March 2020

Interview with Author K.G. Anderson

Can you tell us a little what your story, "Wishbone," is about?

It's about a 79-year-old woman whose politician grandson has succeeded in passing legislation to fund infrastructure repairs and universal daycare, as well as some programs favored by the far right. He's going to accomplish all that by ending Medicare and Social Security at age 80 and sending the elderly to euthanasia centers. The story begins the week before the grandmother must report to be killed.

How did you come up with the idea?

It was part of a series of stories I wrote for B Cubed Press, which publishes the Alternative Truths series of stories and essays responding to the current political climate. I wrote two stories for Alternative Truths: Endgames, and sold them the shorter story. It was wonderful to find that "Wishbone" worked for a less overtly political science fiction anthology.

I wrote "Wishbone" because I think it's a chilling but all-too-plausible outcome of the current economy. It is darkly amusing to watch audiences when I read the story, nodding along with the mix of benefits for the young and for the right--until they realize that all the programs will be funded by killing a class of people.

What is your inspiration for writing as a whole?

I'm definitely inspired by taking commonplace ideas and extending them out to their logical or fantastical limits. I'm also inspired by voices. The combination of an interesting idea with a distinctive protagonist drives most of my stories. A few years back I had the opportunity to do a phone interview with Harlan Ellison. With his amazing voice ringing in my ears (and his voice did ring), I turned to my computer and wrote a story in which a character as passionate as Harlan transforms a young man's life.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I grew up in the Washington D.C. area during the Vietnam Era--that's definitely why I'm fascinated by social policy, politics, and protest movements. My father and my uncles were readers, so I was exposed to a wide range of fiction and commentary through their libraries and the magazines they read, particularly The New Yorker. I've written fiction and poetry all my life, and had the opportunity to take the "Daily Themes" fiction writing workshop at Yale. I went from there to Columbia Journalism school, and put in many years as a newspaper reporter, magazine journalist, and arts reviewer. Like a lot of journalists, I tried writing mystery novels. Ten years ago I fell in love with a man who ran a science fiction bookstore. That got me started writing short-form speculative fiction. Attending the Viable Paradise workshop on Martha's Vineyard gave me the tools I needed to start selling what I was writing. I've sold 30 stories in the past five years--alternate history, flash, Weird West, fantasy, science fiction, and even some horror.

Where can listeners find more of your work?

There's a list of my stories, many of them available online, and a few of them on podcasts, at writerway.com/fiction

Any new work we should keep an eye out for?

My favorite story, "Where the Train Goes," came out in Galaxy's Edge in November. I've just sold "Heroes of the Bridge," a quirky story about statues and their political vicissitudes, to the online magazine The Colored Lens. That should be out later this winter.

(And just for Juli's curiosity: What are you reading now?)

I'm reading one of the late Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano novels, La giostra degli scambi (The Overnight Kidnapper) and I'm reading it in both my (rusty) Italian and in English.

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Editor's Note: If you enjoyed this story, you might be interested in reading the whole anthology, Infinite Lives: Short Tales of Longevity, with many more great stories. It's available on Amazon (ebook/print) and is free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

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