The inspirations and origins for our stories.
R.E. Dukalsky’s story “Hope on the Vine” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 4 March 2022. “Hope on the Vine” grew from two very different seeds. In my non-writing professional life, I work on peace processes, political transitions, and rule of law, which means I spend a lot of time thinking about the aftermath of conflict. In my reading experience, speculative fiction tends to focus on how conflicts begin, how they are fought, or how …
Thomas Ouphe’s story “The Diary of Thisne Ome” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 25 February 2022. “The Diary of Thisne Ome” kind of crept up on me, I couldn’t sleep one night and just started writing it on my tablet. I had been wanting to write about river monsters for a while and for whatever reason the muse stuck at about 1am. At that point I had no idea that Thisne was a girl’s …
Connor Mellegers’s story “Freely Given” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 18 February 2022. A few years ago I read some of the writings of Marcel Mauss and was introduced to the idea of a gift economy. In a gift economy, goods and services aren’t sold or traded but are given as gifts without an explicit agreement for return. I was immediately interested in the idea of a gift economy not only as a principal …
Brian Hugenbruch’s story “Heartbeat of the Seasons” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 11 February 2022. “Heartbeat of the Seasons” started its life years ago as a flash fiction prompt around the word “Ouroboros” (the serpent that devours its own tail). And as a Star Trek nerd, the TNG episode “Cause and Effect” always brings a smile to my face. (Go stream it. I’ll wait.) Every time I thought it was done writing the story, …
Devin Miller’s story “A Lie in the Sand” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 4 February 2022. My girlfriend, also a writer, is much more musical than I am, and she has a tendency to get story ideas from songs. This habit seems to be catching, as the seed of this story was Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man”. The setting and mood of the story originated in the song, especially drawing on the lines, “Far …
J.A. Prentice’s story “Shades of the Sea” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 28 January 2022. “Shades of the Sea,” at its core, is a story about a changeling—even though the word is never used. For centuries, humans have told stories of possessions and changelings. It was the concept of changelings that particularly stuck with me: the child that isn’t a child but rather an inhuman creature. Many scholars believe these stories were told originally …
