Source: Anton Rose

I’m here with Anton Rose, my fellow Writers of the Future writer-winner from Durham, England. He very graciously volunteered to answer the following questions:

Tell me about yourself. Where are you from? What’s your background?

I’m from Durham, which is a small city in the north east of England. My background is in Theology, and I completed a PhD here in 2015. I’ve been writing on and off throughout my life, but I picked it up again more seriously back in 2013 and got hooked on writing short stories.

What is your favorite speculative fiction genre? Why?

One of the things that makes speculative fiction so exciting is the breadth of the field, and so I can’t really narrow it down to one genre. My tastes range from magical realism, like One Hundred Days of Solitude, to post-apocalyptic fiction like The Road or Station Eleven, to high-concept science fiction like The Dispossessed.

What’s your favorite book? Why?

It’s impossible to pick a favorite, but one that I keep coming back to over the years is  A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. I first read it when I was a child, and I’ve re-read it several times since then. It’s a relatively simple story but it’s told beautifully, with a timeless, almost mythological feel.

Illustration by Anthony Moravian

Star Trek or Star Wars? Why?

Star Wars. I wasn’t alive when the films were originally released, but I saw the digital remasters at the cinema and was blown away. I remember watching the battle of Hoth and thinking it was amazing. The Star Wars films (the original trilogy, at least) have an incredible sense of wonder, and I’ve also really enjoyed some of the videogames like Knights of the Old Republic and Jedi Outcast.

Which of your fellow writer-winner stories do you like the most? Why?

This is a tough choice, as there is so much great writing in the anthology. I’m going to go pick two. “Envoy in the Ice” by Dustin Steinecker is a science fiction story about a mysterious alien visitor. It is beautifully written, and the whole story is imbued with a sense of wonder. “Useless Magic” by Andrew Peery is a contemporary fantasy about several generations of failing magicians. This is a great example of using fantastical elements to explore real relationships, and the story has some beautiful imagery alongside a strong emotional core.

To read Anton’s story, “A Glowing Heart”, please buy your copy today of Writers of the Future: Volume 33. If you already have a copy and have read it, please take a few moments to click this link and place your review: http://amzn.to/2kNE5eh If you haven’t gotten your copy yet, then still click this link, get your book, read it, and review it!