries and arguments into words. I hope it crosses the path of someone who’s struggled with the same kind of questions (or someone who’s asking those questions right now); more than that, I hope it helps that person choose a happier future for themselves.

TFF: Have you ever wished to go back in time, to change one thing?

SA: Every trans person has wished they could go back in time to change exactly one thing. Every trans person who reflects on the question longer realizes that they’re better in almost every conceivable way for not being able to go back in time.

TFF: Who is your favorite groundbreaking woman author?

SA: It’s impossible to pick just one, but a current favorite of mine is Charlie Jane Anders. She has such a sharp understanding of our community’s history, and her novels’ plotting and pacing are damn near miraculous.

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

SA: You have to write your worst stories first. Get those out of the way, and then you can start writing your good stuff.

TFF: What are you working on next?

SA: I’m working on my first novel! I’m currently struggling to marry my lifelong love of worldbuilding with my aspirations toward fun, snappy capers. Expect it on bookshelves in all of the better timelines.

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Extract:

Over the long, long minutes I spent waiting there, I found myself inspecting the smears and streaks across the glass. I tried not to imagine what exhortations of the human spirit had left these traces, what fluids, what sounds.

I wondered if any of those ghostly remnants were left by Marcus.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Micro-interview with Davian Aw

We welcome Davian Aw, author of the poem “ship of living ghosts” in The Future Fire #75, to the latest in this issue’s microinterview series.

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Art © 2026 Ellis Bray

TFF: What does “ship of living ghosts” mean to you?

Davian Aw: It emerged from worrying about the global rise of anti-trans legislation and the spectres of forced detransition and deportation, and wondering what it might look like when people who know and love each other start physically turning into strangers. It seemed a very SFF thing.

TFF: What are you working on next?

DA: It would be a lie to say I’m actively working on anything, but I’m currently procrastinating on a lot of short stories, all spec fic! One of them is a workplace horror-comedy and another is a non-workplace horror-comedy, possibly as a reflection of the current state of the world.

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Extract:

we breathe
in small dark spaces cast upon the waves
beneath an infinite sky;

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Micro-interview with Leyelle M.G.

Leyelle M.G., artist of “The Visitor” and “the weight of winter” in The Future Fire #75, joins us for another of this month’s microinterviews, talking about art, creativity and artists.

Art © 2026 Leyelle M.G.

The Future Fire: What was the image that really stuck with you from “The Visitor”?

Leyelle M.G.: Body and gender dysphoria has been an ongoing battle of mine for nearly 8 years now, so when the central character of “The Visitor” described this self loathing and longing to be anything else (a bird, a tree) I immediately latched onto that concept and I knew I needed to make it the basis for the illustration. The goal was to give the whole image a kind of ghostly spirit-like imagery to give the viewer the sense that they were looking at something beyond the tangible – seeing the people we are beneath our skin.

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

LMG: There’s no doubt in my mind that ten or so years from now, the digital art we are currently making will be considered outdated and low quality. I don’t mean that people of later generations will not value the art we created, but I expect that the way screens represent color and image clarity will have improved so much that modern digital art will seem to them like looking at a grainy polaroid.

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

LMG: There are so many artists I admire that I couldn’t possibly name them all, so I’ll just name 3 modern artists who have been influential in my artist life most recently. Number 1 is Channah De Luna, who is a good friend of mine, and offered a lot of encouragement and advice when I was first learning how to draw digitally. Looking at her art constantly inspires me because I am both baffled and amazed that anyone could possess so much artistic talent. Number 2 is Colombe Art, to whom I credit the fact that I have cover art credits to my name at all. It was watching her cold call a jewelry company for a collaboration, which subsequently led to her designing the “Red Thread” jewelry line, which inspired me to start cold calling magazines to pitch my services as a cover artist. I’m not sure when I would have found the confidence to try that if she hadn’t done it first. Number 3 is JL Rayne, another good friend of mine who has invested copious amounts of time and energy toward helping other artists learn to create art professionally. Her dedication to making creativity about community is reflected in her art which always feels so healing and colorful.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

LMG: Currently, I’m working on a collection of animal themed digital paintings, with a whimsical twist. Every animal painting has something unusual about it that pulls it out of the realism spectrum and plants it firmly in the wonderland of weirdness. Whether the hummingbirds are part teapot, or the giraffes have Indian Paintbrush for horns, nothing is as it should be, but that’s what I love about it. I feel like I caged myself by spending too much time creating “important, serious art” and totally forgot to make art for the fun of it. So, between this animal collection, and my webcomic Sketchy Business, I’m trying to get back into making art just because it makes me smile, even if there is no deeper meaning behind it.

Art © 2026 Leyelle M.G.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Micro-interview with Marc A. Criley

And today we’re joined by Marc A. Criley, author of the wonderful “A Multitude of Sparks Descend” in The Future Fire #75, for a micro-interview and chat about creation myths, antiquities and writing.

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Art © 2026 Melkorka

The Future Fire: What does “A Multitude of Sparks Descend” mean to you?

Marc A. Criley: I wanted a creation myth that really focused on the joy of creation and bringing life to the universe. Two deities, lovers, one intimately working hands-on with dirt, water, air, and DNA; the other acting on the grandest of cosmic scales. Tragedy strikes and it seems all hope is lost, but soon the universe of life they sparked into being join the search and the rescue, proving that friends are everywhere and hope is never truly lost.

TFF: What would be the most terrifying thing about being in outer space?

MAC: The most terrifying (and exhilarating) thing about being in outer space is knowing that you’re wholly dependent on the few dozen cubic meters of home world that you’ve brought with you.

TFF: One hundred years in the future, one of your descendants finds something that used to belong to you. What would you like that to be?

MAC: The five thousand year old stone knife blade that me and my dog found up on the hill behind my house. Pass it on.

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

MAC: Do not compromise or allow your voice, the unique way in which you write, to be diluted. That voice is what makes your writing yours and yours alone.

TFF: What are you working on next?

MAC: Active in the queue is a story about journeying to the literal end of the universe; a sinner trying to reclaim his humanity one saved life at a time; and 10,000 gods in a space elevator.

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Extract:

I hear the echo of your joy; your laughter spun into nebula, open cluster, gamma ray jets; imprinted on cosmic dust and intergalactic magnetic fields. An intergalactic palimpsest beneath white noise.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Micro-interview with Ellis Bray

We’re delighted to be joined by Ellis Bray, artist of “Prata Neptunia” and “ship of living ghosts” in The Future Fire #75, for a quick microinterview about art, forms and letters.

Art © 2026 Ellis Bray

The Future Fire: How did you go about illustrating “Prata Neptunia”?

Ellis Bray: With “Prata Neptunia” I had a really intense visual of the octopus and ink and the sky, and I was trying to emulate what was in my brain. As is the case in every form of art, what you put out never matches what’s in your head. On this attempt, I used watercolor and ink, with multiple layers and gold sumi ink as a highlight. I think next time I will try it with gouache, because it is thicker. Or maybe colored pencil, because it would allow me to put in the fine details. I’ll definitely attempt it again to see if I can get closer to what I’m seeing.

TFF: What was the image that really stuck with you from “ship of living ghosts”?

EB: In “ship of living ghosts” there is the line:

we breathe/ in small dark spaces cast upon the waves/ beneath an infinite sky.

But despite “infinite”, there are “shadows” being cast, so there’s something in the dark to cast the light. And it’s also “small dark spaces”, but “small” and “infinite” don’t really match up in my mind. So what it brought up in my mind was Plato’s Cave, where the whole of existence feels like it’s close by, but it’s really just a shadowcast illusion. So what if the “infinite sky” is just the top of a cavern that is so tall you can’t see it? It feels infinite but you’re still in a tightly enclosed space. The moon casting light and creating shadows is just an illusion. It also fit the very claustrophobic feel that the poem gave to me.  

TFF: Is there an artist or an art-form from distant history that you still look at with admiration or awe?

EB: I have been focusing on letter illumination recently, and I find myself in awe of the medieval transcriptionists who spent so long creating a single letter just to do an old school copy & paste for the rest of the text. (I know it was still calligraphy and very carefully written, but the illumination was pure creativity.) My dad keeps bringing up the Book of Kells when he’s looking at my own work, but that’s like comparing a paint-by-number to the original Mona Lisa. Like, yeah, you’re going to get similar results, but one requires decades of training.

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

EB: There is a comic called ExoComic by Li Chen, starring a very snarky kitty and their exasperated human. The art style, though, is adorable. It’s only when I tried to replicate it for my own comic idea that I realized how much effort it takes to make art look effortless. So, I’m enjoying reading through her entire CATalogue.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

EB: ’Tis the season, so I’m doing more conventions and art markets around the Seattle area. I’ve also started working on letter illumination, using gold and silver ink. I find it very meditative, because you have a set number of shapes to play with and a definite desired outcome, so the question is “how do I get there from here?” I’m really enjoying experimenting with it.

Art © 2026 Ellis Bray

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Micro-interview with L.F. Howard

L.F. Howard, author of “We Will See” in The Future Fire #75, joins us for the first of this issue’s microinterview series, for a chat about aliens, space travel and writing.

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Art © 2026 L.E. Badillo

TFF: What does “We Will See” mean to you?

L.F. Howard: I wanted to play with the reader’s expectations about gender on multiple levels, and putting an alien and human race together in space is a great vehicle for that. I’m channelling a little of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Left Hand of Darkness” by asking the reader to consider how much our understanding of ourselves doesn't really work outside of our self-imposed societal rules.

TFF: Would you like to visit another planet?

LFH: I think other planets are better off without humans on them.

TFF: What magical power would you like to possess?

LFH: The ability to clone myself so my clones can help with the endless to-dos.

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

LFH: It doesn’t matter if your work is the “best” or “better than” someone else. No one out there is really the best. Classy literary fiction is great, but sometimes I want a story about a chaotic group of immortal women trying to navigate their blood-soaked lives.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LFH: A story about a chaotic group of immortal women trying to navigate their blood-soaked lives.

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Extract:

The bar on the ninth level had one of the best views on the station. Most of the rest of them, at least the ones I could afford, were interior-facing with a few liquid crystal displays showing island sunsets or late-night views of Old Earth. But we were a long way from those places, and most of us Humans had never seen them firsthand anyway.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

New issue: 2026.75

“I was attracted to science fiction because it was so wide open. I was able to do anything and there were no walls to hem you in and there was no human condition that you were stopped from examining.”

—Octavia E. Butler

Issue 2026.75

Flash fiction

• ‘A Multitude of Sparks Descend’, Marc A. Criley - art by Melkorka

Short stories

• ‘The Visitor’, Sylvie Althoff - art by Leyelle M.G.
• ‘Fruiting Bodies’, Lyra Meurer - art by L.E. Badillo
• ‘We Will See’, L.F. Howard - art by L.E. Badillo

Novelettes

• ‘Prata Neptunia’, S.J. Ladds - art by Ellis Bray

Poetry

• The Weight of Winter’, Kaya Skovdatter - art by Leyelle M.G.
• ‘ship of living ghosts’, Davian Aw - art by Ellis Bray

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