Oooh, trick question! I actually had two. I worked at an electronics store on call, checking in orders, and also got a job at a donut shop next door. After a week of donut fringe benefits (taking home all the day-old donuts I could eat) I soured on the whole donut thing and didn’t have another one for years. Oh, and did I mention that I got fired for not taking enough initiative? That lesson changed my life, and my approach to every job after that. On the plus side, they rehired me at their other location as a clapboard clown, clown suit and all. And no, there are no photos.
When did you first start writing?
Hmmm… technically in elementary school, but seriously in my junior year of high school. I wrote my first novel on an actual typewriter, an old green metal thing my mom had – and it will not see the light of day until I die. It was that bad. I wrote my second novel in my early twenties, but didn’t really get going on writing as a career until I was in my mid forties.
What TV show most resonates with you as a writer?
I love shows that bring a sense of magic to the game. Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, and lately Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. But as far as shows that connect with me as a sci-fi writer, I’d say Star Trek Discovery and The Expanse. I love shows of all kinds that are imbued with a sense of hope, and that’s what I usually write too.
What’s your favorite story on Tangents & Tachyons, and why?
Probably Prolepsis. It’s near and dear to my heart because it’s set in my old stomping grounds, Tucson, and during my formative years, the 80’s. It was a blast to do research for the story and remember all the cool and weird pop culture references from that time. I hope folks who lived through it like I did will enjoy the nostalgic trip.
What are you working on now?
I just wrapped up a short story called “Shit City,” a hopepunk clifi tale for our forthcoming anthology Save the World (May 2022). I’m also working on my ninth, tenth and eleventh books – the Tharassan Cycle trilogy. The books are all drafted, and I’m hoping to start releasing them next spring/summer. Next-up – Coredivers, the sequel to Dropnauts.
Tangents & Tachyons is Scott’s second anthology – six sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from time travel to hopepunk and retro spec fic:
Eventide: Tanner Black awakes to find himself in his own study, staring out the window at the end of the Universe. But who brought him there, and why?
Chinatown: Deryn lives in an old San Francisco department store with his girlfriend Gracie, and scrapes by with his talent as a dreamcaster for the Chinese overlords. But what if a dream could change the world?
Across the Transom: What if someone or something took over your body on an urgent mission to save your world?
Pareidolia: Simon’s not like other college kids. His mind can rearrange random patterns to reveal the images lurking inside. But where did his strange gift come from? And what if there are others like him out there too?
Lamplighter: Fen has a crush on his friend Lewin, who’s in a competing guild. But when the world goes dark, only a little illumination can save it. And only Fen, Lewin and their friend Alissa can light the spark. A Liminal Sky short.
Prolepsis: Sean is the closeted twenty-five-year-old editor of an 80’s sci-fi ‘zine called Prolepsis. When an unabashedly queer story arrives from a mysterious writer, it blows open Sean’s closet door, and offers him the chance to change the world – and the future.
Plus two flash fiction stories – The System and The Frog Prince, never before published.
This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place.
Scott is giving away a full set of his previously self-published eBooks to one lucky winner:
Eventide
Not far from the truth, as it turned out.
I reached for my stomach. My furry belly was a little thicker than I would have liked—too much processed sugar, Peter said. That and the whole no exercise thing.
What did I eat this time? My memories were a bit fuzzy.
I remembered bright lights and a sharp smell. And a keening whine.
I opened my eyes. The light above dimmed of its own accord.
That’s weird. And the smell… kind of antiseptic?
I sat up, and my fingers sank into the soft blue mat beneath me, leaving an impression when I lifted them up which just as quickly disappeared.
I was naked. What the hell?
Alarmed, I looked around as my eyesight cleared.
I was alone in a plain white room. White walls curved into a white floor and ceiling, and only the “bed” had any color—a bright blue pad on a raised pedestal. There were no doors or windows.
I pushed myself up and my head spun. My stomach clenched, and I felt sick.
The room swam around me, darkening, changing.
I’ve been sick. I was certain of that, but the details were vague. I fell back, cushioning my fall with my left hand. “Hello? Peter?”
“Hello, Tanner Black.” The reply was warm, cordial. Feminine, maybe? Hard to tell.
“Hello.” My head ached. “Where am I? Who is this?” The walls continued to flow.
“I am Sera. You are in an awakening room. Welcome to the Seeker.”
“Welcome to where?” None of this made any sense. Where’s Peter? He must be looking for me. I tried to get up again and a searing pain clenched my gut.
“Please lie down, Mr. Black. You have not fully recovered yet, and your room is not ready.”
Recovered from what? I wanted to argue, but suddenly resting seemed like an eminently sensible idea. I was tired, and my head hurt.
Maybe just a short nap.
I pulled my feet up and lay down, wishing for my comfy feather pillow.
The foam conformed to my body, hugging me. So comfortable.
That thought faded as sleep took me, and the light went out.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
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