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Author Spotlight: Molly Tanzer
Sandra Odell | 1034 words
You establish “Nine Tenths of the Law” with a fairly intimate domestic scene and then tumble into the unexpected with a smooth, light hand, keeping the balance to the end. How do you manage such a balance in writing? Do you find the line between the real and the surreal easy to cross?
I wanted this story to be all about juxtaposition and disorientation—the closest to home and the most distant thing imaginable coming together in strange ways with unexpected (though inevitable) consequences.
This one, for me, was all about the quick and slow. I drew on my history writing Mythos and Weird fiction, where things often start off fairly normal and then go abysmally awry, to create that sense of disorientation and “what’s real?” But in the end, this story is probably the most classically SF story I’ve ever written, up to and including riffing on Robert Silverberg. His story “Amanda and the Alien” is a great one for “how would we deal with actual, literal aliens?” so I studied it and even included a small tribute (a cat named after one of T.S. Eliot’s).
I was intrigued by the “X-Files-style rumors” that form the core of the story. Are there really such rumors about the Denver International Airport? How did they shape the inspiration for the story?
Oh gosh yes! There really, really are. One need only google “Denver International Airport Conspiracy Theory” to find a wealth of amazing stuff. I learned all about them when I moved to Colorado, and then became semi-obsessed with cataloguing what people believe about the place.
Here’s what’s true: DIA is far away from everything (yes, even Denver!). Like, queerly so. There are layers of tunnels beneath it. It has a ton of weird art, including a mural of a Nazi with rainbows and doves, and a statue of a giant angry horse that (in reality) killed its creator. (“Blucifer,” as we call him, has his own FB fan page.)
What’s proooobably not true is that beneath DIA lurks an alien research facility, or that its murals predict the rapture or the end of the world (one of the dedicated conspiracy bloggers insists that this painting [bit.ly/2fKP2zh], featuring a leopard and two cubs, while done before the Obama presidency, reflects the rise of Michelle Obama, Sasha, and Malia), or that it’s where they’ll send the president in the event of a world event that would send him into hiding. But, just the same, people believe it. And not just locals—I was once taking a shuttle to a tiny airport in Utah when the guy asked where I was flying into. When I mentioned Denver, he got very excited and asked me, “So, what do you know about … it all?” Not the first time I’ve experienced such excitement from a rando about the place, either.
Because I wanted “Nine Tenths of the Law” to be a story about real life, I wanted to set it somewhere very familiar to me, but I also wanted to riff on the uncanny and the doubt people often feel about conspiracy theories, the “well … what if it was true?” Denver International Airport therefore seemed like the ideal setting for that.
To me, certain elements of the story—Gleerak’s curiosity about humanity, its efforts to control and redirect conversations, how the alien and the human minds slide in and out of control—touch on mental health issues as well, Dissociative Identity Disorder in particular. Was this an intentional effect or did the story shape itself?
No, it was definitely intentional, even if I wouldn’t go so far as to say I intended to make it about something as serious as Dissociative Identity Disorder. For me, this is a story about the way people react to the end of a marriage. Divorce is often an identity-shattering time for people, where they re-evaluate who they are—and who they wish they could be. Some people feel elated, only to crash; others start low and realize that in the end, all the pain is for the best. There’s no predicting what will happen, and no way to know how aware people will be of how they’re changing.
One of the things that impressed me most about the story is how you address Jared as a character, taking into account his personal feelings and needs, even his desires. His reactions force Donna to admit that they have both grown out of their marriage. How do you approach such character development so that a character does not become a caricature instead?
I never wanted Jared to be a caricature. I wanted him to be a real person, a real victim, who experiences real consequences within the story. That’s how I approached his character. Sure, he’s awful—but so is Donna, honestly. And he had a hand in his crappy marriage and his wife’s feelings of dissatisfaction—but so did Donna. It takes two to tango, and Jared is obviously not happy, either.
Basically, I knew I wanted to tell this story from Donna’s perspective, but just the same, I knew Jared shouldn’t—couldn’t—be “just” a terrible husband or a villain for it to work the way I wanted it to. I didn’t want anyone to feel comfortable with his being stripped of his life—his body—his agency, even if it was providing Donna with something she needed/wanted. Or at least felt she deserved.
What’s next for Molly Tanzer? Are there any up and coming projects in store for 2017?
Oh yes! I’ll have two books out next year. First, I’ll be celebrating the release of Mixed Up!, an anthology I’m co-editing with Nick Mamatas, which will be a gift book featuring flash fiction and cocktail recipes. I’m also excited for the release of Creatures of Will and Temper, which will be my third novel. It’s a feminist, woman-focused retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, but with sword fighting, demons, sisters who can’t get along, and other fun stuff. I’ll also continue with my magazine, Congress, where I publish “thoughtful erotica,” and put out my usual trickle of short stories.
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ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Sandra Odell is a 47-year old, happily married mother of two, an avid reader, compulsive writer, and rabid chocoholic. Her work has appeared in such venues as Jim Baen’s UNIVERSE, Daily Science Fiction, Crosssed Genres, Pseudopod, and The Drabblecast. She is hard at work plotting her second novel or world domination. Whichever comes first.
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Author Spotlight: Judith Berman
Moshe Siegel | 862 words
What was the genesis of your Nebula Award-nominated novella, “Awakening”?
The opening scene came to me as I myself was waking up one morning. It might have been the tail end of a dream, or a half-waking image—I can’t remember now. I do remember writing that beginning, then saying, “Now what?” The initial sequence, in which Aleya escapes from the crypt and tries to figure out what’s going on, paralleled my own puzzle writing the first draft of the story.
That being said, I did already have a good deal of her world sketched out in my head, because I’ve long had some ideas for a novel or group of novels set there. Some of the characters Aleya meets already existed, among them Guribast and the young Oracle.
The main action of this story takes place long after Aleya’s “living” life. The sensation of elapsed time, a world drawn more ancient and fractured, is palpable, and, in many ways, is far more interesting than a study of a thriving metropolis. Have you explored her homeland during its active time in other tales? Or is Shenna more interesting to you, as a writer, as a long-dead relic?
I have not explored the living city of Shenna very thoroughly, and I would say it is more interesting to me as a ruined and undead city—though of course the interest is rooted in its living past.
On that same note, can readers find any iteration—past or present—of the story’s world in your other works? Your worldbuilding compels us!
Another story, “The Poison Well” is set in the present day of this world (published in 2004 in Black Gate 7, and still available for free online at bit.ly/2gzyKFW). The main character, who Aleya would consider a “barbarian,” is a sometime apprentice of the necromancer Guribast, and he appears briefly in Aleya’s final vision. I imagine he will someday visit Shenna in pursuit of his old master.
Speaking of worldbuilding … can you share with us any tidbits of your process in developing a world this rich? “Awakeni
ng” encompasses several ages, geographies, and social strata—all of it feeling part of a compelling whole. Now we hunger for your secrets.
This is a hard question. I don’t think I have a method. I certainly think about worldbuilding, but usually when I’m writing a story, I’m mostly focused on trying to make the plot work.
Certain things do influence my process. My academic training was in anthropology, I worked in an anthropology museum for years, and I’m now mostly an ethnohistorian. That has made me aware of the complexity of cultures interacting over time and across changing landscapes.
And going back to ruined cities, I lived in Philadelphia for years—including the period when I wrote “Awakening.” Although an infant in comparison to, say, Rome, it’s one of the oldest lived-in cities in North America, with both ruins and buildings still in use that date back four centuries. And it has glimpses of even earlier layers of history: in the many Lenape place-names (Kingsessing, Passyunk, Shackamaxon), in the shapes of some old streets that once connected villages, in the drainage system under the city that follows vanished streams, and, some would say, even in the remains of Lenape stone structures still visible in certain spots—all doors into the past.
Free will comes into play in this story, with Aleya being in turn manipulated by the malevolent Lord of Shenna, the desperate and controlling magician Guribast, and with the implication that a magic mirror from the Oracle played a long game, through the ages, to the end of eventually drawing Aleya to the Temple. What do you make of this fatalist interpretation? Do you think Aleya was ever in a position, alive or dead, of her own choosing?
In Aleya’s old life, her circumstances did not leave her many choices, but the way she exercised what agency she had limited her further.
You could interpret the mirror in more than one way. Maybe it’s a magical object sent to compel her to the service of the Temple. Maybe it was a chess-move against the Lord of Shenna; the priestesses of the Oracle would have seen him as a threat, alive or undead. Or maybe the mirror was intended to lead Aleya to confront herself and her gift. The mirror was after all spelled to serve the Goddess of Truth and the God of the Gate to vision.
My take is that it was the priestesses of the Oracle who were playing the long game. They sent out the mirror for multiple purposes, foreseeing its potential even while knowing the divine power infusing it would lend it a form of agency beyond their control or the Lord of Shenna’s. The events set in motion through the mirror do force Aleya to face up to the conduct of her life and the magnitude of her losses. And in the end, the mirror brings Aleya to what might be the most meaningful exercise of free will she has ever had: the choice of whether to destroy the girl, or sacrifice herself to save her.
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ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Moshe Siegel interviews at Lightspeed, works in the New York State library system, and hatches indie publishing plots from his Hudson Valley home office. Follow tweets of varying relevance @moshesiegel.
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Coming Attractions
The Editors | 131 words
Coming up in February, in Lightspeed …
We have original science fiction by A. Merc Rustad (“Later, Let’s Tear Up the Inner Sanctum”) and Jack Skillingstead (“The Last Garden”), along with SF reprints by Ian R. MacLeod (“Starship Day”) and Seanan McGuire (“Lady Antheia’s Guide To Horticultural Warfare”).
Plus, we have original fantasy by Kelly Barnhill (“Probably Still the Chosen One”) and Ashok Banker (“Six-Gun Vixen and the Dead Coon Trashgang”), and fantasy reprints by K.J. Bishop (“The Memorial Page”) and Brian Stableford (“The Elixir of Youth”).
All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with our book and media review columns.
For our ebook readers, we also have our usual ebook-exclusive novella reprint and a book excerpt.
It’s another great issue, so be sure to check it out.
Thanks for reading!
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Stay Connected
The Editors | 29 words
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Subscriptions and Ebooks
The Editors | 308 words
Subscriptions: If you enjoy reading Lightspeed, please consider subscribing. It’s a great way to support the magazine, and you’ll get your issues in the convenient ebook format of your choice. All purchases from the Lightspeed store are provided in epub, mobi, and pdf format. A 12-month subscription to Lightspeed includes 96 stories (about 480,000 words of fiction, plus assorted nonfiction). The cost is just $35.88 ($12 off the cover price)—what a bargain! For more information, visit lightspeedmagazine.com/subscribe.
Ebooks & Bundles: We also have individual ebook issues available at a variety of ebook vendors ($3.99 each), and we now have Ebook Bundles available in the Lightspeed ebookstore, where you can buy in bulk and save! We currently have a number of ebook bundles available: Year One (issues 1-12), Year Two (issues 13-24), Year Three (issues 25-36), the Mega Bundle (issues 1-36), and the Supermassive Bundle (issues 1-48). Buying a bundle gets you a copy of every issue published during the named period. So if you need to catch up on Lightspeed, that’s a great way to do so. Visit lightspeedmagazine.com/store for more information.
• • • •
All caught up on Lightspeed? Good news! We also have lots of ebooks available from our sister-publications:
Nightmare Ebooks, Bundles, & Subscriptions: Like Lightspeed, our sister-magazine Nightmare (nightmare-magazine.com) also has ebooks, bundles, and subscriptions available as well. For instance, you can get the complete first year (12 issues) of Nightmare for just $24.99; that’s savings of $11 off buying the issues individually. Or, if you’d like to subscribe, a 12-month subscription to Nightmare includes 48 stories (about 240,000 words of fiction, plus assorted nonfiction), and will cost you just $23.88 ($12 off the cover price).
Fantasy Magazine Ebooks & Bundles: We also have ebook back issues—and ebook back issue bundles—of Lightspeed’s (now dormant) sister-magazine, Fantasy. To check those out, just visit fantasy-magazine.com/store. You can buy each Fantasy bundle for $24.99, or you can buy the complete run of Fantasy Magazine— all 57 issues—for just $114.99 (that’s $10 off buying all the bundles individually, and more than $55 off the cover price!).
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About the LIGHTSPEED Team
The Editors | 41 words
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
John Joseph Adams
Managing/Associate Editor
Wendy N. Wagner
Associate Publisher/Director of Special Projects
Christie Yant
Assistant Publisher
Robert Barton Bland
Reprint Editor
Rich Horton
Podcast Producer
Stefan Rudnicki
Podcast Editor/Host
Jim Freund
Art Director
John Joseph Adams
Assistant Editor
Robyn Lupo
Editorial Assistants
Laurel Amberdine
Jude Griffin
Book Reviewers
Andrew Liptak
Amal El-Mohtar
LaShawn Wanak
Copy Editor
Dana Watson
Proofreaders
Anthony R. Cardno
Devin Marcus
Webmaster
Jeremiah Tolbert of Clockpunk Studios
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Also Edited by John Joseph Adams
The Editors | 164 words
If you enjoy reading Lightspeed, you might also enjoy these anthologies edited (or co-edited) by John Joseph Adams.
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 1: The End is Nigh (with Hugh Howey)
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 2: The End is Now (with Hugh Howey)
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 3: The End Has Come (with Hugh Howey)
Armored
Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2015 (with Joe Hill)
Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy 2016 (with Karen Joy Fowler)
Brave New Worlds
By Blood We Live
Cosmic Powers [forthcoming April 2017]
Dead Man’s Hand
Epic: Legends Of Fantasy
Federations
The Improbable Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes
HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! and Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects
Lightspeed: Year One
The Living Dead
The Living Dead 2
Loosed Upon the World
The Mad Scientist’s Guide To World Domination
Operation Arcana
Other Worlds Than These
Oz Reimagined (with Douglas Cohen)
Press Start to Play (with Daniel H. Wilson)
Robot Uprisings (with Daniel H. Wilson)
Seeds of Change
Under the Moons of Mars
Wastelands
Wastelands 2
The Way Of The Wizard
What the #@&% Is That? (with Douglas Cohen)
Visit johnjosephadams.com to learn more about all of the above. Each project also has a mini-site devoted to it specifically, where you’ll find free fiction, interviews, and more.
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Table of Contents
Editorial, January 2017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lightspeed Magazine - January 2017 Page 29
