The Dew Eagle, Fiction, Issue 28, September 1, 2014

Priya Dabak lives in Pune, India and is a BA student, majoring in English. She is passionate about languages and freelances as a German teacher. Apart from writing, she loves cats, coffee, daydreaming and doodling. 

Her Blog is, peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot.in

Get to know Priva...

Birthdate? September 3, 1992

When did you start writing? Having always had stories brewing in my mind, it is only natural that I eventually put pen to paper. I might have been about twelve when I scribbled my first proper story, but never quite mustered the courage to share it! 

What themes do you like to write about? Fiction is my way of exploring the strange, uncharted areas of the mind. I am happiest trying to make sense of the incredible, no matter what the genre. 

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? I’m an eclectic reader, but the writer in me looks up to A.S. Byatt, whose rich prose and effortless blending of reality and fantasy never fail to awe me. Other writers I look to for inspiration are Stephen King, for his true to life characters, Neil Gaiman, for his vivid imagination and Ray Bradbury, whose passion for writing is infectious! 

World-Trees of the Calidan System, poem, Issue 35, June 1, 2016

The Book, poem, Issue 39, June 15, 2017

Rohinton Daruwala lives and works in Pune, India. He writes code for a living, and speculative fiction and poetry in his spare time. He tweets as @wordbandar and blogs at https://wordbandar.wordpress.com/. His first collection of poems is The Sand Libraries of Timbuktu(Speaking Tiger 2016). His work has previously appeared in Strange Horizons, New Myths, Star*Line, Liminality, Through the Gate and Silver Blade.

Get to know Rohinton...

When did you start writing? About age 10 I think - a poem about a coconut tree. I started with Science Fiction in my teens, at first imitations of stories I'd liked, and then other stories and poems.

When and what and where did you first get published? A poem called "Upgrade" in Strange Horizons in 2015.

What themes do you like to write about?  As trite as it may sound - ordinary things; I like exploring the alien in familiar things and the possibility of finding something familiar in the alien.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? Too many to list down, but if I had to pick a few - Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy, many of Ursula le Guin's novels and stories, Eleanor Arnason's hwarhath stories, Kiran Nagarkar's Ravan and Eddie, Robert E. Howard's The Tower of the Elephant and John Irving's The World According to Garp.

The reason for the resonance varies - sometimes it's for the ability to plot beautifully, sometimes for the ability to communicate a difficult concept, sometimes for a vision of the world or people, but mostly for the sheer love of the ability to tell a story. And I try to steal tiny pieces of these stories - sometimes just a turn of phrase or a description of a character, sometimes an entire plot line, and sometimes just the rhythm in the language of the story. 

For D.A.'s bio please click here

Imagining Happy, Fiction, Issue 30, March 1, 2015

A programmer by day, J.C. Davis writes YA fiction, the occasional short story and has far too many hobbies to keep up with. She's a second-generation book addict with no intention of ever recovering. Mrs. Davis lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband, two kids and a hedgehog named Percy Jackson. You can follow her on twitter @jcdavis-author or visit her website, www.jcdavis-author.com, to read more of her work and for general silliness.

Get to Know J.C...

Birthday? March 14

When did you start writing? I wrote poems in elementary school, but didn't start writing short stories and novel-length fiction until after college. Academia appears to have sucked the imagination out of my brain in those intervening years and I was too busy studying to do much else. I was one of those students that practically have the course syllabi tattooed on their arm.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first publication was a poem in one of those awful vanity publishing poem anthologies that were so ubiquitous in the 90s. I think that book is being used as a doorstop somewhere in my mom's house now. Years and years later, I contributed a short story to an anthology called RIPPLE EFFECT, whose proceeds went to help rebuild the libraries in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. 

What themes do you like to write about? I write YA and MG fiction for the most part. Books were my lifeline throughout school and those same books still fascinate me today. The stories we fall in love with when we are young are the stories we remember forever. I also really love the huge diversity in the YA genre, both in theme, characters and subject. Because of that diversity I write whatever catches my fancy and there isn't a common theme between any of my stories or novels.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? I'm a voracious reader. In any give year I'll read between 100-150 books ranging from YA, to Urban Fantasy to Non-fiction. I've fallen in love with hundreds of books over the years. The ones that had that greatest impact on my life, however, are the Harry Potter books. I began writing as an adult because of the Harry Potter series and it completely changed how and what I read. My fascination with children's literature and YA is also due in large part to those books. Beyond that, some of my favorite authors include Scott Westerfeld, Laini Taylor, Richelle Mead, Diana Wynne Jones and Jim Butcher. There are many, many more.

BodySitters.com, Fiction, Issue 56-57, Fall/Winter 2021

L. H. Davis is the author of two science-fiction novels, Outpost Earth and Planet Nine, as well as two women's historical novels, The Race and its sequel, The Murder of Miss Shelby Putnam. His post-apocalyptic short story, Shoot Him Daddy, was published in Metasaga's anthology, Futuristica Vol. 1 in 2016. Laurance won the 2018 Teleport Science Fiction Contest with his short story Domain of the Dragon, which has since been published in Wolfsinger Publication's anthology, Crunchy with Chocolate. His short story, Girl Meets Robot, was published in 2019 in Dreaming Robot's Young Explorer's Adventure Guide, Volume 6. Before becoming a full-time writer, Laurance worked as a mechanical engineer specializing in robotics.    

 Get to know L. H. Davis...

When did you start writing?

2005

When and what and where did you first get published?

SpireHouse Books published my sci-fi novella, The Emporium in 2012, which won the Florida Writers Association's Royal Palms Literary Awards for unpublished novella in 2011. 

Why do you write?

I enjoy writing. I worked as a design engineer for many years. Writing is another way of designing and building.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

My back ground is in mechanical engineering. Most mechanical concepts are based on science, and they are both fiction and a fantasy until someone designs and builds it.  

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

Hugh Howey. The Wool trilogy.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

I hope to educate some readers in a little science and physics by making it fun. I also enjoy bringing my characters to life, and the protagonists always have a since of humor. Who could survive in this world, or any world, without one? 

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

His best-selling books are now free at LHDavisWriter.com. As long as you keep reading them, he'll never die. 

Do you blog?

Would love to.

For Deborah's bio please click here

Edgar, Fiction, Issue 31, June 1, 2015

Robert Dawson teaches mathematics at a Nova Scotian university. When he's not teaching, doing research, or writing, he enjoys hiking, cycling, fencing, music, and cooking. He is an alumnus of the Sage Hill and Viable Paradise writing workshops.

Visit him at http://cs.smu.ca/~dawson/Writing/index.html

Get to Know Robert...

Birthdate? Let's just say I saw Neil Armstrong on the moon. Though it was past my bedtime.

When did you start writing? About 2010

When and what and where did you first get published? A 200-word story called "Space" in a chapbook called AE Micro.

What themes do you like to write about? I've written hard SF, soft SF, fantasy, horror, mainstream, poetry. One story that might even pass as romance. 

Not Really,  Poetry, Issue 49, December 2019

Get to know JD...

Birthdate?

August 19 

When did you start writing?

I remember drawing in notebooks as a young child. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I started getting more serious about writing about five or six years ago.

When and what and where did you first get published?

I first started getting speculative work published on the Garden Gnomes website and in some pubs from Red Dashboard. The latter also published my first collection in 2014.

Why do you write?

Because I can’t seem to stop. I love stories and the written and spoken word.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

It’s the genre I read most — especially Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury. I believe what we read shapes what we write. 

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

Ray Bradbury is a must. I also like Ben Hatke’s graphic novels.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

Look around, notice. Be kind whenever you can.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

He tried to be a decent person even though he got it wrong sometimes.

Do you blog?

Yes. I blog about other authors and their work at drjreads.blogspot.com.

Home Inspection, Flash Fiction, Issue 59, Summer 2022

Bio

Christopher Degni writes about the magic and the horror that lurk just under the surface of everyday life. He lives south of Boston with his wife (and his demons, though we don't talk about those). He’s a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop and you can find his stories in 99 Tiny Terrors, Sherlock Holmes and the Occult Detectives, and Deadman Humour. Social media causes him to break out in hives, but you can email him at the.writer.ced@gmail.com.

When did you start writing?

I've been writing on and off since fifth grade. I'd like to think my stories have gotten more sophisticated in that time, but honestly, I've yet to match childhood me's ripoff of Lord of the Rings, so maybe I'm regressing!

When and what and where did you first get published?

I was first published in 2019 in an anthology called Deadman Humour, about what scares the scary clowns. Nobody can ever take away from me the fact my first published story has a horrific pun for the title, one I am simultaneously proud and ashamed of: "A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

Why do you write?

I wish I knew! It's something I just keep coming back to. I like to say "I write because I've tried to quit but it never really takes" and that's not far from the truth.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

SFF lets me step outside the everyday world and explore ideas that can be harder to get to in the realm of realism. It lets me peer into the cracks at the edge of reality and ask about all the things we don't fully understand. I think we all wish on some level that magic existed (whether "magic" comes in the form of fireball spells, wandering ghosts, or inexplicably advanced tech).

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

Gene Wolfe is my favorite author, and I could choose almost any story in The Best of Gene Wolfe as my favorite, though I have a soft spot for "A Cabin on the Coast" and "Forlesen." Oh, and "Death of the Island Doctor." And "Westwind." And...

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

It varies from story to story. A lot of times I'm just trying to have fun and I let the themes emerge. I think I'm most interested in ideas around memory and dreams and time, and what makes a self a self, and those little unexplained occurrences that we know there must be a rational explanation for, but wait a minute, maybe there's something else going on there...

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

This is a tough one. Everyone wants clever last words! Maybe something simple. "He made the world a better place."

Do you blog?

I do not. I've tried a few times but find it hard to sustain the momentum needed.

Palmer's Folly, Fiction, Issue 53, December 2020.

Dirck de Lint lives in Regina, Saskatchewan with his wife, his son and a variable (but, oddly, almost always prime) number of cats. What little free time he has not applied to writing is often given to vintage fountain pen repair or baking. His work has appeared in Pseudopod, AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review, and the anthologies Creatures in Canada and Monsters in Spaaaace!  

Get to know Dirck...

Birthdate? 30 November 1966

When did you start writing? There are two answers to this. The technically correct answer is... unclear, but somewhere before age 10 in an intermittent way, with more vigour from age 16, and in fits and starts ever since.

The truthful answer is in 2014, as that's when I decided I had to consider actually showing my writing to other people, including the editors of publications. Anything before that was... well, not junk, but certainly uncritiqued. That's also the time I finally managed to kick loose of the popular fetter of "I'll write when I have time."

When and what and where did you first get published? This is also complicated. My first two acceptances arrived in the inbox at essentially the same time, August of 2016. The first one that the contract was completed for was SF set centuries post-human, "Reiteration". It was picked up by AE, who were attacked by an extremely industrious hacker almost immediately after the final edit was approved. Thus, their August 2016 issue didn't see the world until two years later.

The other was "The Third Act", a very quiet kitchen drama involving a mob accountant having his life expertly threatened. It was presented in Trigger Warning: Short Stories with Pictures in September 2016 without any behind-the-scenes drama. The emotional attachment to these stories is intertwined, and since I have the luxury of not having to be precise in my assumptions, I treat them both as the first. Polyzygotic twins, these two.

Why do you write? Largely to distract myself from the terrible state of the real world. I might posit a roving cloud that turns people inside out (with or without a subsequent dance number), but no real people are suffering. Apart from readers, who... well, I'm assuming they're consenting to exposure to the nonsense that escapes my head.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? The same answer, effectively. SF of the mushy kind I produce, Fantasy, and Horror are all profoundly not-real settings, and that puts even more distance between the worlds of my imagination and the worrying developments found in headlines. And let's be clear-- my answer for this was the same before 2020 lowered its unlovely rump upon our collected heads.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? If pressed for a single author, I will say Patrick O'Brian; as a get-away from modern woes that I don't have to make up myself, the Aubrey/Maturin novels are hard to beat. He's just one of a swarm that I really like, though-- H.G. Wells, Chuck Wendig, H.P. Lovecraft (with an appropriate blush), Iain Banks, Premee Mohamed, Terry Pratchett, Laird Barron... just off the top of my head.

My favorite story... at the moment... is Charles Stross's "A Colder War". An absolutely chilling importation of transdimensional titans into the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Apart from "BOOGA BOOGA THERE'S A MONSTER!"... I guess the consistent through line is that there's always stuff happening just out of our sight that would absolutely blow your mind if you managed to pull aside whatever the curtain of the moment is. That's more or less the same thought that underpins Cosmic Horror, but not necessarily so all-encompassing or bowel-loosening; sometimes it's perfectly delightful.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? I promise I'm not that noise you heard. You know. THAT noise.

Do you blog? I do, after a fashion. I used to do an entry every weekday as a way of keeping myself from buying old pens on eBay over lunch, but part of what got me started on really writing was noticing how many words a month came out of that 30 to 40 minutes of laying down text. I still keep at it, on ravensmarch.wordpress.com, but that's become largely a way of proving to a nebulous external locus of control that I am writing, damn it, why must you judge me so? with very occasional editorial entries and references to fountain pen trivia.

There's also the blog-esque site that I occasionally post some writing on, which revels in the highly original address dirckwrites.ca. That's also where I'll announce publications and once in a while burble about uneducated philosophy.

Spruce, Queen of Serpents, Fiction, Issue 60, Fall 2022

M. M. De Voe is a writer of Lithuanian descent working on a collection of brand-new translations of original Lithuanian folktales. She is an internationally-published writer with an MFA from Columbia and a Shirley Jackson Award.

Get to know M. M. De Voe

Birthdate?

May 26. And as a Gemini, I refuse to answer questions about years. I’m a

Monkey and anyone who is that interested can figure it out.

When did you start writing?

I wrote notes to my mother and she wrote notes to me, that is how we

communicated when she was working full time. But also, I always wrote more

than was required in school. In third grade I wrote a 50-page story about some

footprints that I thought was a terrific mystery—this brilliant piece of work was lost

to time.

I actually wrote my first novel while working at a very boring job as the executive

secretary to the general manager of North America at a Japanese bank. I had no

tasks other than serving green tea in the proper order during meetings, yet I was

required to always look busy and so was the receptionist: so I wrote chapters that

I gave to the receptionist. She would edit the work and give it back to me and

then I’d write the next chapter—that manuscript was what I submitted to

Columbia University to get into their MFA program, which really was the defining

moment of my writing career.  

When and what and where did you first get published?

My first earnings from writing were a $1,000 prize for an essay for the National

Optimist Society: both I and my high school counselor could not believe the win.

Then, when I was an undergraduate in deep credit-card debt at The University of

Notre Dame of Maryland, a Catholic Women’s college, I saw a flyer advertising a

national poetry contest on the English Department bulletin board. In my financial

desperation, I entered with a villanelle I’d written for the nuns as homework, and

lo and behold! I won the $1,000 first prize. The poem was “After the Audition” and

it was published in The Lyric in 1990. After I cashed their $1,000 check I wrote

another poem called “Jazz,” which earned $25 when it was published by a

magazine called America. I got this crazy idea that I could make a living writing

poetry. My first prose publication was in Lithuania: In her Own Words, an

anthology of Lithuanian short stories in which my payment for translating two

stories was to have a short story of my own published. You can’t really pay the

rent with that, but I was pretty delighted nonetheless.

Why do you write?

I love seeing the finished work in print. Art is inexplicable. Something sublime

happens—I read the words that I wrote and I have no idea how I did it. This

invariably causes me to believe in magic. Where did this stuff come from? I am

always so delighted to know that it came from me. It’s a little like having kids: you

stare at these amazing humans and can’t for a minute believe that you

engendered them.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

I write everything. Science fiction is a gorgeous way to think through

philosophical or societal problems or to expose hypocrisy. Fantasy is a gorgeous

way to look at belief systems and humanity. But really? I write whatever comes to

me. I don’t sort it into a genre until it is time to send it out. 

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

These are impossible questions!! I have a plethora of favorites, depending on my

mood. Margaret Atwood will always make all the lists, but Erin Mogenstern,

Richard Powers, Ian McEwan, Haruki Murakami, Don DeLIllo, Stephen Brust,

Mat Johnson, Kelly Link, Tim Winton, Mark Danielewski, Kazuo Ishiguro, Charles

Dickens, and Jane Austen have earned my attention and devotion. 

Favorite Story? I guess Alice in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass. I love

the wordplay and I love the games intersecting with reality and I love the

desperation of clinging to the rules of society when everything’s chaotic. Plus the

Jabberwock is the coolest. 

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

I am always trying to show that no matter how bizarre our circumstances, we are

all similar. Everyone feels like an outsider—and this should bring us all together,

in compassion for each other.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

“Well, that was unexpected."

Do you blog?

I DO!! I’m at “This is Ridiculous” — which is mmdevoe.substack.com

I also frequently write on Medium: mmdevoe.medium.com

The Unfolding of Wings, Fiction, Issue 43, June 2018

Gunnar De Winter is a biologist/philosopher hybrid who explores ideas through fictional fieldwork

The Journey of Life, Fiction, Issue 3, June 1, 2008

Healthy Eating, Fiction, Issue 10, March 1, 2010

Get to Know K.S...

Birthdate? I'm old enough to remember The Beatles.

When did you start writing?  In primary school

When and what and where did you first get published? Apart from stories in the school magazine, the first story was "Second Love" in Amateur Writer in 1981.

Why do you write? That's what I keep asking myself! Because it's what I'm best at, I suppose.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?  

I'm fascinated by the possibilities, plus no one can tell you that you've got the facts about your fantasy world wrong - it's your world.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?  

That's a virtually impossible decision, but I'll choose T. H. White's The Once and Future King - Ian McKellern for Merlin, I say!

What are you trying to say with your fiction?  

I'm not conscious of having any particular message when I write, I just tell stories.

Do you blog? Not yet, but who knows what the future might bring.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? She tried.

photo by Tony Sacco of Sacco Photo (https://www.facebook.com/TonySaccoPhoto)          

Minerva, Flash Fiction, Issue 41, December 15, 2017

William Delman's work has appeared in numerous fine journals, including SciFan, Bastion, Nimrod, Salamander, The Massachusetts Review, The Literary Review, and others. New work is available or forthcoming from Little Blue Marble, The Arcanist, The Centropic Oracle, Kzine, Bette Noir and Stupefying Stories. William lives in The Witch City, Salem, Massachusetts, with his wife Jessica and his daughter Maya. He's a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at Boston University and holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jujitsu under Nassib Adas and Ronaldo Campos at Fenix BJJ. 

Biography Questions

Birthday? 7/29/78

When did you start writing?  

Around the age of 12, but I started getting serious-ish around 16.

When and what and where did you first get published? 

I had a long poem published in The Times Harold Record newspaper when I was around 17. 

What themes do you like to write about?

I enjoy stories that focus on the "other people," the characters that genre fiction and comic books (I'm a big comic fan) generally push to the side, but I also find myself writing a great deal about the merciless, quiet dramas that unfold so often in subtly dysfunctional families. No matter how advanced our technologies become, I believe that as long as the human race remains human, our best and favorite stories will focus on the things that have always been at the center of our lives: the people we care about.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work?

How much time do you have?

Seriously though, I'm a huge fan of my friend Nick Wolven's work, and he's had a number of wonderful pieces in F&SF, Asimov's, and Clarkesworld over the last couple years. Everyone should Google him, and find something he's written. In the last year, I've also really started enjoying the fiction podcasts produced by The Public Radio Alliance, particularly The Black Tapes. 

Other favorites include Charles Stross, Jim Butcher, Bradbury, Karen Fossum, James S. A. Corey, Ann Leckie, Junot Diaz, DFW, Pynchon, Kafka, and Sallinger. Of course, I could keep going... and don't even get me started on my favorite poets!

Facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/the2417project

Twitter? @DelmanWilliam (though I don't spend much time on Twitter)

Time Machines and Laser Beams, Poetry, Issue 66, Spring 2024

Steve Denehan lives in Kildare, Ireland with his wife Eimear and daughter Robin. He is the author of two chapbooks and five poetry collections. Winner of the Anthony Cronin Poetry Award and twice winner of Irish Times' New Irish Writing, his numerous publication credits include Poetry Ireland Review and Westerly. 

Get to know Steve...

Birthdate?

August 4th, 1975

When did you start writing?

I've been writing all the way along but I started submitting five or six years ago I'd say.

When and what and where did you first get published?

I had a short story published in a now defunct national newspaper here in Ireland called, The Evening Press. It was submitted by my teacher back in 1984 and my payment was a crisp £1 note!

Why do you write?

For the joy of it. I also find it helps me declutter my tiny brain.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

The unknown is the blankest canvas there is. There are no limits, it's fantastic!

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

My favourites change from day to day, hour to hour even! Off the top of my head my favourite authors (at this moment!) are Glen Duncan, Paul Auster, Harry Crews and Larry Brown. In terms of stories I love the sci-fi stories and novellas of Walter Tevis.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

To look beyond ourselves. Whether it is in relation to our planet, continents, neighbourhoods or our families.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

Liked cookies.

Do you blog?

I don't. My relentless laziness seems to get in the way of stuff like that.

In Which Marper Visits a Witch, Fiction, Issue 19, June 1, 2012

Star-Crossed Memory, Fiction, Issue 41, December 2017

Ellen Denham is a multidisciplinary performing artist and writer who directs the opera program and teaches voice at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. A graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, she has been published in Daily Science Fiction, NewMyths.com, and the Women Destroy SF issue of Lightspeed. Not content to keep her writing and performing life separate, Ellen likes to hang out in the dark alleys where artistic genres and disciplines intersect. Her performing career has encompassed everything from directing improvised fantasy operas to barking Mozart as a dog to turning internet memes into a comic soundscape. Read more at http://denham.virtualave.net.

Get to Know Ellen...

Birthdate?  January 11

When did you start writing? In elementary school.

When and what and where did you first get published? Prior to attending Odyssey in 2006, I had sold non-fiction articles and had some fiction in non-paying markets. My first professional sale was the flash piece, “The Mouths,” in 2009 to a now-defunct magazine called Hypersonic Tales. The story was later sold to Lightspeed Magazine for their special “Women Destroy Science Fiction” issue.

What themes do you like to write about? I am fascinated by the subject of Otherness and how that can be explored in science fiction and fantasy.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? My favorite books as a child were The Lord of the Rings and Watership

Down. I still love both of these for the beautiful worldbuilding and skillful use of language. As an adult I have been influenced by the works of Octavia Butler and Sheri Tepper, because of their fascinating exploration of what it means to be human. I hope that all of this comes out in my writing. I love to build worlds, and then use them to consider difficult questions, such as, can humans and nature ultimately coexist? What happens if we stop making and appreciating art? How do we care for the vulnerable among us?

Website? http://denham.virtualave.net

Facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/ellen.denham

Hiding on the Dark Side, Fiction, Issue 30, March 1, 2015

Ellen is a freelance writer living in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and two demonic cats who wreak havoc and hell on a regular basis (the cats, not the husband). She’s had a rich and varied life working as a circus acrobat, a CIA spy, a service provider in the Red Light District, a navy seal, a ballerina on the starship Enterprise, and was the first person to ever climb Mount Everest. (Editorial note: Some of the above may be fictional.)

Get to Know Ellen...

Birthday? May 3, 1950

When did you start writing? It was about four years ago. A traveling circus came through town. I applied for a job there, but they wouldn't have me. They felt I wasn't agile enough for trapeze work, and since I can't even get my two housecats to behave, didn't feel my attempting a lion taming act would be a winning ticket. There were only two, logical, alternate job choices for me: 1) Sign up for work as a Jedi knight or 2) Write.  

When and what and where did you first get published? It was a few years ago--a non-fiction story to a national gardening magazine called Greenprints. This wasn’t a journalistic, informational type story, but a human interest one--what I later learned was called "creative non-fiction." I was very, very inexperienced as a writer than. This gardening story was one of the first I’d ever written (I hadn’t even attempted to write fiction yet), consequently, when I received a contract in the mail for the story, AND there was check for $100 included in the same envelope. I almost fainted.

What themes do you like to write about? Many things when it comes to fiction. I probably write more sci-fi and horror (both psychological and supernatural), than anything else, but since I’ve started doing this, I’ve written and gotten sold and published stories in other genres and on a variety of themes. My viewpoint is that it really stretches a writer’s creative wings to be able to take any subject, theme, object or concept and weave a story around it, even if it’s not a particular area of interest. As an example, I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in reading about dragons, and even less in writing a story about one, but I did, and ended up selling it to a publication that paid me pro-rates for the story. I’ve written other stories with themes and  genres that you couldn’t pay me to read about, but which I was able to successfully write a story about. I wrote those “no-interest” stories just to see if I could--to challenge myself. And once I pushed through the initial resistance to doing it all, and got the thing going, then it DID become fun and something I liked doing, while I was mid writing it. Even if a story never sells, it’s the exercise of the ABILITY to write it that leaves a writer with something valuable, and in fact, grows his or her writing ability.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? Similar to the above, too many to even list out. There is SO much good writing out there. For horror, I love Stephan King, but I also love Edgar Allen Poe, and others.  For spy thriller espionage there’s authors like Robert Ludlum, for legal thrillers there’s John Gresham, and others. Then there are the great classics from days of old – The Pulitzer Prize winning As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom's Cabin, Arthur C. Clark’s 2001 Space Odyssey and Childhood’s End. There are just so many great books and so many great writers out there, each which has resonated with me for different reasons, and in different ways.

Of course, the down side to this is that when I look at these great master’s of literature, I realize how uniformly crappy I am as a writer in comparison. Oh well. It gives me something to aspire to.

Walk Along The Shore, Fiction, Issue 47, June 15, 2019

Evelyn Deshane's creative and nonfiction work has appeared in Plenitude Magazine, Briarpatch Magazine, Strange Horizons, Lackington's, and Bitch Magazine, among other publications. Evelyn (pron. Eve-a-lyn) received an MA from Trent University and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Waterloo. Visit evedeshane.wordpress.com for more.

Get to know Evelyn...

When and what and where did you first get published? 

About seven years ago now in The Fieldstone Review. 

Why do you write? 

To paraphrase the psychotherapist Bessel van der Kolk, I write to "feel what I feel and know what I know."

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? 

Too many to name, but I think Kurt Vonnegut's got all the right things going for him. 

What are you trying to say with your fiction? 

A lot of things, but most can be summarized with a quotation from my fav Vonnegut: "God damnit, you've gotta be kind." 

The Keen and Cutting Stones, Co-author with Claudio Chillemi, Fiction, Issue 63, Summer 2023

Get to know Paul

Birthday?

I was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1954 and have never considered living anywhere other than my home region.  I did move south to Providence, where I encounter Lovecraftian reminders daily.

When did you start writing?

Like many authors, I had a taste of the pleasures of creativity and audience feedback by writing for my high-school newspaper.  I then sold a story while still in college.  But life intervened, and it was not until five years later, in 1982, that I seriously began to pursue this crazy art and lifestyle.  The first couple of years of this venture did not manifest any further sales!  But I knew I was getting better and had to persist, and by 1985, things began to click! 

When and what and where did you first get published?

In 1985, I sold two stories almost simultaneously:  one to THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION and one to TWILIGHT ZONE MAGAZINE.  I owe an immense debt to editors Ed Ferman and Ted Klein!

Why do you write?

By now, it’s just hard-wired.  I feel dull and antsy if I don’t! 

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

It's what I’ve always loved and read.  Having said that, I also compose crime novels too! 

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

That’s a hard one, but I guess I’ll opt for Thomas Pynchon, a landmark of ambition, with, inventiveness and prose style.  I think my favorite story might be Clifford Simas’s “Desertion.”

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

People are good, life is odd and challenging, and the universe is weird.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

No regrets.

Do you blog?

With my partner in crime, Alex Boise, I post daily at WEIRD UNIVERSE:

http://weirduniverse.net/

The Fée Knight, Fiction, Issue 51, June 2020

Cara Masten DiGirolamo is an MFA candidate at the University of British Columbia, an amateur bookbinder, and a rogue instructor in the secret art of Turkish paper marbling. With a Ph.D. in linguistics, she also works as a fictional language consultant. Her fiction can be found in Kanstellation, Daily Science Fiction, the anthology Tragedy Queens: Stories Inspired by Lana Del Rey & Sylvia Plath (Clash Books, 2018), and the podcasts the Manawaker Flash Fiction Podcast, Cast of Wonders (forthcoming), and Monsters out of the Closet (forthcoming).

Get to know Cara...

When did you start writing?

I don't remember a time when I wasn't writing. At eight or nine, with my mom's help, I wrote my own American Girl Doll novel wherein Samantha went to Maine and had to deal with blackflies. At first I always wrote for my own pleasure. I didn't realize just how much fun having an audience could be until I wrote a dirty poem in English class and made everyone laugh.

When and what and where did you first get published?

My first publication was an angsty queer poem in Teen Ink in high school. My first fiction sale as an adult was an angsty queer story in the Tragedy Queens anthology. Has anything changed? I write less poetry.

Why do you write?

I think I write because I'm confused—why do people do what they do? Why is the world the way it is? If I can come up with a convincing enough story about it, I feel less confused. A story is a working hypothesis. When it breaks, it's time to write a new story.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

I didn't realize I primarily wrote fantasy until an undergraduate professor picked a story of mine that wasn't fantasy and suggested I write 300 more pages and turn it into a novel. I couldn't even imagine doing it. How could I write a whole novel where the only things that could happen were things that plausibly would happen? I didn't know where to find astonishment or wonder in the world of the story. There weren't endless mysteries to explore. No one would die a hero. For me, the emotions I want to explore and evoke in my stories don't really fit in the modern realist tradition. I also never knew I wrote fantasy because I grew up on myths, legends and folklore, Ivanhoe, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and the novels of Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett. They were just stories. Sometimes trickster gods show up in Upstate New York. Sometimes you take a party drug that lets you see the future. Why not?

Flight: New Beginnings, Cover Art. Issue 59, Summer 2022

Bio

Shikhar Dixit has sold over one hundred illustrations and more than thirty stories to such venues as Penumbric, Journ-E, Space & Time, Dark Regions, Strange Horizons, Not One of Us, The Darker Side (anthology edited by John Pelan), Songs From Dead Singers (anthology edited by Michael Kelly) and two Barnes & Noble anthologies. His two newest stories in print can be found in Weird Horror #1 and Space & Time #139. He  lives with his wife in the darkest heart of New Jersey.

To learn more, visit his website at www.SlipOfThePen.com.

Birthdate?

December 20th.

When did you start doing art?

At approximately the age of five. It was in 6TH Grade, however, that my elementary school art teacher told me I had an aptitude

 for it. Having previously felt that I was “good for nothing,” I went ALL IN, cajoling my parents into buying me a sketch book and a variety of pencils. I should mention that I am also a writer of fiction, with more than thirty publication credits to my name.

When and what and where did you first get published?

If I recall correctly, I first had a drawing published in my high school’s creative magazine—which wasn’t nearly of the caliber that the word “magazine” usually implies, but it was 1987 and photocopier technology was still in its infancy. My first art sale as an adult was in White Knuckles, a horror-genre magazine published by writer John R. Platt.

Why do you create art in the

 Science Fiction and/or Fantasy fields?

I read my first adult novel, Stephen King’s Firestarter, at around age 13. I followed that up by reading The Stand. A strong desire to draw scenes from these and other SK novels prodded me towards H/SF/F illustration in general. It was great fun. I was a fan of Michael Whelan, The Brothers Hildebrandt, Rowena Morrill, and many other bookcover illustrators of the day. Dungeons & Dragons was also a considerable influence for me.

Who is your favorite artist? Your favorite work?

Michael Whelan and Maxfield Parrish. I think Parrish’s “Ecstasy” is my favorite, but there are many others—too many to name. I also love the pen & ink illustration of Allen Kozlowski.

What are you trying to say with your art?

If there is a core message in my work, it is that beauty can be found everywhere and in everyone. It is a matter of how one chooses to view the universe.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

“Here lies one whose name was writ in india ink…"

Do you blog?

Sporadically. My work can be found at www.SlipOfThePen.com.

Coyote and the Sky Door, Fiction, Issue 33, December 1, 2015

Biography

Anj Dockrey lives in Austin, TX. She writes science fiction and fantasy and loves all things nerdy and weird. Visit her at http://anjdockrey.wix.com/anjdockrey. 

Birthday? October 1984

When did you start writing? I wrote my first short story at age 7. 

When and what and where did you first get published? I have had several publications in Aphelion Webzine, starting in 2006. This is my first pro market publication. 

What themes do you like to write about? I like my characters to question how the mores and expectations of their society conflict with their inner sense of right and wrong; of course, I like to do this with a science fiction twist. 

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? 1984 by George Orwell, Dune by Frank Herbert, and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I know I'm just listing classics, but these three books have most shaped my writing in that they inspired me to aspire to write the kind of story that will take readers out of their comfort zones and ask hard questions. 

For Sarina's bio please click here

The dead in their Own Time, Poem, Issue 55, June 2021

FJ Doucet's work has appeared in Silver Blade, Eye to the Telescope, Literary Mama, and yolk, among others. Her poetry was previously nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is among the nominees for this year's Rhysling Award. She is the current president of the Brooklin Poetry Society, based just outside of Toronto, Canada.

Get to know F.J. Doucet...

Birthdate?

Just shy of the summer solstice.

When did you start writing?

Long, long ago, in the before time… In other words, I cannot even remember when I started. The beginning is bound up in that hazy, mythic dimension of early childhood. 

When and what and where did you first get published?

I suppose it depends on what you consider published. I used to write for fanzines in the 90s and early 2000s, under a variety of pseudonyms, until fanzines went the way of the woolly mammoth. My first “official” was when I was fifteen; I had some verses appear in an anthology for young Canadian poets, published by the Canadian Authors’ Association. 

Why do you write?

To shape the world into something that I can understand, and to share that understanding. 

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

I don’t understand strict genre divisions; all of the oldest stories are fantasies about magic and immortality, and even the strictest of literary fiction seeks to weave a spell around its reader. I write speculative fiction because it most directly addresses that magic. 

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

That’s a terribly difficult question. My mind just goes blank when asked for an absolute favourite, but some of my many preferred writers are Tana French (mixed literary/crime writing with an underlying supernatural background) and Donna Tartt (The Secret History, that coming-of-age story with its powerful, mythic implications). In sci-fi, I’m fond of Robert J. Sawyer. His stories are always about the humans and what the science means for them and says about them as its authors, rather than about the science itself. And I’m currently very much enjoying the Fatma el-Shar’arawi series by P. Djèlí Clark, set in an alternate Cairo in which magic and jinn have been suddenly loosed upon the landscape at the end of the 19th century. Not only is it great fun, but it’s decolonizing as well, as Egypt, equipped with this new advantage, throws off the subjugation of the British Empire and rises to the global political forefront. I’m also personally invested in the series because the main character is called Fatma—my own name; the “F” part of “FJ”!

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

I think of my compositions as a map of details rather than a complete body. If we think about how the world exists on an atomic level, as empty space joined by a microscopic network of physical matter, we can superimpose that atomic reality onto a novel, a short story, or a poem. The plot is the space. The details are the matter. 

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

Not my own words, but what more is there to say: “Mortal fate is hard. You'd best get used to it.” ― Euripides, Medea

Do you blog?

I don’t really have time. It is even difficult to carve out a few moments in the day when I can sit down and compose a poem or add a few paragraphs to a story. Blogging is a worthy pursuit and part of a long tradition of personal essay writing and/or journalistic exploration, but it’s simply not something that I can do at the moment. 

Quantum Sestina, Poetry, Issue 25, December 1, 2013

Kaltes Cloud-Shaper, Fiction, Issue 29, December 1, 2014

I've been writing short stories and poems for about five years now, as well as some longer fiction and articles. Many of my stories have been published online and/or is anthologies, with several more forthcoming. Recently I've had stories in Penumbra, Quantum Fairy Tales, and Perihelion, and a poem at Star*lines. My website is cathydouglas.net. 

Get to Know Cathy...

Birthdate? 11/18/1957

When did you start writing? About six years ago.

When and what and where did you first get published? The first poem I ever submitted got published, to my amazement! It was a nonsense poem called “A Memo Went Out,” which got published online by Verse Wisconsin.

What themes do you like to write about? I love imagining how our own world may have more going on than we think. I also like imagining ways that other worlds may be like ours.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? A lot of things I read when I was a kid had a big influence on the way I think, and still influence the way I write. I remember being blown away after reading the Earthsea trilogy, The Last Unicorn, Watership Down, and many others, so that in my head I was still living in those worlds for days. Now it’s the same when I write, only I’m stuck in worlds I make up myself.

Kitt the Shadow, Flash Fiction, Issue 23, June 1, 2013

Rachel A. Dowling writes speculative poetry and prose from her home in Western New York. So far, her love of language has earned her degrees in literature and linguistics and led her to careers in localization and marketing. More of her short fiction is scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of Gone Lawn. Whether or not she has ESP is still under debate.

Get to know Rachel...

Birthdate? March 29

When did you start writing? It all began in 3rd grade when I was introduced to creative writing.

When and what and where did you first get published? I suppose it's a tie! My first two stories are scheduled to appear in June 2013: "Kitt the Shadow" right here at NewMyths.com and "The Owl Lantern" in Gone Lawn #11.

What themes do you like to write about? Time, ghosts, family, the elements, the mysteries hidden beneath the surface

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? The Little Prince because it manages to be both simple and complex at once. Fairy tales, myths, and folklore from around the world because they attempt to uncover and explain the seemingly unexplainable.

A Kind of Dying, Poetry, Issue 45, December 15, 2018

Jessica Drake-Thomas is a graduate of Tulane University, Emerson College’s M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and the University of Arizona. She is a poet, tarot reader, and freelance writer. She is the author of a chapbook, Possession, from dancing girl press.

Get to know Jessica...

Birthdate? October 7, 1988

When did you start writing?

In the 8th grade, my Language Arts teacher would let us have the entire class period on Fridays to write whatever we wanted. The only requirement was that we had to spend the period writing. I started writing poetry and I haven't stopped.

When and what and where did you first get published?

I was first published in my high school's literary arts magazine starting in my freshman year (2003). My poem was titled "The Watcher." It was about a person living in a haunted house who was looking out at the world outside.

Why do you write?

Because I have all of these weird and interesting ideas in my head that are just kind of floating around and need to come out. I've tried other forms of expression, like painting and the violin, but writing has always been my medium.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

When I first started writing, I was reading a lot of Tolkien...I wasn't aware back then why I felt such a connection to his work, but after reading his biography, I've found that our work ethics are similar. I also will edit and pick at things (he used the term "niggle") until they reach the state of polish that I feel it needs to be at. My editing process on a single piece can take anywhere from two weeks to two years. Another thing in his work that really captivated me was the world building--I was struggling with depression for the first time, and to curl up inside of Middle Earth was the most beautiful therapy. I think I'm still trying to create a similar experience for my own readers.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

While Tolkien has been the author that I've gone back to for the longest, my favorite author is Shirley Jackson. The Haunting of Hill House has long been a book that I've appreciated the crafting of--it's simple, yet effectively chilling. I'm always really disappointed when the only story of hers that people have read is "The Lottery."

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

As a person with mental illness, I've often felt lonely or that my struggle isn't considered valid because it can't be seen. I'm trying to inform those who don't have psychiatric illnesses that it's something to be understood and not feared, and I'm trying to tell those who do that they're not alone and that if they speak up, there are those who will listen and support them. "A Kind of Dying" is inspired by a person who claimed to be someone who cared about me. When I was struggling and needed support, this person turned their back on me. It's a piece about moving forward and leaving behind a friendship that has, ultimately, been toxic and destructive.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

Had her cake and ate it, too.

Do you blog?

No, but I'm always thinking about how I should.

The Last Pharmacist, Fiction, Issue 6, March 1, 2009

Author's website: www.nickydrayden.com

Nicky Drayden is a Systems Analyst who has made the recent life decision that she'd rather spend her time working with prose than code. She resides in Austin, Texas where being weird is highly encouraged, if not required. You can see more of her work at www.nickydrayden.com

Get to know Nicky...

When did you start writing? Seriously, about four years ago after hearing about National Novel Writing Month. I couldn't wait until November to start, so I wrote my first novel during April in about 25 days.

When and what and where did you first get published? July 2008, I sold my first piece of fiction to Flash Me Magazine -- a humor short story about a blundering pirate who's got one last chance at sailing the open seas again.

Why do you write? I wasn't aware I had the option not to.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Because those are the story ideas that keep me up at night and prod me out of bed in the morning before my alarm goes off.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? My favorite author is probably Neal Stephenson. I really admire the stuff that comes out of his brain. My favorite novel though is The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett, hilarious and a great adventure.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I don't really have an agenda with my fiction other than to make people laugh or think, or both.

The Tunneling Chemist, Fiction, Issue 10, March 1, 2010

Get to know...

Birthdate? August 13, 1978

When did you start writing? I started in earnest in July of 2008.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first publication was a short, silly essay called "Heat Life," wondering what the universe would be like if it were infinite.  It was accepted for publication in Spaceports Spidersilk on August 18, 2008. The next day, I received an acceptance notice for "The Godsfather," a fantasy re-imagining of the nearly eponymous movie, in Semaphore. It was the only time (thus far?) I have received acceptance notices on consecutive days.

Why do you write? I love conceiving ideas, coming up with varied situations and figuring out how people (be they goblins or magic swords or what have you) respond and change in response to these situations. And I love the feeling I get when I know I've told the story well.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Like 90+% of fantasy authors, you can blame Professor Tolkien for that one. When I was a kid, I used to swing a stick at bushes, slaying orcs left and right as if I were at the Battle of the Five Armies. Something like that stays with you throughout your life!

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?  I'm in awe of Steven Erikson and his Malazan Book of the Fallen series. How someone can make a world that big, with over 100,000 years of history, pump out books that size annually, and not be (as far as I know) in an insane asylum? Wow.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I don't think I've revealed any life-changing truths yet. I just like to tell fun stories.

Do you blog? Where? Nope

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? That was fun.

The Gift, Poetry, Issue 63, Summer 2023

Christine M. Du Bois is a Pennsylvania anthropologist with three published books:  one on immigration, policing, and race relations, and two on how humans grow, trade, and use soybeans. She has had poems published at BourgeonOnline.com, the blog of Prospectus magazine, PonderSavant.com, the CAW Anthology, Pif Magazine, Central Texas Writers and Beyond 2021, Open Door Magazine, Tell Tale Inklings, Valiant Scribe’s Vultures & Doves, the Red Penguin Press's Words for the Earth, the BeZine, Visitant literary magazine, The Dope Fiend Daily, Last Leaves magazine, and in two anthologies from the Ravens Quoth Press. Poems are forthcoming in Psychological Perspectives and the Canary Literary Magazine. She has also had a short story published in the Ecstasy issue of Libretto Magazine.

As a caption for her photo: Christine M. Du Bois is the godmother to a Kichwa girl in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where her Kichwa ‘family’ painted her face in traditional designs. 

Get to know Christine...

Birthday?  March of 1962

When and where did you first get published?

I didn’t publish creative writing, or really even do much of it, until the pandemic.  Now I can’t stop! Creative writing is my pandemic baby. 

Why do you write?

My body has been subtly informing me that there’s an expiration date on my existence. Time is now my most precious resource, and I find myself less and less willing to spend it on anything that isn’t deeply meaningful.  Alas, I still have to pay bills and clean my guinea pig’s cage, but whenever I’m done with tasks like those, I mostly want to hang out with people I value, revel in Nature’s crazy-creative exuberance, and play, play, play with words. All three of those are realms of love for me. The love in writing is the way it connects me to my deepest self and offers me the joyful struggle of crafting language.   

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

Being able to imagine alternate realities comforts me. Any single reality is inevitably flawed and incomplete.  Other realities have their own defects, but all the same, they can compensate for the defects in ours.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife made a big impression on me.  I read it years ago and still find myself pondering the ways the characters’ subconscious realities may be driving the story.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

In cherishing—even against all odds–we are made truly alive.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

She counted herself lucky to live in such a miraculous world.

Do you blog?

I don’t blog.  Yet.

Wizards Die By Stages, Fiction, Issue 40, September 2017

Steve DuBois is a high school teacher from Kansas City.  For more of his literary adventures and misadventures, visit www.stevedubois.net.

Get to know Steve...

Birthday?  June 16, 1972

When did you start writing?  Initial credits were as a professional journalist in 1994; I wrote under a pseudonym for a moderately successful political blog in the 2000s and adopted fiction-writing as my own personal midlife crisis in 2010.

When and what and where did you first get published?

Nonfiction and political work aside, my first published work of fiction was "Thump Dumps a Chump" in the July 2015 Fabula Argentea.

What themes do you like to write about?

Problematic ones.  I have an aversion to consensus and a fondness for uncomfortable ideas and difficult questions.  If my reader feels completely validated and affirmed by my work, I've done my job imperfectly.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work?

I read widely in a variety of genres so it's hard to pin down individual influences.  Any given story is probably influenced by my most recent reading; for instance, “Wizards Die By Stages” was largely inspired by discussion of the persuasion/compulsion dilemma by authors such as Scott Alexander and Levitt/Dubner. 

Website?  www.stevedubois.net

Facebook page?  steve.dubois.7

Twitter? @Twitlysium

Burning the Midnight Oil, Fiction, Issue 17, December 1, 2011

Lindsey Duncan is a life-long writer and professional Celtic harp performer, with short fiction and poetry in numerous speculative fiction publications. Her contemporary fantasy novel, Flow, is forthcoming from Double Dragon Publishing. She feels that music and language are inextricably linked. She lives, performs and teaches harp in Cincinnati, Ohio. She can be found on the web at http://www.LindseyDuncan.com/writing.htm

Get to know...

Birthdate?

March 1st.

When did you start writing?

I started dictating stories about multi-colored talking sheep to my mother at the age of five or so. I was about eleven when I tackled what I thought of as a novel. (It wasn't.  More of a novella.) I came to short stories much later.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first sale was to "Bash Down The Door Slice Open The Badguy," an anthology of humorous sword and sorcery--my story "But Before I Kill You..." was about the ground rules of an evil overlady.  It took a bit for that to come out, though, and in the interim I sold another story which was my first to actually come out in print.  It was with Leading Edge magazine, "The Dreamweaver's Dispute" ... frantically retitled from "Firstborn" after I was informed that they'd had a story in the previous issue with the same title. By Orson Scott Card, at that. Oops.  (Mine was initially titled "Firstborn" because the entire story is built on a reversal of the traditional fairy contract:  "I'll give you my firstborn child in exchange...")

What themes do you like to write about? I don't consciously set out to write to themes, but I find certain strands

appear frequently in my stories:  the bond between families, particularly parents and children; communication with the dead; the struggle, not just to do the right thing, but to be sure of what that is.  I am fascinated by the concept of seeing into the future and what that does to a person.

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? A book that deeply impressed me as a writer was Children of Chaos by Dave Duncan (no relation), an intense, immersive fantasy that, to my mind, embodies Teresa Nielsen Hayden's quote, "Plot is a literary convention. Story is a force of nature."  The events on the page flow out so inevitably from the actions of the characters that it doesn't feel like a book:  it feels like a window on another world.  I strive to catch this sense of authenticity and spontaneity.

There is an anthology entitled Murder By Magic, edited by Rosemary Edghill, which contains stories incorporating crime (not necessarily murder, despite the title) and fantastic  elements, and it opened my eyes to the possibilities of how these two elements could be combined.  Mysteries in general have influenced the way I build stories and regard "fair play" towards readers, whether it be with a genuine mystery or simply foreshadowing a plot element. Murder By Magic contains "Cold Case," which is beautiful and chilling (and happens to involve one of my favorite story elements), and on the converse side, "Doppelgangster," which is comically wondrous.

Rebecca Bradley's Lady In Gil has a powerful ending...and it starts as a very tongue-in-cheek novel about a young man who is sent off to be "the hero" when no one expects him to succeed. The most effective parts of this novel occur as a natural outgrowth of looking at the humorous elements through the lens of logic. When the comedy takes a hard right turn, it works perfectly, and is all the more poignant for it. I think that humor is a key component even of the most grim tale; that breath of fresh air can make tragedy sharper.

In general, I am drawn to books and authors where the characters are fully fleshed, complex and immersive:  Lois McMaster Bujold, Jana G. Oliver, Jane Lindskold.

Sunset Like a Dying Fire, Flash Fiction, Issue 45, December 15, 2018

R. K. Duncan is a new, hopefully up-and-coming, author mostly of fantasy, with a dash of sci-fi and horror thrown in. He writes about fairies and gods and ghosts from a ramshackle apartment in Philadelphia. In the shocking absence of any cats, he lavishes spare attention on cast iron cookware and his long-suffering and supportive partner. Before settling on writing, he studied linguistics and philosophy at Haverford college. His occasional musings and links to other work can be found at rkduncan-author.com

Get to Know R. K. Duncan

When and what and where did you first get published? In the No Shit, There I Was anthology, from Alliteration Ink

Do you blog? http://www.rkduncan-author.com/

Titanfall: Where Were You When the Giant Fell?, Fiction, Fall 2022

Glenn Dungan is currently based in Brooklyn, NYC. He exists within a Venn-diagram of urban design, sociology, and good stories. When not obsessing about one of those three, he can be found at a park drinking black coffee and listening to podcasts about murder. 

Glenn's latest sci-fi piece is titled "Letters from the Singularity", and was recently published by Hyphen Punk. Outside of this, he has had more than fifteen publications in various literary magazines and anthologies.

For more of his work, see his website: https://www.whereisglennnow.com/

Get to know Glenn

Birthdate?

January 22nd, 1994.

When did you start writing?

Since I learned how to read! I wrote my first story in 1st grade. It was a horrible story, but it did have a beginning, middle, end. 

When and what and where did you first get published?

A play that I wrote in high school got performed on stage, although I'm not sure if that counts. My first short story ever featured in a publication was during my undergrad, in the school's literary magazine "The Normal Review". However, my first independent publication as a working professional was a horror story "Smoke & Coffee", published by Scribblelit in 2018.

Why do you write?

Such a complicated question because it's so easy yet so hard to answer. Easy: I write because I love it. Writing is in every fiber of my being. I've always prided myself on having a big imagination, and writing is the best, most fulfilling conduit for it. Hard: I write because I often used books as an escape. Like most folks, my childhood wasn't that easy, and I kept myself company with novels and comic books when between houses and schools. I write for that little kid and kids like him. 

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?

Both. I don't confine myself to either end of the spectrum. If anyone asks what genre I write in, I'll say it's whatever the piece is. One month I'll be a fantasy writer, another I'll be a horror writer. There is strength in appreciating all genres. However, I do have an affinity for certain subgenres. In sci-fi, I love navigating speculative, anything -punk, and most recently New Weird. For fantasy, my pieces tend towards urban fantasy and magical realism.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

Alan Moore. You might recognize him from Watchmen, V for Vendetta, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. His comics are great (particularly Swamp Thing), but my favorite story is his door stopper of a novel Jerusalem. I don't really know how to describe it, which really doesn't sell the book, but trust me! The novel is a masterclass in creativity. It is a marvel. 

For short stories, my favorite is "Kaleidoscope" by Ray Bradbury. I love it so much that I got the title tattooed on my arm.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

There are stories everywhere, and most of the time the weirdness of the world happens undercover of the mundane. Nonfiction is just as powerful as fiction. Fiction is just a reflection of our reality. My writing is meant to challenge this notion of mundanity. There is magic in the air, even in the boring. You have to know how to look for it. 

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

"Glenn Dungan sure tried his best."

Do you blog?

No, but I do have a website and I'm not sure if this is the right question to advertise it but please visit whereisglennnow.com if you want to see more of my work!

Let There Be, Flash Fiction, Issue 44, September 2018

I am a retired Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University's Bloomington campus with over 100 refereed scientific publications. Since retirement in the summer of 2010, after family, friends, and travel, I have devoted most of my free time to creative writing, including poetry and short stories. I have had flash pieces published by “713 Flash” (Kazka Press), “Brilliant Flash Fiction”, “Disturbed Digest”, and now "New Myths". Longer stories have been published in "The Ryder", a local Bloomington magazine, and in the anthologies “Witches” (Wildside Press 2017) and “Into Darkness Peering” (Alban Lake Press 2017). My poetry has appeared in “Disturbed Digest”, “Illumen”, “FrostFire Worlds”, “Space and Time”, and “Poetry Quarterly”. I am an active member of a local writers group called Our Writing League and have given public readings of poetry and fiction in Bloomington and elsewhere. I have a website dedicated to my published work called durisen.com.

Get to Know Richard:

Birthdate? 1946

When did you start writing? High School

When and what and where did you first get published? Discounting a few small publications in my twenties, the first publication in my retirement writing career was a poem in the September 2013 issue of Disturbed Digest called "Box".

Why do you write? I like sharing my bizarre imagination.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Those are the kinds of stories that come to me.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? "Star Maker" by Olaf Stapeldon.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Just imagine!

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? Just Imagine!

Let's Pretend It's a Bird, Poetry, Issue 67, Summer 2024