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I resurrected one of my Hard Drive Zombies the other day, and now I’m on my way to a presentable short story. (“Hard Drive Zombies” is Holly Lisle (Yes, the Holly from Holly’s Writing Classes and the FREE flash fiction course) and Rebecca Gallardo’s term for all the abandoned bits and pieces on your hard drive. Their Podcast Episode About this.) My story isn’t what I usually write. It’s short–which is weird–and I have no intention of making it any longer than it already is. It’s also something that’s in the “real world.” No magic. No spaceships. And nobody’s dead. (Also, Holly’s Summer of Fiction Writing is just getting started, so now would be a great time to jump in.)

So, I happened to mention that I was looking for a good “rock star name.” And… I got a lot of suggestions (a few of them were even serious), but they were all men’s names. My rockstar happens to be female, so that interested me. I guess I’ll have to come up with something on my own.

I don’t really think of myself as an “issues” writer. I don’t really feel like I’m writing about gender. In fact, that comment puzzled me the first time I heard it. Gender. And then, you take a step back, and think about it, and you realize that yeah… there it is. That’s what they’re talking about.

And here, I thought I was just writing a nice short story about parents and kids.

I don’t think the story would work, though, if I changed the gender of the characters. Or, at least… it wouldn’t work in the same way.

June 5 question: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

I’m fairly happy with Science Fiction and Fantasy, right now. Those genres are much more positive than some of the thrillers I tried writing, when I first started. I think it has to do with the separation of the real from the unreal. The serial killer down the street somehow bothers me more when I’m trying to sleep than the giant alien spider floating in space. I also enjoy the “what-ifs” that come up with Science Fiction.