In his novels Mickey7, Antimatter Blues, and Mal Goes To War, author Edward Ashton mixed science fiction with a bit of situational (and slightly surrealistic) humor.
But things seem like they’re getting a lot stranger, spacier, and snail-like in his new one, The Fourth Consort (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook)
In the following email interview, Aston talks about what inspired and influenced this humorous sci-fi space opera novel.
In the Systema Paradoxa series, various writers have told their own stories about “real life” cryptids, i.e. animals whose existence is unconfirmed by science. Y’know, Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, Mothman, etc.
But in Ty Drago’s new Systema Paradoxa novella Blind Devotion (paperback, Kindle), he instead tells the fictionalized story of a “real life” interaction people had with a cryptid.
In the following email interview, Drago talks about why he took this approach to this sci-fi novella, as well as what else influenced this story.
When he was the lead writer for 343 Industries, Jeremy Patenaude helped shaped the science fiction space opera saga told by the Halo video games, while also writing Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, co-writing Halo Mythos, and penning the short story “Sacrifice” that was included in a now unavailable special edition of Troy Denning’s novel Halo: Shadows Of Reach.
But while he may not work for 343 anymore (and 343 is Halo Studios now), he’s still contributing to the Halo saga with the new novel Halo: Empty Throne (paperback, Kindle, audiobook).
In the following email interview, Patenaude talks about what inspired and influence this sci-fi story, as well as where it fits into the Halo-verse.
Given that he was a professional golfer, you might expect author John Mahaffey to write stories about things happening on golf courses: romances, murders, alien invasions in which the aliens are small, round, and easily dispatched by someone swinging a nine iron correctly…
But while golf does play a (small) role in the novels in his Nemesis Series, these books are actually cybercrime thrillers.
In the following email interview, Mahaffey talks about the newest installment, Hoodwinked (paperback, Kindle), and how it links (get it?) to the previous books in The Nemesis Series.
It’s amazing some of the things people have done out of spite. Like how Lamborghini started making sports cars to piss off the owner of Ferrari. Or how Sony made the PlayStation after Nintendo backed out of a deal for them to make CD-Rom drives for a Nintendo game console.
Well, it looks like there’s another one for the list: Kimberly Lemming’s science fiction / romantic comedy novel I Got Abducted By Aliens And Now I’m Trapped In A Rom-Com (paperback, Kindle, audiobook).
And yes, as she explains in the following email interview, the title is part of the spite process.
In her first novella, Bem Mal Me Quer, author Hache Pueyo conjured a fable-like story that has “elements of different genres, like fantasy, mystery, and romance, and a light touch of horror.”
With Bem now being released in English as But Not Too Bold (hardcover, Kindle), I spoke to Pueyo about what inspired and influenced this story, including why the main character is the way she is.
For her second collection of stories, One Message Remains (paperback, Kindle), author Premee Mohamed presents four novellas and novelettes that are all set in the same secondary world.
In the following email interview, Mohamed explains how this collection of dark fantasy tales came together, as well as her thoughts on visiting this fictional realm again.
Having a kid, especially your first, can be stressful for anyone.
But imagine if you lived in a somewhat dystopian future, and had anxiety, and were then told you couldn’t legally use the very thing that makes your life that helps you manage said anxiety because you’re having a baby…and the kid was coming under somewhat stressful circumstances.
Such is the condition under which we find Valya, the main character in author Koji A. Dae’s dark science fiction novel Casual (paperback, Kindle).
In the following email interview, Dae explains what inspired and influenced this rather personal sci-fi story.
You know what I hate? When you finally get released from prison, but the person waiting for you is the one who double-crossed you. And it’s not like you can avoid them, since you’re on a space station. In the future. Where are you going to go? McDonalds!?!
But as so often the case, annoying situations in real life make for interesting ones in fiction. Which is why I wanted to do the following email interview with author Makana Yamamoto about their noir sci-fi crime story / cyberpunk lesbian space heist novel Hammajang Luck (paperback, Kindle, audiobook).