They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Jeff Young, who is participating in a Kickstarter with eSpec Books to publish his latest short story collection! To learn more on how you can get your hands on this collection and so much more, check out Two-For-One Science Fiction Novels.
What does Jeff love when he’s not writing adventurous tales? Spoiler alert: stepping back in time, indulging in out-of-this-world food, fanciful tales, and writing-mood music. Curious? Read on to learn more!
Favorite Place to be Someone Other Than Myself
Time to hit the Renaissance Faire. We’re off to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, my home faire, and a great place to decompress from the real world after a long day at work or run about with friends. 35 acres to roam in and 90 stage shows to entertain without even mentioning the eats. I have a season pass, so I never feel bad if I can’t spend the whole day. I’ll introduce you to the fantastic people I spend time with as well as a number of my artisan friends who sell their works there (Red Wyvern Studio, Beads and Ladies, Amber Forever Amber, and LaForge). Now mind you, we don’t have to play the role completely, because we are here to have fun, but it definitely makes a difference if you wear the clothes, know a bit of history and try to keep an accent in place. All of the above got me involved with a local theater where friends and I teach a class called “Step Back in Time,” which prepares kids for their first trip to faire and has run for 15 years now. The other thing I realized is that in order to get exactly what I might want to wear, I’ll probably have to make it myself. So, I started making my own clothing and selling some as well. When you enjoy something, it can lead you in unusual directions. People often ask, why don’t you work at faire, and the answer is simple — it’s where we go to have fun. So, join us, if you haven’t. You should try it, at least once.
Favorite Speculative Fiction Food Tour
Come on let’s go! It’s time for cocktails in the casino of Babylon 5, followed by a boisterous celebration with the Centuari Ambassador Londo Mollari. We’ll duck out the back before Security Chief Zack Allen has to show up and stop things from getting completely out of hand to join the Enterprise crew as they head to the conference on Babel. After a few more drinks, maybe Saurian Brandy or Romulan Ale, rubbing elbows with Tellorians, Andorians, and even 
Ambassador Sarek and an opportunity to sample those skittle-colored squares the Federation seems to love, we can jump ship and continue. A brief stop at Diagon Ally to frost the windows at Honeydukes with our breaths in anticipation, a chocolate frog or two, and it’s time to keep moving. The buffet just past edge of an abandoned town is amazing and full of treats of the East and the best ramen. We’ll stay for a moment and not wander too far since I’ve heard there is a bath house that caters to the denizens of the spirit world just around the bend. Also, we’ll just graze, since there’s an awful rumor that too much and we’d really be making pigs of ourselves.
I know you’d like to stop by Middle Earth for a moment, but the lembas would really fill us up too much and the main course is just ahead as we join the feast already in progress at the Red Keep in King’s Landing. With a menu that reads like the portion of the good book proclaimed from before the launch of the infamous holy hand grenade, we’d best pace ourselves. No, thank you, I think I will pass on the lamprey pie. Course after course with the fine wine from the Arbor and we may just have to loosen our belts like Robert Baratheon. But before you are completely full, there’s a little inn north of here and they just might have some chicken left, just maybe. Finally, we’ll stumble into the Restaurant at The End of the Universe just in time for the floorshow and dessert so that we can avoid the guilt of conversation with the Dish of the Day. Quite full and several billion years from now, we’ll stumble out the back doors until you lay eyes on this amazingly black on black spaceship you just have to see — what could possibly go wrong?
Favorite Thing to Share with Others
It is either books or music. Right now, I sell books for a living (even though I would rather be writing them) and if you ask me for my favorite, I find it often changes over time. Sure I’ve got my desert island book, Dune by Frank Herbert, which is not only a fantastic book, published the year I was born and still relevant, but my copy is also bound in leather and that has to come in handy in some way if you’re desperate to survive. At this very moment, were you looking for a book, I would definitely put A Starless Sea or A Memory Called Empire by in your hands. Erin Morgenstern’s A Starless Sea is a story of stories told through stories. Each chapter is bookended by a story or diary entry and over time the reader begins to realize that these anecdotes, no matter how fanciful, provide clues to the overall tale. It’s a beautiful modern-day fairytale, rich in metaphor and pop culture reference in the vein of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere.
On the other hand, Arkady Martine takes us deep into the future for an adventure steeped in inventive cultural references in A Memory Called Empire. An ambassador must find her way in the court of a foreign stellar empire and also discover the fate of her deceased predecessor, while carrying with her a copy of his memories. It’s richly imagined, and fans of C.J. Cherryh’s Foreigner books will find it a treat.
Since I sold music before moving over to books, I tend to change my favorites like I change my clothes. I certainly come back to things over and over like obscure ’80s, goth, industrial, symphonic and folk metal, jazz, and Celtic rock. Recently I’ve shared with others music to write to, like “Two Steps From Hell” from the album Battlecry or Basil Poledouris’ soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian, if you are planning on penning some epic or swords and horses fantasy. For those working on cyberpunk or space opera, there are plenty of mixes by Astral Throb and Odysseus on YouTube that will give you excellent background grooves to lay down words. Finally, if urban fantasy is your thing, you might want to check out some witch house, like the mix by Stimulus, also on YouTube.
Like chocolate and beer, books and music should be shared with your friends and more than likely you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what they bring to the party.
Jeff Young is a bookseller first and a writer second — although he wouldn’t mind a reversal of fortune.
He is an award-winning author who has contributed to the anthologies: Writers of the Future V.26, Afterpunk, In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk, Clockwork Chaos, Gaslight and Grimm, If We Had Known, Fantastic Futures 13, The Society for the Preservation of C.J. Henderson, TV Gods & TV Gods: Summer Programming, the Defending the Future Military SciFi Anthologies and the forthcoming Beer, Because Your Friends Aren’t That Interesting. Jeff’s own fiction is collected in Spirit Seeker and TOI Special Edition 2 — Diversiforms. He has also edited the Drunken Comic Book Monkey line, TV Gods and TV Gods — Summer Programming and now serves as the CMO for Fortress Publishing, Inc. He has led the Watch the Skies SF&F Discussion Group of Camp Hill and Harrisburg for nineteen years.
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Author Photo by Kelly Silverman-Metz
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I own that Games of Thrones cookbook, but I still haven’t made any of the recipes. This post reminds me that I need to read The Starless Sea. I’m glad to see a positive review, because I have been worried that it could never live up to The Night Circus.