Fact and Fiction

I’m delighted to share that I have another short story in Nature magazine!

In response to your request for a modification to the atmosphere of break bulk cargo hold 17

I loved the image by Jacey and this introduction on the Nature Futures twitter feed:

Trapped on a cargo ship light years from home, on a journey to who knows where. A group of survivors struggling to keep alive. But there’s only one way to get what they need. They’re going to have to write a letter…

This is my sixth short story in Nature Futures.

I’m excited to announce that, after a long hiatus, I have sold my short story, In  response to your request for a modification to the atmosphere of the break bulk cargo hold 17 to Nature Futures.

This is one of my favorite short story venues and I’m thrilled to be appearing in the magazine again!

Just a quick note to say I am still here and working on getting my life back in order. Bear with me and watch this space.

Next week, I’ll be performing at Theatre-Bar Heldeke! in Tell Me A Story, a fantastic improv event hosted by Dan le Man.

Six people tell six stories. One of them is a lie. Is it me? Is it one of the others? There is no recording so only those attending the event will ever know for sure.

BUT not all is lost! The show will be live in the theatre and streamed online! You can buy an online ticket and take part on Friday the 3rd of December on the YouTube channel at 19:00 Eastern European Time (GMT+2).

That’s 5pm in London and 9am in Los Angeles. Click here to check your local time zone.

This is my second time doing the show and I’m very much looking forward to it.

My introspective piece on attending a convention in the tail end of the pandemic was published in the October issue of Locus magazine.

THIS ESTONIAN SUMMER would have been right at home at the Locus office in California: Sunny days under brilliant blue skies with just a slight breeze to keep the heat from becom­ing stifling. Perfect for the annual outdoor science fiction convention held at Udu Farm in central Estonia. The event wasn’t confirmed until just a few weeks before, but the vaccination program had reached full throttle and infection rates remained low, dwindling almost to zero in June and July.Estcon is remarkable in that the event is always held outdoors, come rain or shine, which means it is the only convention that has been able to convene safely during COVID times. Precautions are taken. So far, not a single COVID infection has been connected to the event.

Guests were encouraged to bring tents in or­der to allow the existing accommodation to be parcelled out per household. I filled my hot-pink backpack with food and clothes, slung my tent and sleeping bag into a crocheted carrier, and took the train south. This was my third outing with my tent, so I considered myself an old hand. I set up in a shady spot by a stream with only minimal cursing and swearing and very little bloodshed (I accidentally stepped on a small frog).

You can read the whole thing on the Locus website.

I launched a Substack newsletter over the summer in order to better share my creative nonfiction. This month, the featured essay is Six Words of Russian, telling the story of camping on Aegna and blackmarket beer.

As this was now my fourth time camping, I figured I was an old hand. A forest commuter. A modern-day mountaineer. A middle-aged, overweight, trailblazing adventurer …or at least well on the way to becoming one. I knew exactly what I needed for my trip to Aegna.

My lumpy crochet bag held a tent, an air mattress, a battery-operated pump, a sleeping bag, a small pillow, a kilo of charcoal, and a large metal tea kettle.

My hot-pink backpack, picked up half price at Sports Direct, held a change of clothes, bathing suit, large towel, a flat water bucket, a lantern, a small portable video camera, 600g sliced pork, two types of cheese, 200 grams of flour, salt and yeast so that I could make bread, ground coffee, cream, the espresso hand pump that my daughter gave me, a liter of Coke Zero, half a head of lettuce, two bananas and an apple.

I had everything I needed for an overnight stay. I also couldn’t move.

You can read the whole thing on my newsletter, Accidents and Incidents. While there, please subscribe (it’s free!) to receive monthly essays and mishaps.

My essay The Train Station Ateljee: Stumbling Across Estonia’s Distant History was featured in Deep Baltic magazine.

This is one of my favourite essays that I’ve written about Estonia and I’m thrilled to have it shared with a new audience.

My photograph taken and submitted while I was camping on Aegna was shortlisted for the photo competition as a part of the Baltic Island Days featuring Aegna. The photograph was displayed on the Pirita promenade for the event. There were over 80 works submitted of which 20 were selected to be exhibited in the pedestrian underpass leading to Freedom Square for the month of October.

I’m thrilled to be a part of the Gender and Age/Aging in Popular Culture taking place this week at the University of Graz. As with many conferences these days, this is a virtual event.

I am speaking on Thursday about Old Age and Aging as Represented in Star Trek as a part of the panel on Representations of Gender and Aging in Speculative Fiction. It looks set to be a fascinating collection of subjects and I’m very much looking forward to it.