Interviewing E M Faulds

Hellooo!

I recently really enjoyed the excellent anthology Under the Moon by E M Faulds a gorgeous mix of stories crossing all the genres. Filled with interesting characters, situations and other worlds to explore. Beth kindly agreed to answer a few questions on the stories and a few other things!

How do you like to booktempt Under The Moon?

That’s a hard one, isn’t it? I’d generally say something like “science fiction and fantasy stories that have women or female-coded protagonists”. Also that the stories range from ‘literary’ to ‘commercial’ in style, long to short, funny to serious, hopefully something for most tastes in spec fic.

Your characters in these stories all show different aspects of being a woman is this a deliberate choice?

It wasn’t a choice at the time when I wrote each one. It’s taken many years to get this number of stories together, and they were written as they occurred to me. And there were lots of other stories in between that featured other protagonists and situations. But I wanted to put together a collection, and here were these pieces with this uniting theme. And there was always the thought that it was something a bit edgy, different. It’s 2022, and it’s hard to credit that “having women as protagonists” is a selling point, but apparently it’s still uncommon enough as to be remarkable. If you’re going to put together a collection that’s more than “here are some trunk stories”, you’ve got to go for something strong.

I also wanted to show the aspects of speculative fiction that often get glossed over. There are a lot of class considerations in there. I wanted people to see smaller, less blockbuster moments that could still have a profound impact. Because why should science fiction and fantasy only be about oligarchs and monarchs? So I put in workers, sportswomen, small business owners, families, friendships and solidarity. There are winners, and losers. People who endure or give in. Like all of us.

How was the selection process for this collection?

I cut some stories that just wouldn’t have worked, and my excellent beta readers helped with the ordering and making sure every story had earned its place. Knowing what fits where, flow and balance, is a whole discipline to itself and I was really pleased to have some backup there. There was only one story that absolutely had to be where it was, and that was the last one. Hopefully enough people will get to the end to work out why.

Which was the hardest story to write?

Depends on what you mean by hard. Some of the most emotionally raw and personal stories seemed to surge out of me, so in that way they were ‘easy’ but also not. Strangely, the hardest ones to write are the less personal, because getting the emotional construction and weighting is more difficult. “The Amelioration of Existence in Spite of Truth and Reconciliation” was one of the hardest to tune, but it also makes me teary-eyed every single time I read it, so I hope I got it right. And I just can’t help it, you can tear that Marmite beast of a title out of my cold, dead hands.

What else can we look forward to you in the future and where can we find out more?

I’m hoping to have a novella out in 2023. And the paperback version of Under the Moon should be later this year, so keep an eye on www.ghostmothpress.com for both of those. And follow my socials on https://linktr.ee/BethKesh for all the other announcements. Maybe you might see me at a convention or online event?

If there was one book that you wish you could get everyone to read (not your own) what would it be?

Just one? How cruel! But if I must pick, I’d have to say “When the Sea is Rising Red” by Cat Hellisen because it’s an introduction into their very excellent writing. Go drown your senses in the lush and twisted fantasy!