Writer & Editor
I’ve written in previous posts about why I wanted to write for Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History and how I went about it. This post will be a bit shorter, as it is mainly about other details that you don’t need to know to enjoy the story, but that you might enjoy knowing anyway. Plus: maps!
(Also, did you know, that Long Hidden is available as of May 9?)
In a previous post, I talked about why I wrote and submitted a short story to Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History. Given the differences between my personal background and that of the main character in the story, I had to do a lot of research just to write the first draft. This post is about that.
The main character, Thomas Greyeyes, lives in a different era from me (the story is set in 1919), is a First World War veteran, is an Anishinaabe man who worked as a trapper in northern Manitoba, and has barely seen his children in years. I’m of English and Icelandic descent and grew up in the late 20th century. About the only things I had in common with my main character are where the story is set (Winnipeg, where I have lived most my life) and age — Thomas and I are both around 40 years old. And, like him, I’m a father.
Writing and submitting a story for Long Hidden has changed the way I approach speculative fiction. Probably not enough, but it’s a start.
If you’re not familiar with Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History, click on over and see what it’s all about. One of the purposes of the anthology edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older, published by Crossed Genres, is to put marginalized people at the centre of the story, with the added context of real-world history blended with speculative elements.
A big part of the reason I wanted to submit a piece to Long Hidden was I wasn’t sure I could do it.
Just a quick roundup of what I’ve been up to, writing-wise, this time; though between acceptance into an anthology I really wanted to get into, interviewing many creative folks about an iconic Canadian superhero, and being interviewed myself (twice!) I guess it’s been a busy month.
