Welcome to Fantasy Magazine! We’re delighted to bring your story “Skyscrapers That Twist to the Sun” to our readers. Can you tell us how this story came about?

My background in horror stories and my love of fractured fairy tales inspired this piece. I started with the premise—what could Jack’s beanstalk have been made of, and what treasures or abominations could something like that bring to the world? Science fiction is full of thrilling conversation about human responsibility to the environment, and the ethics of progress. I thought about what kind of people would be well-meaning enough and ambitious enough to create living live/work structures—and where that could lead; harmony or hellscape. And we’ve just sown the seeds here, to get the reader thinking about the larger implications of this dream world. Fully played out, any of the three main characters could end up a world savior, and any an archvillain.

I love the authenticity of the dialog between Shaundra and Dineisha at the start of the story; it rang very true to life. Are mother-daughter relationships a theme that you’ve explored in other work, or a dynamic that you’re particularly drawn to? Or is this just what felt natural for this particular story?

I write a lot about powerful people, and powerful children are fantastic characters, including in fiction that isn’t deliberately written for children. But I also write with representation in mind. It was a very deliberate choice to make this machinist a woman and a mother, and one who is particularly warm and committed to a style of gentle parenting. Women in STEM face a great deal more difficulty than many are ready to admit, for fear of losing face and opportunities if they complain. In fact, my family has suffered great loss due to this phenomenon. I didn’t grow up with many portrayals about young single mothers teaching their girl-children pre-elementary level engineering as a bonding ritual. I was glad for the opportunity to imagine that kind of family.

 What was the most difficult part of writing this story? What came easiest?

I made the decision to keep the story science fantasy instead of science fiction. I was tempted to make it a bit more technical, with descriptions of the chemicals and processes of creating the organic metal, but those details would take away from the heart of the story, which was more about impossible dreams suddenly made possible than about immersive and specific worldbuilding.

The easiest part was writing the mutual respect and admiration between mother and very young daughter. I took inspiration from my sister and my niece for that one.

These lines really struck home for me: “Kids were always coming up with such beautiful ideas. Shaundra wondered what age caused you to see the other side of it all. At what age did all the fearlessness go away?” There is a degree of cynicism that creeps in as we get older. What are your thoughts on that, both the fearless hope of Dineisha and your young scholar, and Shaundra’s wistful pragmatism?

Well, it’s experience! At the center of this story are three people in different stages of experience, with different perspectives of what power they have to make and control their impact on the world. Shaundra has experienced enough in her life to be concerned about how even the most beautiful well-meaning dreams can be nightmares waiting to happen if not properly guarded. The choice of whether or not to encourage or discourage the younger characters is her main conflict, especially as the decision would have a direct impact on Dineisha’s development. It’s a universal conflict within a parent-child relationship, to decide when to protect and when to step back and release the need for control. It’s a scary feeling for an adult not to not know exactly what to do, which is why the kids, in their fearlessness, can be so inspiring.

What are you working on now, and what can our readers look forward to seeing from you in the future?

I am working on a body of fabulist horror folklore with commentary on cultural development. My mission with these works is to increase BIPOC representation in speculative spaces and address societal ills in easily accessible ways.

I am also working on my debut novella, and have a few short stories, poems, and lyrical essays scheduled to be published early 2023. You can find my body of work at https://ebrownwrites.com