Love in a Dangerous Spacetime
Fictions February Prompt & Newsletter #6
Greetings, earthlings!
Many of us like to pretend that love is a human attribute, but I prefer to believe it’s universal. So if we ever have to escape this rapidly self-destructing planet, we’ll find other species out there in the galaxy to admire, learn from, and connect with.
And I’m not alone. Beck Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is one of the most “homey” and humane science fiction stories set in outer space that I’ve ever had the pleasure to read.
Do yourself a favour and immerse yourself in her vibrant, inviting universe. Meet the crew of the Wayfarer and maybe fall a little bit in love with her endearing sapients, gathered from planets scattered across innumerable solar systems.
Your challenge this month is to tell us a story about love. It may involve extraterrestrial lovers, with classic Octavia Butler ooloi outrageousness. Maybe it’s about the love between a kid and their pet or a maker and their golem as in Marge Piercy’s He, She, and It.
Feel free to get weird, wild, and even a little unrealistic in the style of the comedy-drama film, Only Lovers Left Alive. Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston? Yes, please.
Then incorporate a spaceship. You might set your story on your very own U.S.S. Enterprise and make it a central feature. Or maybe your characters live an Edenic existence until they find an ancient crashed ship and unleash a killer robot.
If Alien taught us anything, it’s never investigate a derelict spacecraft — and yet, humans being humans, we always will, anyway.
Note your story doesn’t even have to be science fiction: as the insightful Simon Dillon explains, you can set a fairy tale in space.
If you aren’t yet a writer for Fictions, please look at our Submission Guidelines and send your draft to fictionsatmedium@gmail.com.
Make sure you tag it LoveInSpace so we can sort it properly!
If this doesn’t get your creative juices flowing, feel free to check out one of our earlier prompts here.
December Prompt Entries: Time to Party
We’ve had a few quiet months at the pub, but I know several of you fabulous writers committed to crafting more fiction this year, and I’m here for it!
Thanks to Mary DeVries for her incredible tale, “Representing Earth at the Annual Holiday Party of the Galactic Amalgamation of Associated Planets.” The title may be a mouthful, but the story is poignant and thoughtful.
If you’re looking for something celebratory but sinister, please read PJ Jackelman’s “Murder and Other Equally Festive Holiday Traditions.” We all know nothing says “party” like an unexpected death.
Other particular highlights since the last newsletter are three serials we’ve featured.
Word wizard Simon Dillon wrapped up his seven-part novella, “Bloodmire,” which was absolutely riveting — and deeply unsettling — from start to glorious finish.
Adam Hrankowski, ADHD is taking us way, way down the rabbit hole in his ongoing “Unaccompanied Minor” series. You can find the first intriguing part here.
Inspired by Winnipeg’s most recent blizzard, I’ll be wrapping up my five-part post-apocalyptic tale, “Salvaging Our Fragile Lives Under a Snow-Scoured Earth,” this week. Pinky swear.
If you have an unfinished serial that fell off the radar — I’m looking at you Eric Pierce, Jessie Waddell, and Lori Lamothe — well, there’s no time like the present. We built Fictions for this very reason, and we’ll be sure to feature it on the main page to maximize eyeballs.
But you gotta write the damn thing first. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. Can’t wait to see what you all have for us this month!
I’ve tagged all current writers, but please sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t yet.
Thanks for being a part of this creative and inspiring community!
Otis Adams, Aimée Gramblin, Ali, Arpad Nagy, Lindsay Rae Brown, John Bullock, Betsy Denson, Paul Combs, Alex Markham, Caitlin McColl, Corrie Alexander, Cynthia A. Morgan, Don Franke, JLRose, Jeanne-Erin (Pluto) Wolnosci, Jennifer Brewer, Samantha Lazar, Lisa Gerard Braun, Maria Shimizu Christensen, Gunner Barrett, Mark Tulin, Patrick Metzger, Paul Mansfield, Sandi Parsons, Suzanne V. Tanner
