In the Spotlight: Elizabeth Mueller ~ Author of "Resurgence"

First off, we must announce that our IWSG anthology blog tour has continued throughout early May with some fun interviews from our authors, hosted by fantastic bloggers in the IWSG community.

Check out Ellen Jacobson's blog as she interviews Stephanie Espinoza Villamor, author of the winning story entry.

Mason Canyon's Thoughts in Progress blog has guest posts from authors Charles Kowalski, C.D. Gallant-King, and Tara Tyler. 

Louise Barbour's Standing Into Danger blog features interviews from all the authors about how they got into science fiction. Louise was also published in the previous anthology, Voyagers: The Third Ghost!

Next we have author C.D. Gallant-King who will be featured on Nick Wilford's blog and a short pitch for the anthology stories from all authors on Cathrina Constantine's blog.

And now, we're on to our continued posting from each of the contributing authors in Dark Matter: Artificial. We've asked them to share a little about how they came up with their stories and preview what's to come!

Elizabeth Mueller on her short story, "Resurgence."

This is super exciting that the IWSG team enjoyed my story! You can imagine my surprise. My usual genre is anything with romance. What can I say? I’m a romantic. Because of that, I didn’t expect to write sci-fi until I saw the theme—dark matter. How intriguing. How can I resist that? We can go anywhere with this.

Being a stay-at-home mom has given me the ability to explore different genres. I started my early years writing about talking horses before going to high fantasy. I do love elves, dragons, shape-shifters, and goblins. Then there’s witches in covens and soul-sucking demons to Greek gods and Norse gods. I eventually changed over to the French Renaissance and modern rock stars. Then there’s high school football players and cheerleaders! I eventually plan to go back to high fantasy but I’m not sure about talking horses. I realize that it sounds like there’s no passage of time between the above genres but this has been ongoing for the past thirty-plus years.

As for sci-fi, I’m relatively new but after some research regarding dark matter, my imagination soared. I wanted to write something fast-paced and exciting. Something that contains unpredictability as well as shock factor—think The Twilight Zone.

“Resurgence” tests the avenue of what-ifs regarding humanity’s survival.

Blurb:

Keeping his nightmares secret is costing Damarin his sanity and encountering strange anomalies might damage his reputation. Is uncovering dark secrets worth the risk?
 
Excerpt:

Damarin eased from the bed, vigilant of waking Zarynah. Wisps from his nightmare trailed him into the lavatory.

“Lumens,” he said with a hoarse tone, his eyes weighted. The ambient spheres flared into life, illuminating the darkened chamber. He leaned over the basin, his fingers clenching the rounded edge. The ground spun beneath his toes. He refocused on his disheveled reflection.
 
The strident howls haunted him within the confines of his skull along with the unsettling image of the rusted sky. He perceived faces. The faces stared back at him with silvery, unblinking orbs. They sought his flesh with ravenous howls.
 
He inhaled sharply and reeled back, his bare feet finding traction with the polished nickel flooring.
 
“I can’t,” he gasped, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes until flashing brilliant color shone. He stumbled for the bedchamber and dropped onto the bed with a groan.
 
He sat within the silence, and after his vision adjusted to the dim lighting, he noticed a silhouette before him. The form proved a degree darker than the gloomy monochromatic environment. It tapped away at the air on what looked like a mainframe. It stilled, turned, and locked its startled gaze with Damarin.

Award-winning author Elizabeth Mueller lives deep in the heart Texas surrounded by everyone she loves—including the characters who don’t stop talking in her head. While she enjoys homeschooling her kidlets, she thrives as a full-time writer of any genre that captures her heart.

Coming on Wednesday, May26, 2021 . . . 

Next up will be our final author, Mark Alpert, who shares his backstory for "Vera’s Last Voyage."