Tag: fiction

Story Alert: “No One Poops on Winston Churchill’s Electric Head”

eskaftun
Illustration of London's Churchill statue with a huge blob of poop running down its face and a triumphant crow on top.
This lovely illustration was done by my friend Andie.

This flash piece was inspired by the urban legend that the Churchill statue in Parliament Square is electrified to prevent birds from sitting and shitting on it (which probably isn’t true).

It was written in 2019, before Covid and before the hugest of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. When I wrote this, it was the AIDS epidemic I was thinking of. It was the way that disease was ignored as long as it was only harming people whose inclusion in society was marginal. It was the devastation of losing whole (chosen) families while those in power looked on unmoved.

It was about the perception of “power.”

Many thanks to Allison Thai of Plott Hound for finally giving this story a home.

Want more stories? The full list is here.

Story Alert: “A Dirge for the Mirrorbirds”

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In a universe where it’s taken for granted that reincarnation will inevitably deposit your soul in some random corner of the galaxy, time after time, one planet has a closely guarded secret: the ability to control where their next life will begin.

It’s a universe I’ve been spending a lot of time in, and I’m so excited to share this new installment with you, once again in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, where fiercely dedicated editor Scott H. Andrews worked with me over the better part of a year to make this story shine. Welcome to Yem, a reclusive little planet with the power to bring the whole universe together—or be torn apart.

Want more stories? The full list is here.

Story alert: “The Wicks Whisper”

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Cover of BCS issue 411, with a twisted tree against a greenish sky.

“It’s her. Sort of. It’s a rippling sculpture made of smoke, an eyeless silhouette with a hazy but intact suggestion of wings.”

Imagine you could talk to a dead person—but only once. Would you do it right away, when your grief and memories are fresh, so present they suffocate you? Or would you save that chance like a fine wine, growing dusty in a cellar maybe never to be uncorked? When you finally summoned them, what if their presence didn’t comfort as much as you’d hoped?

Check out my latest story in Beneath Ceaseless Skies! I’m delighted to be back in this terrific publication, edited by the stellar Scott H. Andrews. The story is available as text and audio (read by M.K. Hobson).

Want more stories? The full list is here.

Story alert: “Eat Cosmic Jello”

eskaftun
Line drawing of a wobbly jello being orbited by hearts, stars, and musical notes.

“So what if she was indeterminate alien goo inside? That would only matter if she got cut open.”

This is one of the most personal stories I’ve ever written, about grief and family, with a side of shapeshifting, reincarnating alien. It is, to date, my favorite published story.

You can read it in the inaugural issue of Heartlines Spec! I’m chuffed as hell that the editors chose me to help launch their journal—and made my story such a cute illustration.

Want more stories? The full list is here.

The Big Idea: Living Forever

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I talk about death on John Scalzi’s blog, Whatever

cover of Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas by Emily C. Skaftun

In today’s Big Idea, author Emily C. Skaftun is thinking about death… for starters. With a book title like Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas, perhaps this is not entirely surprising.

EMILY C. SKAFTUN:

Death! There is no bigger idea. 

The theme that emerged as I was putting together my favorite stories to create my first collection—and no one is more surprised than I that a theme emerged at all!—is something like:

Death. Maybe it’s not the worst thing that could happen?

Or: Be sure to read the fine print about your life after death.

To keep reading, head over to Whatever, where this piece was originally published.

My Favorite Bit: Living Forever

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I talk about shrugging on Mary Robinette Kowal’s My Favorite Bit

Everybody shrugs.

They also poop, but that’s a different story. (I did once pitch the idea of a picture book called “Every Monster Poops” to an artist friend as a collaboration, but we never got past cracking ourselves up brainstorming what zombie poop would look like… but I digress).

My favorite thing about writing nonhuman characters is the challenge and opportunity of imagining how they inhabit their alien bodies.

To keep reading, head over to My Favorite Bit, where this piece was originally published.

Fiction and empathy

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fiction and empathy - Dexter Morgan
Photo: Christian Weber / Showtime
Dexter Morgan, sympathetic serial killer of books and television fame. Fiction shows us the inner workings of characters different from us, possibly increasing empathy.

A message from Editor-in-chief Emily C. Skaftun

To me, summer is for fiction. It’s a habit deeply ingrained by summer reading lists and reading of my own that, without school, I finally had time for. What are days at the beach or pool for, if not reading? Reading for pleasure, which for me means reading fiction. Continue reading “Fiction and empathy” →

Fiction: “Those Time Travel Leaves Behind”

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The following is politically relevant Back to the Future fan fiction that I wrote just after the election. Since it is probably un-sellable as fiction, you can read it as a freebie!

My name is Jennifer Parker, and I’ve lived my whole life in a little California town called Hill Valley.

Yes, that Hill Valley. The one with the massive eyesore casino. The one that gave us President Tannen.

I didn’t vote for him. In point of fact, most of the country didn’t vote for him. But Biff Tannen never cared much for the rules. I know things about him… Continue reading “Fiction: “Those Time Travel Leaves Behind”” →