Writer Spotlight: Marc A. Criley
Welcome to the 18th installment of Writer Spotlight. This week’s focus is Marc A. Criley. I’ve reviewed 14 of Criley’s pieces, 11 of them individually on Inkfoundry’s “Get WYSR” feed. (In case you didn’t know, Inkfoundry is a wonderful and free resource that aggregates short fiction and poetry pieces!)
Recurring Themes:
Beautiful sci-fi descriptions
Not giving up humanity in the face of tech
Regional dialect representation
Grief / Loss
Endearing & bittersweet tone
Day One - May 14
Jezendra races to find out what happened to her husband on Pluto’s ice.
Coming home from space.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two are both sci-fi and both employ vivid descriptions!
Individually:
"Diamond Tear” is a sci-fi with drag racing, heartbreak, and a love story all entwined in one.
"Wheat Bread and Honeycomb” is a drabble with beautiful prose about someone coming back home from space. There’s a lot happening here in 100 words. This one was published in Worlds of Possibility.
Day Two - May 15
Giant ticks plague North Alabama and giant possums rise to meet the challenge.
4. “Robot Coal” | WYSR Review
The coal-fired robot has reached the end of their existence.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories are pretty different, though I did note that both have moments of loss, one more than the other. This reminded me of “Diamond Tear.”
Individually:
“Possumsaurus Amicus” had elements of horror (giant ticks!) wonderful regional dialect representation from Northern Alabama, and moments of humor around absurdity and moments of sadness / animal loss.
“Robot Coal” has themes of robots, end of life, and wanting to die as oneself. This is also a drabble. The grief/loss theme definitely reminded me of “Diamond Tear.”
Day Three - May 16
5. “A Multitude of Sparks Descend” | WYSR Review
Two beings from the beginning of time look for each other endlessly.
6. “Entries From My Grandmother’s Diary Pertaining To My Father’s Early Inflammation” | WYSR Review
A magical sickness that refuses to get better.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories are pretty different.
Individually:
“A Multitude of Sparks Descend” has gorgeous prose and cosmic entities. The prose descriptions reminded me of “Wheat Bread.” There’s a theme about finding someone very important, which echoed “Diamond Tear.”
“Entries From My Grandmother’s Diary Pertaining To My Father’s Early Inflammation” was a delight! I loved the alternative format of the diary. The magical fire sickness was really well done, and the colloquialisms reminded me somewhat of “Possumsaurus.”
Day Four - May 17
7. “The Golden Rays of the Morning Sun” | WYSR Review
Mika’s body is mostly tech. Except for the parts they will never give up.
8. “Another Leg” | WYSR Review
The two puppets are breaking free.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both incorporate the concept of breaking free from strings and limbs/body parts that can be replaced.
Individually:
“The Golden Rays of the Morning Sun” for sure reminded me of “Robot Coal” in the specific theme of wanting to die as oneself, instead of utilizing tech to prolong sentience, if not humanity.
“Another Leg” is a drabble about escaping a puppeteer, but also a sacrifice of a limb in order to gain a better life. This was uniquely interesting to read next to “Golden Rays.”
Day Five - May 18
9. “Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain” | WYSR Review
A father and son try to keep in touch over long decades of working in space.
10. “Fencepost/Tree” | WYSR Review
A long-suffering oak experiences kindness.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both involve long stretches of time in a short word count.
Individually:
“Sun-Dappled Sheets of Methane Rain” has a tone of melancholy throughout, though the story has definite joyful moments. This one possessed that beautiful prose as in “Wheatbread,” “Sparks Descend,” and “Golden Rays.” Criley has a talent for describing space! There is also a theme here about finding someone again after a long time, which echoes “Sparks Descend.”
“Fencepost/Tree” A very short flash fiction with themes of healing and nature. This reminded me of “Wheatbread” in that the tone itself seemed healing in a way. Actually, now that I think about the theme of healing, “Entries” also comes to mind because of the healing of the fire sickness.
Day Six - May 19
11. “Reenactment” | WYSR Review
Chrys has a deadly skill that the government keeps abusing.
12. “Daffodil Ghosts” | WYSR Review
There’s a reason she asked them to plant daffodils.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both feel somewhat haunting and also have themes of dying/death.
Individually:
“Reenactment” is a story with a uniquely interesting premise regarding Chrys’s ability. There’s also a theme of grief / seeing a loved one pass, which reminds me of “Diamond Tear.”
“Daffodil Ghosts” A drabble with a gut punch when you realize the POV characters are ghosts. It did remind me of “Wheatbread” and “Fencepost/Tree” because it somehow manages to feel hopeful.
Day Seven - May 20
13. “Cozack and Wallie Got the Zoomies!”
The dog and the spider-like being get to run around the park together.
14. “This Tattered, Marooned Sentinel” | WYSR Review
Finding something unexpected on the moon.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two are pretty different.
Individually:
“Cozack and Wallie Got the Zoomies!” is a sweet and cozy piece about two people, one seemingly alien, one perhaps human, as they watch their pets play in the park. This story has a lot of cute animal imagery and descriptions, which reminded me of “Possumsaurus,” though this one is more restful. I especially liked the contrast between both the people and the pets, and how one is familiar, and the other alien. It also has that sweet tone that I noticed in “Wheatbread,” “Daffodil,” and “Fencepost/Tree.”
“This Tattered, Marooned Sentinel” This might be my favorite drabble of Criley’s. I’ve long wondered if a culture existing before ours were as technologically advanced. The concept of a saurian astronaut from our solar system was really cool! Also, this one echoed the themes of grief/loss, as in “Diamond Tear,” “Robot Coal,” “Daffodil Ghosts,” “Golden Rays,” and “Reenactment.”
Emmie’s Personal Favorite: (hard to pick!) “Entries From My Grandmother’s Diary Pertaining To My Father’s Early Inflammation”
Summary!
If I were to summarize Criley's style in one sentence, I would say he often writes gorgeous sci-fi descriptions contrasted with down-to-earth regional dialects, and utilizes themes on grief and/or loss, animals, and refusing to give up one’s humanity.
Interview Questions
What are the themes you tend to return to the most in your work overall? Why do think that is?
Criley: While my stories span a whole range of subjects and settings and themes, there are a few that really resonate with me, and I find that the stories embodying these themes come more easily.
An overall theme that infuses a lot of my writing is a tone of "melancholy optimism." To me, this means that while a story's events may end well, that ending can come at a high--sometimes very high--price. Not everything I write has this tone, but it is something I return to again and again. Why does this appeal to me? I think it's because I'm an optimist, though not a starry-eyed one 🤩 I believe problems can be solved, and things can work out in a good way, but it takes effort, and cost, dealing with setbacks, sometimes pain, and sometimes everything you've got. This idea is reflected in a number of my stories.
Two more themes I return to are closely associated with specific settings, with the theme being an emergent property of the setting:
I'm quite fond of my home in the rocky and forested hills of rural north Alabama, even though I didn't grow up here. Though the politics and the odious cultural aspects of this state are too often quite loathsome, it is a landscape rich in variety and diversity, thick with stone, plant, animal and spiritual life. Fossils dating back hundreds of millions of years reside in rocky outcrops right alongside indigenous artifacts chipped from stone five thousand years ago. And just over the hills is one of the key development centers of science and engineering that launched humans into space. There is a deep history to this place, and I've built on that in some of my stories.
Almost the opposite extreme of the hills of 'bama are the far-flung reaches of the solar system. I find the audacity of carrying a little bit of Earth (whether it's measured in cubic meters or cubic kilometers) out to the distant planets, moons, and asteroids, and making a home there and in transit between them, terribly interesting. The distance, the cold, the isolation, the tentativeness of maintaining humanity's toehold in a unrelentingly hostile environment. We don't just survive there, we live, love, laugh, cry, have fun, get depressed, experience joy. We bring the full spectrum of humanity and what we are to other places along with us no matter how far we are from home. That excites me.
2. What is one of the characters in your short stories/flash pieces that you relate to the most, and why?
Criley: Those set in the region where I live are the most relatable. Possumsaurus amicus essentially takes place partly on the hillside behind my house, and the rest of it in the surrounding area. (Alabamians will recognize some the places and maybe pick up on the snark that slipped in.) Along with that though, I often write characters that are good at what they do--without being "The One"--through training and experience, that value their friendships with others, including the aspect of being best riends with their spouse or partner. When I'm writing such characters I end up just drawing from my own persona, or at least what I'd like it to be.
3. Do you tend to start writing a story idea out of a particular element, like character, setting, or point of view?
Criley: Typically for me a story builds off some activity or place of interest that catches my attention. Daffodil Ghosts comes from the daffodils that dot the rural landscape each spring marking where a homestead once stood; Diamond Tear coalesced around the vast frozen nitrogen plain of Sputnik Planitia on Pluto, to which I added ice boating; Reenactment was built on the idea of a superpower that left its possessor fatally wounded whenever it was exercised.
4. What short fiction author do you look up to? Why?
Criley: S.B. Divya's short stories (and now her novels) combined heart, humanity, science fiction, joy and hope in a way that enthralled me. I joined the 2017 Worldcon just so I could nominate her short story, Binaries, for the Hugo. And I've been a fan ever since.
5. Anything else you’d like to say about your work?
Criley: While I avidly read science fiction and fantasy since I was a child, it wasn't until I got into my early 50s that I decided to sit down and try to write some myself. It took a couple years, but I finally got my first semi-pro and then pro sale. In general, one is never too old to start writing. In my case, I've got decades of fantasy & science fiction under my belt, along with a lifetime of experience and imagination to draw from to create the stories I write.