Metastasis, a speculative anthology to benefit cancer research (which I edited) was recently released and some of the contributors agreed to participate in super short interviews here on my blog. One of those contributors is Marge Simon. I’ve known Marge for a few years now, we met through Niteblade (she does all our art) and connected very quickly. Not only does Marge have a poem in this anthology, she has also donated her artistic talents and illustrated some of the pieces within. Just one more awesome part of the book 🙂
What inspired your poem for Metastasis?
This poem was originally written for a collection with Charlee Jacob, focused on a world wide apocalypse caused by plague, Vectors, A Week in the Death of a Planet. I tweaked it a bit and altered the title. Cancer is a plague of another sort.
How has cancer touched your life?
Cancer took my mother, and two good friends are cancer survivors. Everyone nowadays knows someone (friend or relative) who has battled cancer. A number of teachers at my school were afflicted by some form of cancer. I still wonder if the location of the new school had something to do with it– at least one of the staff or faculty every year.
Why did you choose this scenario of a child and his grandmother reading to him from a fairy tale book? (SPOILER ALERT: The answer contains spoilers for those who haven’t read the poem yet)
Because it makes the poem more poignant when you realize that he is as yet cancer free, but his mother is gone (perhaps to a hospital for care, perhaps to be cured) and his grandmother knows this, and knows she is also dying of it. So the boy waits eagerly for his mother to come for him. And still we all have hope.
Marge Simon’s works appear in publications such as Strange Horizons, Niteblade, DailySF Magazine, Pedestal Magazine, Dreams & Nightmares. She edits a column for the HWA Newsletter and serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees. She has won the Strange Horizons Readers Choice Award, the Bram Stoker Award„¢(2008, 2012), the Rhysling Award and the Dwarf Stars Award. Collections: Like Birds in the Rain, Unearthly Delights, The Mad Hattery, Vampires, Zombies & Wanton Souls, and Dangerous Dreams. Member HWA, SFWA, SFPA. www.margesimon.com
Metastasis is available at:
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Paperback – $14.95
Kindle – $6.95
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ePub – $6.95
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All coupons codes expire on October 31, 2013.
