Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 159 (August 2023), page 14
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Laurel Amberdine was raised by cats in the suburbs of Chicago. She’s good at naps, begging for food, and turning ordinary objects into toys. She currently lives in Portland and works (remotely) for Locus Magazine. Find her on Twitter at @amberdine.
Author Spotlight: Lowry Poletti
Laurel Amberdine | 719 words
How did “In the Nest Beneath the Mountain-Tree, Your Sisters Dance” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?
I first learned about braconid wasps in a zoology course, where we had a weekly assignment to research an animal in the taxonomical class we were studying. I was already researching bees at the time for my thesis, so when we got to insects, I decided to look into some wasp species for some variety. Braconid wasps immediately caught my attention because some species in this family have viral DNA incorporated in their genome (yes, this is real! I didn’t make this part up!) When these wasps lay their eggs in a host, they also synthesize viral components that suppress the host’s immune system, allowing the eggs to survive unharmed until they hatch and kill the host.
Of course, I knew I had to include these guys in one of my stories, but it took a while for me to become comfortable enough in science fiction to attempt it. Luckily braconid wasps are so cool that they were still floating in my brain juices years after I originally took that class.
Where are you in this story?
If you couldn’t tell, I love bugs. The first species I really fell in love with were European honeybees, but after staring at bees for hours and hours every day to collect data, I realized most bugs aren’t so bad (see, I used to be afraid of them). Wasps are particularly unfairly maligned. They are often pollinators or otherwise contribute to their native ecosystems in meaningful ways! In fact, unlike European honeybees—who have an incredible PR team—yellowjackets are actually a native species in the US. I’ve even shared a Jack and Coke with a wasp during a concert (she was very polite). This is all to say that when I conceptualized the wasp aliens for this story, I knew they had to be friends.
What is your writing process like? Did this story fit the pattern?
For me, writing is about character, character, character. I usually come up with the characters first, with some vague premise about the magic system and setting. As I outline, I can make up the speculative elements as I go to better suit the piece. Once I start writing, I focus heavily on dialogue, then exposition, and then I make multiple passes over each scene to build up more description and par down the info dumps.
“In the Nest” differs from my normal writing process in that I spent way longer on the worldbuilding than I normally would. Before I even outlined the short story, I had written a ten-page document about my wasp aliens and the setting. A lot of this information never even made it into the story, but knowing all of the details helped inform the text in a way that makes the other worldbuilding aspects feel more justified.
Other than writing, do you have any other creative pursuits? What do you do to relax?
I am also an artist. My background is primarily in traditional art, but I did end up transitioning to digital art once I went back to school, because it takes far less time and physical space. Ultimately, I find the process of creating visual artwork, in whatever medium, to be meditative.
What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?
I have a lot of half-started, half-outlined story ideas floating around lately and barely any time to write them. One is a fantasy/horror novella about a general who starts to see prophetic visions after becoming infected with brain worms. Another is a short story about a scientist who harvests unicorns to create a serum of eternal youth for the ruling class. This year, I’m attending the Clarion West workshop, so hopefully I will actually have the time and space to work on my short story concepts.
Anyone interested in reading more of my work can visit my website (lowrypoletti.wordpress.com). My other recent publications are in Fantasy Magazine, Dark Matter Magazine, and Flash Fiction Online.
ABOUT THE INTERVIEWER
Laurel Amberdine was raised by cats in the suburbs of Chicago. She’s good at naps, begging for food, and turning ordinary objects into toys. She currently lives in Portland and works (remotely) for Locus Magazine. Find her on Twitter at @amberdine.
Coming Attractions
The Editors | 220 words
Coming up in September, in Lightspeed . . .
We have original science fiction by John Kessel & Bruce Sterling (“Money in the Bank”) and Gene Doucette (“The Hole in the Garden”). We also have two terrific flash pieces: “Eve’s Prayer” by Victor Forna and “Death by Water” from Maria Haskins.
Plus, we have original fantasy by Jo Miles (“Simmered in Their Wealth Like the Richest of Sauces”) and Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (“His Thing”). We also have a flash story (“Instructions for the Broken Hearted”) from Jordan Kurella, and another (“Remains”) from N.R. Lambert.
All that, and of course we also have our usual assortment of author spotlights, along with book reviews from our terrific review team. Our ebook readers will also enjoy a book excerpt.
It’s another great issue, so be sure to check it out.
• • • •
Looking ahead beyond next month, we’ve got a veritable plethora of stories forthcoming. We’ve got work from the following authors coming up over the next couple of issues: A.L. Goldfuss, Carlie St. George, Everdeen Mason, Adam-Troy Castro, and Oyedotun Damilola Muees.
So be sure to keep an eye out for all that SFnal goodness in the months to come. And while you’re at it, tell a friend about Lightspeed.
Thanks for reading!
Stay Connected
The Editors
Here are a few URLs you might want to check out or keep handy if you’d like to stay apprised of everything new and notable happening with Lightspeed:
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Subscriptions and Ebooks
The Editors
Subscriptions: If you enjoy reading Lightspeed, please consider subscribing. It’s a great way to support the magazine, and you’ll get your issues in the convenient ebook format of your choice. All purchases from the Lightspeed store are provided in epub, mobi, and pdf format. A 12-month subscription to Lightspeed includes more than 100 stories (about 700,000 words of fiction, plus assorted nonfiction). The cost is just $35.88 ($12 off the cover price)—what a bargain!
Visit lightspeedmagazine.com/subscribe for more information, including about third-party subscription options.
Ebooks & Bundles: We also have individual ebook issues available at a variety of ebook vendors ($3.99 each), and we now have Ebook Bundles available in the Lightspeed ebookstore, where you can buy in bulk and save! We currently have a number of ebook bundles available: Year One (issues 1-12), Year Two (issues 13-24), Year Three (issues 25-36), the Mega Bundle (issues 1-36), and the Supermassive Bundle (issues 1-48). Buying a bundle gets you a copy of every issue published during the named period. So if you need to catch up on Lightspeed, that’s a great way to do so.
Visit lightspeedmagazine.com/store for more information.
Support Us on Patreon, or How to Become a Dragonrider or Space Wizard
The Editors
We already offer ebook subscriptions as a way of supporting the magazines, but we wanted to add an additional option to allow folks to support us, thus we’ve launched a Patreon (patreon.com/JohnJosephAdams).
TL;DR Version
If you enjoy Fantasy, Nightmare, and/or Lightspeed, our Patreon page is a way for you to help support those endeavors by chipping in a buck or more on a recurring basis. Your support will help us bring bigger and better (and more) projects into the world.
Why Patreon?
There are no big companies supporting or funding our magazines, so they really rely on reader support. Though we offer the magazines online for free, we’re able to fund them by selling ebook subscriptions or website advertising.
While we have a dedicated ebook subscriber base, the vast majority of our readers consume the magazine online for free. If just 10% of our website readers pledged just $1 a month, the magazines would be doing fantastically well. So we thought it might be useful to have an option like Patreon for readers who maybe haven’t considered supporting the magazine, or who maybe haven’t because they don’t have any desire to receive the ebook editions—or who would be glad to pay $1 a month, but not $3 (the cost of a monthly subscriber issue of Lightspeed).
Though Fantasy, Nightmare, and Lightspeed are separate entities, we decided to create a single “publisher” Patreon account because it seemed like it would be more efficient to manage just one account.
Basically, we wanted to create a crowdfunding page where, if you enjoy the work Adamant Press puts out, and you want to contribute a little something to help make it easier for us to produce more cool projects, then our Patreon is the place to do that.
What Do I Get Out of Being a Patron?
Well, you get the satisfaction of helping to usher the creation of cool new short fiction projects into the world! Plus, the more support we get, the better we can make the magazines and compensate our authors and staff. By becoming a supporter via Patreon, you help fund our growth and continued publication of three award-winning magazines. Of course, if you’re already one of our ebook subscribers (thank you!), you are already supporting us. This is for those who prefer to read the issues each month on our free websites, or wish to support our efforts more generally.
By becoming a supporter, you are also bestowed a title, such as Dragonrider, or Space Wizard, or Savior of the World and/or Universe, thus making you instantly the envy of all your friends.
Thank You!
If you’ve read this far, thanks so much. We hope you’ll consider becoming a backer on Patreon. That URL again is patreon.com/JohnJosephAdams.
Thanks in advance for your time. We look forward to hopefully being able to make the magazines—and our other publishing endeavors—even better with the support of people like you.
About the Lightspeed Team
The Editors
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
John Joseph Adams
Managing/Senior Editor
Wendy N. Wagner
Associate Editor
Arley Sorg
Podcast Producer
Stefan Rudnicki
Podcast Editor/Host
Jim Freund
Art Director
John Joseph Adams
Assistant Editor
Laurel Amberdine
Editorial Interns
Mayookh Barua
Madison Brake
Reviewers
Arley Sorg
Chris Kluwe
Aigner Loren Wilson
Copy Editor
Luke Tolvaj
Proofreaders
Anthony R. Cardno
Devin Marcus
Webmaster
Jeremiah Tolbert of Clockpunk Studios
Associate Publisher
Christie Yant
Reprint Editor (Emeritus)
Rich Horton
Also Edited by John Joseph Adams
The Editors
If you enjoy reading our Adamant Press magazines, you might also enjoy these works edited by our publisher John Joseph Adams:
ANTHOLOGIES
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 1: The End is Nigh (with Hugh Howey)
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 2: The End is Now (with Hugh Howey)
THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH, Vol. 3: The End Has Come (with Hugh Howey)
Armored
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2015 (with Joe Hill)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016 (with Karen Joy Fowler)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2017 (with Charles Yu)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 (with N.K. Jemisin)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 (with Carmen Maria Machado)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2020 (with Diana Gabaldon)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021 (with Veronica Roth)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2022 (with Rebecca Roanhorse)
Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 (with R.F. Kuang) [Forthcoming October 2023]
Brave New Worlds
By Blood We Live
Cosmic Powers
Dead Man’s Hand
THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH, Vol. 1: Ignorance is Strength (with Hugh Howey and Christie Yant)
THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH, Vol. 2: Burn the Ashes (with Hugh Howey and Christie Yant)
THE DYSTOPIA TRIPTYCH, Vol. 3: Or Else the Light (with Hugh Howey and Christie Yant)
Epic: Legends of Fantasy
The Far Reaches
Federations
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! and Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects
Lightspeed: Year One
The Living Dead
The Living Dead 2
Loosed Upon the World
Lost Worlds and Mythological Kingdoms
The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination
Operation Arcana
Other Worlds Than These
Out There Screaming (with Jordan Peele) [Forthcoming October 2023]
Oz Reimagined (with Douglas Cohen)
A People’s Future of the United States (with Victor LaValle)
Press Start to Play (with Daniel H. Wilson)
Robot Uprisings (with Daniel H. Wilson)
Seeds of Change
Under the Moons of Mars
Wastelands
Wastelands 2
Wastelands: The New Apocalypse
The Way of the Wizard
What the #@&% is That? (with Douglas Cohen)
NOVELS and COLLECTIONS
Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey
Wool by Hugh Howey
Shift by Hugh Howey
Dust by Hugh Howey
The Silo Saga Omnibus by Hugh Howey
Machine Learning: New and Collected Stories by Hugh Howey
Half Way Home by Hugh Howey
Sand by Hugh Howey
Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
The Wild Dead by Carrie Vaughn
Questland by Carrie Vaughn
Retrograde by Peter Cawdron
Reentry by Peter Cawdron
Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer
Creatures of Want and Ruin by Molly Tanzer
Creatures of Charm and Hunger by Molly Tanzer
The City of Lost Fortunes by Bryan Camp
Gather the Fortunes by Bryan L. Camp
The Robots of Gotham by Todd McAulty
The Spaceship Next Door by Gene Doucette
The Apocalypse Seven by Gene Doucette
In the Night Wood by Dale Bailey
Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones by Micah Dean Hicks
The Chaos Function by Jack Skillingstead
Upon a Burning Throne by Ashok K. Banker
A Dark Queen Rises by Ashok K. Banker
The Blind King’s Wrath by Ashok K. Banker
Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth
Poster Girl by Veronica Roth
The Unfinished Land by Greg Bear
The Conductors by Nicole Glover
The Undertakers by Nicole Glover
Visit johnjosephadams.com to learn more about all of the above.
John Joseph Adams, Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 159 (August 2023)
