News & Press from The Future Fire

Saturday, 18 July 2026

Microinterview with L.A. Hyland

We welcome L.A. Hyland, author of the poem “Why Would I Be a Woman” in The Future Fire #76, for the last in this microinterview season.

TFF: What does “Why Would I Be a Woman” mean to you?

L.A. Hyland: I’ll answer that with a question: if magic was real and could change you into anything, what would you choose to be? The possibility of magical transformation makes you interrogate the existential impact of a physical form, with all its associated abilities and expected behaviours. By suggesting ferocious and mythically powerful alternatives, I hope my poem prompts a reader to contemplate why some women might consider monsterhood a favourable option.

TFF: Tell us about a piece of art that came to life for you.

LAH: I was overwhelmed when I first stood in front of the colossal statue of Ramesses II in the British Museum: the “Younger Memnon.” There's such a gentle curve to his cheeks and a hesitation in his mouth that makes you feel as though he’s about to speak. Incredibly beautiful but it, of course, should be returned to Egypt.

TFF: Who is your favourite kick-ass woman from history?

LAH: There are too many! Let’s go with Alice of Antioch, for today. She chose to betray her god, her king, and her family. Ambitious and intelligent, she saw a chance in all the crusader chaos to claim Antioch for herself and almost succeeded. More than once.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

LAH: Browsing the internet, most likely. Having grown up without the web, being able to look up anything makes me feel like I’ve been handed Mephistopheles’ book. It’s 3 a.m. and I need to know more about the mosaics of Zeugma, when the NHS began, or whether the planet Venus has any rings? I can just search and lose myself in the largest library the world has ever built. Is some information unreliable? Sure, but the old encyclopedias my parents owned had “factual’ entries about aether and ectoplasm…

TFF: What are you working on next?

LAH: I’m currently working on a speculative poetry collection, rooted in British myth and superstition. It features old gods and new ghosts, fairies and witches—it’s a giddy brew of idiosyncratic beliefs and ominous atheism.

Extract

when I could be a dragon?
when I could be a gorgon,
petrifying all who dare
disturb my thoughts?

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Sunday, 12 July 2026

Microinterview with Colleen Anderson

Colleen Anderson, author of the poem “In Our Nature” in The Future Fire #76, is this week’s microinterview guest, here to talk about her poem, betrayal and alternate history.

TFF: What does “In Our Nature” mean to you?

Colleen Anderson: We think we always can tame nature. GMO, orchards, controlling “weeds” and making it work for us, but humanity has also done incredible damage to the world. Nature may one day rebalance and will not consider human want.

TFF: What is the thing that you find most difficult to forgive?

CA: Betrayal. To put trust in a friend or a family member who then does something that destroys a fundamental trust—that is unforgiveable.

TFF: What are you working on next?

CA: I’m working on an alternate history novel, a chapbook of “bad food” poems and on a collaboration of lost objects.

Extract

In the beginning—
there was no beginning
not for flowers, trees, glacial rivers
evolving with the planet’s cycles
swimming through acid erosion

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Monday, 6 July 2026

Micro-interview with Toeken

And this week's guest in the microinterview series is Toeken, artist of “Believe Me” and “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76.

TFF: How did you go about illustrating “Believe Me”?

Toeken: Though it is a short tale, Christine Amsden’s splendid story is filled with such vivid imagery that it was tricky distilling ideas into the final illustration.

TFF: What was the image that really stuck with you from “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster”?

Toeken: It was probably something as deceptively simple as the “abandoned pool that had gone green from algae.”

TFF: What would be the most terrifying thing about being in outer space?

Toeken: I’d imagine it would be just trying to comprehend the sheer scale, the enormity of space itself, the awareness of the immense gulfs of space between stars and planets.

TFF: Have you ever seen a statue or a piece of art that you wished was alive?

Toeken: Bill Sienkiewicz’s rendition of the character “Warlock.” That’d be a treat to see strolling around.

TFF: What else are you working on now?

Toeken: Working with the writer Phil Emery on a scifi/noir comedy graphic novel, Hammek, which is being shopped around now; Vampyre Noir, another comic series, more paintings and a couple of book covers, one of which is for the writer Simon Bleaken’s upcoming collection of dark tales.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Microinterview with Crystal Koo

Crystal Koo, author of “Titanium Chef” in The Future Fire #76, joins us for this week’s microinterview, and for a chat about her story, artificial personalities and writing.

TFF: What does “Titanium Chef” mean to you?

Crystal Koo: I wanted to write a story about what it would be like finding closure in a duplicate ex-partner sans the inconvenient parts that caused the end of the relationship. It wouldn’t necessarily be the healthiest thing given how contrived it might be, and then have that take over the protagonist’s life.

TFF: Do you think an artificial personality is possible that is not a copy of a living person (or simulated from predictive text)?

CK: Not sure in terms of likelihood, but it would certainly be fascinating to imagine one—and how different it might be from what we recognize as human personalities, if it’s something that’s emerged from code. It might be completely alien from what we’re used to!

TFF: What are you working on next?

CK: I’m at the editing stage of a short story about app-based prostitution. Bigger picture, I’m also slowly working on a novel.

Extract

Sometimes you catch the show’s copydroids roaming the city before the season starts, testing their programming against the vagaries of the real world. They’re wide-eyed and tentative, like exotic animals reintroduced to the wild. I find photos of these titanium pseudo-humans online, lost in a pet shop or on a bicycle in the park, experiencing things in their memory for the first time, afraid it might be their last. A Titanium Chef that loses a round is deactivated, its borrowed consciousness wiped in front of thousands of real-time viewers. The last one standing returns to its lab and fights again next season.

They look at the camera warily, as if it might take their soul.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Micro-interview with Katie Conrad

This week we’re joined by Katie Conrad, author of “Protector of the Forest” in The Future Fire #76, for a microinterview about writing, environmental scifi and optimism.

TFF: What does “Protector of the Forest” mean to you?

Katie Conrad: “Protector of the Forest” is a story about second chances—a second chance for humanity on a new planet, and a second chance for the protagonist, Gabrielle, to find love and community after a mistake. Gabrielle’s story is also about finding the strength to give yourself a second chance even when you don’t quite believe you deserve it.

TFF: Do you think it would be possible to learn from our mistakes on earth and do better on another planet?

KC: I do think it’s possible. Despite everything, I remain optimistic that we will learn from our mistakes and do better here on earth before it’s too late.

TFF: What are you working on next?

KC: I’m currently working on a sci-fi novel. It’s a space opera about a group of super-powered female friends who steal a powerful artifact and end up on a quest to save the galaxy. I’m on draft four and hoping to finally get the plot wrangled into shape.

Extract

We’d been living on Toivoa for a year when the trees began to die.

“What, all of them?” Captain Harris’ dark eyebrows furrowed above her wire-rimmed glasses. I sat on the visitors’ side of her desk in her office. It was a small place with bare walls and bare shelves. None of us had much in the way of personal effects, but the Captain took it to the extreme.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Micro-interview with Rae Zalopany

Rae Zalopany, author of “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” in The Future Fire #76, is with us today for a microinterview about her story, monsters, writing and water.

TFF: What does “The Trident-Tailed Water Monster” mean to you?

Rae Zalopany: Florida’s landscapes have always felt to me like they hold something ancient and half-hidden. I’m interested in what might be living just out of sight in the swamps and springs, and this story became a way to follow that imagination while also processing political anxiety.

TFF: Who is your favorite groundbreaking woman author?

RZ: Right now I’ve been reading a lot of Sayaka Murata. I think most writers return to a few core questions or obsessions, and Murata does a great job of revisiting hers in unexpected and precise ways.

TFF: What are you working on next?

RZ: I’m currently working on Water Bug, a collection of flash fiction set around swimming pools that explores bodies and transformation.

Extract

Here is the dream that led her here:

An owl was the size of a petite man perched on the post office roof. He wore Spanish moss like a lei around his brown, freckled neck. A sign in red Sharpie was taped to the banister that said WET PAINT.

Natalie took a step, then another toward him. His blank eyes, the color of the moon, bored down onto her.

“Can you tell me where to find the springs?”

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Friday, 12 June 2026

Micro-interview with Christine Amsden

We’re joined by Christine Amsden, author of “Believe Me” in The Future Fire #76, for the first of this issue’s microinterview series.

TFF: What does “Believe Me” mean to you?

Christine Amsden: Many of us have experienced symptoms being misinterpreted and pain being ignored by medical professionals. Certain extreme cases have made the news in recent years, inspiring me to write this story. It’s not my story, not exactly, but I can relate. It took nearly fifteen years for me to get a fibromyalgia diagnosis... fifteen years of pushing myself to try harder in physical therapy, fifteen years of taking antiinflammatory medication until I got an ulcer, fifteen years of wondering if it was all in my head. FIfteen years... until one person finally believed me and helped me get the diagnosis I needed.

TFF: What is your favourite real or imaginary monster, and why?

CA: My very favorite monster has to be Grover. One of my favorite books growing up—and then enjoyed reading to my own kids—was The Monster at the End of this Book. It's a fantastic take on how fear creates our own worst enemy.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

CA: I enjoy knitting, chess, role playing, and a good cup of tea.

Extract

“There’s an alien in my brain.” The words sound clear in my head, but they come out slurred, more like, S’an aleen mbain.

They don’t believe me. They never do.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/05/new-issue-202676.html.

Sunday, 10 May 2026

New issue: 2026.76

“I can’t pay no doctor bills
But Whitey’s on the moon
Ten years from now I’ll be paying still
While Whitey’s on the moon”

—Gil Scott-Heron, “Whitey On The Moon” (1970)

Issue 2026.76

Download e-book version: PDF | EPUB

Thursday, 30 April 2026

Micro-interview with Lyra Meurer

And the final micro-interview in the current series is with Lyra Meurer, author of “Fruiting Bodies” in The Future Fire #75.

TFF: What does “Fruiting Bodies” mean to you?

Lyra Meurer: “Fruiting Bodies’ is a response to the many pieces of apocalypse media I have encountered that hinge on the idea that rebuilding the human race is a commonly held ideal that everyone would want to participate in. Doesn't reproductive autonomy still hold even if the human population is decimated, especially in situations where medical care would be insufficient and difficult to access? In my mind, it matters more than ever. Besides that, I wanted to explore the idea of a whimsical apocalypse, where dream-like imagery could become a mirror for the interior experience.

TFF: What can you be found doing when you're not creating/writing?

LM: Attempting to grow native plants in my backyard (I am currently thrilled about some whiplash daisies that spontaneously appeared there), going on walks and photographing interesting trash on the ground, and playing board games (mostly Spirit Island—if you know you know) with my spouse.

TFF: Is there a theme song to your current work-in-progress?

LM: My work in progress has been with me for over 20 years (it is an attempt to make a paracosm story actually good) and so it has accrued a lot of theme songs over the years. However, I always think first about “Lasse Pour Quoi’ by Azam Ali, a 14th century French song that came to me right as I started writing the story all the way back in 6th grade. It felt like the perfect accompaniment to my characters traveling all over a fantastical land.

TFF: What is the most important thing to remember about writing?

LM: Writing is for you first, the audience second. Otherwise, in my experience, you’ll never want to write anything at all.

TFF: What are you working on next?

LM: I’m hoping to brush up and submit a few short stories—some horror, some dark fantasy and sci fi—while also working on that paracosm story.

Extract:

Fish shimmer above her like a rainbow in flux, sipping on the tears that fly up from her face. This house—which, she keeps remembering with horror, is now hers alone—has been as lively as a reef since The Unknown swept across the world, tangling and unspooling and recreating its matter.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Tuesday, 28 April 2026

Micro-interview with S.J. Ladds

S.J. Ladds, author of eco-SF story “Prata Neptunia” in The Future Fire #75, is today’s guest in the microinterview series.

TFF: What does “Prata Neptunia” mean to you?

S.J. Ladds: “Prata Neptunia” is a strange story to me because, at its core, it's a tale of hope, but I wrote it in quite a hopeless state of mind. It was inspired by Ocean with David Attenborough which, like all Attenborough documentaries, managed to balance the tragedy of what humanity is doing to the world with the healing efforts of people, and I wanted to emulate that in my work. Really, it was about showing what we can accomplish when we pull together and put our minds to making a change. So, if even one person reads “Prata Neptunia” and then picks up a few pieces of rubbish off the beach on their next trip to the seaside, I've done my job!

TFF: What is the most important thing to remember about writing?

SJL: To keep doing it. Doesn't matter if it’s not perfect—writing never is—doesn't matter what you do with it, what matters is writing. Using your voice in a world that increasingly wants you not to whether that's because of what you're saying or because you're not relying on technology to speak for you. Put pen to paper and say something you've always wanted to say.

TFF: What are you working on next?

SJL: A lot of things (all at once unfortunately for my poor brain). I’m currently nearing the end of my novella about the community of forests and how people mimic this in certain ways which is all about finding ways for humans and nature to coexist peacefully. I've also just started planning an eco-horror about capitalism and how it impacts the natural world.

Extract:

I was sixteen when the International Ocean Centre for Marine Research, colloquially known as the IOC, was floated out into the middle of the Pacific. In fact, I watched it cast off during a maths lesson; my phone hidden under my desk, the same eyes with which a space-obsessed child might have watched the moon landing back in 1969. I must have rewatched its launch almost a hundred times in the following weeks. Over breakfast, during lunch, at the dinner table, when someone was having a rather dull conversation in my vicinity.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Thursday, 23 April 2026

Micro-interview with Sylvie Althoff

Sylvie Althoff, author of “The Visitor” in The Future Fire #75, joins us to talk about writing, time travel and other decisions for today’s microinterview.

TFF: What does “The Visitor” mean to you?

Sylvie Althoff: “The Visitor” was a hugely important story in my understanding of my own identity as a writer and a trans woman. I’ve had to do a lot of reflection on my own actions, in my past and to this day, and I struggle to forgive myself for my mistakes in the past while holding myself to a higher standard moving forward. “The Visitor” put a lot of my mid-transition queries and arguments into words. I hope it crosses the path of someone who’s struggled with the same kind of questions (or someone who’s asking those questions right now); more than that, I hope it helps that person choose a happier future for themselves.

TFF: Have you ever wished to go back in time, to change one thing?

SA: Every trans person has wished they could go back in time to change exactly one thing. Every trans person who reflects on the question longer realizes that they’re better in almost every conceivable way for not being able to go back in time.

TFF: Who is your favorite groundbreaking woman author?

SA: It’s impossible to pick just one, but a current favorite of mine is Charlie Jane Anders. She has such a sharp understanding of our community’s history, and her novels’ plotting and pacing are damn near miraculous.

TFF: What is the most important thing to remember about writing?

SA: You have to write your worst stories first. Get those out of the way, and then you can start writing your good stuff.

TFF: What are you working on next?

SA: I’m working on my first novel! I’m currently struggling to marry my lifelong love of worldbuilding with my aspirations toward fun, snappy capers. Expect it on bookshelves in all of the better timelines.

Extract:

Over the long, long minutes I spent waiting there, I found myself inspecting the smears and streaks across the glass. I tried not to imagine what exhortations of the human spirit had left these traces, what fluids, what sounds.

I wondered if any of those ghostly remnants were left by Marcus.

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Tuesday, 21 April 2026

Micro-interview with Davian Aw

We welcome Davian Aw, author of the poem “ship of living ghosts” in The Future Fire #75, to the latest in this issue’s microinterview series.

TFF: What does “ship of living ghosts” mean to you?

Davian Aw: It emerged from worrying about the global rise of anti-trans legislation and the spectres of forced detransition and deportation, and wondering what it might look like when people who know and love each other start physically turning into strangers. It seemed a very SFF thing.

TFF: What are you working on next?

DA: It would be a lie to say I’m actively working on anything, but I’m currently procrastinating on a lot of short stories, all spec fic! One of them is a workplace horror-comedy and another is a non-workplace horror-comedy, possibly as a reflection of the current state of the world.

Extract:

we breathe
in small dark spaces cast upon the waves
beneath an infinite sky;

Reminder: You can comment on any of the writing or art in this issue at http://press.futurefire.net/2026/02/new-issue-202675.html.

Pages

Saturday, 18 July 2026

Sunday, 12 July 2026

Monday, 6 July 2026

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Thursday, 18 June 2026

Friday, 12 June 2026

Sunday, 10 May 2026

Issue 2026.76

Flash fiction

Short stories

Poetry

Thursday, 30 April 2026

Tuesday, 28 April 2026

Thursday, 23 April 2026

Tuesday, 21 April 2026