Interview with Author Louis Evans

February 2020

Hi, Louis. Can you tell us a little what your story, "The Reinvention of Death," is about?

"The Reinvention of Death" is about, well, death and immortality. It takes place in a far-future post-death utopia, a sort of nanotechnological garden of Eden, and it explores how that state might break down and why.

How did you come up with the idea?

Like a lot of stories, "Reinvention" is a question that I'm asking myself and an answer I'm considering. The question is, how should we think about death? What should we make of the fact that every one of us is going to die, and what should we do about it? And I mean “what should we do” in both a philosophical and a pragmatic sense—should we accept death? When it becomes technologically and scientifically possible to abolish death, should we do so?

The answer--well, I think it's cheating to summarize. The reason to write a story is to shape an answer that can't be stated explicitly, although the narrating character in the story comes to believe they know what the answer is. You'll have to listen and see whether you agree—or come to another conclusion altogether.

What is your inspiration for writing as a whole?

Tough question. I have a different inspiration for every project. I don’t think of myself as inspired to write in the abstract—instead, I’m motivated by the possibilities of an individual story.

When it comes to an individual story, I'm inspired to find out what lives inside an idea. Working on a story or a novel turns a single idle thought into an entire imagined world with characters, consequences and depth, and I’m always excited to discover it.

Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm from NYC originally and I live there now, though I've spent time in California, DC, and Massachusetts. I've been a published author of science fiction for just under a year. Before that I wrote for The Toast, Cliterary Salon, Shipwreck (a humorous erotic fanfiction competition), BAHFest (a bad-science comedy show), and a bunch of other San Francisco-area writing events.

Where can listeners find more of your work?

I've got a story, "Flash Crash," out in Escape Pod, and another, "Rocket Man", forthcoming from Interzone. My website evanslouis.com has my most up-to-date publications, if you're listening to this in my distant future.

Any new work we should keep an eye out for?

I've got two new stories coming out soon, "Rocket Man" in Interzone and "Baboon Brain Brick" in The New Modality.

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

Right now I'm going through Religio Medici and Urne Buriall by Sir Thomas Browne. I'm also working through The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, and William Shunn's The Accidental Terrorist. (I may have a problem!) The last books I actually finished were The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and Illuminatus! part 1: The Eye in the Pyramid by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.

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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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