Side Quest: Stories
Jalyn Renae Fiske
Independently Published (2024)
ISBN: 979-8991194600
Jalyn Renae Fiske is an author, editor, educator, and librarian. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2017. That same year, she began her tenure as Fiction Editor for James Gunn’s Ad Astra magazine and also served as Editor-in-Chief for The Pitkin Review and editor for Clockhouse.
Jalyn writes blends of science fiction, fantasy, and horror that are at times unsettling, strange, or whimsical. She likes to explore themes of identity and transformation, as well as create different social constructs and systems in her worldbuilding that encourages the reader to ask–Why is it that way? Could it be different? Should it be? Jalyn’s short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in The Science Fiction Tarot anthology, Allegory, Wyldblood, Mythaxis, Fabled Planet, and Sword and Sorceries Vol. 7, among others, and her debut short story collection, Side Quest: Stories, was released in November 2024.
Hi Jalyn. Welcome to Reader Views! Tell us about Side Quest: Stories—what’s it about, and what inspired you to write this collection?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about Side Quest: Stories. I’ve been writing and selling my fantasy, horror, and science fiction short stories since 2016. That was the year of my first “yes!” from a publisher and to see my work in print. Fast forward to 2024, and I decided to collect my published stories in one volume instead of them being spread out in twenty different magazines, anthologies, and websites. Together, Side Quest: Stories is an eclectic blend of adventure, tragedy, and mystery.
The stories in this collection explore everything from dragon attacks to silent gods to missing persons cases. Was there a common thread or theme that connected them in your mind?
There’s an underlying message, whether it’s a slice-of-life story or an epic adventure, to embrace the ugly truths we often deny, avoid, or dismiss. All my characters experience situations where their understanding of the world and of themselves is challenged. Not all come to terms with what they learn, but in seeing what the characters go through, I hope at least the readers can think about what they’re reading and come away with new insights, questions, or quests of their own.
Your characters often face transformation—whether literal or emotional. What is it about second chances, identity, and reinvention that fascinates you?
I am a firm believer that we have the capacity to revolutionize who we are and change the direction of our lives if we choose to go down that path–and even to do that several times over. Change can be difficult to make happen and even scary to think about, but this is our one life that we know of. We shouldn’t resign ourselves to being stuck, settling for less, or feeling obligated to stay the same forever when there’s so much more that one can explore and become.
The settings in these stories range from eerie and gothic to whimsical and adventurous. How do these environments shape the conflicts your characters face?
I would say the eerie and gothic settings help capture the more introspective and tragic conflicts going on with the characters. Generally, they are experiencing some uncomfortable changes or identity shifts, like a Golem who is forced to conform and submit against their will. The more whimsical and adventurous settings, like with a runaway princess and a band of misfits, tend to involve characters who are shedding their codependency or finding self-worth and self-confidence. Those stories needed an upbeat and optimistic setting.
“Dragon Disposal” takes a practical approach to fantasy, while “Sweetbreads at Midnight” reimagines Greek mythology. Do you enjoy playing with expectations when it comes to genre?
Yes, very much! I understand marketing and matching reader expectations is important, but I feel sticking too closely to that can stifle an author’s creativity. Stories might end up too tropey, cliche, and formulaic. Something I love about side quests in video games, like The Witcher or Final Fantasy, that I hoped to convey in my collection was the idea that side quests show up unannounced, and they might be weird, dangerous, humorous, or thought-provoking. It’s the same with writing. These stories in my collection came from taking a detour from my main quest of writing novels and side questing into the unexpected.
Some of the stories, like “The Search for Jedda Rose,” incorporate mystery elements. How does suspense and the unknown factor into your storytelling?
Most, if not all, of the stories in Side Quest: Stories deal with elements of mystery, where the character is trying to discover something. I write with an immersive style of close POV, whether 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person, so the reader sees the world through the character’s eyes and understands the world with their perspective. The reader also only knows as much as the character, so that itself creates tension about the unknown. “The Search for Jedda Rose,” specifically, is a missing persons case set in the Victorian era, so it has all the gothic, supernatural, and mystery elements that define that genre, but presented in a way that feels reimagined or new.
The collection includes horror elements, like the unsettling premise of “The Quiet and the Creeping.” What role does fear play in these stories?
Fear of the truth and fear of death go hand in hand in my opinion. It’s horrifying for many to think about what comes after death, as well as the thought that they could have lived their life differently or better. They are both unknowns, no matter how much faith or confidence one has. And those two questions can come crashing together when we’re near death. In “The Quiet and the Creeping,” an aging mother is navigating her remaining days between the ghosts she sees and wishes to join and the daughter who is alive and trying to spend time with her. The ghosts are creepy and disturbing, and I think that juxtaposition of desiring something simple yet destructive–death–instead of something complicated yet loving–life–is emblematic of what I admire about horror. It’s fear of the unknown and having to face uncomfortable truths.
Several stories, such as “This Our River, These Our Gods,” suggest a deeper commentary on sacrifice, belief, and justice. Were you exploring bigger societal themes within these tales?
Yes, many of my stories explore societal themes, and “This Our River, These Our Gods” is the most directly and deeply connected to that commentary. In particular, it explores the very real absence of justice from those who don’t hold power in a society. Archie, the main character, has the ability to see into the past to provenance when they touch a person or an item. This grants them great empathy, but it has also made them jaded to the point that they believe society is beyond repair. The backdrop of the story is that the mayor’s son has gone missing, so the town drains the canal thinking he fell in. However, many people have gone missing over the years, and the canal was never drained for them. Ultimately, the story is a call to action, and one of my favorites in the collection because it incorporates artifact items like letters, poetry, scribbled conversations, and lists to reinforce the idea that recording things and remembering things is a vital part of enacting justice.
There’s a poem included in this collection. How does it fit alongside the short stories?
The poem “Entwined” is the first piece in the collection and sets the stage for what is to come. It tells of someone just going along in life without a care, represented by walking through a forest. But then life changes quickly, violently, and traps them, symbolized by vines. They have the power to leave if they wish, but they don’t because everyone else who ventured that way is also trapped right along with them. And they decide to embrace their prison instead of embarking out on their own. They don’t want to be different. They don’t want to be alone. And that is a great distillation of the tone and messaging, ironic or otherwise, that I hope my collection conveys as a whole.
The titles of your stories are intriguing—“Zipper Boy and the Girl Made of Light,” “A Grave of Wind and Leaves.” Do you see titles as a way to set expectations, or do you like them to surprise the reader?
I think it’s a little of both. I would hope “Zipper Boy and the Girl Made of Light” summons a sense of quirkiness and oddity, and I would hope “A Grave of Wind and Leaves” indicates a somber tone that tells the reader a darker tale is ahead. But I also don’t think anyone can really guess what the stories are about until they read them–which is my bigger hope! I don’t want anyone to read my stories or titles and think, “yep, I’ve seen that before” and be right. If that’s the case, then I need to go back to the drawing board and try again.
Your characters include mad scientists, the undead, and gods who refuse to speak. Did you have a favorite character to write?
The very last story in the collection, “Dark the Sky, Radiant the Road,” is representative of everything I love about genre fiction. It’s my homage to Fritz Leiber, who wrote the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books, and incorporates aspects of the undead, silent gods, vampires, demons, warrior monks, redemption, and more. All my favorite things! And my two favorite characters are from that story: Warwick and Sardis. One is guilt-ridden and broken, trying to walk the path of good, and the other is a condemned killer, teetering on whether to embrace the darkness that calls to him. And in each other, they see a different way to be that is neither “good” nor “evil.” Life isn’t as stark or binary as the world would have them believe.
Which story in the collection do you think will surprise readers the most?
I would wager that it’s “Verity’s Faery Teas.” For starters, it’s in 2nd person, which might surprise readers. You don’t see 2nd person too often. It begins with luscious language and imagery, and then suddenly there’s a darker aspect layered in that is intended to make readers feel unsettled. Yet it still reads so deliciously. So by the end, the reader, I hope, has to stop and ask themselves–Why did I enjoy reading that? What does that mean? It doesn’t have to mean anything at all, but I think it’s worth asking the question.
If you could drop readers into one of the worlds in this collection for a day, which one would you choose and why?
Without a doubt, “Scarlet and Shadow.” Some of my worlds are too dark or tragic for anyone to visit for too long, but “Scarlet and Shadow” is just plain fun. It was published in an anthology showcasing stories that invoked the same sense of silliness and adventure as The Princess Bride. There’s a warrior princess, a scoundrel thief, a band of misfits, magicians, potions, a false king, sword fights, and a kingdom to save. Lots of world play, romantic tension, and bantering. All the things that make traditional fantasy uniquely appealing and fun.
Your stories often explore the price of power, whether it’s magic, science, or fate itself. What interests you about the costs of these abilities?
Some of my favorite types of speculative fiction involve magic systems that come at a cost. Magic and power aren’t unlimited. And that’s life. You can’t run a marathon without months of training and pain. You can’t get a degree without years of sacrifice and study. Similarly, if something can happen magically overnight without any effort, what is the cost? It must be steep to forgo the training, pain, and time it would normally take. “Soul Candy” is a good example of that dynamic where power comes at an awful price. Anton wants to be part of the elite class, the Haveners, but what does he have to give up to get that dream? I think that’s very relatable to want to climb the social ladder, but what do we sacrifice to get that golden ticket?
JoAnne Tompkins describes your work as ‘dark, raw, and radiant.’ Do you see yourself as a writer who blends beauty with darkness?
Blending beauty with darkness is definitely a goal of mine. It’s a delicate balance to write words beautifully but not flowery, to weave a story by showing it, not telling it, and to touch on aspects of violence and death without becoming melodramatic or gratuitous. I don’t want to romanticize violence and death, yet these are inescapable aspects of life that we shouldn’t shy away from. It takes the full spectrum of joy, suffering, heartbreak, silliness, and loss to capture what it means to be human. For me, that’s the beautiful darkness I strive to write.
Your stories span a range of emotions—some deeply tragic, others light and adventurous. Was it important to you that this collection had that emotional range?
It took me quite a while to decide on which stories to put in the collection and how to arrange them that made the most sense. It was important that the journey of reading contained all the highs and lows of life and all the adventure and consequence of side questing off the beaten path. The collection begins tonally tragic with “Heart Box” as Nadia’s childlike admiration for her father becomes shrouded in doubt after he is deemed a criminal and executed. The world suddenly isn’t as easy or clear as it once was. I saved some of the more horror-tinged ones, like “Sweetbreads at Midnight,” for later in the collection, but I made sure to follow up an especially dark or tragic one with something much lighter and fun as a way to recover before diving back in again.
Speculative fiction often holds a mirror up to the real world. Do you think readers will see reflections of their own lives in these stories?
If I had to give one single reason why I write, that is the reason. Through stories, we learn who we are, the values of our society, and pass those values on to the next generation. The advantage of speculative fiction is that it holds a mirror, yes, and serves as a proxy to examine ideas we don’t always feel comfortable or safe asking out loud. Stories give us permission to critique and question something on the page without questioning our own realities outright.
The stories in Side Quest feel deeply intentional—none rely on tired fantasy tropes. Was it important to you to push beyond the expected in speculative fiction?
With as much time and energy as it takes to create art–and I consider writing to be art–I don’t want to invest in creating something that’s been said or done before. On some level, you can say it’s all been said and done before, but if I can make it feel fresh and new and unexpected, then that’s what I want to do with my time. I’m also someone who is willing to sit with a story for months or years, revising and rewriting it until it’s ready. I usually have a vision for what I want, and if it’s not coming together as I intended, I let it be and return to it later when I’ve grown and lived and have found the spark of insight that was missing before.
If you could hand this book to one particular type of reader, who do you think would love it the most?
I’ve always aimed to write stories that are not so deep into the fantasy or science fiction realm that a mainstream reader can’t follow along and enjoy it. I think that is a mark of success for me, personally, if someone who isn’t a SF reader can read my work and think, I should read more of that! If I can bring more readers to the fantasy side, that would be great.
What’s next for you? Are you working on another collection, a novel, or something completely different?
I’ve always got several projects going at the same time, so I can jump from one to the next if I stall out or need a break. Right now, I’m writing and revising three short stories with another four or five waiting in the wings. This while I’m wrapping up revising a post-apocalyptic novel that is thematically similar to my collection in that it explores the same themes of humanness, identity, justice, sacrifice, and power. After that? There are a few stories from Side Quest: Stories that I want to turn into full-fledged novels, like “Soul Candy” and “Dark the Sky, Radiant the Road.”
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www.jrenaewriter.com
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