Microinterview with L.A. Hyland

We welcome L.A. Hyland, author of the poem “Why Would I Be a Woman” in The Future Fire #76, for the last in this microinterview season.

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Art © 2026 Barbara Candiotti

TFF: What does “Why Would I Be a Woman” mean to you?

L.A. Hyland: I’ll answer that with a question: if magic was real and could change you into anything, what would you choose to be? The possibility of magical transformation makes you interrogate the existential impact of a physical form, with all its associated abilities and expected behaviours. By suggesting ferocious and mythically powerful alternatives, I hope my poem prompts a reader to contemplate why some women might consider monsterhood a favourable option.

TFF: Tell us about a piece of art that came to life for you.

LAH: I was overwhelmed when I first stood in front of the colossal statue of Ramesses II in the British Museum: the “Younger Memnon.” There's such a gentle curve to his cheeks and a hesitation in his mouth that makes you feel as though he’s about to speak. Incredibly beautiful but it, of course, should be returned to Egypt.

TFF: Who is your favourite kick-ass woman from history?

LAH: There are too many! Let’s go with Alice of Antioch, for today. She chose to betray her god, her king, and her family. Ambitious and intelligent, she saw a chance in all the crusader chaos to claim Antioch for herself and almost succeeded. More than once.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

LAH: Browsing the internet, most likely. Having grown up without the web, being able to look up anything makes me feel like I’ve been handed Mephistopheles’ book. It’s 3 a.m. and I need to know more about the mosaics of Zeugma, when the NHS began, or whether the planet Venus has any rings? I can just search and lose myself in the largest library the world has ever built. Is some information unreliable? Sure, but the old encyclopedias my parents owned had “factual’ entries about aether and ectoplasm…

TFF: What are you working on next?

LAH: I’m currently working on a speculative poetry collection, rooted in British myth and superstition. It features old gods and new ghosts, fairies and witches—it’s a giddy brew of idiosyncratic beliefs and ominous atheism.

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Extract

when I could be a dragon?
when I could be a gorgon,
petrifying all who dare
disturb my thoughts?

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Microinterview with Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson, author of the poem “In Our Nature” in The Future Fire #76, is this week’s microinterview guest, here to talk about her poem, betrayal and alternate history.

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Art © 2026 Joel Bisaillon

TFF: What does “In Our Nature” mean to you?

Colleen Anderson: We think we always can tame nature. GMO, orchards, controlling “weeds” and making it work for us, but humanity has also done incredible damage to the world. Nature may one day rebalance and will not consider human want.

TFF: What is the thing that you find most difficult to forgive?

CA: Betrayal. To put trust in a friend or a family member who then does something that destroys a fundamental trust—that is unforgiveable.

TFF: What are you working on next?

CA: I’m working on an alternate history novel, a chapbook of “bad food” poems and on a collaboration of lost objects.

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Extract

In the beginning—
there was no beginning
not for flowers, trees, glacial rivers
evolving with the planet’s cycles
swimming through acid erosion

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Micro-interview with Toeken

And this week's guest in the microinterview series is Toeken, artist of “Believe Me” and “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76.

Art © 2026 Toeken

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Believe Me”?

Toeken: Though it is a short tale, Christine Amsden’s splendid story is filled with such vivid imagery that it was tricky distilling ideas into the final illustration.

TFF: What was the image that really stuck with you from “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster”?

Toeken: It was probably something as deceptively simple as the “abandoned pool that had gone green from algae.”

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

Toeken: I’d imagine it would be just trying to comprehend the sheer scale, the enormity of space itself, the awareness of the immense gulfs of space between stars and planets.

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

Toeken: Bill Sienkiewicz’s rendition of the character “Warlock.” That’d be a treat to see strolling around.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

Toeken: Working with the writer Phil Emery on a scifi/noir comedy graphic novel, Hammek, which is being shopped around now; Vampyre Noir, another comic series, more paintings and a couple of book covers, one of which is for the writer Simon Bleaken’s upcoming collection of dark tales.

Art © 2026 Toeken

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Microinterview with Crystal Koo

Crystal Koo, author of “Titanium Chef” in The Future Fire #76, joins us for this week’s microinterview, and for a chat about her story, artificial personalities and writing.

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Art © 2026 Joel Bisaillon

TFF: What does “Titanium Chef” mean to you?

Crystal Koo: I wanted to write a story about what it would be like finding closure in a duplicate ex-partner sans the inconvenient parts that caused the end of the relationship. It wouldn’t necessarily be the healthiest thing given how contrived it might be, and then have that take over the protagonist’s life.

TFF: Do you think an artificial personality is possible that is not a copy of a living person (or simulated from predictive text)?

CK: Not sure in terms of likelihood, but it would certainly be fascinating to imagine one—and how different it might be from what we recognize as human personalities, if it’s something that’s emerged from code. It might be completely alien from what we’re used to!

TFF: What are you working on next?

CK: I’m at the editing stage of a short story about app-based prostitution. Bigger picture, I’m also slowly working on a novel.

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Extract

Sometimes you catch the show’s copydroids roaming the city before the season starts, testing their programming against the vagaries of the real world. They’re wide-eyed and tentative, like exotic animals reintroduced to the wild. I find photos of these titanium pseudo-humans online, lost in a pet shop or on a bicycle in the park, experiencing things in their memory for the first time, afraid it might be their last. A Titanium Chef that loses a round is deactivated, its borrowed consciousness wiped in front of thousands of real-time viewers. The last one standing returns to its lab and fights again next season.

They look at the camera warily, as if it might take their soul.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Micro-interview with Katie Conrad

This week we’re joined by Katie Conrad, author of “Protector of the Forest” in The Future Fire #76, for a microinterview about writing, environmental scifi and optimism.

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Art © 2026 Barbara Candiotti

TFF: What does “Protector of the Forest” mean to you?

Katie Conrad: “Protector of the Forest” is a story about second chances—a second chance for humanity on a new planet, and a second chance for the protagonist, Gabrielle, to find love and community after a mistake. Gabrielle’s story is also about finding the strength to give yourself a second chance even when you don’t quite believe you deserve it.

TFF: Do you think it would be possible to learn from our mistakes on earth and do better on another planet?

KC: I do think it’s possible. Despite everything, I remain optimistic that we will learn from our mistakes and do better here on earth before it’s too late.

TFF: What are you working on next?

KC: I’m currently working on a sci-fi novel. It’s a space opera about a group of super-powered female friends who steal a powerful artifact and end up on a quest to save the galaxy. I’m on draft four and hoping to finally get the plot wrangled into shape.

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Extract

We’d been living on Toivoa for a year when the trees began to die.

“What, all of them?” Captain Harris’ dark eyebrows furrowed above her wire-rimmed glasses. I sat on the visitors’ side of her desk in her office. It was a small place with bare walls and bare shelves. None of us had much in the way of personal effects, but the Captain took it to the extreme.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Micro-interview with Rae Zalopany

Rae Zalopany, author of “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76, is with us today for a microinterview about her story, monsters, writing and water.

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Art © 2026 Toeken

TFF: What does “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” mean to you?

Rae Zalopany: Florida’s landscapes have always felt to me like they hold something ancient and half-hidden. I’m interested in what might be living just out of sight in the swamps and springs, and this story became a way to follow that imagination while also processing political anxiety.

TFF: Who is your favorite groundbreaking woman author?

RZ: Right now I’ve been reading a lot of Sayaka Murata. I think most writers return to a few core questions or obsessions, and Murata does a great job of revisiting hers in unexpected and precise ways.

TFF: What are you working on next?

RZ: I’m currently working on Water Bug, a collection of flash fiction set around swimming pools that explores bodies and transformation.

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Extract

Here is the dream that led her here:

An owl was the size of a petite man perched on the post office roof. He wore Spanish moss like a lei around his brown, freckled neck. A sign in red Sharpie was taped to the banister that said WET PAINT.

Natalie took a step, then another toward him. His blank eyes, the color of the moon, bored down onto her.

“Can you tell me where to find the springs?”

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Micro-interview with Christine Amsden

We’re joined by Christine Amsden, author of “Believe Me” in The Future Fire #76, for the first of this issue’s microinterview series.

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Art © 2026 Toeken

TFF: What does “Believe Me” mean to you?

Christine Amsden: Many of us have experienced symptoms being misinterpreted and pain being ignored by medical professionals. Certain extreme cases have made the news in recent years, inspiring me to write this story. It’s not my story, not exactly, but I can relate. It took nearly fifteen years for me to get a fibromyalgia diagnosis... fifteen years of pushing myself to try harder in physical therapy, fifteen years of taking antiinflammatory medication until I got an ulcer, fifteen years of wondering if it was all in my head. FIfteen years... until one person finally believed me and helped me get the diagnosis I needed.

TFF: What is your favourite real or imaginary monster, and why?

CA: My very favorite monster has to be Grover. One of my favorite books growing up—and then enjoyed reading to my own kids—was The Monster at the End of this Book. It's a fantastic take on how fear creates our own worst enemy.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

CA: I enjoy knitting, chess, role playing, and a good cup of tea.

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Extract

“There’s an alien in my brain.” The words sound clear in my head, but they come out slurred, more like, S’an aleen mbain.

They don’t believe me. They never do.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Micro-interview with Lyra Meurer

And the final micro-interview in the current series is with Lyra Meurer, author of “Fruiting Bodies” in The Future Fire #75.

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Art © 2026 L.E. Badillo

TFF: What does “Fruiting Bodies” mean to you?

Lyra Meurer: “Fruiting Bodies’ is a response to the many pieces of apocalypse media I have encountered that hinge on the idea that rebuilding the human race is a commonly held ideal that everyone would want to participate in. Doesn't reproductive autonomy still hold even if the human population is decimated, especially in situations where medical care would be insufficient and difficult to access? In my mind, it matters more than ever. Besides that, I wanted to explore the idea of a whimsical apocalypse, where dream-like imagery could become a mirror for the interior experience.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

LM: Attempting to grow native plants in my backyard (I am currently thrilled about some whiplash daisies that spontaneously appeared there), going on walks and photographing interesting trash on the ground, and playing board games (mostly Spirit Island—if you know you know) with my spouse.

TFF: Is there a theme song to your current work-in-progress?

LM: My work in progress has been with me for over 20 years (it is an attempt to make a paracosm story actually good) and so it has accrued a lot of theme songs over the years. However, I always think first about “Lasse Pour Quoi’ by Azam Ali, a 14th century French song that came to me right as I started writing the story all the way back in 6th grade. It felt like the perfect accompaniment to my characters traveling all over a fantastical land.

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

LM: Writing is for you first, the audience second. Otherwise, in my experience, you’ll never want to write anything at all.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LM: I’m hoping to brush up and submit a few short stories—some horror, some dark fantasy and sci fi—while also working on that paracosm story.

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Extract:

Fish shimmer above her like a rainbow in flux, sipping on the tears that fly up from her face. This house—which, she keeps remembering with horror, is now hers alone—has been as lively as a reef since The Unknown swept across the world, tangling and unspooling and recreating its matter.

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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 S.J. Ladds

S.J. Ladds, author of eco-SF story “Prata Neptunia” in The Future Fire #75, is today’s guest in the microinterview series.

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Art © 2026 Ellis Bray

TFF: What does “Prata Neptunia” mean to you?

S.J. Ladds: “Prata Neptunia” is a strange story to me because, at its core, it's a tale of hope, but I wrote it in quite a hopeless state of mind. It was inspired by Ocean with David Attenborough which, like all Attenborough documentaries, managed to balance the tragedy of what humanity is doing to the world with the healing efforts of people, and I wanted to emulate that in my work. Really, it was about showing what we can accomplish when we pull together and put our minds to making a change. So, if even one person reads “Prata Neptunia” and then picks up a few pieces of rubbish off the beach on their next trip to the seaside, I've done my job!

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

SJL: To keep doing it. Doesn't matter if it’s not perfect—writing never is—doesn't matter what you do with it, what matters is writing. Using your voice in a world that increasingly wants you not to whether that's because of what you're saying or because you're not relying on technology to speak for you. Put pen to paper and say something you've always wanted to say.

TFF: What are you working on next?

SJL: A lot of things (all at once unfortunately for my poor brain). I’m currently nearing the end of my novella about the community of forests and how people mimic this in certain ways which is all about finding ways for humans and nature to coexist peacefully. I've also just started planning an eco-horror about capitalism and how it impacts the natural world.

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Extract:

I was sixteen when the International Ocean Centre for Marine Research, colloquially known as the IOC, was floated out into the middle of the Pacific. In fact, I watched it cast off during a maths lesson; my phone hidden under my desk, the same eyes with which a space-obsessed child might have watched the moon landing back in 1969. I must have rewatched its launch almost a hundred times in the following weeks. Over breakfast, during lunch, at the dinner table, when someone was having a rather dull conversation in my vicinity.

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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 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.

Micro-interview with Toeken

Please welcome Toeken, long-time collaborator and artist of “The Sons of Victor Levitak”  and “Unblooded Gospel” in The Future Fire #74, for this week’s installment of our microinterview series.

Art © 2025 Toeken

TFF: What was the image that really stuck with you from “The Sons of Victor Levitak”?

Toeken: This is kind of funny in a way; after reading and re-reading Rowley Amato’s superb tale I started getting visuals involving what I can only describe as a disgruntled bowl of stew. At one point I spent so much time painting hunks of meat, potatoes and lentils that I thought the whole piece would be just that; a painting of an angry meal glowering back at you. Amato’s story was a beautiful haunting piece that was a real education for me for me as I went about researching the visual cues I wanted.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Unblooded Gospel”?

Toeken: As is usual for me this started out as a much more abstract response to Justin Taroli’s fascinating text, which in turn then morphed into a series of disparate sketches and drawings that were of a multitude of images, hospital tiles, the color schemes of Mount Sinai hospital, wearable archictecture, rib cages, dirty bandages and scan codes. Was a real treat to compose and arrange, and a challenge to edit out the things that I thought might give the game away in the narrative.

TFF: What is the most “punk” thing you've ever done or made?

Toeken: Not sure if it qualifies as “punk,” but I can recall quite clearly a Sunday afternoon dog rescue back in 2011. A little mutt owned by some neighbours had disappeared down an uncovered bolt hole while they were out walking near the mountains. Had a few drinks in me and thought “Why not?” With help from some friends I roped up and went down after the little fellow. What I thought was a ten meter vertical shaft turned out to be close to forty meters. After hooking up the dog (a miracle the poor animal was still alive given the depth he’d bounced down) to the ropes I had to wait a good fifteen minutes before being hoisted back out. I’m claustrophobic. That was one of the longest waits I’ve ever experienced and for years afterwards I would wake up in the night sweating and panicking about the whole thing. Dog was a-okay though!

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

Toeken: I’d like to try screwing up an ice sculpture or two.

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

Toeken: The sculpting duo of Liquette-Gorbach, Sarah Ross-Thompson’s prints and the photography of Phil Penman. All fantastic, inspiring stuff.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

Toeken: I’m working with Gavin Chappell on the late Gregory H.Bryant’s Caves of Mars books, David Blalock on a ParAbnormal Magazine project and finishing up the first issue of Phil Emery’s Hammek graphic novel project.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.

Micro-interview with Lauren Ferebee

Lauren Ferebee, author of “Sentinel” in The Future Fire #74, joins us for a chat about omens, preservation and evolution in the latest instance of our microinterview feature.

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Art © 2025 Barbara Candiotti

TFF: What does “Sentinel” mean to you?

Lauren Ferebee: “Sentinel” was an interesting story to write because it took me a long time to get from the beginning to the end of the story—a few years. I found the process of writing it very meditative because I enjoyed spending time with the narrator in her solitary life. I remember starting with that image of the three dead birds and wondering what that omen meant. The story is kind of an oblique answer to that question.

TFF: Does there come a point at which some things are no longer worth preserving?

LF: I think preservation, from a nature/earth perspective, is a really interesting and thorny question, because I'm quite interested in rewilding and natural methods of restoring earth, such as mycoremediation. I don’t think preservation is the right word for the environmental work we need to engage in as we pass the point of no return for many climate issues. There’s a lot of evolution that needs to happen. There’s a lot of reckoning with the world the way it is now and how we move forward from that, because we cannot return. The inability to reckon with the present—the desire to preserve what is already gone—is so incredibly harmful.

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Extract

The morning after I dreamed about Hannah’s mermaid, three dead seagulls washed up on the shoreline. I took note of each one, their bent bodies limp on the sand, then lifted them by their feet, feathers dripping, to take into the lab. An omen, I might have called it once.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.

Micro-interview with V. Zixin

We’re very happy to introduce V. Zixin, author of “The Better Ends” in The Future Fire #74, who joins us for this week’s microinterview.

Art © 2025 Carmen Moran

TFF: What does “The Better Ends” mean to you?

V. Zixin: “The Better Ends” was born out of my love for America. I grew up here as an immigrant. It’s a story so common as to be archetypal to the national identity of the United States. Certain promises are made in pursuit of that identity. One is that you will be just like anyone else. Another is that you are utterly unique, and that is worth celebrating. The nation is stronger when it is diverse, and yet only real when it is whole and undivided. The alien is loved, feared, and suppressed in equal measure, and I cannot help but find this contradiction tantalizing.

TFF: Do you have a lucky charm?

VZ: Yes, my editor! He’s been reading my stories since high school, and I’m still honored that he takes the time to go through and provide sanity checks for whatever new tangents I send him. So much of writing can be solitary that having a consistent first reader is worth its weight in gold.

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Extract:

We were both teenagers at the time. Or near enough, anyway. Neither of us knew when our birthdays really were. Children didn’t seem to be born in Shenzhen. They materialized around alleyways and market stalls before being adopted by the proper enclaves. I was dressed up in a set of scratchy overalls and had found a nylon jacket that almost matched the shade of leather I was looking for. The cardboard cutout on my head was supposed to be a cowgirl’s hat. I was wearing a pair of boots that my brother had died with.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.

Micro-interview with Nancy S. Koven

Nancy S. Koven, author of “Seven Stories for Now and Later” in The Future Fire #74, joins us for a quick chat about extinction, fetishization and writing in this week’s microinterview.

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Art by John Gould and H.C. Richter (1854)

TFF: What does “Seven Stories for Now and Later” mean to you?

Nancy S. Koven: By organizing the story around seven animals that are either recently or soon-to-be extinct, this story frames environmental loss as a deeply personal one, underscoring the human desire to “know” that which is lost through speculative narrative. The story is also a space to explore associated themes of scarcity and fetishization, complicity and privilege, and the hard limits of simulacra (mechanimals, memories, even words).

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

NSK: Written works are interactive maps, messy and nonlinear, that illuminate vast, complex worlds made possible just by committing a handful of people, places, and events to the page. There’s no right way to read the map, there’s risk and reward in doing so, and you’ll never end up in the same place twice.

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Extract:

A thickset bird shuffles along the railing of the viewing platform, catches me looking across the river at its home, then turns to face the same way. We become an old married couple, exchanging sighs and idly scratching away the afternoon’s humidity. Its face is like weathered copper. My skin, too, is oxidized, the latest excision dressed in petroleum jelly and a sweatproof bandage underneath my hairline. There are no spiders for it to eat, but it doesn’t seem all that hungry.

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.

Micro-interview with Justin Taroli

This week we welcome Justin Taroli, author of “Unblooded Gospel” in The Future Fire #74, for a super brief chat about his story, dreams and writing.

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Art © 2025 Toeken

TFF: What does “Unblooded Gospel” mean to you?

Justin Taroli: “Unblooded Gospel” is a story that's been lingering in my brain for over a decade. I think I was waiting for permission to write it. I gave myself that permission earlier this year.

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

JT: Yes. My dreams are generally very vivid, so I regularly take inspiration from my dreams.

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

JT: You don't need anyone’s permission to write. Write whatever you want, whenever you want. Rejections mean nothing. Stand on your work.

TFF: What are you working on next?

JT: I’m currently seeking representation for my book of short stories. I’ll continue writing stories and eventually begin working on a new novel.

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Extract:

There’s a guy at the bar with lips like wet marble and a credit score you can feel in your spine. He orders vodka neat. Who drinks vodka neat? People who don’t need mixers, or feelings, or food. People who glide.

“Don’t,” says Marcus, leaning into me. “He’s one of them.”

I laugh loud enough that it startles the couple next to us. “One of what?”

Marcus just says, “They drink. But they don’t piss. Think about it.”

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Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2025/09/new-issue-202574.html.