A COMMUNITY PROFILE

or a state with so few
F people, Vermont teems
with talented writers. One

; such is Alex Potter, an author and

' activist based in Brattleboro. Alex

, devotes himself to short stories,
particularly science fiction and
fantasy. Editor and contributor

‘ to numerous anthologies, Alex

g talks about reading, writing and
the way Vermont sneaks into
almost every single story of his.

EA: Why do you write?
AP: I've always lived in my head
moreso than in the world. I was
a daydreamer.of a child and I'm a
daydreamer of an adult. Writing
offers me a way to bring my real-
ity to the world around me.
I can express feelings on paper
very differently than I do in my
 day-to-day life. Writing is like a

direct urunediated conversation
between my soul and my hands. I

. don't censor myself in my writing
in the same way I censor myself
in daily interactions.

EA: What's so cool about the
sci fi/fantasy genre?
AP: One of the reasons sci fi/fan-
tasy caught my interest as read-
‘ ing material was the pure free-
dom of imagination it offers. In
a way, finding sci fi/fantasy was
like being given back that blank
slate of childhood again, when
books offered real escape from
daily life, a door into an entire
other reality. I
Of particular importance for
me, sci fi/fantasy offered prorni-
nent queer themes when no other
fiction I could find did. High
fantasy in particular, with strong
women and romantic men, used
all sorts of gender and sexuality
themes. Science fiction has done
fascinating gender storylines.
Gay characters popped up every-
where in the late '80s and the '90s
in contemporary and urban fanta-
SY, high fantasy, space opera, sci fi
and cyberpunk. The popularity of
queer themes already within the
genre offered another incentive
to write fantasy.

EA: Speaking of gayness, in
what ways does your sexual
identity intersect with your
writing?

AP: My sexual identity intersects
with my writing in the same

Way my identity as a Vermonter
does  it influences and colors

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

everything I write. I see the
world through my own - inher-
ently queer - eyes, and that affects
what appears on paper in a very
organic manner. At the same
time, just as some of my stories
are set in Vermont and some are
not, some of my, stories have im-
mediately visible queer content,
and others don’t. Yet, just as
what I think of as quintessential
Vermont characteristics color all
of my characters, quintessential
queemess also colors all of my
characters.

EA: Does the openly queer
content of your work dictate
where it is published and
distributed?

AP: I have had excellent experi-

::.<».:; .:;:;.w 3Cl¢,‘l‘il’ilA'l"viUOlv‘. l .vzxBRI;I-_s20e6.'lalIth& Qflllflnl as

ences submitting to the main-
stream publisher DAW Books,
which has been publishing queer
themes in their fantasy and sci-
ence fiction, and marketinglto
wider audiences, for decades. I’ve
also seen queer content with Ban-
tam Spectra and Eos. Sometimes
my work will appear outside of
the mainstream as well, though
often through self-selection. That
is to say, at times I've chosen to
submit a story to a queer-only
anthology such as the Bending
the Landscape series. However,
ghettoization may then occur
when those anthologies are not
available in large numbers of
bookstores. Even bookstores
with a small section of queer-in-
terest books seldom have a truly

representative selection of queer
fiction.

EA: Let's talk about another
important identity of yours:
that of Vermonter. In what
ways does the Green Mountain
state affect your writing?

AP: I was born and raised here,
and I have lived here all my life.
Both of my parents and their
parents are also native. Vermont
is an integral piece of me, and, as
such, I see its influences all over
in my work.

One of the primary ways the
state has affected my writing is '
through offering such a solid set-
ting. Eight of my fourteen pub-
lished short stories are set in Ver-
mont, and numerous other pieces

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Quintessentially Vermont

 Fantasist Alex Potter Talks About His Work AN INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH A. ALLEN

of my work are also based here.

I also believe Vermont in-
Iluences my work in tone and
voice. My characters, no matter
if they're currently wandering
around in Vermont or if they're on
a spaceship, often have character-
istics I think 01' as quintessentially
Vermont. In other words, I write
strongly independent individuals
who exhibit a die—hard sense of

personal honor that may be at

odds with traditional or popular
definitions, and who keep a deep-

ly caring heart hidden away, all

locked up quite securely in an cf-

flcient, practical, eternally polite,

and somewhat distant facade. -

EA: What forthcoming works
do you have?

AP: Two short stories will be ap-
pearing this spring, in the antholo-
gies Child of Magic, edited by
Kerrie Hughes; and Slipstreams,
edited by Martin Greenberg. A
third short story will be appear-
ing early next year in an as yet
unnamed fantasy anthology.

EA: Where can we find your
work? '

AP: Currently, all of my DAW an-
thologies — the three I've edited
and the four I have stories in - are
in print and available through
any bookstore by order. At the
moment, Maiden Matron Crone,
edited by Kerrie Hughes, is the
anthology with a story of mine
that I've seen on most shelves,
and for the anthologies I've ed-
ited, Women of War and Sirius:
The Dog Star are both widely
available. Bending the Land-

,-tr

scape: Horror Volume is now in

paperback and more available at
gay bookstores, as well as some
mainstream books! on s. V

Elizabeth Allen lives in
Somerville, l\//., Lu. hen Heart
resides in her home: the Green
Mountain State.