We love learning more about our contributors, and an interview seemed like a fun way to hear more about the writers and artists we publish, so we gave them a choice of questions to answer. We hope you also enjoy hearing more about the artists and their works. Read on and check out the Second Chances reprints special for "A Genealogy of Trees" from Benjamin Blattberg.



What was the inspiration for the piece published in the issue?
Some friends (and strangers) collaboratively built a chunk of a fantasy world for an anthology of short stories. It was a fun experience and the world we built was very shaggy -- some people had epic fantasy in mind and others were more interested in, say, what soup a wasteland inn would serve. When it came time to write my contribution, I was drawn to explore what an outsider would think of this small wasteland.

Who or what inspires your work generally?
This feels corny to say, but all my recently completed short stories have to do with either being a child or being a parent -- so I guess I'm inspired by my child. (Oh, I'll have to remember to save this answer: one day he will be old enough to be embarrassed by this.)

What is your #1 advice for other writers?
My advice is that classic bit of non-advice that I hope you've gotten: find the thing that works for you. I think that's pretty common advice these days; maybe in the past, the advice was "write in the morning" or "write every day" or "outline early." But these days, what I usually see people say is "do what works for you." Maybe you can concentrate best in the morning, maybe you're better after everyone in the house goes to sleep, or maybe something else -- only you can say for sure. The one wrinkle I might add is that you get to decide what "works" means. Maybe you long to be published in some magazine or other -- or maybe you write just for yourself.

Who are some of your favorite writers, and what do you like about them?
My three mid-century American sf short story writer idols are Alfred Bester, Theodore Sturgeon, and James Tiptree, Jr., and it's been too long since I've read them, which I am now inspired to do.

What is your favorite vice? What are you drinking at happy hour, in a literal or a metaphorical sense?
Buying and reading (and if I can, playing) roleplaying games. I was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons a long time ago at a very early age, and I've drifted in and out of the hobby, but if I can, the thing I return to most of all is making stuff up together with friends and with some framework.