The Tale of the Wind and the Dry Bones, Fiction, Issue 18, March 1, 2012

Mandy Taggart is a graduate of Trinity College Cambridge, and undertook postgraduate studies in Irish culture, identity and folklore. Her short fiction has appeared in recent issues of various publications including "Spilling Ink Review," "Cobalt Review" and "Indigo Rising (UK)". Her short story "Skiboo" was a Top Contender for the Glass Woman Ghost Story Prize in December 2011.

Get to know Mandy...

Birthdate? October 31st

When did you start writing? I've been writing for as long as I can remember, but only began submitting work last year.

When and what and where did you first get published? My story, "As The Days Turn" was published at www.backhandstories.com in July, 2011.

What themes do you like to write about? I find inspiration in the myths and fears of childhood, those primal reactions that come from somewhere deeper than the mind. Having grown up in rural Ireland, I also have a close connection with the folklore and spirituality of the landscape, a notion of the ancient that is always around us.

What books and/or stories have mostresonated with you as an author? Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work? The English writer M.R. James, in his ghost stories, can evoke a strong atmosphere of foreboding in just a few words. I'm also an admirer of Annie Proulx, for her breathtaking, uncompromising descriptions of a landscape which, with its history and stories, is a character in its own right. In my own writing, I feel that there is always an undertone of what has gone before: the unspoken presence of previous generations.

Andrea Tang is a DC-based writer, recovering liberal arts graduate, and professional international affairs nerd. When hiding – or, excuse me, taking a break – from her writing, she enjoys martial arts, theater, and ruining beloved musicals and global politics alike by cross-referencing them constantly. Visit her at https://andreatangwrites.com/.

Get to know Andrea...

Birthday? July 12

When did you start writing? When I was a child, and my parents needed to distract me with something while waiting for meals at restaurants or attending tedious grown-up dinner parties. I'm pretty sure what I had in mind was a Gameboy or something, but I wound up with a notebook instead. One makes do, you know?

When and what and where did you first get published? For free - when I was nine years old, and writing for a local kids' anthology. For payment - when I was nineteen, and ghostwriting freelance for my personal pizza-ordering fund at university. Under my own name - a couple short stories in Underground Voices and Expanded Horizons, not long after the whole "will ghostwrite for spare cash and food" endeavor.

What themes do you like to write about? Anything that strikes my mind! But having focused pretty heavily on the politics of violence and post-colonialism, first as a literature student, and now at my day job as a consulting wonk-type-person on international affairs, I find myself writing a good deal about how individual people navigate between and across different cultures or countries, and how they negotiate those relationships.

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? This is the meanest question! Coming from a liberal arts background, I like reading across genres, from traditional SFF to hardcore old-school literary canon, so picking favorite writers is a lot like picking favorite foods - it all comes down to my mood in a given moment! Some favorite writers off the top of my head have included Zen Cho, Kamila Shamsie, and Ta Nehisi-Coates, among others. I think what they all have in common is a remarkable deftness for code-switching, very well-placed word wrangling, and writing wonderfully human stories that span cultures and borders.

Phantom Mark, Poetry, Issue 63, Summer 2023

Liana Tang is a Hong Kong writer who has been published or forthcoming in 55+ publications, including a Pushcart-winning magazine and another publication with over 118K+ followers on Medium. She participated in the John Hopkins Talented Youth Program and received a 25% scholarship for Cambridge Immerse Education Engineering and Creative Writing program. Her first chapbook, "Crossing the Chasm," is forthcoming from Trouble Department in 2023 and her co-authored Young Adult novel, “Stuck In Her Head,” is forthcoming from Earnshaw Books in Fall 2023. Lastly, she likes acting, cycling, singing, playing the piano, and mentoring others in her free time. 

Get to know Liana..

Birthday? 

December 24

When did you start writing? 

I have been creating stories ever since I could remember (which was around when I was 3 or 4), but I started taking writing seriously when I was 10.

When and what and where did you first get published? 

I initially started publishing by creating my own mini-book packets or posting on fanfiction sites like Ao3. However, my first real publication was on Medium Lessons on History about the African slave trade when I was 13. 

Why do you write?

Well, I initially started writing since I went through a dark time in my life. It was my happy place. I started writing because I believe stories are a fantastic way to cultivate human empathy in an increasingly polarized world. 

Why do you write science fiction and/or fantasy?

I believe it’s important for authors to delve into different possibilities. It’s only through exploring these fictional worlds that we can better understand our own, such as our societal flaws, technological dangers, the abuses of history, etc. This is applicable whether on a micro or macro level.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?

My favorite author is Cixin Liu, especially his novel, "Death’s End." The story straps the reader into a grandiose tale on a truly cosmic scale, one that encompasses multiple universes and billions of years. The historian's excerpts interjected between eras abound with detailed discussions of politics, philosophy, sociology, and, especially, science. It definitely jump-started my interest in history and psychology, and I hope to write a similar work one day.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

Be curious! Be curious about yourself, about how people work, and about how society works. The world’s a big place, and we’ll try our best to understand it.

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

"I was a real person that existed."

Do you blog? 

Yep! Though, not as much as I used to. You could find me on Medium or on Instagram at @lianatang.yantung.

Common Magick, Fiction, Issue 34, March 1, 2016

The Sultana of Story, Fiction, Issue 42, March 15, 2018

Jordan Taylor has driven across the US three times, and lived in four different cities in as many years. She currently resides in Seattle, WA with her husband, their corgi, and too many books for one small apartment. Her short fiction has recently appeared in or is forthcoming from On Spec and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. You can follow her online at jordanrtaylor.com.

Get to know Jordan...

When did you start writing? I've been making up stories for as long as I can remember. As a child I acted out elaborate plots with my dolls or the neighborhood children, and as a teenager I kept a detailed journal whose events were only sometimes true. However, it wasn't until it was time to pick my college major (Creative Writing) that I started calling myself a writer or seriously working on putting my stories down on paper.

When and what and where did you first get published? My first major publication was in Issue 17 of Shimmer Magazine, with my story "The Desire of All Things."

What themes do you like to write about? I love writing about the intersection of magic and the real world. I like to use magic as something the story's characters use to struggle with or come to terms with their world, but not to "fix" everything. Magic in a flawed world? After all, even our own flawed world can be magical and wondrous.

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 I could write pages and pages about this, but my current absolute favorite novel, and one which influenced my writing of "Common Magick," is John Crowley's Little, Big. I adore the Victorian Era, and I adore fairies and fairy tales, and stories about the forest and the waters and the wild, and stories about New York, and family sagas, and long novels I can get lost in, with quiet magic, and this one has all of those things tied up in a big, beautiful bow. Before reading Little, Big, it never even occurred to me that other people might be interested in stories of magic that are set in Victorian times; it was something I had never seen done by a modern author. It was like someone gave me permission to go wild.

Venus Returns to Sea Foam, Poetry, Issue 18, March 1, 2012

Nancy Ellis Taylor is an L.A.-based writer who gives readings locally several times a year. She is active with the Southland Poets of the Fantastic (science fiction, horror, and fantasy) and Poets on Site (group giving poetry performances focusing on art in galleries and museums). Her work has appeared recently in the L.A. Flood Project, Fickle Muses, Illumen, Echoes, and the anthology Jack-o'-Spec. In addition, she was a nominee for this year's Rhysling Award presented the Science Fiction Poetry Association. 

Get to know Nancy...

Birthdate? 2/14 (note: the year I was born Mardi Gras also fell on Valentine's day)

When did you start writing? 5th grade

When and what and where did you first get published? I think my mom sent one of my poems to the local newspapers back in the 1960s.

What themes do you like to write about? Amazing moments of fractured light.

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? 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It reinforced the use of the magical/fantastical that I preferred in my poetry.

Fifty Years in Earthsea, Nonfiction, Issue 45, December 15, 2018

Stephen Taylor has fiction forthcoming in MYTHIC Magazine and recent publications in The Future Fire and The Centropic Oracle.

Wolf Girls, Poetry, Issue 8, September 1, 2009

Marcie Lynn Tentchoff is a writer/poet from the west coast of Canada. Her work has appeared in such publications as On Spec, Weird Tales, Strange Horizons, and Mythic Delirium.  Marcie's fantasy poetry collection, Through the Window: A Journey to the Borderlands of Faerie, is available through Amazon.

Get to know Marcy...

Birthdate? Feb. 16th, 1968

When did you start writing? I think I wrote my first book when I was eight years old. It had something to do with witches

When and what and where did you first get published? My first paid publication was a novella called "Sister's Keeper," which sold to Horizons SF in 1991.

Why do you write? I like to share stories, thoughts, and emotions, both by reading 

those of other writers, and by letting readers access my own.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? Other worlds, other possibilities...why limit myself to the mundane?

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? I have to choose only one favorite author, and one favorite story?  That's cruel!  P.C. Hodgell is among my favorite authors, but Zenna Henderson's "The Believing Child" will always by one of my very favorite stories.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Different things with different pieces.

Do you blog? Where? Not really. I'm on Live Journal as mtentchoff, but I am very bad about posting.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? There are worse things than a life spent looking for and finding magic.

Cosmic Housekeeping, Poetry, Issue 60, Fall 2022

Gretchen Tessmer lives in the U.S./Canadian borderlands. She writes both short fiction and poetry, with work appearing in Nature, Strange Horizons and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, among other venues.

Get to know Gretchen

When did you start writing? 

I wrote a short murder mystery (an older sister/younger brother team follow clues to solve a case in their hometown during summer vacation) with a cover made out of fancy construction paper and (horrifyingly bad) illustrations throughout that I finished in about third grade.

When and what and where did you first get published? 

University journals in undergrad. But if we're talking post-college poetry, I always count "Breakfast in the Boondocks" published in North American Review back in 2012 as my first official poetry sale. My sale of "Hey Man, Nice Shot" to Strange Horizons circa 2017 was when I decided to switch primarily to genre poetry.

Why do you write? 

The demi-god-like control of everything. Plus I find it relaxing.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? 

Because it has all the slice-of-life moments/complicated family dynamics/relationships I love AND time travel and magic.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? 

I can't choose a favorite author, please don't make me. Most of my favorite stories are plays: The Unexpected Man by Yasmina Reza, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, etc. I have hundreds of favorite poems but if forced to play favorites, I'll have to choose "Dirge Without Music" by Edna St. Vincent Millay, "Jenny Kiss'd Me" by Leigh Hunt and "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams (and why people always choose "the icebox plums" over this one I'll never know).

What are you trying to say with your fiction? 

Whenever I try to say something deep and meaningful in a poem, the poem crosses its little arms over its little chest and sticks its tongue out at me.

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

“Dig up my bones at your peril.”

Do you blog? 

No, not a blogger. Not to be dramatic or anything, but I'm pretty sure social media will eventually destroy us all.

For Gene's bio please click here

Bot-of-the-Month Club, Flash Fiction, Issue 43, June 2018

Jason works full time as a programmer in the video game industry, but makes a little time everyday for writing.  He also squeezes in the odd creative writing class from UCSD Extension in the evenings, working toward their certification in creative writing.

He's written two novels, though none have sold yet.  Flash pieces of his have appeared at Every Day Fiction and Acidic Fiction, and he has a story in an upcoming edition of Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things.  He's a frequent entrant in the Writers of the Future competition, though he hasn't won to date. 

More info can be found at https://jasonbthomas.wordpress.com/

Get to know Jason:

Birthdate?        October '74

When did you start writing?  As a kid.  I loved making up stories and worlds and sharing them with others.  Unfortunately English classes at school and college focused on analysis and essays, so I let my writing go.  Twenty years lathater I was reading a self published book on Kindle and realized that sort of thing had become possible, so I picked it up again.

When and what and where did you first get published?  First time I was paid for a story was at EDF about four years ago.  They gave me three bucks (I re-donated it) for a flash story about a boy doing magic tricks at his sister's birthday party.

Why do you writer?  I love the creative escape, and the opportunity to immerse myself and others in a place that helps us forget our troubles..

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story?  Lots of favorite authos--Jim Butcher, Brandon Sanderson, Stephen King, Blake Crouch...the list goes on. If I had to pick just one favorite story, it would have to be The Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I try to lean more towards entertainment than theme in my stories, but I guess some leakage is inevitable. Most of my stories revolve around the idea that good wins out in the end, but not without a price.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?   Here lies Jason. If not, start running.

Thimble Thieves of Villa Dolores, Fiction, Issue 33, December 1, 2015

Doug Tierney is a writer and engineer working in the Boston area, where his day job is to take the "fiction" out of Science Fiction--by actually building things that used to be futuretech.  He's a graduate of MIT and Clarion, and is currently a member of The Mechanics Writing Workshop. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, kids, and a dog named Moose. Visit Doug on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dougtierneyauthor/. 

Get to know Doug...

Birthday? 1/1/1970. My birthday parties are epoch.

When did you start writing? I wrote my first detective story in 5th grade to make writing vocabulary sentences less onerous. 

When and what and where did you first get published? First paid publication was "The Portable Girlfriend" in the Circlet Press anthology Selling Venus in 1995. That story was reprinted in two anthologies, appeared on two web sites, and was turned into a short film by the Australian Film Institute. Beginner's luck. 

What themes do you like to write about? My favorite themes are people and how they interact in unusual situations. The late Oliver Sachs was a master of describing ordinary people in life-altering circumstances.  

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 authors are Gabriel Garcia-Marquez (obviously), Joe Haldeman, Roger Zelazny, Lee Child and Robert Crais.  

The first three are all masters of short stories, and they have a particular style of opening which is very accessible and sets the momentum for the piece.   It's like admiring a chess master because he has a killer gambit. 

Child and Crais have both made careers telling stories about the same characters, and I have followed them for decades. I admire their ability to create such enduring characters and add depth to them over time. 

For Lisa's bio please click here

Cestrum Nocturnum, Flash Fiction, Issue 34, March 1, 2016

Izzy Todd is a freelance writer and aspiring novelist. The last time they tried to write something that wasn't sci-fi or horror, it ended up being both. They have a favorite nebula, constellation, and Jovian moon for some reason, and are probably yelling about Batman on twitter right now.

Get to know Izzy...

Birthday? November 23, 1993

When did you start writing? Before I had learned how to spell properly.

When and what and where did you first get published? Technically, my first credit was two short stories in a very small ezine that's no longer available, but we don't talk about sixteen-year-old-me's writing. More recently my story "There Was A Crash" was featured in issue #9 of Bastion Science Fiction Magazine. It also involves robots.

What themes do you like to write about? Robots. I also write about family a lot, usually of the found variety (sometimes families of robots).

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 watched too much Star Trek as kid and it did things to my brain.

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot, Fiction, Issue 46, March 15, 2019

S.R. Tombran is an Indo-Guyanese American, a virtual reference librarian, and a fantasy and sci-fi author with a novel mentored in the 2017 Pitch Wars contest. She published a small press fantasy novel in 2016 and has two poems in THE EAR LITERARY JOURNAL and STAR*LINE. When she isn’t answering database questions from library users across the country or caring for the little wild things she calls “children,” she can be found scribbling speculative stories with a huge cup of coffee beside her. You can find her at @STombran.

Get to know S. R. Tombran:

When and what and where did you first get published?

I've had poetry sales in the past and a small press fantasy book published by Dragon Moon Press. "Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot" is my first short story sale, to NewMyths.com

Why do you write?

I write to answer the questions that tug at me and to wrestle with themes and topics that feel important to me in the moment. How that plays out is individualized and open to interpretation.

What are you trying to say with your fiction?

I try not to have an agenda with my stories. I try to explore the things that pull me to pieces and make me weep, laugh, or shudder.

Encore, Flash Fiction, Issue 54, March 2021

Sam Tovey is an English Literature graduate living in London, United Kingdom. He is a Dream Foundry finalist, an alumnus of the Milford SF Writers’ Conference, and has been published in The Colored Lens. You can find more of his work at: www.samtovey.com and follow him on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/toveywrites.

Get to know Sam...

Birthdate? 

I was born 29 solar revolutions ago.

When did you start writing? 

I've always enjoyed writing, but I've been doing it seriously for about 5 years.

When and what and where did you first get published? 

My first publication was back in 2015; a crime noir kidnapping story for a short-lived pulp magazine. That was before I realised no one reads short crime fiction anymore! I mostly stick to sci-fi now.

What themes do you like to write about? 

Generally, I like to take something serious such as heartbreak or broken promises and bury it in a story about mind-bending drugs or talking fridges. That's what I find so intriguing about science fiction: you can tell a complex story about identity and the search for meaning, but it's actually just robots fighting on the moon, or whatever.

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 take influences from all over the place: I'm currently working on an environmental thriller that's part Waterworld, part Pirates of the Caribbean, and part Free Willy; a futuristic police procedural a la Altered Carbon; and a dystopian cyberpunk car chase story that's Mad Max: Fury Road meets Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

The World is Worth Saving, poem, Issue 52, September 2020

Alice Towey is a writer of speculative fiction and poetry based out of Northern California. Her work has appeared in Asimov's, Little Blue Marble, and the anthology A Flash of Silver Green: Stories of the Nature of Cities. She is a graduate of the Viable Paradise writing workshop. When she’s not writing, she works as a civil engineer specializing in water resources management. She enjoys hiking with her husband and serving as a cat-warmer for her two felines. 

Get to know Alice....

When did you start writing? 

I’ve been writing on and off since I was a kid, but I’ve gotten more intentional about it in the past few years. Attending Viable Paradise in 2018 really helped me to take myself more seriously as a writer. 

When and where and what did you first get published.?

My flash fiction “The Garden” won second place in the "Stories of the Nature of Cities” contest and was published in the corresponding anthology. Since then my work has appeared in Asimov’s and Little Blue Marble. 

Why do you write science fiction and/or fantasy? 

I love the freedom that speculative fiction gives you. It’s also a great medium for exploring big questions and ideas. 

Triple Bind, Fiction, Issue 20, September 1, 2012

The Tenth Part of Magic, Fiction, Issue 35, June 1, 2016

Nick Tramdack was born in Cleveland in 1985. He got his degree in English from the University of Chicago and attended Clarion West in 2011. His day jobs have included wrangling shopping carts, manufacturing milk bottles, testing chewing gum, editing ebooks, proofreading financial reports, and hunting for lost books in the vast stacks of Regenstein Library. He lives and works in Chicago.

Get to know Nick...

Birthdate? June 11, 1985

What themes do you like to write about? It's probably a doomed enterprise for a writer to try to list his or her favorite themes, but I will say that I enjoy writing stories that handle speculative material with a certain level of rigor. It's kind of the opposite approach from magical realism -- I enjoy poking and prodding at the fantastic stuff directly, rather than letting it bleed into metaphor or operate on the fringes of perception. That said, this story might not fit into either category....

Certain elements that tend to reoccur in my stories include clocks, coins, duels, the wuxia convention of the "martial world," mental conditioning, decadent/gothic/19th-century-influenced secondary-world settings, and of course, gratuitous violence.

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? Besides works from the fantastic/SFnal/speculative/gothic/whateveryawannacallit tradition, I enjoy reading classic literature -- particularly for purposes of shameless literary theft. It's less about mimicking characters and settings than building a story like magpie's nest: a hoard of pilfered styles, philosophies, and trinkets. This story borrows lots of vocab and thematic material from Chaucer's "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale," while employing certain conventions of the police procedural genre. I hope you enjoy the combination.

When did you start writing? I've always been a compulsive jotter & note taker. I started writing seriously in my third year of college, in 2006 or so. It took me four years before I sold anything though!

When and what and where did you first get published? My first story sale was a 100-word micro-fiction called "Bullet Menagerie" in the Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. To this day I've never heard from anyone who's read it, but I was delighted to have my first publication appear in the same book as heroes of mine like Alan Moore & China Mieville.

For Teresa's bio please clink here

Status Quo, Fiction, Issue 3, June 1, 2008

Edward M. Turner grew up in rural Maine in the 1960's, then joined the US Coast Guard after high school. Upon discharge and a few detours doing skilled labor, he attended a community college on the GI Bill and began writing. Since 1995 he's published poems, newspaper essays, short stories, and novels. Today Ed lives in Biddeford, Maine with his wife, Amy and her black cat, Tina.

Get to know Edward...

Birthdate? April 6, 1954

When did you start writing? August, 1986

When and what and where did you first get published? 1995, Newspaper Essay, Marblehead, MA.

Why do you write? I must, I am compelled.

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? I write anything,including sci-fi and fantasy.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? Bernard Cornwell. Misery-by Anton Chekhov.

What are you trying to say with your fiction? I am here, this is me.

Do you blog? No.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? He loved his wife.

Class of 2054, Fiction, Issue 2, March 1, 2008

Julie Turner is Australian, has worked as a script editor and writer on many film and television projects, and has had other short stories published, but this is her first sortie into sci-fi. She sometimes performs with a comedy can can troupe and dabbles in fringe cabaret. 

Get to know Julie...

Birthdate? 28 June 1964

When did you start writing? Nine years ago

When and what and where did you first get published? In an anthology put out by the Australian Romance Writers Association, my only romance story, a slapstick comedy about 'love overcoming all obstacles' on the slopes of a chaotic ski resort.      

Why do you write? It's fun and challenging, and writing prose has no limitations (compared with writing for commercial TV). I like bringing crazy characters to life; and I like the magic of the creative process, in finding just the right way to communicate a vision. 

Why do you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy? There's huge freedom for the imagination, though I don't usually write fantasy, this story was an exercise in 'starting and seeing what comes out,' but I had lots of fun with it.

Who is your favorite author? Your favorite story? I'm currently enjoying short stories by Somerset Maugham - he so vividly and expertly brings to life characters and settings from the exotic places he travelled to so long ago. I also love the Gormenghast books; and a great rollicking mock historical tale called Sheherazade by an Australian author a few years ago whose name has escaped me.     

What are you trying to say with your fiction? Have a giggle.

Do you blog? No.

If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say? "She danced til the end of her 250 years."

The Legend of the Emperor's New Space Suit (A Tale of Consensus Reality), Poetry, Issue 17, December 1, 2011

Biography

My Nebula-winning story, "Mars Is No Place for Children," and my novel An Old-Fashioned Martian Girl,  (Analog, July - November  2004) have been selected as recreational reading on the International Space Station. My poetry and fiction appears in Asimov's, Astropoetica, Interzone, Stone Telling, Star*Line, F&SF, Strange Horizons, Goblin Fruit, and anthologies and magazines in the US, Great Britain, Japan, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic.  My Nebula finalist, "Pride," appears in Tails of Wonder and Mystery. My story "Eat or Be Eaten" was on the final 1997 British SF Association ballot. I have work coming out in Asimov's, Paper Crow, and Stone Telling, plus an authorized Philip José Farmer sequel story "The Beast Erect," in The Worlds of  Philip José Farmer 2, Meteor Press, 2011.  

Get to know Mary...

When did you start writing? At age seven, shortly after I realized that the people who made up stories were in fact just grown-up versions of me.

When and what and where did you first get published? High school newspaper--I had a gossip column.

What themes do you like to write about? The great unknown of scientific exploration, the possibilities of human potential, the variety of human individuality--also cats, space, sex, and Mars. That's a partial list -- 

What books and/or stories have most resonated with you as an author?

This is but a sample:

The Left Hand of Darkness, Madame Bovary, King Lear, The Crying of Lot 49, "Spacetime for Springers,"  "Blood Child," anything by James Lee Burke, Robert Graves'  The Greek Myths, Pale Fire, Frank Polite's Hyde--which reminds me that my taste in poetry ranges from Yeats (of course), to Wendy Cope, and Mari Ness and Cat Valente. I like what I read in NewMyths.com, a lot. Which is why I am very happy about this acceptance.

Why? How do these stories and their characters find expression in your work?  I like fiction that startles with its honesty and authenticity. I also like craft: work that astonishes me with the writer's skill. I have a taste for over-the-top stuff, and I like to be surprised. I order weird things in restaurants. The first time I ever ordered calamari I had no idea what it was, looked down into the plate the waiter had brought and said "Ick. Squiggly things." And then I ate them. They were delicious. I once insisted in a small Parisian restaurant that I wanted the Poire William and it turned out to be a cigar. (It usually isn't.)

I like language. I don't like pretension, but I do like weird and rich and delicious. I compare opening a book or zine to opening a menu. I like new tastes on my tongue and in my mind.   

That's what I live for.