Our Community of Writers, Poets and Artists
Over the past decades, NewMyths.com has published hundreds of new and confirmed writers, poets, academics and artists (the 'creators') who share a love of speculative fiction. Going forward, NewMyths' goal is to build bridges between the creators and the readers so that we forge the future of speculative fiction together.
Contributors "C"
Kevin Canfield
Review of The Golden Pot : And Other Tales of the Uncanny, Book Reviews, Fall 2023
Kevin Canfield's writing has appeared in the New York Times, Cineaste and other publications.
Thomas Canfield
The Hildalgo's Domain, Fantasy, Issue 24, September 1, 2013
Thomas Canfield’s phobias run to politicians, lawyers and oil company executives. He likes dogs and beer.
Get to know Thomas...
When did you start writing? Twenty-five odd years ago, back during the Reagan Administration.
When and what and where did you first get published? A short fantasy piece revolving around a child building a sandcastle on the beach, in a print publication long since expired. I can neither recollect the name of the magazine nor the piece, only that it was a definite thrill getting published.
What themes do you like to write about? Speculative fiction in general, more specifically anything with a historical context or related to the subject of time. Time seems a subject open to multiple interpretations and endless exploration.
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 enjoyed most of the short fiction of James Tiptree Jr, as it transcended feminist stereotypes, was both broader and deeper yet highly entertaining at the same time.
Also Campbell’s "Call me Joe" which seemed to encapsulate almost the whole of the movie Avatar, anticipating it by several decades. Anything by Vonnegut, with its appealing irony and irreverence. Too many more to name.
I subscribe to Samuel Johnson’s theory (via Boswell) that one reads an entire library to produce a book.
Sarah Cannavo
Sarah Cannavo is a writer haunting southern New Jersey. Her poetry has appeared in The Fairy Tale Magazine, 34 Orchard, Dusty Attic, Strange Horizons, Small Wonders, and Daikaijuzine, among others, and has been nominated for the Rhysling and Dwarf Stars Awards. Her story “Unreality” and novella “Wolf of the Pines” are available now on Amazon. She’s been rumored to post on her site The Moody Muse at www.moodilymusing.blogspot.com, and occasionally been sighted Tweeting @moodilymusing. If you listen closely on moonless nights, you may be able to hear her screaming “DAENERYS DESERVED BETTER” into the darkness.
Get to know Sarah...
Birthdate?: June 20, 1995.
When did you start writing?
I've been writing since grade school, probably fourth or fifth grade if I had to put a number to it—I carried the blue one-subject spiral-bound notebook where I made my earliest attempt at an actual story around in my little backpack and kept it in my desk so I could scribble in it every free moment I got.
When and what and where did you first get published?
NOT the story I scribbled in that blue one-subject spiral-bound notebook, thankfully; THAT will never see the light of day if I have any say in it.
Unfortunately, my first experience with the publishing world turned out to be a cautionary tale. Back in 2015, I submitted a villanelle called “Heartache” (which I still stand behind to this day, by the way; what happened next wasn’t its fault) to an online contest and some time later received a letter in the mail from the publisher affiliated with the company running it. Apparently they loved my poem so much they were awarding it third place, for which honor I’d receive twenty-five dollars, a beautiful wood plaque with my poem engraved on it, and a spot in their annual anthology along with the other winners and runners-up—an anthology that could be mine at a glorious contributor’s discount to boot, bringing it from…well, way WAY too much down to way too much. New to the game and unaware of the warning signs of a vanity press when they were mailed to me, I was thrilled.
Jump to 2016, when, after lots of stress, confusion, anger, and emails to the publisher that all went unanswered, I finally got my twenty-five dollar third-place prize…in the form of a gift certificate for their publishing services, instead of the monetary prize they’d claimed the winners would get. I can only imagine how the first and second-place winners felt when they got theirs. So much later the old narrator got tired of waiting and they had to hire a new one, long after I’d written the whole thing off, a package showed up on my porch: the “exclusive” anthology my poem was printed in, alongside the other winners and what looked like every poem they’d received that year—not to insult anyone else’s work or hold myself above them by any means, but like any good vanity press, these guys knew to get the most returns you need to cast a wide net. After this experience I did some digging and discovered I was far from the first naïve writer to get sucked in by them, just the latest. Every so often I still get letters and emails from them offering me the chance to have my work appear in another one of their anthologies, but as you might imagine, I haven’t taken them up on it yet.
I never did get that plaque, either.
Why do you write?
‘Cause I can’t sing or dance.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I write whatever comes to me the way it comes to me, honestly. Most of my work does fall under the umbrella of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, but I write plenty of non-speculative poems too. As for why the majority of my work does, I don’t think there’s a more complicated answer than it’s just the stuff I’ve always been drawn to read and watch, so it’s only natural that my writing skews in the same direction. Not to mention that there’s a kind of writerly relief that comes from knowing when you’re writing science fiction and fantasy, you have even less creative restrictions than you ordinarily might. I don’t ever suggest setting limits on what you can do with any kind of fiction, obviously; limits kill creativity stone dead no matter what you’re setting out to write. But in these genres, if I want to have a planet inhabited by vampire monkeys with leathery bat wings and razor-sharp teeth, or a magical land where purple trees grow blue leaves and unicorns gallivant through the pink grass of the Forever Hills, I can, and who are you to tell me I can’t, Sharon??? Strangeness and magic exist in every world, including our own, but from a strictly writing point of view, you don’t have to strain yourself as much trying to justify it as you would letting your unicorns suddenly start cantering across the streets of modern-day Europe (never let that stop you, though—go set those damn unicorns loose!).
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
I don’t have just one in either category. There are authors and stories I love, that I read again and again and that, no matter how long it’s been since I last read them or how many times I have, hit me just as hard in the heart as they did the first time, and I have favorites among my favorites—Neil Gaiman and Gregory Maguire are definitely at the top of my “favorite authors” list, and I’ll love Stardust and Wicked until the day I die. Complicity is both my favorite Iain Banks novel and another of my favorite novels in general, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve cracked open John Connolly’s collection Nocturnes, and Ramsey Campbell, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, and J.R.R. Tolkien have permanent places on my bookshelves. But I’ve always never been able to settle on just one favorite author or story (or movie, or TV show, or song, or…), and I don’t think that’s ever going to change.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
If I’m trying to say anything with it, it’s already in there.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
I’m not nearly full of myself enough to do that. If anything, I just hope that whoever does wind up writing it finds a way to make it funny—two of my favorites have always been Lester Moore’s (“Here lies Lester Moore Four slugs from a .44 No Les No more”) and Jonathan Blake’s (“Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake Stepped on the gas instead of the brake”). Good luck finding something to rhyme with “Cannavo,” though.
Do you blog?
I have a blog the way some people have StairMasters: It’s there, I know I should use it more and I feel better those rare times that I do, but I don’t get around to it much, especially lately. I’m currently promising myself that I’ll post more often, or at least more regularly, come the new year, but that’s been one of my New Year’s resolutions for the last few years running and here we are, so I guess we’ll have to see what happens.
Beth Cato - A Frequent Contributor
For Beth's bio please click here
Chris Cartwright
The Forgotten, Illustration, Issue 6, March 1, 2009
Goddess of War, Illustration, Issue 7 June 1, 2009
Chris Cartwright has a degree in Visual Communications and has been creating book covers, posters, CD/DVD covers and story illustrations since 2003. She has also created illustrations for games and various other projects. Although she creates images for any genre, her main focus is the macabre and fantasy. Chris lives in southwestern Indiana with her husband and 2 cats Piper and Buffy.
Her website is, www.digitelldesign.com
Get to know Chris...
Birthdate? 12/28/1959
When did you start illustrating? 2003
When and what and where did you make your first sale? It was a book cover that I created in the year 2003 right after I got out of college. I was living in Mount Vernon IN at the time.
Why do you paint or draw? I have always enjoyed painting when I was a child. My Grandmother was an oil painter and I learned a lot from her. I then got involved with computers and discovered electronic art programs. I was in heaven!
Why do you work with Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? That also is Grandma’s fault. She was always reading and watching horror, fantasy and sci-fi stuff and she got me interested in it and I always have been since a small child.
Who is your favorite illustrator? That is a hard one! I love the works of Ciruelo Cabral and I also love Salvador Dali.
What is your medium of choice? I use computer generated art programs.
Do you work in any other medium? No, not at this time.
Does this particular illustration have a story behind it? Yes. She is suppose to represent softness and strength…she is the Goddess of War so that she has a hold on War..controlling it..to release at her own will.
Do you blog? No
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? I live in your warm life and you die, sweetly die into mine. “ you asked ;) “
Steve Cartwright
Rusted Tin Man, Artwork, Premier Issue, December 1, 2007
Hand Ripples, Illustration, Issue 12, September 1, 2010
Steve Cartwright, It's well known that an artist becomes more popular by dying, so I'm typing this with one hand while pummeling my head with a frozen mackerel with the other. I've done art for several magazines, newspapers, websites, commercial and governmental clients, books, and scribbling - but mostly drooling - on tavern napkins. I also create art probono for several animal rescue groups. I was awarded the 2004 James Award for my cover art for Champagne Shivers. I recently illustrated the Cimarron Review cover. Take a gander ( or a goose ) at my online gallery: www.angelfire.com/sc2/
cartoonsbycartwright . And please hurry with your response - this mackerel's killin' me!
His Website is, www.angelfire.com/sc2/cartoonsbycartwright
Get to know Steve,
Birthdate? May 21, I forget the year but there was a politician in office.
When did you start drawing? God said "Let there be light!" and I said "Thanks, I can see my sketch pad now."
When and what and where did you first get published? An Atlanta newspaper, I wrote an article about ghosts and illustrated it.
Why do you draw? I write and draw because I have a compulsion called My Muse.
Why do you work in Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? It most closely resembles my life.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite artist? Mark Twain; artists include Charles Addams, Edward Gorey.
What are you trying to say with your artwork? "Fetch my slippers!"
Do you blog? Let me check my underwear.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "I TOLD you I was sick!"
Jay Caselberg
Anthropos, Poem, Issue 55, June 2021
Jay Caselberg is an Australian author and poet whose work has appeared in multiple venues worldwide and been translated into several languages. From time to time, it gets shortlisted for awards or appears in Year’s Best volumes. He currently resides in Germany.
Get to know Jay...
Birthdate?
11 March 1958
When did you start writing?
Difficult question that. I kind of dabbled in university, but had no awareness or thoughts of what I woul or could do with it. Eventually, I stumbled across an online writers group that made me feel that I had a shot of making something of it. That was in 1996, which also became the year of my first sale and my first convention.
When and what and where did you first get published?
December 1996 Keen Science Fiction. A story called "Pesticide."
Why do you write?
Better perhaps to ask what happens if I don't write. I find myself mostly in a situation where I can't not write. If I am not creating, I feel out of sorts, unravelled, detached from what I am.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
Because it's the literature of ideas, the sandbox for those thoughts and realities that push the boundaries of what might or could be, and yet reflects back on us as we are.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
Oh, oh, oh. Too many, too little time. I'll try to pick an illustrative couple. Gene Wolfe for his mastery of language and prose. King for his simple observational narrative. James Lee Burke for his touching on the magical realist while still maintaining a story embedded in crime. One of my favourite tales is the classic "Light of Other Days" for its poignancy and the reveal.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
A lot of my stuff comes from what I guess is a very personal place, much of it themed around separation and loss. I want to leave readers thinking, perhaps analysing themselves and life as a result. I like to disturb comfortable realities.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
He dreamed.
Do you blog?
Not as such. I provide the occasional caustic commentary on some of the social media outlets. I've done a few articles and interviews on the industry, but I'm not much of a blogger. My stories and poems are the expressions of what's in my head.
Ken Cathers
grinding, Poetry, Issue 68, Fall 2024
Ken Cathers has a B.A. from the University of Victoria and an M.A. from York
University in Toronto. He has been published in numerous periodicals,
anthologies and has just released Home Town, his eighth book of poetry, with
Impspired Press of England. He has also recently published a chapbook with
broke press in Canada. His work has appeared in publications in Canada, the
United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Ireland and Africa. Most recently it has
appeared in Zoetic Press, Wool Gathering Review and The Wild Word. He lives on
Vancouver Island with his family in a small colony of trees.
Get to know Ken…
Birthdate?
Born 1951
When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was 13.
When and what and where did you first get published?
I was first published in a college literary magazine when I was 18 years old.
That was at Malaspina College in Nanaimo, B.C. Canada.
Why do you write?
I write because I have to. It is the way my brain processes uncertainty,
unresolved issues. I am usually triggered by an idea or event that haunts
me. I'm not looking for an answer. Just trying to reveal as many facets of
the image as I can find.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
My favorite author is Jorge Luis Borges. One of my favorite stories is "The
Celestial Omnibus" by E.M. Forster.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
What I am trying to do in my writing is create an alternate world out of
language , similar to ours but defined by different rules of physics and
logic.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
I am long married, have two sons and six grandchildren. My epitaph would
simply say, "Papa".
Do you blog?
I do not blog but I do love conversing with people and will often spend a
good part of my day doing just that.
Thomas Cavazos
Corona XV, Poetry, Issue 28, September 1, 2014
Thomas Cavazos is a writer living in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has an MFA in Fiction from St. Mary's College of California. He's kind of like Hunter S. Thompson with a little more hair, Charles Bukowski with a little less drinking, and Stephen King with a lot less money.
Get to know Thomas...
Birthdate? 7/15/1987
When did you start writing? I remember really enjoying the writing assignments I got back when I was a kid in elementary school. The earliest probably would have been in third grade. When I was fourteen, I started a LiveJournal (holy crap, remember those?) and started putting my work online to share with my friends and the internet at large. But it wasn't until I was a freshman in college that I thought, "Hey, I want to be a writer for a living," and began seriously approaching it as a profession.
When and what and where did you first get published? I got a poem published in my high school's student-run lit mag way back in the day. What I consider to be my first "real" publication credit is the short story "Día de los Muertos" in the anthology One Hellacious Halloween. It came out in early November 2013.
What themes do you like to write about? I mostly write horror and pieces with horrorific elements, so the themes and ideas explored skew towards the dark and depressing. Alienation, isolation, madness, violence, and obsession are all my bread and butter. When I write more uplifting pieces they're usually about finding meaning and hope and love in an indifferent or even actively hostile world.
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? Growing up, I was first and foremost a Stephen King fan. I remember reading The Shining, The Stand, and It all between the ages of ten and fourteen. Since then, I've also become a big fan of Thomas Ligotti, H.P. Lovecraft, and Cormac McCarthy. My brain latched onto King's flawed and human characters, Ligotti's cynicism, Lovecraft's fantastic creatures and his emphasis on verisimilitude, McCarthy's biblical imagery and language, and then it never let go. Which isn't to say that I don't read and enjoy other authors; I just find that my own style tends to be most influenced by these four.
S.J. Chambers
Ms. Geraldine Manville's Beauty School for Little Goyles, Flash Fiction, Issue 12, September 1, 2010
S.J. Chambers is the articles editor at Strange Horizons magazine. She writes fiction and non-fiction, and both areas have appeared in Fantasy, Bookslut, Yankee Pot Roast, and Tor.com. Her current project includes The Steampunk Bible, co-written with Jeff VanderMeer and published by Abrams in 2011.
Get to know S.J. Chambers...
Birthdate? September 5, 1981
When did you start writing? Since I was a child, but I didn't start writing "seriously" until about six years ago.
When and what and where did you first get published? My first short story got published in Mungbeing magazine (www.mungbeing.com) in 2006.
Why do you write? I like sharing ideas with people, and this is the only way I've found I can successfully achieve transmission.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I really love parables, allegories, and symbolism, and I think science fiction and fantasy can play with those two things in a way no other genre can.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? I have several, but my most influential would have to be Edgar Allan Poe, whose stories prove more complex and resonant to me each time I read them. My favorite is Ligeia.
What are you trying to say with your fiction? At this point in my career, I don't have an agenda. All of my stories are different. I either write things that are just absurd and silly, or are heartbreaking and melancholy. If anything ties those two extremes together, however, it has to be a focus on making characters and worlds vivid for the short time the reader inhabits them--to provide an escape from this one, at least. Whether it is philosophical or just for jokes, literature's first purpose is to entertain.
Do you blog? Where? Yes. The Flightless Philosopher at www.penguinkeggard.livejournal.com/
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? Well, at least she tried.
Jason K. Chapman
The Magic of Science, Fiction, Issue 6, March 1, 2009
Jason K. Chapman lives where he grew up, in New York City. Though he attended Georgia Tech as an electrical engineering major, his real interest was always computers. He has spent his entire career, much of it self-employed, in the computer business, covering every aspect from retail to software development to technical writing. He currently works as the IT Director for Poets & Writers.
Get to know Jason...
Birthdate? Late one Fall in an age lost in antiquity.
When did you start writing? At age twelve or so, though I didn't start attacking it seriously until about ten years ago.
When and what and where did you first get published? I had a techno-thriller called The Heretic that was published electronically back around 2000. My first pro short fiction sale was to Cosmos Magazine in November 2007.
Why do you write? Because I can't draw or paint or sculpt. How else can I get this stuff out of my head?
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? It just seems to me that if you're trying to illuminate "what is," it makes sense to light it up with "what might be," otherwise you're trying to spot one drop of water in an ocean.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? I hate questions like this. If pressed, I might be able to narrow the list down to double digits, with names as varied and scrambled as Hugo, Dostoyevsky, Heinlein, Ellison, McCarthy, Wodehouse, Gaiman, Tolkien, Dickens, Woolf, Butler, and Niven. The same goes for story. How do you choose between, say, "To the Lighthouse," and "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream"?
What are you trying to say with your fiction? To pull the old psychiatrist's trick, I'll turn it around. What do you read in my fiction? What I'm trying to say doesn't matter. What the reader gets out of it does.
Do you blog? Where? Not really, no. I don't have that kind of time. I journal the occasional thought on my Web site, but that's about it.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? His life didn't suck.
Rachael Chie
Aquatic Mysteries, Nonfiction, Issue 67, Summer 2024
Get to know Rachael...
Birthdate?
13 June 1997
When did you start writing?
I started writing as soon as I could hold a pen. My father was
very instrumental in nurturing and cultivating my love for the
written word. This was through teaching me how to read and
build my vocabulary. Every day after school, he would have me
sit next to him, and have me read aloud to him. Anything from
newspapers, pamphlets, I developed a taste for reading and
writing. It almost seems or seems like he lived and lives
vicariously through me because he wanted to be a writer, a
journalist, but never got that opportunity, and instead passed
that passion onto his daughter. For that, I am grateful.
When, what, and where did you first get published?
I first got published in The Blue Mountain Review in 2020.They
picked up my non-fiction story Covid As We Know It.
Why do you write?
I write as a way to escape reality, I write because it is my passion.
I write because if I don’t, who will? I write because the voices in
my head won’t stop talking. I write because life has to be
documented through art. The human condition is a constant
fascination, full of endless therapeutic anecdotes if we dare to
look and listen, more importantly read. I write to inspire and
provoke thought, change, to inform.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
To live in a world not yet imagined, escape reality.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
Taban Lo Liyong, is my favourite writer. My favourite story is
The Color of Hope by Taban Lo Liyong.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
Over the years, I have been leaning more into non-fiction than
fiction. With fiction, I feel like we don’t always know what we
are trying to say. It’s only after finishing a body of work that you
read what the voices in your head were saying and trying to say.
With non-fiction, I go in knowing what I want to say, the theme
or themes are already in my head. Sometimes what I want to say
is in the title, but writing it out gives me a chance to expand on
the thought or thoughts that come with said title. As I make my
case to the would be targeted audience that will read my piece.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
My epitaph would say ‘’I am a dream within a dream’’ inspired
by a poem I wrote titled "Power of dreams."
Do you blog?
Yes, as a Book Reviewer I blog about books. Mostly new
releases in any genre but mostly sci-fi. Just helping readers find
great new authors and helping authors find readers. I also
review for Strange Horizons and leave reviews on Goodreads,
Net Galley, and Book Sirens.
M.C. Childs
Only Half in the World of Form, Poetry, Issue 51, June 2020
Wingtips, Poetry, Issue 68, Fall 2024
M.C. Childs is the author of multiple poems, academic and general audience
articles, a newspaper column, and award-winning urban design books
including The Zeon Files, Squares, and Urban Composition. Asimov’s, Analog,
Liminality, New Myths, The New Pacific, Strange Horizons, Typehouse and many
other venues have published his poems. His career included 26 years teaching
architecture and urban design. He published award-winning urban design books
including Foresight and Design (2024), The Zeon Files: Art and Design of Historic
Route 66 Signs, (with Ellen Babcock, 2016), Urban Composition (2012),
and Squares: a public place design guide (2004). He now lives atop a hill in
Seattle, was a member of an International Tiddlywinks Team a long time ago.
Get to know M.C. Childs...
Birthdate?
June 3
When did you start writing?
I remember in first grade writing stories set in the world of The Borrowers and
poems inspired by T.S. Elliot's Book of Practical Cats in third grade. Of course,
I had my own spelling system so even though I still have copies of a few of
them, they are lost to time.
When and what and where did you first get published?
"In Praise of your Attic" was my first poem published in a non-school
press. The New Pacific published it in 1991. My first speculative poem "Red
Slippers" was published by Asimov's in 2016. I write fantasy, science fiction,
and mostly borderlands poems. Sometimes with my own system of spells.
Why do you write?
Because I am a writer. I might try to answer this in more detail over a few beers and still not get much further.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I grew up reading SF.
I find SF more open to both the exploration of ideas and emotions that have received less attention.
Who is your favorite author/poet? Your favorite story/poem?
For me this question is akin to asking my favorite dinner. Sometimes I like halloumi, others spaghetti, or eggrolls or…
What are you trying to say with your poetry?
Each poem is its own story/world/thought.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
One more thing…
Claudio Chillemi
The Keen and Cutting Stones, co-author with Paul Di Filippo, Fiction, Issue 63, Summer 2023.
Get to know Claudio..
Birthdate?
I was born in Catania, Sicily, in 1964. I am a son of my land, so I have Mediterranean roots.
I live in the shadow of Etna which we all consider a bit like a benevolent mother.
When did you start writing?
I started writing when I was 12/13. I was constantly reading adventure novels and watching science fiction films. So I wrote stories that mixed the two genres.
When and what and where did you first get published?
In 1992, I published a book of poems for a Sicilian publisher. Then a book of short stories a year later. At first I didn't write science fiction or fantasy, but I was inspired by Italian writers: Leopardi for the poems and Pirandello for the stories.
Why do you write?
I am a teacher, I do this as a job. To survive the daily stress, writing becomes a real therapy.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
In reality, I think of an idea, of something to say, and then I ask myself: which literary genre would best express it? If it's science fiction, I write science fiction, if it's fantasy, I write fantasy, but if it's something else, I write something else.
Who is your favorite author/poet? Your favorite story/poem?
In the field of fantastic literature I would say Philip Dick and The Man in High Castle, but also Ubik by the same author.
What are you trying to say with your poetry?
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
It's by Shakespeare, but how can you not share this thought!
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
He has dreamed all his life and is continuing to do so.
Do you Blog?
My website www.claudiochillemi.com
There is also a small section in English.
Jessica Cho
The Starfarer's Wife, Poetry, issue 47, June 15, 2019
These Are Not Your Stories Anymore, Poetry, Issue 65, Winter 2023
Bio: Born in Korea, Jessica Jo Horowitz now writes speculative poetry and fiction in New England, where she balances her aversion to cold with the inability to live anywhere without snow. Previous works appear in Anathema, Fireside, Flash Fiction Online, and others. She occasionally has feelings and opinions, which can be found on Twitter @transientj.
Get to know Jessica...
When did you start writing?
I started writing poetry and dreaming up stories around age 10. About the middle of high school is when I started taking myself seriously, which may have been my first mistake.
When and what and where did you first get published?
2005, a poem called "Seasons" in ChiZine.
Why do you write?
I have things to say and stories to tell. More recently, I began writing the things I wish I had seen when I was young, with the possibility that there may be someone out there who needs to read them, too.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
It's always been my favourite genre, the one I love to read the most. I love the possibilities, the what-if, the pushing of boundaries. I grew up on D&D and assorted RPGs, which instilled in me a deep love of world building and character creation. Speculative fiction offers me a way to continue exploring and those things to their utmost.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
"She did her damnedest with what she had"
Do you blog?
Mostly publication announcements, but occasionally writing notes and other things at pengolin.wordpress.com
L.A. Christensen
I Will Never Be in Doctor Who, Poetry, issue 46, March 15, 2019
L.A. Christensen is a disabled writer and literary translator specializing in fairy tales and folklore. She is currently working on a novel.
Get to Know L. A. Christensen:
Birthdate?
The Ides of January.
When did you start writing?
The earliest story I remember writing was in perhaps second grade. We wrote and illustrated stories for a class assignment and I remember holding it in my hands and beaming at the results. Then in sixth grade I wrote a very long short story (it felt like a novel, although it didn't come anywhere close) called "Dragonkin" that was highly inspired by Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern world. I haven't been able to resist dragons since.
When and what and where did you first get published?
The very first time I ever saw my work in print I believe was in junior high. I submitted two poems to poetry.com and they were both collected in poetry.com's regular series of anthologies. These are probably considered vanity press publications, but at the time I was just so amazed to see my amateur work alongside other poems I admired. Poetry.com is no longer around as a site, but I just took a peek at the Wayback Machine's internet archive, and wow that brings back memories!
Otherwise, my first professional publication was a science fiction short story published by Breath & Shadow, a disability magazine, in 2012.
Why do you write?
Wow, this is a tricky question to answer. There's something to be said for the feeling of creating a world out of nothing and of delving into character so completely that they come alive through you. I chase the feeling of creating and becoming, of life and living in a sphere that hadn't been there a moment ago. If the visual arts create an external world, then writing for me creates a new, richly internal one. And I love it.
As for why I wrote this poem specifically, poetry is potent and succinct. I could have written an essay on the same topic, but found I'd already said everything I'd wanted to share in these few words.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I prefer to read--and so prefer to write--anything that's not strictly "here and now," and I also generally avoid anything that claims to be "realistic." (I've found that a search for the realistic tends to be extremely limiting, in life as well as in reading). I also rarely stay within rigid genre boundaries, but slide around in a cross-genre historical, fantasy, magical realism, folkloric, speculative, science fiction. I'm less interested in fulfilling audience expectations and more interested in exploring what's possible and why. My realism preferences come while delving into a character, inhabiting who they are, and seeing where that takes them.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
I bounce around with favorite authors, but my current favorites are Andrea K. Höst and Annette Marie. What intersects them for me is their focus on a wide variety of relationships, especially in Andrea K. Höst's Touchstone series and Annette Marie's Steel & Stone series. I yearn to read more friendships, sibling and family relationships, acquaintance and work relationships, alongside the romance that is heavily prevalent and given right-of-way in plot-level story-lines and culture. I also really appreciate how both authors create rich worlds and are unafraid to be themselves as writers, to really dive into what fascinates them and not dilute their passions or pull back.
I want to write as bravely as they do, and give myself permission to be as unabashedly myself in creating my own stories, rather than worry what others might think of xyz.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
I want to explore hope and healing, wonder and whimsy, going from darkness into light. I want to explore the brave journeys we take to have better relationships with ourselves, with our friends, our family, our significant others.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
AMOR VINCIT OMNIA, because if I'm going to have someone laboriously (aka by machine) carve something into stone for me, it might as well be in Latin. It's traditional.
Also because "Odi et amo. quare id faciam fortasse requiris. nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior" is perhaps too long, and I probably shouldn't put Catullus' poetry on my gravestone. People might get IDEAS.
Do you blog?
I do! You can find my writing thoughts and updates at lachristensen.wordpress.com
Zella Christensen
Waking Pantoum, Poetry, Issue 30, March 1, 2015
Zella Christensen is a writer and student with roots in Wisconsin and a home in Virginia. Her work has been published in Strange Horizons.
Get to know Zella...
Birthdate? St. Patrick's Day, a bit later than expected.
When did you start writing? I don't remember exactly, but it was sometime in elementary school. I distinctly remember writing "novels" while the teacher was talking.
When and what and where did you first get published? I had a very small poem published in 2011 by Twenty20 Journal, which published pieces no longer than 20 words.
What themes do you like to write about? I don't tend to set out with a theme in mind, but my poetry often focuses on the relationship between our emotional and physical fragility as humans. Monsters and internal organs make frequent appearances, too.
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? When I was a middle schooler who'd decided she might give this writing thing a try, my neighbors gave me a copy of The Rattle Bag, a poetry collection edited by Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes. I think that's the book that taught me poems didn't have to rhyme, although they could; that they could tackle subjects as harrowing as the Holocaust or as mundane as the urge to scratch an itch; and that they could be as long as an epic or as short as a couplet. I sometimes catch the lines of my favorite poems from that collection running through my head like the lyrics of a catchy song.
Cassandra Rose Clarke
Ecosystem, Fiction, Issue 18, March 1, 2012
Cassandra Rose Clarke is a writer and teacher living in Houston, Texas. She holds an M.A. in creative writing from The University of Texas at Austin, and she graduated from the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2010. Her first novel, The Assassin's Curse, will be released by Strange Chemistry in October 2012.
Get to know Cassandra...
Birthdate? September 21, 1983
When did you start writing? I've been writing stories since elementary school (I used to turn in 10-page spelling word stories to my fifth grade teacher every week). I began thinking of writing as a profession shortly after I finished grad school, when I was 24.
When and what and where did you first get published? My first story, "The Cowboy's Wife," appeared in the Summer 2009 issue of Zahir.
What themes do you like to write about? Relationships -- romantic or otherwise -- is my most pervasive theme. I also like to write about women and women's lives, artificial or other created intelligences, and magic.
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? One of my biggest influences is actually a filmmaker--Wong Kar-wai, who makes movies in Hong Kong. His work explores the complex relationships between characters within the framework of various genres (crime, science fiction, period pieces, wuxia). I love playing around with genres and using the trappings of those genres to get at a character.
Regina Clarke
Distraction, Fiction, Issue 27, June 1, 2014
Regina Clarke has a doctorate in English Literature and has worked as a technical writer in high tech companies, focusing on network management systems, virtual protocols and military surveillance software. Her stories have appeared in Thrice Fiction, Over My Dead Body!, Kzine (in the U.K.), and Bewildering Stories, among other magazines. Two more have been accepted and will be published in January 2014. She has also ghost-written an autobiography for an Indian preacher, published a book on environmental management that has been used for city planning and building safety around the country, and created an online workbook on soul development for the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach. In the spring of 2012 she was a finalist in the Hollywood SCRIPTOID Screenwriter’s Feature Challenge for her script “Second Chances.”
Her passion is for mysteries, film noir, science fiction B-grade movies, biographies of writers, metaphysics, and all wildlife. She has a brilliant son who lives in Austin, Texas. After working on both coasts, in Texas, and overseas, she has settled in the Hudson River Valley of New York state and it pleases her no end to live not very far from where Rod Serling grew up.
Regina owns a very green eclectus parrot named Harry who talks a great deal about himself. Her favorite venue of choice is the local coffee shop, preferably with a bookstore attached.
Get to Know Regina...
Birth date? December 7
When did you start writing? At age 6, and never stopped.
When and what and where did you first get published? For fiction: January 13, 2012 "Echoes," in Subtle Fiction (New Zealand).
What themes do you like to write about? The ambience of place, and of belonging, or not.
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? SO many, among them: David Copperfield, A Midsummer Night's Dream, "Nightfall," "A Game for Blondes" (MacDonald's best), Rendezvous with Rama, most of the mystery writers from the last hundred years or so, "Rule of Three," Dune, Oversoul Seven, and scripts for films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and It Came from Outer Space, anything done by J.J. Abrams, and Ronald Moore's Battlestar Galactica...the list is large, always growing. What these and the rest hold in common, apart from wonderful storytelling, is the intensity of the author who wants to present something authentic, no matter the risk, to explain what lies within the story that is not only sub-text but also truth-telling. Such writers seem to me to accept the premise that finding the heart of what they want to say and the words to do that are what make a good day, no matter what. They write for their own meandering path of reality and substance and to grasp ephemeral and hidden awareness. That's what I seek, as well.
Eric Cline
The Last Listener, Fiction, Issue 21, December 1, 2012
Get to know Eric...
Birthdate? You know that American president who publicly proclaimed to have a certain set of values but then didn't live up to them? That guy? I was born during his administration.
When did you start writing? As a child. But I stopped, started again, stopped, started again. I finally started up again in earnest in 2007, after fortuitous life events gave me the time I needed to write.
When and what and where did you first get published? Potpourri, a now-defunct Midwestern literary magazine, circa 1989. It was an instructive thing. It was the first thing I had submitted as an adult, and I thought that meant I had arrived. I then submitted about six or seven other stories to other publications that got form letter rejections. It discouraged me, and shame on me for letting it discourage me. If any aspiring writer wants to know what it takes to get published, I laid it all out in this short post on my blog: http://www.cruelcline.blogspot.com/2012/04/very-picture-of-success.html
What themes do you like to write about? Living a humane life in a world where the rewards for doing right are mostly internal, rarely external. My characters are often damaged people, but the best of them (and I alternate between happy and sad endings) grow to realize they can still live and function, even with their damages.
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? Although I write mostly in genre fiction right now, I feel (to paraphrase Brian W. Aldiss in his book Billion Year Spree) that the world outside of Sci-Fi and horror fiction was just as important as the world within them. A group of American authors from the 19th century are foundationally important to me: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville, Bierce, and Twain. They didn't treat the human condition as a terminal disease, or as just a terminal disease. That said, I do also like some writers who are currently, you know, alive. Here is the oddest compliment I have ever paid to an author: I was reading Edward P. Jones' Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Known World when I simply stopped, one-third or one-half the way through. The reason? It had so excited me about what writing can do, that I simply had to re-balance my spare time to spend all of it writing, rather than both reading and writing. I re-balanced again a few months after that, making more time to read, but I can't go back to The Known World, because I feel I would get too excited and stop again!
Lucia Cole
The Painter and the Dandelion, Flash Fiction, Issue 48, September 2019
Lucia Cole is originally from New York but doesn't like to stay in one place for too long. She teaches English for a living and loves cuddling with her two cats.
Get to know Lucia...
When did you start writing?
I have been writing since I was six. My kindergarten teacher gave us a free writing assignment, and somehow I still remember how excited I was to choose a topic of my own. I even remember that I wrote about my weekend with my cousin—nothing profound, but there was agency to it. I believe that triggered my desire to write. I would always carry a journal and be working on some ambitious novel that would never exceed ten pages before another idea would distract me. These amateur expositions were later lost to the crashing of hard drives and the demagnetization of floppy disks. Anyway, sometimes it is the process that matters.
Why do you write?
It is the most humane way to be a control freak.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
Abstraction allows us to see reality more clearly. Through it, the obvious and mundane, which are otherwise ignored or simply not seen, become foreign and dazzling.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
I have no answer to this question.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
It depends on the story. In regards to art, inspiring thought is sometimes just as important as conveying a message.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
Finally finished something.
Odessa Cole
Good Boy Blue, Fiction, Issue 48, September 2019
Get to know Odessa Cole
Birthdate?
Let's just say I'm an old fart and leave it that.
When did you start writing?
My first story was written in 5th grade, not sci fi or fantasy, and about what you would expect quality-wise for that age.
When and what and where did you first get published?
A sci fi piece was published on Revolution SF in 2004 - an aliens-next-door thing.
Why do you write?
I get ideas that make me look at the world in a different way, and I hope they do the same for the readers.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I like to imagine a future that builds on now, not necessarily in a positive way, to make us think about what we're doing and where we're headed.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
Oh, so difficult to choose just one - I very much like the Diving stories from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and I'm a fan of Allen M. Steele.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
I like to think my theme generally is "There's more here than meets the eye."
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
"She always kept us laughing."
Christopher Collingwood
Lands of the Unwanted, Poetry, Issue 52, September 2020
Chris was born and raised in Sydney Australia. He completed university in Sydney and graduated with a degree in business studies. Chris has devoted his spare time to writing, with works published in Neo-Opsis, Not One of Us, Liquid Imagination, Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways, Mojave He[art], Adelaide Magazine, Empty Silos (Inwood Indiana Book), Fantastical Savannahs and Jungles Anthology (Rogue Planet), among other dimensionally unstable places.
Get to know Chris....
When did you start writing?
I've been writing for years, but actively submitting about 4-5 years
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
The two genres always appealed to me, I think it's the scope of imagination you can use, allowing you to build upon any scenario or theme in a more interesting way. Also the detail you can put into the world building, or even the mechanics of ideas (always fun).
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
This often changes but two staples Charles Dickens and Frank Herbert (Dune - big game changer for me)
Russ Colson
Swarm Mentality, Fiction, Issue 10, March 1, 2010
Don't Be Such a Cynic, Mr. Quimby, Fiction, Issue 15, June 1, 2011
Russ Colson lives with his wife, Mary, on a farmstead in northern Minnesota, far enough from city lights to see the Milky Way and the aurora borealis. He teaches planetary science, meteorology, and geology at Minnesota State University Moorhead. Before coming to Minnesota, he worked at the Johnson Space Center in Texas and at Washington University in St. Louis where, among other things, he studied how a lunar colony might mine oxygen from the local rock. He writes a variety of speculative fiction and non-fiction pieces appearing in Neo-Opsis Science Fiction Magazine, Clarkesworld Magazine, and others.
Get to know Russ..
Birthdate? March 5, 1959
When did you start writing? In 6th grade I wrote my first story that received public exposure, a story that examined a young deer's journey through the changing seasons. My teacher read it to the class, until, during the 3rd year of the deer's life, the story became too repetitive to bear and she graciously set the story aside!
When and what and where did you first get published? My first paying publication was a science fiction novelette titled "The Planet Engineer" in a now-defunct magazine called "The Thinkling" back in the mid 1980's. I didn't write for a couple decades after that but I have more recently published stories in Neo-Opsis Science Fiction Magazine, Flash Me Magazine, and others.
What themes do you like to write about? I like for my short fiction to examine core human ideas such as hope/despair, faith/doubt, optimism/cynicism, truth/falsehood, meaning/chaos, and the like, and to involve characters who discover something new about themselves. My stories typically have an optimistic core and a hopeful ending, however dark the journey there might be.
Why do you write? I find writing therapeutic and fun, and it's a way to give something of myself.
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? Although I played around with writing from the time I was in grade school, and completed my first novel before I reached 20 (unpublished--fortunately!), I owe the more recent revival of my interest in writing science fiction to the stories of Julie Czerneda. After taking my academic post in Minnesota, I became very busy and didn't read or write for a long time. Then, around 2000 and during a dark time in my life, I read Julie's wonderful science fiction adventure A Thousand Words for Stranger and started having fun again. Her stories are full of adventure, relationship, and optimism. They reach into myth, wonder, and mystery just enough to engage without overwhelming the characters and their journey. I would like to write that kind of story as well.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Science Fiction is a versatile genre permitting adventure, romance, and discovery in exotic situations, and which allows serious issues or ideas to be examined in a "safe" forum removed from the baggage that a more realistic setting often engenders.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? My favorite modern author is Julie Czerneda who wrote A Thousand Words for Stranger, a book which reignited my excitement with reading and writing after a long drought.
My favorite author as a youth was Edgar Rice Burroughs, writing Tarzan of the Apes and other stories that taught me a hunger for adventure, honor, and discovery.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?Usually I'm not trying to say anything in particular, but rather I'm trying to get people to think and feel. In novels, I hope to entertain by examining the development of character relationships within the context of an adventure. In short stories, my characters often deal with philosophical concepts such as truth, science, and faith.
Do you blog? Where? No. Nowhere.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? Russ Colson, a good friend.
J.C. Conway
Separation Anxiety, Fiction, Issue 20, September 1, 2012
J. C. Conway, I am a complex-litigation attorney. I write science fiction, fantasy, romance and young adult stories. I contributed one story to the recent print anthology Battlespace (Volume 1), and have stories published or pending release at Untied Shoelaces of the Mind, Residential Aliens, Mindflights, Romance Flash, Daily Love, Bewildering Stories and others. I am a Genre Fiction winner with two science fiction stories in the Writers Digest 80th Annual Writing Competition, and was honored as the 2012 grand prize winner of the Yosemite Romance Writers Smooch contest.
Get to know J.C. Conway...
Birthdate? 1956
When did you start writing? The first time a grade school teacher told me I could write what I wanted.
When and what and where did you first get published? My first short-story publication was in February 2, 2012 at 365 Tomorrows. It was a story titled "Exit Strategy."
What themes do you like to write about? I love stories that make me think. I also like stories that reveal something about the human condition, regardless of how unusual the circumstances. We are fascinating creatures with painful flaws and admirable strengths worth exploring.
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 really don't know. I read a wide variety of genres. There are so many brilliant works and inspiring pieces I hesitate to elevate one or some over others. I like to think all of it influences my writing.
Torah Cottill
The Curse, Flash Fiction, Issue 25, December 1, 2013
Torah Cottrill, I've lived and traveled all over the world, including a stint as a Foreign Service Officer in Saudi Arabia and Jordan, before settling in the Pacific Northwest with a fixed number of children and a variable number of pets. By day I'm an editor; in the evenings, I tie on my dark mask and prowl the rooftops, moonlighting as a writer.
Get to know Torah...
Birthdate? May 27
When did you start writing? I don't really remember, but I think I wrote my first story when I was 8. I didn't start writing fiction seriously as an adult, though, until three years ago when writer friends invited me to join a writers' circle. They taught me and encouraged me, both things that I hope to pass on to other writers.
When and what and where did you first get published? I was invited to join the writers' cooperative Monumental Works Group. My first published story, "Many Doors," appeared in their anthology Dreams in Shadow almost two years ago.
What themes do you like to write about? I'm interested in taking standard tropes (the evil queen, the abandoned infant, the innocent victim of crime) and turning them inside out.
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 was astonished and fascinated by the Women of Wonder anthologies edited by Pamela Sergeant. Vonda McIntyre, Joan Vinge, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Kit Reed, Kate Wilhelm--I learned the many ways women can be compelling characters (and fantastic writers) from these authors.
T.K. Cowen
Old Dog and the Greys, Poetry, Issue 20, September 1, 2012
T.K. Cowen, I was born in Wyoming but moved to Alaska when I was one year old so that makes me, I believe, an official Alaskan. I'm one of eight children and mother of five. With the man of my choice and the one child too young to leave the nest, I live in a house on a hill overlooking Anchorage and the Cook Inlet. When I'm not at my part time job at a greenhouse I spend my time biking, hiking and sailing with my son and, of course, writing.
Get to know T.K. Cowen...
When did you start writing? I've been dabbling since grade school.
When and what and where did you first get published? My first published work was a poem entitled "A Storm Breaks" written in the back seat of the car on a Singer sewing center bag while on a road trip with my family. It won a contest sponsored by Writer's Digest for which I received publication and a year's subscription to the magazine.
What themes do you like to write about? Any, all--I like exploring different viewpoints, hence, the tale of an alien abduction from the viewpoint of the family dog. In my other most recently published work I wrote as the saddle about westward expansion in the early U. S.
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? Wow, huge question. I've been influenced by authors as diverse as Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Heinlein and Suzanne Collins--Poe for his fearlessness in subject matter, Heinlein for his ability to create an alien universe in which I felt at home, Collins for her sharp, clear style and powerful characters. I deeply admire Patricia Highsmith for her delicate approach to some nasty subjects and Christopher Moore for connecting me to his unutterable weirdness.
Craig Crawford
A Murmuration of Starlings, Fiction, Issue 63, Summer 2023
Growing up, Craig Crawford read constantly. After being wowed by so many great novels he wondered if he could do it too. In the last four years, he’s published seventeen short stories including a novella with five more coming out in 2023 and a novel length serial coming out in fall of 2023. He writes in fantasy, sci-fi, YA, horror, humor—whatever his imagination gives him. You can learn more about his writing and what makes him tick at craiglcrawfordbooks.com. For his novel length serial you can find out more at https://projectthreshold.com . His twitter account is: @CraigLCrawford
Get to Know Craig...
Birthdate? January 12th, 1967. Missed being born on Friday the 13th by 21 hours and 25 minutes ;)
When did you start writing? Junior high--about 14. I'd just made new friends who were into fantasy and science fiction. I was blown away by several novels and one of my new friends wrote stories in a journal. It got me to thinking and I started writing too.
When and what and where did you first get published? In 1994 and 1997 I actually published two non-fiction indexes for an RPG called Rifts. Long story, but I took their source material and created an index of information for us to be able to use as reference as we played their game. A buddy suggested sending it to them and Palladium Books snatched it up and contracted me to write a second. After that I decided fiction was still my thing and started writing novels. It wasn't until 2020 I published my first short story called, "Don't Mess With Bunnies," through Mannison Press.
Why do you write? It's a thing. I get stories inside my head and they don't leave me alone until I get them on the page. Shorts, novels, they just start rearing their heads and I write them down. Writing is a process I can't quantify and still don't fully understand but I love the magic that happens when I start writing and even writing 'The End' It never gets old. And now that I'm getting published, each acceptance feels like winning the lottery.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I like the speculative side of things, always have, and those two genres plus horror are just fun to write in. There are endless variations and possibilities in those genres and it doesn't take much to get my mind going. It doesn't hurt that my indoctrination into fantasy and sci-fi was with some great classics in the genre.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
Roger Zelazny. His stories started this adventure for me. I give the Amber Chronicles credit for my love of the genre, but it was his Changeling and Madwand books that entrenched me in the fantasy genre. He treated magic like a science and it stuck with me.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
I'm not sure, to be honest. I do know I like tragic characters, or MC's with heavy burdens and I like seeing them overcome those issues.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
No matter where you're going, there you are--just keep going. (stole that from Confucius but I've always liked that saying)
Do you blog?
I'm not reliable about it but I do. I use it to try to answer writing questions and help other authors and writers with our common struggles.
Victory Crayne
The Twelve Minute Clock, Fiction, Issue 11, June 1, 2010
Heat, Fiction, Issue 17, December 1, 2011
Victory Crayne, Oh boy. I was born during the big World War II, but naturally didn't see any action. In my early years, I read voraciously, both nonfiction and science fiction. One year I read one hundred novels--a record for me. I've been married, got a bachelor's degree in physics and math, worked as a chemist, got a masters degree in business (MBA), worked as a computer programmer, and finally as a technical writer. In between those careers, I did odd jobs, which helped me understand a wide variety of employment. In recent years, I've been a professional editor for those who write novels. Now I'm semi-retired and get to spend a lot of time writing my own novels. This is heaven, folks!
Get to Know Victory...
Birthdate? 1942
When did you start writing? My first attempts were at age 26, but I realized I needed to finish growing up more, so I put that goal on my mental bookshelf until I got to age 50 and found a group of writers on the Internet. That lit the fire again in me.
When and what and where did you first get published? Hey, right here on NewMyths.com in Issue 11, June of 2010, with "The Twelve Minute Clock." I've published several newsletters and have several articles published in the Interent.
Why do you write? My Muse is a bully. If I don't allow her enough time on the keyboard, she takes over my brain and forces me to do it.
What themes do you like to write about? That's a tough one to answer, since I like to write a broad spectrum of themes in both science fiction and mystery, as well as some fantasy and general fiction.
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? Another tough one to answer. I've been reading novels since I was a kid. The early classic science fiction authors (Asimov, Bradbury, Clark, and Heinlein, sometimes called BACH) stimulated me to write SF. In more recent years, I've been reading a lot of mysteries and thrillers too, by David Baldacci, Robert B. Parker, Sue Grafton, Nelson DeMille, Michael Connelly, etc. Is it any wonder than my current novel is part science fiction, part mystery, and part thriller?
In the last few years, I find myself writing stories with richer characters.
Elizabeth Creith
Crossing Guard, Fiction, Issue 5, December 1, 2008
Elizabeth Creith lives and writes in rural Northern Ontario. At various times she has been a private investigator, a dispatcher, a freelance radio broadcaster and a professional potter. She believes that art is a necessary part of life, and that too much housework rots the soul.
Her website is, www.fishnchirps.wordpress.com
Get to know Elizabeth...
Birthdate? January 24, 1954
When did you start writing? As a child. Doesn't everybody? Really got into it in my teens, mostly
school journalism and poetry. Wrote humour, slice-of-life, a shepherding column and folklore for CBC radio from 1992 to about 2002.
When and what and where did you first get published? A humour piece called "A Loom with a View" in Threads magazine, September, 1990.
Why do you write? Because I must. I have these ideas that get me up at night if I don't do something about them.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I've read myth, parapsychology, fairy tales, fantasy, from my childhood. I thought everyone read this stuff. It just seems to be the way my mind works - humour or fantasy, a little horror now and then.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Hard to choose one favourite author. For fantasy, I don't think you can beat Terry Pratchett. He has a firm grasp of reality - this and others - and a solid common sense that brooks no idiocy. I love his take on magic, on myth, on the nature of reality and time. Of his books, I think the best is "Hogfather". But I can't really choose a favourite story overall, period. I know - and love - too many.
What are you trying to say with your fiction? Caution is advised. Things are not always as you think.
Do you blog? Where? Yes. fishnchirps.wordpress.com, where I talk mainly about my pet store (which is how I pay the bills) and my life there and in Wharncliffe, with
my husband, dog and cat and pondful of koi.
my husband, dog and cat and pondful of koi.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? I don't know. Maybe "Love and art, not necessarily in that order." But I can tell you definitely what it wouldn't say: "Her house was immaculate, and she never gained a pound after the day she was married"
Renee Cronley
Ready to Bargain, Poem, Issue 54, March 2021
Logical Creatures, Poem, Issue 63, Summer 2023.
Renee Cronley is a writer and nurse from Manitoba. She studied Psychology and English at Brandon University, and Nursing at Assiniboine Community College. Her work appears in Chestnut Review, PRISM international, Off Topic, Love Letters to Poe, and several other anthologies and literary magazines.
Social media links:
https://www.instagram.com/reneecronley/
https://twitter.com/ReneeCronley
https://www.facebook.com/renees.writing.page
Get to know Renee...
Birthdate? March 2
When did you start writing?
I’ve been creating stories in my mind since before I learned to write, and as soon as I learned, I started transcribing them onto paper (however illegible they may have been).
When and what and where did you first get published?
As early as elementary school, I was published in local papers for either winning or placing in the top three for local poetry contests. I did this throughout high school and my first few years of University. I only started submitting to literary magazines at the end of 2019. My first short story was published in Love Letters to Poe in 2020.
Why do you write?
I’ve always had the intrinsic desire to do it. It’s cathartic, liberating, and a way for me to bond with more people than I can in real life.
Why do you write Fantasy?
It’s an interesting and challenging way to reveal what I’ve learned about the human condition and society by juxtaposing reality against the fantastical. It allows me and my readers the opportunity to explore the taboo or uncomfortable truths within a safe contextual framework.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
It really depends on my mood. I’m a lover of literature and stories across genres. I love Philippa Gregory, Oscar Wilde, Stephen King, Jane Austen, Hans Christian Andersen, C. S. Lewis, and Frances Hodgson Burnett.
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
It depends on the story, but there is always a theme weaved within words.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
Whenever she got bored with the world, she created a new one.
Do you blog?
No, I never got into it. I have a hard enough time trying to secure time to write stories and poetry.
Carolyn Crow
Golden Goes Green - Interview with Bruce Golden, Nonfiction, Issue 9, December 1, 2009
Get to know Carolyn...
Birthdate? 10/4/59
When did you start writing? 30 years ago
When and what and where did you first get published? College newspaper editorials.
Why do you write? I need to expess myself.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? It's full of intriguing possibilities.
Who is your favorite author? David Brin Your favorite story? Kiln People
What are you trying to say with your fiction? It varies.
Do you blog? No
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? She tried.
Caitlin Crowley
Outcasts of the Fair Forest, Fiction, Issue 29, December 1, 2014
Caitlin Crowley lives in the Dallas area and works as a freelance blogger for businesses. In 2012 she graduated from SMU with a degree in English and a specialization in creative writing. She is currently refining her short stories for publication, and aspires to become a novelist in the future. Caitlin is also passionate about comics. She writes and illustrates a graphic novel called What Nonsense, which you can read online at whatnonsensecomic.com.
Get to know Caitlin...
Birthdate? September 5, 1989.
When did you start writing? I still have a copy of a story I wrote when I was six called "The Red Chipmunk and the Green Lizard." From an early age I liked writing stories about talking animals or monsters, and I would always accompany them with my drawings.
I started writing "seriously" when I was fourteen. I spent a year working on a fantasy novel that I'd like to rework and publish someday.
When and what and where did you first get published? I have won a few writing contests before, but this is my very first publication.
What themes do you like to write about? "Identity" is a theme that often shows up in my writing. I like to write characters who struggle with themselves, torn between what their society wants them to be, and their own true desires—desires that they themselves may not fully understand.
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 Redwall series by Brian Jacques was what taught me to love reading. Although it's been a long time since I've read them, I think those stories have had a long-lasting impact on my writing. The Redwall books combined humor, lush descriptions (often of food) and violence, and I can't help myself from putting lots of visual detail, goofy characters, and battle scenes in my own stories.
As for the authors I'm reading today, I really love what I've read of Kelly Link's work. Her stories are speculative, but also written with literary sophistication. I like that they don't fit neatly into the standard speculative genres. Although my story here is straight-up fantasy, I would like to write more 'difficult-to-categorize' stories in the future.
Gary Cuba
Another Day at the Collider, Fiction, Issue 14, March 1, 2010
Gary Cuba lives with his wife and a teeming horde of dogs and cats in a rural area not far from the Congaree National Swamp in South Carolina. His fiction has appeared in Jim Baen's Universe, Abyss & Apex, Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, Fictitious Force, Allegory, and many other genre and mainstream publications. He has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
His website is, www.thefoggiestnotion.com
Get to know Gary...
Birthdate? St. Patty's Day, 1947
When did you start writing? 2006
When and what and where did you first get published? I sold my first story, a quirky little "pet ghost" tale, to The Late Late Show, a now-defunct online market that was edited by Chris Fletcher. That venue presented both audio and text versions of their fiction, and produced some great artwork to go along with the stories. As I recall, that was in January 2007. In that same month, I made my second sale to Jim Baen's Universe, my only pro sale to this point. Obviously, that one must have been a fluke! It sort of spoiled me.
Why do you write? It's cheap entertainment, it's not too strenous, and it keeps my brain active during my retirement years. I do mainly it for the challenge it presents--a formidable one, to be sure. Bottom line, for me it's a hobby. I'm not extremely prolific; I manage about a story per month, normally.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I grew up on spec fic, been reading it for more than 50 years now. I always come back to it. It represents about 2/3 of what I write, the balance being mainstream and a teensy bit of horror on the odd occasion.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Vonnegut, Eco, DeLillo come to mind. I remember being particularly captivated by Wilson and Shea's Illuminati trilogy back in the 70's; a little bit of that has hung with me to this day. (For example, I can still see the "fnords.") Insofar as modern SF/F writers, I can't say that I'm very enamored of any of them. Way too hit or miss for my taste. Especially what ends up in the "Best of" anthologies.
What are you trying to say with your fiction? I honestly don't "consciously" attempt to say anything at all. Nevertheless, I've always liked the theme of ordinary people being caught up in extroardinary circumstances, and I enjoy exploring how they would react. I do believe there is a lot more strength and intelligence inside us than we credit ourselves as having. In a nutshell, I simply try to write the kind of stuff that I'd like to read.
Do you blog? Where? Naw, not for me. I've already said everything I wanted to say about myself on my website, www.thefoggiestnotion.com, five or more years ago.
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "I gotta say, I've felt better..."
Michael Cummings
Io Asunder, fiction, Issue 34, March 1, 2016
Michael Cummings, his wife, and three daughters are recent transplants to the Bay area. When not glued to his servers, Michael enjoys writing, playing games with his girls, and occasionally even sleeping.
His website is, www.datanode.net.
Get to know Michael...
Birthday? March, 1975
When did you start writing? I've been writing stories on and off for most of my life, but didn't start to take it serious until the last five or six years.
When and what and where did you first get published? New Myths, March, 2016 :)
Stephen Curro
Beads of Death and Love, Fiction, Issue 61, Winter 2022
Stephen C. Curro hails from Windsor, Colorado. He is the author of multiple short stories, many micro poems, and the novelette The Spark. When he isn't writing, he works as a high school paraprofessional. When he isn't working, he enjoys collecting fossils, hiking, and watching "bad" monster movies. You can find more of his shenanigans at www.stephenccurro.com.
Get to know Stephen…
Birthdate?
December 20th, 1989
When did you start writing?
I discovered that I enjoyed creative writing in fourth grade. It was also the year I learned about haiku, my favorite poetry style. In middle school I learned that I especially enjoyed school assignments that involved writing stories, and that I wanted to write books. I credit my parents and my teachers for nurturing my ability, and love, for writing.
When and what and where did you first get published?
Technically, my first publication was in 2012. It was a poem with The Crucible, a student magazine run through the University of Northern Colorado My first professional poetry publication was a haiku with Acorn in 2015. My first professional fiction publication was "The Dinosaur's Eyes", a flash fiction. That story went live with 365tomorrows in January 2019 (it's a funny story, my acceptance letter wound up in the spam folder and I didn't catch it until a week after it was sent!)
Why do you write?
Sometimes I write because I want to say something important. Our world is fraught with climate change, social injustice, and a myriad of other problems that won't be solved unless we actually start thinking about them. Other times, I'm writing simply because it's fun to bring a story to life, whether you're exploring a deep idea or just going on an adventure with your characters. Writing is therapeutic for me, a way to process big thoughts and feelings.
Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy?
I prefer to write science fiction and fantasy because it's not mundane. It's fantastical. It makes you think "What if...?" Writing speculative fiction is simultaneously easy and hard. It's easy because I can decide whatever I want the world to be like, but it's hard because I have to be creative and consistent with whatever world I craft. It's well worth the struggle. Some people write off speculative fiction as silly or childish, but I think that it's one of the best mediums to explore what it is to be human, and what our place in this universe is.
Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?
That is a very difficult question, as I have many favorites! One of my favorite authors of all time is James Gurney, who wrote and illustrated the Dinotopia series. Not only is this series a major reason why I'm obsessed with dinosaurs, it also got me really thinking about worldbuilding, and philosophy, too. I also love The Life of Pi by Yann Martel; it's a delightful fairy tale that explores faith, hardship, and tigers. Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar Saga is a fantasy series I think is well written and enjoyable to get lost in. I could go on...
What are you trying to say with your fiction?
Sometimes I'm writing about a serious issue, and sometimes I'm just writing about a fun idea. Either way, my mission is to get the reader to think. If we don't open our minds, we stagnate. If we don't talk about our problems, they won't be solved.
I wrote "Beads of Death and Love" partly as a reaction to the Biblical sacrifice of Isaac, a story that has haunted me ever since my Sunday School days. I believe religion is a wonderful thing, but at what point does it cross the line? Another example lies in my story "After the Adventure", which debuted with Swords and Sorcery Magazine. It tries to answer a question that nagged me for years about quest stories: what in the world happens to the ancient temple after the heroes solve the riddles and take the treasure away?
If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
I might decide on something else in the future, but if I were about to die right this minute, I think I'd choose: "Even in death, I still have hope for mankind."
Do you blog?
I do keep a blog, Newsflash, on my official author website. Newsflash, in addition to keeping you updated on my latest shenanigans, is where I give my thoughts on certain big issues. I hope those who read it come away with something to think about. I'm also the author of the blog Endless Optimism, but that is on hiatus until further notice...