Cruising with Pamela Urfer and Iris Shaw
Interview Series Part 6 | Getting to know the authors featured in "Take Me There"
Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel is a collection of short stories featuring characters on the move. Whether transcending to a higher plane of existence, exploring dangerous forests, or terraforming hostile planets, this collection has it all.
Learn more from the authors in our anthology in this week’s interview series!
Edith by Pamela Urfer
Edith is a Magical Realism story about a young woman who cannot be contained by any physical means. The townsfolk both adore and resent her, her antics something beyond their collective control. Pamela’s story is an adventure that borders on fairy tale and is about finding one’s place in the world.
The Book of Thomas by Iris Shaw
The Book of Thomas is a unique blend of Science Fiction and Fantasy that transports the reader into the wondrous Library of Time. Thomas gets lost in the unending Library and must travel to parts unknown to find his way home. Iris weaves a tale that calls back to great historical classics while introducing a wholly original and inspiring adventure.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Pamela: I have a thing about islands. I loved Ursula LeGuin’s Earthsea books because they were all about islands. I’ve visited quite a lot of them – Martha's Vineyard, Catalina, Moloka’i, Skye, Harris and Lewis, Shetland and Orkney. I feel a certain magic there as if something is contained on an island that can’t easily escape.
Iris: I’ve always wanted to go to Italy, for the art museums and the architecture. I used to spend hours leafing through Renaissance art history books at the library, squinting at black-and-white reproductions of paintings and frescoes – I’d love to see them in real life.
Would you travel to the setting of your story? Why or why not?
Pamela: I have. Edith’s town is everywhere, nowhere. I know it well because it is my town, too. And probably yours.
Iris: I would go to the Library of Time any day (actually, if I could go there, I might never come home). The idea of a nearly endless library, with all the books that have ever been written or dreamt about, is paradise to me. I’d definitely, happily, get lost.
If you had 24 hours to live in any fictional world/universe, which one would it be?
Pamela: That would be Narnia, especially The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. (Islands again!) At the end of the world, Reepicheep, the valiant mouse, gets off and goes on further in his coracle to beyond the end of the world. That scene always makes me cry.
Iris: A difficult question! Ultimately I’d visit the House, from Piranesi. It’s such a fascinating place, endless halls full of statues and the sea. I’d appreciate the solitude – and 24 hours would be short enough to ensure you wouldn’t lose your memory or go insane (always a positive).
If you only had eight words to describe your story, what would they be?
Pamela: Funny, ironic, releasing, satisfying, seeking, mysterious.
Iris: Book, Strange, Lost, Home, Vast, Changing, Wander, Read.
Describe your writing style and what readers can expect from you in the future.
Pamela: I’m not sure how I would describe that. Speculative, for sure. A “what if...” sort of approach.
Iris: Writing style? Verbose, a bit rambling, lots of commas, and semicolons; I love a good semicolon. My default is always more, longer words - I think I might have swallowed a thesaurus accidentally at birth. As to what readers can expect, I’ll be writing more about the Library of Time in the future; that’s a world I’m excited to return to. I’m also currently working on a murder mystery serial.
How has travel informed or influenced your writing?
Pamela: Broadened my horizons, as they say it will. It’s always interesting to see how other cultures deal with similar problems, such as immigration or overcrowding. Some countries are losing population, and so they are giving away houses, while others need workers yet turn away applicants.
Describe your all-time favorite vacation or holiday trip. Tell us what made it so special.
Pamela: Camping with Dad.
Iris: I went to Prince Edward Island on a summer holiday, years ago now. You can drive across the island in half an hour, and it’s beautiful in August; the grass is still green, and the roads are red because of the iron oxide in the soil. Even the asphalt has a red tinge. We stayed on the north shore, a short drive away from the beach. The days were perfect, never too hot, so we spent hours playing badminton or lying in hammocks. It’s a wonderful place, and I hope to go again someday.
What is your favorite aspect of your story? What inspired you to write it?
Iris: My favourite aspect of my story will always be the Library of Time itself. I loved coming up with all the different rooms and collections, trying to imagine what a library would be like if it contained all the books ever written. This particular story, though, was inspired by a drawing I did of a person standing in a vast gallery full of books. I’m not much good at drawing, but the idea in the picture sparked something. The person I’d drawn looked small, lost, and unhappy, and I wondered why?
Pamela: My husband's grandmother is my hero. She was an unstoppable traveler, even though her doctor told her to "slow down" in her old age. Sure enough, she had a heart attack in a taxi, hurrying to catch a train. What a way to go!
What would you tell your readers before being launched in an exploratory spacecraft?
Iris: Don't set anything too large on fire while I'm gone.
About the Authors
Pamela Urfer — CA, USA
Pamela Urfer is an accomplished novelist and playwright with years of theatre directing and college teaching behind her. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley (BA: Comparative Literature) and UC Santa Cruz (MA – Literature.) Retired now, she keeps her hand in by writing short stories and posting on substack. Her publication, xianbrainstretch.substack.com, is a weekly digest of the writings of important Christian thinkers.
Iris Shaw— CAN
Iris Shaw is a writer and regular purveyor of bad gardening advice. She dabbles in fiction and poetry at Long Oddities.
Thanks for going on this journey with us. We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into a couple of the stories in our upcoming anthology. Feel free to participate by answering some of the questions in the comments below!
Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel
Embark on a journey across the realms of genre with "Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel," a specially curated anthology of 24 stories from emerging, visionary indie authors from around the world. Each tale is a gateway into the human experience, a portal leading readers into new and undiscovered territory. From interplanetary space travel to the deep recesses of the mind, this collection takes readers on adventures spanning time and space and everything in between.
Featuring stories by
Brian Reindel, Brylle Gaviola, Christopher Deliso, Clarice Sanchez Meneses, C.R. Langille, Daniel W. Davison, Devon Field, Galia Ignatius, H. A. Titus, Iris Shaw, J.M. Elliott, Jack Massa, James Castor, Joe Gold, LB Waltz, M.S. Arthadian, Melissa Rose Rogers, Olivia St. Lewis, Pamela Urfer, Randall Hayes, Shaina Read, Shannon Aaron Stephens, Victor D. Sandiego, Winston Malone
