First of all, there is no one more horrified by that blog title than the editors and authors at the small press I run. They may well organize a mutiny as soon as this is posted. So aim your vitriol at me, not at World Weaver Press. Most of our books do employ the good ol' Oxford comma.
Second, the Oxford comma is often a Band-Aid that covers up other structural problems within a sentence. Just... hear me out, okay? Ever since the Oxford Style Guide dropped the serial comma in 2011, there have been entertaining memes floating around the internet "proving" you need the Oxford comma to avoid ridiculous confusion. Here are two of the most common examples:
The argument here is that without the Oxford comma, the second and third items in this list can be mistaken for a descriptive clause of the first. But consider this: what actually creates the confusion in both of these sentences is the position of a plural noun followed by two singular nouns. Rearrange the sentence so the plural isn't first, and suddenly it doesn't matter whether that comma is there or not.
We invited JFK, the strippers and Stalin. We invited JFK, Stalin and the strippers. To Ayn Rand, God and my parents. To Ayn Rand, my parents and God. But not all Oxford comma usage can be solved with that One Weird Trick. Here's a different Oxford comma meme, with a different issue.
Ah, my good friend the direct address comma, made famous with the "Let's eat Grandma" vs. "Let's eat, Grandma" example. Sure, lack of an Oxford comma can create the impression the speaker is addressing the people (or objects) that appear after the first comma. Except, maybe a little context and common sense is necessary? Is it likely, from the context of the sentence, that the person is actually talking to a sentient toast-and-juice monster? I mean, I work in the field of fantasy and science fiction, so it's certainly possible. However, if the speaker of this sentence is addressing a literal toast-and-juice monster, that better be established and described in the narrative leading up to this sentence. Also, the writer should probably come up with a better and more creative name for it than "toast and orange juice." At the very least, it should be capitalized. "I had eggs, Toast and Orange Juice" would signal that "Toast and Orange Juice" is a proper noun.
If it is clear from context that the speaker is not addressing sentient toast and orange juice, does the Oxford comma make this a better sentence? The truth is, with or without the comma, it's just a lazy sentence. "Had" is a weak and vague verb—it merely tells us the food existed and was in your possession. Revise it to something like "I devoured the eggs and toast, and drank three glasses of orange juice," or "I picked at the eggs and toast, and only drank half of the orange juice," and not only are the verbs more active, but we also know a lot more about what's going on. Little ol' "had" could have meant either of these scenarios, but there was no way to tell which. The Oxford comma can't fix that. How about this one?
Let's assume this sentence does not appear in a Haralambi Markov horror story. Obviously, you need a comma after "cooking." But what about that sneaky Oxford—does a second comma actually clarify the meaning? Here it is without: "I like cooking, my family and pets." Here it is with: "I like cooking, my family, and pets." I suppose it does eliminate the impression of a direct address comma: the speaker telling their family and pets that they like cooking (which would need to be rewritten anyway because it would sound stilted and awkward). As with the previous example, context can probably eliminate that possibility better than a comma can.
The real confusion for me in this sentence is whether the speaker likes "pets" in general, or their own pets. Change it to "I like cooking, my family and my pets" and the meaning is more obvious. Better yet, rearrange it to "I like my family, my pets and cooking," and there's suddenly a lot less room for misinterpretation, with or without an Oxford comma. Okay, okay, enough of these silly meme examples. Here's one from real life.
I used parentheses and a plus sign in that tweet because this is what I wrote first:
"Win a paperback copy of COVALENT BONDS, an anthology of geek romance, and a serotonin necklace." Is the winner being promised three things or two? It's unclear whether "an anthology of geek romance" is a descriptive clause for "COVALENT BONDS" or a separate object. The commas create ambiguity that can't be fixed by rearranging the sentence or adding or subtracting commas. Different punctuation must be used. If, however, the Oxford comma were not in common usage, my original sentence would have been clear. Look, there may very well be times when the Oxford comma is absolutely necessary. As entertaining as a lot of these examples and memes are, I remain unconvinced. I'm not here to take your Oxford commas from you, though. Keep using them, if you like them. Maybe the sentence just looks wrong to you without it. Fine! It's a style choice, after all, not a grammar rule. But each time you use an Oxford comma, consider: Do you need it? Do you really need it, or can you write a better sentence?
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Okay, "soon" may be an overstatement, but in any case, I'm happy to report two new stories that should be out later this year. "A Chorus of Voices," a Lovecraftian secondary-world fantasy about an ambitious monk who realizes not all the vibrations they're chanting are for the good of the world, will appear in the November issue of Weirdbook Magazine.
Also, my solarpunk story "Riding in Place" is part of the Biketopia anthology from Microcosm Publishing. It's the fourth in their "Bikes in Space" series, and that's exactly what my story's about: a woman and a humanoid robot bond over stationary bikes on an asteroid mine. There's a Kickstarter running to fund the anthology (and I get paid for the story based on how well the Kickstarter does), so please go check it out, maybe order a copy or show it to some friends. Below are some images from my Pinterest boards for these two stories. I hope the images below will pique your interest enough to give the stories a read when they're released. I'll be sure to let you know when that happens. "A Chorus of Voices"
See the whole Pinterest Board by clicking here: "A Chorus of Voices"
Forthcoming in Weirdbook Magazine, November 2017 "Riding in Place"
See the whole Pinterest board by clicking here: "Riding in Place"
Forthcoming in Biketopia: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories, edited by Elly Blue I encountered author and editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail via Broad Universe, an organization for women working in speculative fiction, and was immediately intrigued by her "Bad-Ass Faeries" project. So she wrangled together a few of her authors and let me ask them just how bad-ass those faeries are. The authors below are all contributors to eSpec Books’ upcoming anthology The Best of Bad-Ass Faeries, which is currently funding on Kickstarter. The book is a reprint anthology featuring the highlights of the award-winning Bad-Ass Faeries anthology series, which just celebrated ten years in print. The first four anthologies are now out of print, but the Best Of is the editors’ way of preserving the series and hopefully continuing it. See what the authors have to say about their Bad-Ass Faeries, and then check out the Kickstarter here. Kelly A. Harmon, author of “Selkskin Deep” What’s bad-ass about your faeries? Cade Owen, the faerie in my story, “Selkskin Deep”, is a selkie (a seal who can shed his skin and become a man) and a Navy SEAL. You don’t get more bad-ass than a Navy SEAL! This character has both mythical powers, and is in tip-top physical shape—but in all the years he’s lived, he’s never quite understood his “human” side. It’s that curiosity about how humans live their lives that brings him to be on board the USS Livingstone at the height of the Vietnam War. Did you write your story (or stories) specifically for the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology, or had you already written a story about a bad-ass faerie that just happened to be a perfect fit? This story was written specifically for the Bad Ass Faeries series. It started off with a brief email conversation with the editor along the lines of, “wouldn’t it be cool to have a selkie who was also a Navy SEAL?” I ran with the challenge. But the story is much deeper than that. What are you working on now, and where can readers find you? I’m currently working on the fourth book in my Charm City Darkness series—an urban fantasy that takes place in Baltimore. You know that old saying, ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’? Case in point for Assumpta Mary-Margaret O’Connor. Her good deed gets her demon-marked, making her fair game for any passing demon (and a few specific ones). But she’s managed to survive—with help from angels, ghosts, and witches—through three books so far: Stoned in Charm City, A Favor for a Fiend, and A Blue Collar Proposition. The fourth book--In the Eye of the Beholder--is about Assumpta’s best friend Jo, and should be available in May. For folks who love short stories, I’ve co-edited two dark fiction anthologies with Vonnie Winslow Crist: Hides the Dark Tower and In a Cat’s Eye. We’ll be reading for a third anthology in March, Dark Luminous Wings, which should be available in October. Find Kelly A. Harmon Online: Facebook I Twitter I Amazon I Website Jody Lynn Nye, author of “Fifteen Percent” What’s bad-ass about your faeries? My faerie is not afraid to get seriously physical to get her author back to his keyboard and writing. Did you write your story (or stories) specifically for the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology, or had you already written a story about a bad-ass faerie that just happened to be a perfect fit? My story is original to the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology. What are you working on now, and where can readers find you? I'm working on three different novel collaborations, four short story assignments, a new SF series, and a new fantasy series. Find Jody Lynn Nye Online: Facebook I Twitter I Goodreads I Website L. Jagi Lamplighter, series editor and author of “A Not-So-Silent Night” What’s bad-ass about your faeries? Tom-O-Thunder is the guardian for an Irish-American family. This gives him the sort of attitude that only a Leprechaun whose charge is in danger can have. Did you write your story (or stories) specifically for the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology, or had you already written a story about a bad-ass faerie that just happened to be a perfect fit? Just for the B-A Faeries anthology. What are you working on now, and where can readers find you? The Awful Truth about Forgetting, book four of the Books of Unexpected Enlightenment. Find L. Jagi Lamplighter Online: Website John French, author of “Too Many Deaths” What’s bad-ass about your faeries? There are several kinds of bad ass fairies in my story "So many deaths." There are those who despite being tortured can still turn and attack those they believe to be their captors There's a member of the Watch who despite politics and circumstance still manages to achieve some sort of justice And there's a faerie SWAT team. It doesn’t get more bad-ass than that Did you write your story (or stories) specifically for the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology, or had you already written a story about a bad-ass faerie that just happened to be a perfect fit? I wrote my stories, there were two of them which were combined into one, at the request of Danielle who specifically asked me for a "Faerie Swat team." What are you working on now, and where can readers find you? Along with Patrick Thomas, I’m currently editing Camelot 13, due out in 2018 from Padwolf Publishing and Monsters Among Us, a new collection featuring the Baltimore Police Department Monster Hunter Bianca Jones, should be out this spring. As for finding me, I'm on Facebook, and readers are free to email me at jfrenchfam@aol.com Danielle Ackley-McPhail, series editor and author of “Within the Guardian Bell” What’s bad-ass about your faeries?
I have two sets of faeries in my story. The first is Lance Cosain, leader of a biker gang called The Wild Hunt MC. Lance is half fae, half human, and all bad-ass. He is also an ongoing character for me in all my BAF stories. The other faerie in this particular story is a road gremlin who is literally the embodiment of the road. This is relevant to the story because they say there is a love/hate relationship between bikers and the road that is kept in balance by respect. This story is about when something comes in the way of that usual respect…blood is involved. Did you write your story (or stories) specifically for the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology, or had you already written a story about a bad-ass faerie that just happened to be a perfect fit? My stories were all written specifically for the series, but they have also grown beyond the series into novels. There are two so far, The Halfling’s Court and The Redcaps’ Queen. Both are the tale of Lance Cosain and how he came to challenge the High King of Faerie without even knowing it. Needless to say there are power struggles. What are you working on now, and where can readers find you? Goodness... too many things to list here, but primary of which is Eternal Wanderings, a spin-off novella that is based on my Eternal Cycle trilogy about a whole other kind of bad-ass fae. And the third book featuring Lance and his gang, The High King’s Fool. You can find out about me at www.sidhenadaire.com and www.especbooks.com, plus on social media. I tend to stand out. I first met Matthew Burnside a massive Facebook group called MFA Draft when we were both applying to MFA programs. The group was set up so applicants to the many creative writing grad programs could share support and anxiety while they waited for those acceptance calls or rejection notices. Matthew was one of the many memorable personalities in that group. I, certainly, was not, but many of them friended me anyway, and I love seeing where their paths have taken them now that we've all finished our programs. Matthew Burnside's Facebook feed alternates between the most ridiculous, awkward memes and the most inspirational, heartfelt manifestos about writing and art. See the interview below and you'll get a taste of what I mean. Matthew's first full-length story collection, Postludes, is out today from Kernpunkt Press. Sarena Ulibarri: The most important question first: is that a corgi on the cover? Is there a corgi in this book?! I must know. Matthew Burnside: There are at least two dogs in Postludes, but I never specify that either is a corgi. I actually asked the cover artist to just “envision your most precious pet” and a corgi was the result. Pets are inextricably linked to childhood, nostalgia, and most notably our early conceptions of loss I think, so they definitely had important roles to play. SU: In a nutshell, what was the path from manuscript to publication for Postludes? MB: Postludes is a jigsaw of mostly formal experiments I did over the years, some preceding my MFA but many of them completed while I was in my program. Finding a home for the collection was difficult because they aren’t traditional pieces, some have more in common with poetry than prose, and a cohesive theme proved elusive for the longest time. In short, it was a monster to market. I feel like much of my work feels like B-sides, not in quality hopefully but in tone and variety. Prose that feels more like poetry at times (or vice versa) can be really alienating to readers, but it’s how I write for better or worse. Plot or narrative doesn’t interest me nearly as much as conveying a feltness or visceral emotion through landscapes of language. SU: You earned an MFA from the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop—what advice do you have for young (or not so young) writers struggling through the MFA application process? MB: I know when I first started trying to crack the MFA code (I was rejected by 50+ programs before Iowa finally said Sure, come on in) I was doing it for the wrong reasons: I needed validation. To feel like a writer. I needed people who had already been successful to pat me on the head and go, Yes, little one you have my permission to write your little things. And then, of course, you look around at all the other really talented writers and do your best to follow their example. To publish where they’ve published and how they’ve published. You try to sound like them and maybe look like them and think like them, too. This is the mistake I think, because it means latching on to a path that’s been tread a thousand times already instead of maybe footing it and exploring your own path, which can be scary and lonely but may lead you to yourself---your own unique identity as an artist. At a certain point when I was at Iowa, I remember some of my peer’s words ringing in my ears, regarding this weird new media project I had made: “How in the HELL are you ever going to sell this?” And I remember thinking I HAVE NO IDEA and then promptly thinking, How Exciting is That? Maybe it doesn’t matter if I sell it at all? Maybe it shouldn’t? That doesn’t mean it’s not a worthy investment of time and craft. That doesn’t negate its value as an artful endeavor. That acceptance changed a lot for me. Since then, I’ve just sort of been exploring and writing what’s interesting to me. Some things have been successful, most haven’t, but it’s all one big exploration now. So, I guess my advice to younger writers would be Forget Trying To Make It Into the Cool Writers Club. Forget carving a fail-proof career out of art. Forget perfectly padded CVs whispering the promise of tenure and wide-eyed admiration from little versions of you. Accept Loneliness Now. Invite Failure Now, the more ambitious the riskier the better. Accept being an outlier, an outsider, an under-the-radar obscure no-name Nobody. Because there’s tremendous creative freedom in that, to work on what you want how you want for your own pure-as-ice joy. If you want rabid fans, if you’re desperate for attention, go start a cult. Writing is not a way to get love from others, or at least it shouldn’t be. It’s about finding a key to unlock rooms you never knew you had inside of you. SU: Much of your work can be classified under that fuzzy label of “Experimental Writing.” What does “experimental” mean to you, and how has your understanding of it morphed over your writing career? MB: It used to mean WRITER WHO WILL NEVER MAKE MONEY EVER. It still means that, mostly. But it also means being a Serpentine Disciple of Yes in a narrow valley of mediocrity. It means a willingness to die again and again through your work for the off chance to be reborn as something better. It means restlessness and motion sickness and a stubborn refusal to wear the same hat even if it is the prettiest and most comfortable of hats. SU: What books, authors, or films most influenced you while writing Postludes? MB: I’ve already spoken of the influence Akira Kurosawa’s DREAMS had on the book in another interview, but there are others too: Chris Van Allsburg’s The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, the dream fog logic of David Lynch, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, the dancing of Martha Graham, the science of Stephen Hawking, cartoons, video games, even the comedy of Mr. Bean. SU: Do you have any readings or signings coming up? Where can readers find you? MB: None scheduled. I find that my work doesn’t really lend itself to performativity. I mostly prefer to leave it as a thing that exists on the page or screen, but in 2017 that may be something I try to change. I’d welcome the opportunity, especially if it involves working with young writers, as the classroom is where I feel most comfortable. Until then, I live on the internet at http://matthewkburnside.wixsite.com/2017 and currently teach fiction and creative writing for new media at Wesleyan University. Matthew Burnside’s work has appeared in Best American Experimental Writing, DIAGRAM, Ninth Letter, Kill Author, PANK, and Pear Noir! among others. He is the author of several chapbooks and numerous digital works. He currently teaches at Wesleyan University and is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Find your copy of Postludes: Amazon KERNPUNKT Press Small Press Distribution
My story "Astra, the Falling Star," a surreal sci-fi about two astronauts whose ship is destroyed while in orbit around an alien planet, has been published online by KasmaSF Magazine. KasmaSF publishes a new story each month, and I have the privilege of being their February author. They were nice enough to publish my apocalyptic Cassandra retelling "As Dust Rolls Toward the Mountains" a few years ago, and I'm thrilled they liked "Astra" as well. KasmaSF commissions original artwork by José Baetas for each story, which makes publication there extra special.
Here's the story's opening paragraph, and below that, the wonderful artwork José created after reading it. I freefall, plummeting through an alien sky. Clouds obscure my vision. Tears and mucus smear across my helmet to obscure it even more. I shut my eyes—such fickle and sensitive sensory organs—and imagine the equations of the forces acting on my body. I try to rearrange their values: my version of praying, I suppose. But the laws of physics will not bend just to save my life.
Speaking of artwork, I've recently joined Pinterest, and created a few boards that represent imagery from some of my forthcoming stories. I hope the images below will pique your interest enough to give the story a read. You can do that by clicking here. It's a short one, only about 3,000 words. And with luck, maybe I'll have a few more boards and a few more stories to share soon.
See the whole Pinterest Board by clicking here: "Astra, the Falling Star"
Usually, I prefer to promote books on my blog that fall into the (broad) category of speculative fiction—it's what I write, it's what my company publishes, and it's what most (though certainly not all) of my writerly friends write. Mary Ann Marlowe's debut novel Some Kind of Magic is going to sit squarely on the "Contemporary Romance" or "Romantic Comedy" shelves, but I'm going to argue it's got a speculative slant to it. There's a bit of a "Love Potion #9" theme going on here, and a "what if?" question about just how powerful synthetic pheromones could be. And no matter whether I can call it speculative or not, I'm still going to pick up a copy, because it sounds freaking adorable.
Here's the description: In this sparkling debut novel, Mary Ann Marlowe introduces a hapless scientist who's swept off her feet by a rock star—but is it love or just a chemical reaction?...
Super cute, right?
Mary Ann Marlowe is part of the PitchWars 2014 cohort that I have been lucky enough to tag along with as so many of them grow and get published and continue to be absolutely amazing, supportive people. Some Kind of Magic is out now in paperback and Kindle from Kensington Books. Happy Book Birthday! Find Your Copy of Some Kind of Magic: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble About the Author
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Some Kind of Magic is Mary Ann Marlowe’s first novel. When not writing, she works by day as a computer programmer/DBA. She spent ten years as a university-level French professor, and her resume includes stints as an au pair in Calais, a hotel intern in Paris, a German tutor, a college radio disc jockey, and a webmaster for several online musician fandoms, plus she has a second-degree black belt. She has lived in twelve states and three countries and loves to travel. She now lives in central Virginia where she is hard at work on her second novel. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.maryannmarlowe.com, Facebook, and Twitter.
Husband, leaving for work: "I'm off to save the world." The Dog: *whines* Me: "This dog appreciates it. He doesn't want to be a post-apocalyptic dog." Husband: "Yeah, he doesn't look good in spikes. He's not tough enough to hang with the other post-apocalyptic dogs." Me: "It's true. All the dogs you ever see in post-apocalyptic stories are, like, Pit Bulls and German Shepherds. You never hear about post-apocalyptic poodles." And so he went off to work, the dog eventually stopped whining, and I wrote "Post Apocalyptic Poodle." Charles Christian, the editor at Grievous Angel, bought the story because, as he says in his introduction to it, "I've a dachshund who came from a rescue charity but who I suspect is actually an alien in an unfortunate disguise." Everyone needs mirrors in fiction, even alien-eyed shorty dogs. I started to say just now that I try not to write apocalyptic stories, but my own publication list belies that claim. There's "The Bolt Tightener," where a seawall is the only thing keeping the monsters from their final victory; there's "Natural Selection," a maybe-it's-a-virus, maybe-it's-zombies survival struggle; there's "As Dust Rolls Toward the Mountain," a contemporary Cassandra retelling about an asteroid strike, there's "Breath Over the Mouth of a Bottle," where an unnatural snowstorm has engulfed the whole planet. So. I guess I do write the occasional apocalyptic story. But I'm a little tired of them, to be honest, which is why it was easy to for me to satirize the genre in "Post Apocalyptic Poodle." It seems to be impossible these days for writers to imagine a future that isn't an apocalypse or a dystopia. I'm very interested in the nascent Solarpunk subgenre, which challenges writers to imagine an optimistic future. Even most supposed solarpunk I've read is still dystopic or post-apocalyptic in nature. It's like the crash is so inevitable at this point that we can't even conceptualize of it not happening. Anyway. "Post Apocalyptic Poodle" is just over 500 words, and it's online to read for free. Give it a read, and then click through to see the other fun stories Grievous Angel has published. Post-apocalyptic Poodle has no master. She runs free in the ruins of her former master’s city. She ravages the Dumpsters, the roadside recycling, the industrial bins. Other survivors skulk around the alleyways and snarl at her. She rolls in mud until it cakes her hypoallergenic locks, positions sticks along her back like spikes, and snarls back. If you enjoy this story, check out my other "dog story," "Working Like a Dog," published in Bartleby Snopes.
The first cover reveal I hosted on my blog last summer was for Randi Perrin's debut novel, Virtue of Death, a paranormal romance about a woman who runs a successful bakery by day and is an angel of death by night (and the handsome food critic she gets tangled up with, of course). Now, I'm pleased to hear the second novel in the Earthbound Angels series will be landing February 4, 2017. The protagonist of Promises of Virtue is Cheryl, the snarky best friend from the first book, so it's sure to be amazing.
Ready for the cover? Love has never been Cheryl Brigham’s plan. She’s not cut out for second dates, relationships, or happily ever afters.
This cover, while equally as gorgeous as the first one, has less of a paranormal feel than the first one, as does the description. Still, we know Cheryl is an angel, and who can resist a Paris-based love story? That castle in the background is beautiful.
The ebook of Promises of Virtue is available for pre-order now, and the paperback will be available in February. It's book two in the Earthbound Angels series, and I've heard Randi talk about being hard at work on the third book. I know I plan to collect all three.
About the Author
Randi Perrin has spent her entire life writing in one form or another. In fact, if she wasn't writing, she'd likely go completely and utterly insane. Her husband has learned to recognize when the voices are talking in her head and she needs some quality time with an empty Word file (the key to a successful marriage with a writer).
She lives with her husband, daughter, and four-legged children—all of which think they are people too. A pop-culture junkie, she has been known to have entire conversations in movie quotes and/or song lyrics.
I first met Gregory Scheckler at the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction in Lawrence, Kansas, a two week intensive writing workshop. I was in the novel workshop with Kij Johnson, and Gregory was in the short fiction workshop with Chris McKitterick, but the two groups socialized plenty outside of workshop time. I encountered him again when he submitted a story to an open call at World Weaver Press, and I was happy to include his story "A Persistence of Ghosts" in my anthology Speculative Story Bites.
Recently, Gregory has taken the plunge into indie publishing with some fascinating science fiction projects. I asked him to stop by my blog to talk about his writing, climate change fiction, and his advice for aspiring writers.
Sarena Ulibarri: What was the most important thing you took away from the Center for the Study of Science Fiction writing workshop with Chris McKitterick and James Gunn?
Gregory Scheckler: Community. For me one of the biggest parts was the thriving community of people. The workshops were an incredible coalition of minds, including the students who were very accomplished writers. As for big writing lessons, there's almost too many to mention. One I've been thinking a lot about is how the emotional sense of story can grow out of protagonists and antagonists. Coming at fiction with a visual arts background, it's easy for me to imagine a scene or an image. And that's great, but for all their beauty, paintings are motionless (unless you throw them at the art critics). Story moves through time. So it benefits from characters who interact across timespans, who contest each other's inner and outer conflicts, which in turn provokes our emotions. In other words, the mechanisms of fiction reflect our human modes of community. SU: Your stories take place in a post-climate change world. How do you feel your work fits into recent ecologically-aware subgenres such as Solarpunk (i.e. the Sunvault anthology), Eco-Weird (i.e. Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy) or Cli Fi (i.e. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi)? GS: Without climate action, goodbye humanity. I don't view my writing as situated in a post-climate change world so much as in a future extrapolated from the changes that are happening today and which will continue happening in the future. That's similar to James Gunn's thesis that science fiction is a literature of change (he outlines this idea in his Road to Science Fiction). Personal, cultural, scientific. Adding environmental issues brings climate change into that larger view. We might figure out ways to adapt to pressing ecological changes. Or we might ignore them and fall into the worst-case scenarios of geopolitical fractures that follow altered weather, flooding, rising ocean temperatures, loss of food sources, and species loss. These problems are intensifying for the foreseeable future. In that sense, a science fiction that extrapolates from what we know today must address climate change. So I think these subgenres are all on a compelling track. Solarpunk strikes me as a little too optimistic, sometimes, and I think my works are generally darker in tone like cli-fi, but not quite as inventive as eco-weird. The ecological-political issues play a bigger role in my upcoming trilogy, Infinite Things, which is permeated by a new kind of world government that asserts sustainable technologies -- and that's not always a good thing. (see next question). SU: Will your novels take place in the same world as the stories in Water Taxi in a River of Vampire Fish and Moon Dust Infinity? Will we see any of the same characters again? GS: Yes, and no. Water Taxi includes prehistory of some of the world described in my upcoming Infinite Things series of novels, whereas Moon Dust is stories that are happening at the same time as some of the upcoming Infinite Things series. Some of the Moon Dust characters have roles in Infinite Things, especially in the second novel I have planned for that series. I'm hoping to have the first novel in the Infinite Things series ready by Fall 2017, the second in early winter. Ideally each story and novel stands well on its own, but then when looked at as a group they create added meanings. Some of what connects these stories is the settings and world-building. I do have a variety of unrelated projects coming up in the meantime, such as the novels StarFold, and Biomimic Generations. Both of these share many of the concepts of artificial intelligence and synthetic humans that are introduced in Water Taxi and Moon Dust, but, they are set in quite different worlds.
SU: What advice do you have for young writers struggling through the first draft of a science fiction novel?
GS: That's a hard question because the author's specific struggle may come from a variety of problems, or sometimes even from prior successes. Is it a plot or structural problem, a language or descriptive problem, a character problem, point of view, or writer's motivation, or world-building, or a lack of a plan? A hundred possibilities. To help the author come up with her own best solutions to the issues, I'd have to know the writer's intentions, the story ideas, etc. But here's a five general strategies when struggles arise: When struggling, one tactic is to take a break. Set the work aside for a day. Give your subconscious mind a chance to mull over the story issues. Go for a walk in the woods, or other physical exercise if you can. Just to clear your head. Another tactic is to feed your mind new information. Read some non-fiction. The idea here is to expand and contest your understandings of the world, to find new solutions for your stories outside of what you're already thinking: the ideas, histories, new scientific developments. Science literacy helps science fiction. So I recommend Carl Sagan's 'Demon-Haunted World' as a great starting place if the author is new to the sciences. Other good preliminary sources are the better overview magazines, like New Scientist, Scientific American, Nature. A third tactic is to write a different story. Sometimes the approach to a new story or idea answers the problems in an older one. A fourth idea would be to pack up and go work in a different environment for a while. Sometimes I get more writing done in an hour at the library than I do in three hours in my office. Funny how that works. A fifth strategy is talk to people. For example once I was trying to write a scene that involved a character being mugged. I got stuck. So at a dinner with some friends I asked them "Hey, have you ever been mugged?" And some had or knew someone who had. What happened? What did it feel like? How did they respond? How did they feel the day after? People like to share their experiences, and these real-life events can inform our writing. SU: What books, authors, or films influenced you while writing your story collections? GS: Well, I draw broadly from many sources. I credit Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series with proving to me that contemporary ecological issues can matter in science fiction. But the love of the field for me goes back to Star Wars and Star Trek, when I was young. In those years I also read Tolkien, Ursula K. le Guin, Bradbury, Asimov, and Douglas Adams. I like a lot of the more intellectual films such as Moon, Tarkovsky's Solaris, and Arrival. Readers can find a suite of author's notes in the back of each of my books, noting some of the sources that inspired me. In relationship to quantum mechanics in Moon Dust Infinity, one of the best non-fiction books I read was Amanda Gefter's Trespassing on Einstein's Lawn (Bantam, 2014). SU: Do you have any readings or signings coming up? Where can readers find you? GS: My next public event is an art opening, here in the Berkshires in February. Sometimes I attend Boskone or Readercon. But the best places to find me are online, like Twitter and Facebook or directly via my email newsletter. Right now if you sign-up for the newsletter, you can get the ebook Moon Dust Infinity for free. And of course Water Taxi is free on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere. :)
American author Gregory Scheckler lives in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. He enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars and he isn’t afraid to say so in public. He and his wife are avid telemark skiers, and enjoy mountain biking and hiking too. Writings credits include World Weaver Press, The Berkshire Review, the Mind’s Eye Liberal Arts Journal, and Thought & Action: Journal of the National Education Association. Selected visual arts credits include Ferrin Gallery, the Washburn Historical and Cultural Museum, Duluth Art Institute, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, the Bennington Museum, the Berkshire Museum, and the National Science Foundation. In addition to writing and exhibiting, Gregory Scheckler currently serves as Professor of Art at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, where he teaches critical thinking, creativity and innovation.
I first came across Tara Campbell's writing when we both had stories in the Dear Robot anthology (see my "Story Behind the Story" post about that anthology here). Her epistolary Dear Robot story, "Nickerson Interstellar Student Exchange Behavioral Contract," is brilliant, so I'm sure her newly released novel, TreeVolution will be brilliant as well. It's about genetically modified trees who start attacking people in what the book's description calls "a little eco-payback."
In this week's interview, Tara Campbell talks with me about her path to publication, eco-sci-fi, and asking "what if?" questions.
Sarena Ulibarri: In a nutshell, what was the path from manuscript to publication for TreeVolution?
Tara Campbell: It was a little over three years between the initial idea for TreeVolution and having the book in my hands. I wrote for a year and edited for another year. I thought it was ready after that round of edits and started shopping it around to agents. Turns out it wasn't ready, so I did an additional round of edits the third year and widened the query net from just agents to small presses as well. Then Carrol Fix, my editor from Lillicat Publishers, got what I was doing and took the project on! SU: What advice do you have for young writers struggling through the first draft of a science fiction novel? TC: I started with short stories before I ever thought of writing a novel. I found that writing stories was a way to keep myself motivated with while slogging away on the longer-term project. With stories, you have a sense of accomplishment finishing them, and you can workshop a discrete project, which informs your writing on the larger project. And you have the relatively instant gratification of publishing stories in journals while you're still working on the novel. Additionally, taking a break from the longer work always helped me to go back and see it more objectively, to cut what I needed to cut and, more importantly, to show me that it wasn't really the disaster I thought it was when I got frustrated with it. SU: I know writers (especially those in the “literary” or “cross-genre” camp) don’t always like to put labels on their work, but how do you feel TreeVolution fits into recent ecologically-aware subgenres such as Solarpunk (i.e. the Sunvault anthology), Eco-Weird (i.e. Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach trilogy) or Cli Fi (i.e. The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi)? TC: I tend to read across genres, and to be honest, have only recently come back to science fiction after a long hiatus. I didn't set out to write in a specific genre, I really just followed questions that intrigued me. In terms of TreeVolution, the impetus was a radio segment about a team of French scientists who had devised a way to listen in on the circulatory system of trees, and could detect when a tree was not getting enough water before any visible signs of distress appeared. I started wondering what else the trees would tell us if we could understand them, and the research into plants and trees was so fascinating, I had to write about it. I guess if one had to label it, one could call it near-future eco-sci-fi. The focus is not so much on the future, but on the point at which we decide what kind of future we're going to have. Will the environment be our antagonist or our ally? SU: You’ve published quite a lot of short fiction! How does the writing process differ for you when you’re writing short versus when you’re writing long? TC: I think short stories are more forgiving of my writing process, which is usually to start with a "what if?" and spin out all of the ways that thing could have happened, as well as the pros and cons now that it has happened. Like what if flowers could talk? Or what if humans found a way to get nutrients from chlorophyll instead of food? Or what if the last Gashlycrumb Tiny lived? Many writers start with an outline, especially with novels, but I'm more of a "pantser." I like to take that voice or phrase that pops into my mind, like "Death sure changes a person," and think about what that could actually mean. I can just let go and follow the breadcrumbs when I'm writing something short, but writing a novel requires a larger question and a lot more planning. SU: What books, authors, or films influenced you while writing TreeVolution? TC: You know, I actually looked for books that were similar to what I was doing, but many of them featured dystopian wastelands or were written from a scientist's point of view, or went into the fantasy realm of Tolkein's Ents. I wanted to imagine how a transformation in the way humans interact with the environment would impact every day people. Of course there are scientists in my book, because my characters are looking for fact-based answers, but they are discovering them along with the general public rather than being the experts with all the answers. I like the idea that a relative layperson is having to get up to speed on these complex issues in the face of a looming crisis, because we all are. In that spirit, I've included a list of resources in the back of the book, lists of some of the articles I used to try to get a handle on the topic of communication between plants and trees, genetic modification and other experimentation with plants and trees. It was sometimes hard to get out of the articles and keep writing! SU: Do you have any readings or signings coming up? Where can readers find you? TC: Yes, thank you for asking, I have a few appearances coming up in the Washington, DC area over the next few months. I have about one reading a month on the calendar, and I'm thrilled that TreeVolution has been selected as the featured novel for Barrelhouse's Conversations and Connections conference in April. In fact, I've finally gotten organized enough to list my appearances on my website.
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With a BA in English and an MA in German, Tara Campbell has a demonstrated aversion to money and power. Originally from Anchorage, Alaska, she has also lived in Oregon, Ohio, New York, Germany and Austria. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. where she volunteers with 826DC and the Washington Writers Conference/Books Alive. She was the grateful recipient of two awards from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities in 2016: the 33rd Annual Larry Neal Writers' Award in Adult Fiction, and the 31st Annual Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding New Artist.
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