Cindy has a story in The Quantum Soul anthology which is out tomorrow!
Q1: What do you think is the best thing about writing a short story rather than a novel?
Getting an idea down on paper in a short amount of time, and exploring it with as few words as possible is something I enjoy, most of my short stories err on the side of flash fiction. From an editing point of view, the job is also short, you either have it right or you don’t, and that is easier to see in only a few pages. A short story also gives you the satisfaction of a completed job, and a potential sale, when those goals for a novel are always more distant and difficult.
Q2: Do you enjoy reading anthologies?
I often pick up dusty old sci-fi collections and have found some great new authors this way. Short stories can haunt you just as much as a novel. The framework of a short story is a good way to explore writing styles, and also strange ideas that pop off the page in a way a novel perhaps cannot. I have enjoyed contributing stories to anthologies, and it is always interesting to see how many different ways people can interpret a common theme.
Q3: What gave you the idea for your story in The Quantum Soul?
It was a comment about the failure of a critique group that had gone missing in action on the Scifi Roundtable facebook group. I replied with a comment about the words were still waiting to be written, and the image of the spaceship and the power of words started from there. It was fun to include real people in a very strange setting, exploiting small aspects of their personalities to form new characters. So really the idea of the anthology sparked the idea for the story. I am pleased to be included in this one, as to me it represents my debut year as an author, and includes many of the authors that have been helpful and inspiring during this time.
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