Rae of Light

SciFi Picked Me It came as quite a revelation that SciFi was my chosen genre for my second novel. At the time I didn’t analyse my choice but now I think I understand the why. The genre gives me the freedom to explore ideas to an end point which could be. I can people my world with whomever I please. The very possibility thrills me. Fantasy does this too, but there is something linked to the here and now in SciFi which cannot be escaped I feel. It centres around the fact technology is moving at such a pace now that in my lifespan telephones have evolved into flat slabs of plastic, keyboards can be rolled up and you can tell your TV what you want to watch. Hell, our house didn't get a Blaupunkt TV till I was 13. When I’m reading SciFi these days, it feels as though I’m reading predictions of a future lurking on the very near horizon. Book the 1st Where Rainbows Hide was born out of my love for chimpanzees. As a child I always wanted to have one as a pet and was distr...

Why SciFi? For years Sci Fi has been the purview of male writers. Specifically white male writers. This is the reason Octavia Butler was repeatedly asked in interviews: Why Science Fiction? And her response was always “Why not!” My introduction to screen Sci Fi was through my mother. Growing up in the 60s and 70s, television meant that series such as Dr Who and Star Trek were making their way onto the small screen. I didn’t learn about Dr Who till I came to the UK and went to university. Because of my mother however, Beam me up Scottie, Lieutenant Uhura kissing Captain Kirk and Vulcan salutes regularly featured in conversations. This at a time in my particular part of the world, when cross-racial kissing was frowned upon and not every household owned a TV. The wealthiest families polished their set with Mr Sheen every Friday before friends came round to watch The World at War or Dallas after dinner. Interestingly, I initially only consumed Sci Fi on the smal...