Hi! I’m Siobhan, and I enjoy writing science-fiction and fantasy with very large cup of tea by my side (and biscuits). When not writing I’m reading, and if I’m doing neither then I’m acquiring yet more books. I can be found at: siobhanchesson@gmail.com.

What inspired you to write ‘Bubble’?

Like a lot of people I had an overwhelming amount of thoughts and feelings about the unexpected impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and so I decided to channel them through writing fiction when it became apparent that things would be different for a while to come. I remember remarking early on in the pandemic on the sudden influx of all the new jargon that was being tossed about as if it was entirely usual – ‘lockdown,’ ‘social distancing,’ ‘self-isolate’ – and its unsettling similarities to the language of sci-fi, fantasy, or dystopian novels, where we read about countless unimaginable things with all manner of new names as commonplace. Taking the isolation of the pandemic to the extreme through writing a speculative fiction story thus seemed right to me, as I already seemed to be living but a few years, or a universe over, from such a world already.

Could you give us an insight into your writing process?

I write whenever I have free time around my job – usually deeper into the night than I should and with far too many tabs open, and always with music playing. Sometimes the same song on repeat for hours. When I write, the first draft is more or less entirely typo, and I’ll skip unimportant words like ‘the’ and fill them in later. I can also often be caught staring concerningly off into space as I think.

What do you consider to be the most enjoyable or important aspect of science fiction or fantasy, and why?

It’s the possibility. What you can imagine is yours to create. If you want to conjure an entire new planetary system and fantastic gadgets and creatures then you can; if you want to just drop a Flux Capacitor into recognisable life then you can.  Stories cease to be limited by reality, but you can still tell something simple and recognisable, like a love story. You can still write about loss. Or joy. Or found family. Science fiction and fantasy just gives you new spaces to do so, new ways to say what you want to say, and you can lose yourself to a world that isn’t yours for a while.