How did “The Application of Strawberry Lip Gloss in a Low-Gravity Environment” originate? What inspirations did you draw on?

I wanted to write a story that used the “opposites attract” trope, with an asexual relationship including one touch-averse candidate in the run-up to romance.

For inspiration, I definitely had thoughts of the Alien-style “workforce in space” undertones (though with decidedly less acidic drippings in my result). I like the idea of a person just trying to carry out a normal life in space, and the economies that crop up in that “landscape.” I thought of how tired that person might get with so much darkness stretching between them and the nearest human. How burnt out on the daily grind. How old they could feel while still so young. And—depending on the profession they took up—how chronic injuries might be a huge part of their life. So with Gordon, I was thinking how she might go about dealing with those injuries if she is touch averse.

So who is the opposite? I thought of the Empath Guild popular characters from my text-based MMRPG days. How they were often decked out like an RPG Lisa Frank. That felt like an obvious contrast to Gordon’s sensibilities. And then I brought that Empath Guild out into space, because that’s just what I do.

What is your writing process like? Did this story fit the pattern?

With short stories, a lot of the time I invest in the process is mostly background processing. I’m thinking about the story, letting my mind wander across the field of possibilities like a katamari. When it returns to me and I sit down to write it, I’ve pretty much collected all the elements, they’re just in a messy heap, and as I start to write (usually with zero direction at all, just diving headfirst into that blank page), I untangle the underlying core of what I’ve gathered and find the story by smoothing that into something that looks as intentional as I can manage. I leave logic and planning for the revision stages.

This is completely opposite of my long-form writing process, where I don’t start until there are index cards, cork boards, and tons of draft outlines filling my office.

What is your writing space like? What do you like to have around for optimal creativity?

I am fortunate enough to have written and self-published a nonfiction book that funded a writing shed, so I have a very personal, entirely self-decorated space. I used to also like to throw coffee shops into the mix occasionally, but unless they have outdoor seating with a lot of shade (and heavy cream for my Americano), I’m staying home where it’s safe these days. I try to update my shelves to put out the collectibles I’ve gathered that most serve my writing theme at the moment, but for the most part, I get a lot of the work buzz by having friends around on Zoom, the right music (if the Zoom is muted at the moment), and a cup of coffee on hand for when my fingers need a pause in typing. And my dog, Evie. She is often curled up in what used to be my office reading chair but is now her napping throne.

Did you get stuck at any point while writing this?

This one was an absolute pleasure to write, and I’m happy to say that I didn’t get too stuck on it in any one part for very long. Gordon and Pinxi played off each other’s personalities so well and the point I was trying to make with the story was so clear in my head, that I wrote a tight Draft One and there’s not a tremendous difference between what Lightspeed readers see and the original draft. Well, except for the title. The original draft was called “Ley Lines and Regrettable Contracts.” The version I submitted to Lightspeed was called “Treatment for a Chronic Condition.” Usually I come out of the first draft with a pretty secure knowledge of what the story should be called, but this one took some crystal healing of its own.

Sometimes a story just makes you glow from top to bottom and you want to shout about what a cooperative writing project it was, until you run out of friends who haven’t already heard about it.

What are you working on lately? Where else can fans look for your work?

It would seem I am mostly funneling my 2022 energy into re-launching my Peridot Shift series. It’s one that went unfinished when the publisher who had started the series closed their doors during the pandemic shock to the industry, so now that the rights have reverted to me, I’m excited to get the second editions of the first books out into the world. Flotsam re-released in February, Salvage re-released in July, and I am, probably as you read this, getting everything ready to finally finish this trilogy with the release, for the first time, of Cast Off on December 6, 2022.

For shorter work, I have pieces in Unfettered Hexes, Fireside Magazine, Bridge to Elsewhere, and earlier this summer, “Singing the Ancient Out of the Dark,” co-written with Marius Broaddus, also came out in Lightspeed Magazine! My full back catalog and latest updates are easy to find at rjtheodore.com, or I’ll be yammering about something either related to my writing, my gardening, or Evie herself @bittybittyzap on Instagram or Twitter.