Time doing what it does, apparently
Dear friends,
Grief, meteorology, and world events are contributing to an overwhelming sense of impending doom that is frankly making it hard to write positive science fiction. It's also more important at those times. Which is why I'm glad that my story "If the Weather Holds" came out in Analog this month (available to order here).
Because "If the Weather Holds," like most of my positive science fiction, isn't about a world in which we don't have really bad problems--or even a world in which we've solved all the really bad problems we know about and there are new ones. Like most of my positive science fiction, it's about the people who are trying to solve those problems. And I think that's the key. That no matter how bleak things are, there will be people who are trying to make them better, and you can work together with those people.
In other good news, one of my stories from last year, "A Pilgrimage to the God of High Places," is on the longlist for the British Science Fiction Award in short fiction (BSFA). You can see the rest of the august list here--great company to be in, much appreciated.
For anyone here who is a member of SFWA, I will be the host of SFWA's Writing Date over Zoom on Sunday, March 9, at 4:00-6:00 p.m. Central Time. Some chat, some cozy co-working over the internet, come if that's your sort of thing.
We're now in the part of the year where things are happening that I agreed to more or less on the theory that the future is science fiction and I was picking the things that sounded like nice science fiction. Friendly, optimistic, upbeat science fiction. Have tea with this person, have these people over for a movie, host the SFWA Writing Date? Sure, that doesn't sound at all dystopian, let's dream a dream of that happening for a while! And, as we all found out when 1984 and 2001 came and went, the future just keeps happening. It does! When we party like it's 1999 now, it means the opposite of what it used to! I am experiencing this on a very small personal scale. New story due in May? Absolutely! Wait, May is going to happen, though. May is a real thing. Tuesday is a real thing.
It's not that I ever consciously, rationally thought that they weren't. It's that there is a mode of existence when you're doing a lot of hospital or hospice time with someone very close to you, where that becomes the world. And then you emerge and find out that there was still more world. That's where I am now. There's still more world. I'm glad there's still more world. It's just more surprising than it should be. We'll get through it. Or we won't, who knows, maybe I'll just spend the rest of my life with my mind blown that time goes in the same direction always. That's fine too I guess.
Speaking of turning back the clock, I have been recalling comfort recipes of my childhood lately, specifically brownie variants. This month you get mint brownies, next month maybe (unless I think of something else that seems more urgent) cherry brownies. These mint brownies in particular were a revelation when one of my great-aunts turned...some age with a zero at the end! Or maybe a five! I remember the party, I remember trying a mint brownie and my mind exploding, but how old was I, how old was she, well, I expect these things are less important to you than brownies.
Excelsior, in the midst of it all,
Marissa
Mint Brownies
Bottom layer note: you can make basically any brownies you like for the bottom layer. This recipe will make a flat and uniform bottom layer with gluten in it, but they work just fine--I have checked--with a gluten-free brownie as well, or with whatever else you like for brownies as long as it goes in a 9x13 pan.
Bottom layer:
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter
4 eggs
1 c flour
1/2 t salt
16 oz. can chocolate syrup
1 t vanilla
Mix these ingredients in this order until they are well blended, pour into a greased 9x13 pan, bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Let cool at least another 30 minutes.
Middle layer:
2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter
2 T milk
1/2 t peppermint extract
Green food coloring if you are emotionally attached to that
Beat the first two together, then add the rest. Spread on the bottom layer and let stand a few minutes.
Top layer:
1 c. chocolate chips
6 T butter
Melt together on stove or in microwave, stirring until smooth. Pour over filling and let set. Will be fine in the fridge or freezer if you need them to set more quickly.