Q: Why do you write speculative rather than realistic fiction?
A: The honest answer is that the ideas I have for stories are nearly all fantastical in nature. I have tried, on occasion, to write realistic fiction, but a speculative element always manages to appear regardless of my intent. In fact, I joke with my friends that I don’t write anything that doesn’t have a dragon in it—whether real or metaphorical. I find speculative fiction a more liberating place to explore thoughts and ideas, often because I can make abstract concepts more concrete. Beyond that, I spend enough time living in reality as it is: I’m happy to imagine myself in distant lands populated by the beautiful and strange whenever I can.
J.C. Pillard’s story “The Tick of the Clock”
in Metaphorosis Friday, 8 October 2021.
Subscribe now for e-mail updates!
