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 |
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.
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.
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.
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