Aidan Sanfelippo
Imagine space cats running a ghost ship, the tragedy of a star losing their partner, or a man facing both the freezing future earth and losing his fathers.
Such compelling premises are all from the mind of Eau Claire resident and four-time Hugo Awards finalist Charles Payseur. In July of 2021, Charles published a new book of speculative fiction stories titled The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories. I was lucky enough to chat with Charles about his love of speculative fiction, the importance of diversity in stories, and his advice for writers interested in this genre.
Aidan Sanfelippo: A Publishers' Weekly review recognized your new book as "a sure thing for fans of progressive science fiction and fantasy." Can you share a bit about what progressive science fiction and fantasy means to you?
Charles Payseur: “Progressive” is such a strange word. In some ways it’s incredibly descriptive and accurate when used to categorize things because people will sort of just know what it means. However, that’s because it’s also a buzzword that describes “that kind of writing” which people who like to describe themselves as conservative feel embodies everything that’s wrong with the world. Fortunately, that means it’s a word that is in the process of being claimed/reclaimed into something positive rather than negative. Unfortunately, it also seems to cut off this kind of “progressive” science fiction and fantasy from its long and storied history. It gives an illusion that this kind of work, this kind of writing, is new. And it’s not. Science fiction and fantasy has always been home to progressive thought and structure, to diverse characters and creators, and to futures that did more than glorify the past.
So my own thoughts on progressive science fiction and fantasy are…complicated. But ultimately I feel that it’s the start to an important conversation. And I feel that if the word connects us to, rather than divides us from, the progressive work that has been done since the beginning of science fiction and fantasy from the marginalized and trailblazing authors engaged in the genres, then it’s incredibly valuable, and I’m honored to be included in that tradition.
AS: What is it about these genres that you enjoy most?
CP: I’ve described speculative fiction (what science fiction and fantasy fall into) as a genre defined by its mandate to break rules. What makes a story speculative is what separates it from the “real” world in some profound way. And I feel there’s a great power there, especially for those who often found or find the “real” world around them suffocating. Who felt or feel powerless in the face of things they couldn’t or can’t fight back against or control. So one reason that I love speculative fiction is that it can offer an escape from that. There’s a reason why portals are so popular in fantasy stories, that allow characters to slip into another world. Or grant people superpowers that allow them to fight what otherwise feels impossible to engage with. That can be freeing, as a reader, to imagine and to experience vicariously through the stories.
But it’s more than that. More than just escape. As a writer, speculative fiction demonstrates that sometimes the rules that we break, that so profoundly differ from the “real” world that stories become science fiction or fantasy, are themselves constructs. The rules are just what people have accepted as necessary or true without fully exploring that, without questioning that. And speculative fiction can push people to see that the supposed truth, the “reality” around them, is as much fiction as martians or magic. That, for me, is the true power and beauty of speculative fiction.
AS: What advice do you have for writers in these genres?
CP: Probably to never get so lost on the speculative premise of your work that you forget that the heart of every story is in the characters, the setting, the action, the moving parts. A lot of times (and I know I did this a lot myself) the allure of the Big Idea can sort of lead people away from making sure they’re telling a story, first and most. And however inventive or interesting the premise is, that’s not enough to make effective or engaging fiction. After that, just be brave! Break rules! Imagine different worlds!
AS: In an interview on "Spectrum West with Al Ross", you have said that one of your first windows into speculative fiction was R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. Which Goosebumps book has influenced you the most in your writing?
CP: Haha I mean I learned to love reading through Goosebumps. They were the first time that I really connected with books and they sparked an interest in the weird and speculative that lasts to this day. And I think they really do have some great lessons on craft tucked away in them, though obviously they’re geared toward children. Thinking back, it’s difficult to really pull them apart in my mind as individual books rather than a series, though. There are some I remember liking more, like One Day at Horrorland and Ghost Beach but I think when it comes to influence it’s more the collective weight of them that resonates. The way that Stine played with children not being believed by adults, being gaslit about very real dangers. Or the way that he hit on the friendships kids have, friendly but always with a bit of a competitive edge. And of course his fearlessness to let things get incredibly weird and not apologize for it. I’ve since gone back and reread pretty much the entire original series over the past few years and that’s still something that stands out to me, even during some of the more unfortunate moments in the series. It’s not afraid to swing for the fences when it comes to an off-the-wall idea, and I greatly admire that.
AS: What is your advice on learning or getting inspiration from books that writers enjoy?
CP: Don’t be embarrassed! I think that shame is something that’s hard to fight sometimes when faced with “being a writer” (whatever that really means). We learn through what gets taught to us what is essentially “acceptable” to like. And we learn from what those around us like, and what gets recommended to us, and what is popular and what gets movies or television shows based off of it. All of these act as pressures pushing writers to conform to a more limited idea of what good writing is and what it can be. Especially as people go through school and the social and educational pressures there, it’s easy to abandon things that you really enjoy out of shame or embarrassment. And that’s a loss, because for me embracing those niche joys can fuel my creativity in unique and wonderful ways. So don’t be embarrassed, but do also be prepared to look on what you like in a critical way, and seek to understand why you like it, and how you can explore and use that as a writer.
AS: You also mentioned in the interview that you review speculative compact stories on your blog Quick Sip Reviews. Do you think that reviewing other works of literature has helped you write your own stories?
CP: Sometimes? I think that in a lot of ways it’s a great way to learn about craft, and to think about structure, character, tone, voice, all of that. There’s a reason, after all, why creative writing classes all tend to have a reading component, and a criticism component. Reviewing is great for thinking about stories and can be a tool to help strengthen critical muscles for a writer to better engage with their own work. What reviewing helps the most with, though, is reviewing. Which shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Examining paintings in a show or museum can help a person appreciate and articulate things about paintings that they hadn’t been able to before. But that won’t necessarily help you paint better. It can get wheels turning that can lead to that, but the work of writing is always best honed through writing. And though I do think reviewing has pushed me to want to be a better writer and to maybe have an idea of what that looks like, it’s only through writing again and again and again that I think I’ve actually been able to get closer to that idea.
AS: It has been a busy year for you! Along with publishing The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories, you also edited a new book, We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2020, alongside guest editor C.L. Clark according to Amazon. Can you describe the importance of diversity in books and short stories?
CP: I needed stories I was never exposed to until I was out of college. Needed them to see parts of myself that I was in denial about, that I didn’t have the language to even think about. And these stories were never given to me, and more than that they were often marginalized and hidden from me so that I didn’t even know they existed. Too many people are in that kind of boat. Aren’t aware that these stories are not new. That they have been told. And told again. And again. And each time they are pushed away and they are hidden and they are censored and they are burned. In the name of protecting people. From? Themselves? The truth of their hearts and identities?
Diversity in writing opens up the world. It’s a portal through which people can step and find that things they thought were impossible are within their grasp. That ways they’ve felt so alone are connections to communities waiting to welcome them. But only if they find those portals. Only if those stories make it to their hands. So I am incredibly invested in trying to get those kinds of stories into as many hands as I can. To celebrate them and to highlight them and to be loud about them. Because there are people out there who need them, like I needed them. Like I need them still.
Charles Payseur’s book The Burning Day and Other Strange Stories is available on Amazon in either paperback or on Kindle. You can also support Charles on his Patreon and read his reviews on his blog Quick Sip Reviews.