The Future Rarely Concedes To Our Demands
Luggage, Expectations, and also audio short fiction
When I or someone close to me is headed off on a trip I often get an anxiety dream in which I’m traveling and some crucial aspect of the trip is going wrong. I might get off at the wrong stop on the train to the airport. The shuttle to the airline terminal might be running late. Those of you with anxiety know the drill.
Although I haven’t traveled anywhere since January because of the pandemic, someone close to me recently did. Sure enough I had an anxiety travel dream the night before their trip (they’re fine, by the way).
In the dream I had paid for and was headed on a long-awaited trip. I had perfectly packed a suitcase with exactly the correct items I would need for the trip and sent it ahead to the airline, as one does (in dreams). For some reason I was staying with my niece C (sorry, nieces K and M), and she had booked a different flight that went more or less to the same destination. Because I was now traveling with her, I had only the suitcase I was carrying, not the luggage that had gone on ahead. That luggage had already left and I would never be able to get it back, so I would have to make do with what I had.
Waking up from anxiety dreams creates a whole new wave of emotion. First the still heavy weight and adrenelin of the anxiety in the body; then the realization that it was a dream, which often creates a sense of relief. Sometimes the memory of the dream sloughs off quickly at this point, fading into the usual random steady background chatter of anxiety.
Other times I’m intrigued by the specifics of the dream and how the anxiety played out and what it might reveal to me about my own psyche and where I am.
In the case of this dream, the perfectly packed suitcase seemed to me to represent (in dream terms) the expectations I have had in the past for the future I thought I would be living in. The dream required me to acknowledge that this luggage is gone beyond my ever getting it back. It was gone from the moment I packed it and sent it ahead, since the future rarely concedes to our demands of it.
When looked at from this angle the dream offers a reassuring if sobering message about letting go of expectations. We are always only traveling with the luggage we have in hand at every given moment. That’s what we have to make do with.
AUDIO SHORT FICTION FROM SERIAL BOX
I’m delighted to announce that Serial Box is producing audio versions of a dozen of my short stories (many of which are available in print form in my short fiction and essay collection The Very Best of Kate Elliott, published by Tachyon Books).
So far five stories are available. More will be posted over the next few months.
Riding the Shore of the River of Death (set in the Crown of Stars world)
A Simple Act of Kindness (alt-history Crown of Stars)
Making the World Live Again
The Queen’s Garden
The Gates of Joriun
NARRATIVE WORLDS
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, over at the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) Nebula Conference Online, I’m hosting a Narrative Worlds webinar series.
Narrative Worlds is a monthly discussion between me and a guest, looking into a single specific worldbuilding topic in depth. To attend the live recording you must have a Nebula Online Conference membership (and you don’t have to be a SFWA member to purchase such a membership).
A week after each recording, SFWA posts the webinar on their You Tube channel for anyone to watch. Here are the links to the first two:
With Tade Thompson: How Much Worldbuilding Is Too Much? How Little is Too Little?
With Zen Cho: Prose Style as World Building
Forthcoming on December 20: N.K. Jemisin and I discuss Power in World building and World building as Power.
It’s scheduled to run on Sunday evening in Europe, the afternoon on continental USA/Canada, and in the morning in Hawaii and super early morning (Monday) for Australia/NZ. Unfortunately the live recording doesn’t really work for Asia but I could only do so much given the Earth’s propensity to be round. If the series continues I may try to adjust the schedule for a few of the webinars in order to talk to writers resident in Asia. And I’m delighted that SFWA has a You Tube channel for easy viewing by anyone (with an internet connection) at their convenience.
WORKSHOP
Clarion West has announced its Winter/Spring 2021 workshop series.
On April 25, 2021 I’ll be teaching a seminar on world building through material culture and social space (with exercises).
As I announced with the last newsletter, my Patreon is up and running. I am so appreciative of those who have supported so far, and I well understand that not everyone can or wants to. My goal is to write two “Nuts and Bolts” posts every month for the basic tier. Outtakes and drabbles from published works, snippets from works in progress, and an inside look at a new world I’m building will be available for higher tiers.
I suspect I have already shared this photo of Finn, but I don’t mind sharing it again because in this wild and woolly timeline we all can use a bright, happy face.
Best wishes to all of you as we approach year’s end. Best wishes to us all.
I could not do this without you. Thank you.
Kate Elliott