Science Fiction

September 2, 2024

About “Planet 42 Beta”

Throughout this entire arc of 74 stories Resada Gestae is married. The wedding was done on impulse and had no clergy, witnesses, and was done at gunpoint – not valid for any and all of those reasons. When the law catches up with Lt Gestae and sends Mrs. Resada on a years-long mission of reconstructive justice, this marriage becomes a long separation.

That said, Resada regards the marriage as real, writes this husband frequently, and wonders what it will be like to spend decades with this someone at their assigned post: a vacant colony world. Rain, the husband, replies with letters about replacing tents with simple houses and sheds, growing crops, digging wells, and building a marriage bed, weaving the bedding, painting the walls, putting glass in the windows, sweeping the floor – and not able to ask a single question in real time about colors or layout or architecture. The marriage, the house this bedroom is in, and the whole world it sits on, are unknowns. They will all be Resada’s next assignment for decades on end.


Most narrators might panic and back out of such a marriage: Resada holds to the conviction that the initial impulse was right. (To see how it turned out read “Crush” in Tree and Stone: https://lisashapter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/b92e7-qafissue3.pdf.)

This story, “Planet 42 Beta” (https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm) is a rest from Lt Resada Gestae’s years of mandatory visits to widely separated worlds (none of which is ‘home’). Reunited with a police escort (which would have come in useful in “Planet 42 Alpha” (https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue28/story_4.htm)), Resada is safe and rescued and protected by two hosts: Vester and Edward (last seen newly married and considering their own colony world posting in “Life on Earth” in Expanded Horizons (archived here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160405132428/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3643). “Planet 42 Beta” is one of the few places in sequence of 74 visits to 74 worlds where everything stops and the visit is both peaceful and happy.

To get a glimpse of how these planetary stopovers usually go, read the rest of these travels in: 1) “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/autumn-2012/no-woman-no-plaything-by-lisa-shapter/), 2) “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue10/story_4.htm), 3) “Planet 42 Alpha” in 4 Star Stories (https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue28/story_4.htm), and 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories ( https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm). The background of why Resada Gestae is under orders to visit 74 worlds appears in: “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 ( https://www.bdlit.com/searching.html).

If half of Lt Gestae’s police escort seems familiar, Ke narrated several related stories that take place before, during, and after Lt Resada Gestae’s 74 world mission: 1) This is Not a Love Story in Black Denim Lit ( https://www.bdlit.com/this-is-not-a-love-story.html) (the two police escorts meet), 2) “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit ( https://www.bdlit.com/inducement.html) (the two cops work on a crime), 3) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (https://www.bdlit.com/searching.html) (the two are assigned to find Resada Gestae), 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories ( https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm) (they catch up with Lt Gestae), 5) “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (https://www.bdlit.com/planet-50.html) (they guard Lt Gestae – on a ship between worlds in galactic space), and finally 6) “Crush” in Tree and Stone (https://lisashapter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/b92e7-qafissue3.pdf) (Ke’s married – to Resada Gestae), (and in 7) my play “The Other Two Men”) (A review: https://www.portsmouthnh.com/stirring-sci-fi-at-the-ring/) (Ke’s clone wrestles with the same troubles as “Crush” (https://lisashapter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/b92e7-qafissue3.pdf) – while aware of being an artificial twin living in a distant future).

If Resada’s absent husband rings a bell, he appears in: 1) “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls (https://acoupofowls.com/2021/08/01/issue1/) (parenthood – before marriage!), 2) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (https://www.bdlit.com/searching.html) (working as a cop), 3) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories ( https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm) (this story), then 4) “Crush” in Tree and Stone (https://lisashapter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/b92e7-qafissue3.pdf) (still married, after all).

To read the entire network of stories that take place over 1,000 years of galactic colonization (or, with the exception of the centuries jump forward “the Other Two Men”, a hundred-year slice), see “Read my Short Stories in Order” (https://lisashapter.com/2024/02/13/reading-my-stories-in-order-not-that-its-necessary/).

-Lisa Shapter

February 16, 2024

About “Crush”

My new short story “Crush” is out in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue #3 (December 2023). Download the .PDF by clicking on the cover of Issue 3 here: https://www.tree-and-stone.com/queer-as-f

This story is part of a larger network of stories that has been leading up to this: Ke and Resada’s ultimate futures as a colonial governors, parents, and spouses. Things that were unlikely, only undercurrents, in previous stories between them and those around them have become a future where their worst problem is straw in the wool (a minor nuisance). This is a story about contentment and unlikely love.

Yet all of the stories I write have something larger going on, some thing larger that the characters in the story may not see or notice. All of the characters are on a journey that may not have been part of their initial mission briefing but they are participating in something much larger than themselves: history. Their own personal successes or failures affect their teammates, for certain, and the next generation – but also their ship or base or colony world, and their sector of space, and the whole success of humanity in unforgiving environments. Each of the stories in the 74 stories network is not just “Did I inspect the stored space suits, again, today, for the nth time” but “Can I stay on this ship, with this team, or this career track?” ‘All of humanity’s future’ is a distant abstraction: less-than-ideal circumstances, tedious meals, and ‘no where else to go’ are ever-present realities – how does that shape the larger story: history?

All of these stories are part of a set of works covering the thousand year history of the colonization of the Milky Way galaxy. They are stories about how mundane choices and daily chores become a future for all of humanity: less grand diplomatic missions and decisions from orbit; more remembering to put the tarp over the firewood and raking out the livestock paddock. Some of this is Ursula Le Guin‘s influence in her attention to the practical and everyday even among the fantastic (i.e. The Tombs of Atuan is set in a desert but it’s quite clear how they get food and clothes).

Yet in that grand sweep of my 1,000 year galactic history are smaller, more individual stories, of how people cope with the distances, mission plans that cover more time than most people can keep in mind, the delayed communications, and the limited company. As Resada’s first husband notes, people respond in the way they often have in difficult, isolating circumstances: by creating found family. (How much of this is planned ahead of time by base staff and whether it quite works as intended is another matter.) These are stories about people looking for peace, for hope, for happiness, for community: in “Crush” someone has found it.

To understand where the characters in “Crush” start from, read “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014). To travel with Ke through prior stories read “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016), “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (July 2015), and This is Not a Love Story in Black Denim Lit (October 2015).

(To travel with Resada through prior stories (most of them appearing in 4 Star Stories) read “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012), “Planet 38” in Four Star Stories (Summer 2013), “Planet 42 Alpha” in Four Star Stories (out now!), and “Planet 42 Beta” in Four Star Stories (forthcoming). To see Resada’s first husband beginning a family before they ever marry, read “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls (August 2021)).

To just read the entire network of stories in internal chronological order, see “Read My Short Stories in Order.”

Follow Tree and Stone Magazine at:
February 15, 2024

About “Planet 42 Alpha”

I set out to write how a character changes over 74 sequential stories. The main character, Resada Gestae, is not always the narrator, but the entire arc of 74 stories is Resada Gestae’s story over a number of years. I thought there would be exactly 74 stories, one for each planet my narrator visits, but in writing the stories there were some surprises: the 42nd stop included two worlds, an asteroid belt, and a break in the journey – two stories set in the same solar system.

These two stories will appear in 4 Star Stories: “Planet 42 Alpha” and “Planet 42 Beta”. The first story, “Planet 42 Alpha” is out now. It starts as a typical stop on Lt Gestae’s mission of reconstructive justice. (None of these visits turn out as base staff may have envisioned them.) If this sounds familiar, the 38th stop also appeared in 4 Star Stories: “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013).

Five stories in this arc of 74 are now out and I am tremendously pleased to have two appearing in 4 Star Stories. To follow Lt Gestae across this larger story, read: 1) “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012), 2) “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013), 3) “Planet 42 Alpha” in 4 Star Stories, 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (forthcoming), and 5) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023). This last story may be a bit disorienting: we see Lt Gestae from the outside and not as a narrator.

This is a trait of my work: the minor characters in one work may be the narrators in another. To follow the broader story of Ke, Resada’s spouse who narrates “Crush”, read: 1) This is Not a Love Story in Black Denim Lit (October 2015) (two partners meet), 2) “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016) (two partners solve a case), 3) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014) (two partners get a new case, that of one Resada Gestae), 4) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (September 2024) (trying to keep tabs on Lt Gestae), 5) “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (July 2015) (stuck on one ship with Lt Gestae), and finally 6) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023) (married – to of all people, Resada Gestae), (and in 7) my play “The Other Two Men”) (cloned in the far future – to solve a problem in “Crush”).

To follow the wider story of Resada’s first husband Rain (who, despite his importance, never narrates any of these stories), read: 1) “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls (August 2021) (becomes an unmarried father), 2) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014) (brings future spouses in on an ongoing case that will change all their futures), 3) “Planet 42 Beta” in 4 Star Stories (September 2024) (a brief chance to be married), then 4) “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023) (married for good).

Since all of these works are part of a network of related stories, to understand why Resada Gestae is making these visits start with: “Searching” in Black Denim Lit #8 (December 2014). To read about previous stops read “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012) or “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013). The people Resada speak to in the opening paragraphs of “Planet 42 Alpha” are introduced in “Life on Earth” in Expanded Horizons (January 2015) and appear in other works that are not yet out. To take a jump into the future read “Crush” in Tree and Stone’s “Queer as F” themed issue (December 2023).

To see the entire arc of stories laid out in chronological order (and, in fact, all the stories happening during a thousand-year effort to colonize the galaxy) see “Read my Short Stories in Order”.

  • Lisa Shapter
February 13, 2024

Reading My Stories in Order (Not That It’s Necessary)

My new short story “Planet 42 Beta” is out!

This story is a sequel to “Planet 42 Alpha“: both appear in 4 Star Stories.

Read the new story “Beta” here: https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm

Read its prequel “Alpha” here: https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue28/story_4.htm

Read an earlier prequel to both, “Planet 38,” here: https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue10/story_4.htm

Since these stories are part of a linked set of stories, some fans have been asking me where to catch up on the other stories.

Here is a list of the stories in internal chronological order, with links:

1) This is Not a Love Story  in Black Denim Lit (October 2015)

     Link: https://www.bdlit.com/this-is-not-a-love-story.html

2) “Nightskyman Hope” in Expanded Horizons (January 2016)

  Archival link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160405075704/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3825

3) “The World in His Throat” in Things We Are Not: An M-Brane SF Magazine Queer Science Fiction Anthology (2009)

    Buy a copy here: https://tinyurl.com/yc3x663c

4) “Inducement” in Black Denim Lit (September 2016)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/inducement.html

5) “Grave’s First Day” in A Coup of Owls Issue #1 (August 2021)

    Read or Download the .PDF here: https://acoupofowls.com/2021/08/01/issue1/

6) “Searching” in Black Denim Lit Issue #8 (December 2014)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/searching.html

    Get a copy of the ebook here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/black-denim-lit-8-black-denim-lit/1120945723?ean=2940046470680

7)  “Nightskyman Hope” in Expanded Horizons (January 2016)

   Archived site here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160405075704/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3825

8) “Life on Earth” in Expanded Horizons (January 2015)

    Archived site here: https://web.archive.org/web/20160405132428/http://expandedhorizons.net/magazine/?page_id=3643

9) “No Woman, No Plaything” in Kaleidotrope (October 2012)

    Link: https://kaleidotrope.net/archives/autumn-2012/no-woman-no-plaything-by-lisa-shapter/

10) “Planet 38” in 4 Star Stories (Summer 2013)

    Link: https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue10/story_4.htm

11) “Planet 42 Alpha” is out in 4 Star Stories‘ Issue #28 (February 2024)

    Link: https://4starstories.com/4StarStories_Archive_Issue28/story_4.htm

12) “Planet 42 Beta” is out now in 4 Star Stories‘ Issue #29 (September 2024)

    Link: https://4starstories.com/story_4.htm

13) “Planet 50” in Black Denim Lit (September 2015)

    Link: https://www.bdlit.com/planet-50.html

14) “Crush” in Tree and Stone‘s ‘Queer as F’ Issue #3 (December 2023)

    Download the .PDF at this archival link: https://lisashapter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/b92e7-qafissue3.pdf

15) “The Other Two Men” (Play, produced Summer 2016)

    Archived review: https://www.portsmouthnh.com/stirring-sci-fi-at-the-ring/

And an unrelated alternate history novella set in New England about the unintended side effects of a WWII-era drug developed to create affinity between an interrogator and interrogatee:
A Day in Deep Freeze Aqueduct Press (Conversation Pieces series no. 46)  (April 2015).

Buy a copy here: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-day-in-deep-freeze-lisa-shapter/1121682868?ean=2940151492928

An finally, sign up for my mailing list for early access to future announcements.

-Lisa Shapter

Planet 42 Alpha, Planet 42 Beta, Crush, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
July 24, 2016

The Other Two Men: Credits & Acknowledgements

At the end of the workshop reading and Q&A  of my play last November, Alex Pease spoke to me about getting the script ready for production.   One of the first things he said was:  “Theater is collaborative.”

 

To honor that truth, let me say that I owe every success of the first production of my science fiction play “The Other Two Men” (review) to the professional acumen and hard work of many, many partners, advisers, and benefactors —

 

Lisa Shapter wishes to thank Christopher T. Garry and Back Denim Lit, the first venue to take a risk on these characters.  She also wishes to thank everyone who came out to see the reading or the production of a new work of science fiction as experimental live theater.  She also extends her profound gratitude to every actor who auditioned for an unknown role in a new play set in the far future.  She also thanks James Patrick Kelly for his generosity of soul and his commitment to science fiction in New England; Alex Pease (and Outcast Productions) for his guidance and encouragement, Tomer Oz (and Oz Productions) for his kindness and dedication; playwright David Mauriello for his solicitude and wise advice; Tomer Oz for his audio narration and concept art and Kaitlyn Huwe for poster art; Jasmin Hunter (and Jasmin Hunter Photography) for publicity photos; Joi Smith (Back Alley Productions) for publicity; Sam Smith, Alex Pease, Bretton Reis (lighting design), Mike Kimball (sound design), and Tomer Oz for giving their all on lighting and sound; Barbara Newton for holding the whole place together; and the Generic Theatre and the Players’ Ring for taking a risk on this (and other) new work in the Reading Series and Late Night Series.  She also wishes to thank the Generic Theatre‘s Susan Turner and Collin Snider.  She particularly wishes to thank the play’s two leads Bailey Weakley and Emery Lawrence, whose gifts and skills kept turning up things about these characters and their relationship that (the author was certain) only appeared in as-yet unpublished short stories.  (These talents are all the more evident when they are working with material by experienced script writers.)  It has been a pleasure and an honor to work with all of you.

 

Oz Productions wishes to thank PPMTV for their rehearsal space, Lisa, Emery, Bailey, Sam, Alex, Brett, Mike, Tin, Jaz, Todd, Joi, Peter, Barb and everybody else at The Players’ Ring, Generic Theater and everybody who was part of the reading, everybody who auditioned, and anybody else who was involved in making this production what it is today!  Also, thanks to you, the audience for coming to see the show!

 

The Players’ Ring wishes to thank all of its members (become one today!), volunteers, and LCHIP donors!  It also wishes to thank its 24th season sponsors:  the Atlantic Grill, Allegra Marketing, the EDGE, Heinemann Publishing,  and the Sound.  It also wishes to thank its generous supporters at Pickwick Mercantile, Garrison Players, Federal Savings Bank, Geno’s Chowder and Sandwich Shop, Ambrosia Gardens Florist, Piscataqua Savings Bank, Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt, Ceres St. Bakery, The Salt Cellar, Generic Theater’s production of Love, Loss and What I Wore by Nora and Delia Ephron, Cavarretta Gardens, The Seacoast Repertory Theater (The Rep), the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources for its grant via its Conservation License Plate Grant Program (the ones with the moose!), Hazel Boutique, the Library Restaurant, Kennedy Gallery and Framing, Old Ferry Landing Restaurant, Discover Portsmouth, Tugboat Alley, Puttin’ in the Glitz, Great Bay Spa & Sauna, Portsmouth Book & Bar, Louis Clarizio DDS PA, Esta Resale Clothing, Sanders Fish Market, The Press Room, New Hampshire Professional Theater Association, Music on Wheels & DJ Mile Pomp, and The District Restaurant, and the Portsmouth Gas Light Restaurant.

 

Support the arts by supporting these local businesses!   Lisa Shapter also wishes to acknowledge the following friends of the arts:

 

210 Hair Salon, B.G.’s Boathouse, Bubby’s Deli, the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Fresh Press Juice, Warner’s Hallmark Store on Market Square, Hannaford’s Supermarket, the Ice House Restaurant, Jardiniere Flowers, the ever-helpful Information Kiosk in Market Square, Justin’s Seafood Hut (Hebert Brothers), Kittery Trading Post, the Life is Good Clothing Store on Market Square, Lexie’s Joint Burgers, Dr. Mark Moses, Pink Bamboo Hotpot Cafe Restaurant, Portsmouth Public Library, River Run Bookstore (they carry my work), Robert’s Maine Grill Restaurant, Seaport Fish, Sheafe Street Books, Spectrum by Design Hair Salon, Water Street Bookstore (they carry my work).

 

Credits:

Theater Programs and Posters:  Southport Printing Company

Ms. Shapter’s Florist:  Jardiniere Flowers

Ms. Shapter’s Makeup Provided by CHANEL

Makeup Artist:  Camille at CHANEL (Macy’s) (Ask for her at the CHANEL counter!)

Ms. Shapter’s Hair by 210 Hair Salon

Hair Stylist:  Melissa at 210 (Ask for her!)