Camping with Clarice Sanchez Meneses and Jack Massa
Interview Series Part 5 | Getting to know the authors featured in "Take Me There"
Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel is a collection of short stories featuring characters on the move. Whether transcending to a higher plane of existence, exploring dangerous forests, or terraforming hostile planets, this collection has it all.
Learn more from the authors in our anthology in this week’s interview series!
The Guardian by Clarice Sanchez Meneses
The Guardian is a Contemporary Portal Fantasy overflowing with emotion that tugs at the heartstrings. The story features a young child named Delilah and a mysterious being who visits her in the hospital. Clarice is exceptionally adept at portraying a harsh reality juxtaposed with one of unimaginable beauty, using both grace and love to transport us into the touching moments found within this tale of mortality, fate, and acceptance.
A Marriage of TruMinds by Jack Massa
A Marriage of TruMinds is a Utopian Sci-Fi that features humans that can upload their brains and live forever via “whole mind emulation.” Jon Ebsen, the chief engineer of Dendritecs Corp, has a new concept that just might shake up those satisfaction indexes and, quite possibly, preserve his terminally ill wife. As it becomes a race against the clock, the question is: will it even work? Jack presents us with a story that wonderfully melds concept and character, and is, at its heart, about never giving up on the ones we love most.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Clarice: I’d go to Vienna for many reasons—because it’s supposed to have heavenly food (always an important consideration!), because I’ve always been fond of the Billy Joel song, and because one of my dearest friends lives in Austria and I’d really love to visit her.
Jack: I would have to say Ireland. Half of my ancestors came from there, and it appeals to my mystical side. Also, I hear the pubs and music are awesome.
Would you travel to the setting of your story? Why or why not?
Jack: Absolutely! To be able to gaze at the Earth and the Moon from space? That would be fantastically beautiful. To be able to move between Earth-like gravity and zero-g at will? That would be so much fun!
Clarice: Maybe! My titular guardian has to weigh giving their carefully-chosen visitors a glimpse of their incredible world against the consequences of getting caught letting them in. I’d listen to their advice.
If you had 24 hours to live in any fictional world/universe, which one would it be? (Explain your answer)
Clarice: I’d go to Vangavaye-ve, an archipelago from the fantasy realm of Victoria Goddard’s The Hands of the Emperor. The author said it was heavily inspired by Papua New Guinea with Polynesian and Micronesian elements. When I read it, it was the first time a fantasy land felt similar to home (which, for me, is the Philippines). I’d want to run around the islands with my favorite characters and ask them their perspectives on how a people can honor their traditions and cultural identity while presenting their gifts to the world at large. Also, their most effective tips on rooting out corruption in their government, which I’ve always found super impressive.
If you only had eight words to describe your story, what would they be?
Clarice: Child, nurse, doorway, light, enchanting, compassion, memories, bittersweet.
Jack: Space habitats, brain uploading, market research, true love.
Describe your writing style and what readers can expect from you in the future.
Clarice: I aim for my writing style to be clear, vivid, and intricate. Most of the time, I like exploring interesting truths through magical realism and fantasy.
As for what readers can expect from me in the future—the zine Pandan Weekly has recently accepted my Cinderella retelling, The Prince, for publication! (The premise: once upon an alternate, magical version of the Philippines, the young ruler Dominic prepares to find a princess to marry in an effort to ensure his beloved kingdom never gets colonized again. Falling in love with a mysterious woman at a ball complicates things.) It’ll be out in July 2024!
I’m also planning to post writing updates on my Substack Sparrow Songs, so interested readers can follow me there.
Jack: I have written three fantasy series (one epic/sword & sorcery, one young-adult paranormal, and one historical set in the ancient world). Now I am really drawn to science fiction: hopepunk, AIs, post-humanism, space opera. I think humanity still has plenty of stories left to live.
How has travel informed or influenced your writing?
Clarice: One of the best parts of travel is that it can give you a sense of a bigger world out there. There are so many ways to be, and every person and people and culture is shaped by their individual and collective stories. The understanding that we’re affected by the stories we keep - willingly or not, consciously or not - usually finds its way into what I write.
Describe your all-time favorite vacation or holiday trip. Tell us what made it so special.
Jack: Certainly the week my wife and I spent in Paris. It was the only time I’ve made it to Europe. We are both visual art lovers, and we spent most of our time in the Louvre and other art museums. Also, the food was great!
Clarice: Thirteen years ago, my family and I took a road trip around Germany and Denmark. It was the first time I’d ever been to Europe, and it was so different from the tropical Philippines or the golden cities of the United Arab Emirates, where we lived back then. I felt like I stepped into a fairytale. My parents decided to go all-out for it, too—while we mostly stayed with our sweet and welcoming relatives, we also stayed one night in Sleeping Beauty Castle Sababurg and explored the surrounding forest, as well as Hotel Legoland, which was a children’s colorful dream come to life. Looking back, it means a lot to me that my parents took those steps to give us an adventure of a lifetime. I’d want to impart that much wonder and joy to my own kids one day.
What is your favorite aspect of your story? What inspired you to write it?
Jack: Way back in the 1980s, I first encountered futurists theorizing about humans attaining a kind of immortality by uploading their minds to computers. It took 40 years for my mind to convert that idea into fiction.
Clarice: My first draft of The Guardian was inspired by The Inklings Challenge—a yearly writing event that encourages science fiction and fantasy writers to create stories through the lens of the Christian worldview (inspired by the original Inklings, an informal literature club J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were part of). The stories that the challenge produced are breathtaking, and I’d definitely recommend readers to check out the archives.
My favorite part of my story? Without giving too much away—the kindness of the titular character.
What would you tell your readers before being launched in an exploratory spacecraft?
Clarice: If my writing leaves you with anything, I hope it’s the sense of how dearly loved you are. Take care!
Jack: Be kind to each other. And don’t wait up!
About the Authors
Jack Massa — FL, USA
Jack Massa has published Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Poetry. His interests range from space habitats, neuroscience, and AI to mysticism and occult history. You can find his writings online at triskelionbooks.com and speclectic.substack.com.
Clarice Sanchez Meneses — Manila, PHL
Clarice Sanchez Meneses’s first full-fledged story was of a sparkling magical girl with terrifying titan-like power, which she daydreamed about in grade school French class. Since then, she’s gotten a minor in Spanish, a bachelor’s in communications, and a computer folder full of coming-of-age magical realism stories. Writing, for her, means reaching for the truth, delighting in beauty, and finding ways to share God's love and creativity with others. Previously, she's been published in Ateneo Writerskill’s zine Wither, and is set to be published in Pandan Weekly in July 2024. She posts her writing updates in her Substack, Sparrow Songs.
Thanks for going on this journey with us. We hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into a couple of the stories in our upcoming anthology. Feel free to participate by answering some of the questions in the comments below!
Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel
Embark on a journey across the realms of genre with "Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel," a specially curated anthology of 24 stories from emerging, visionary indie authors from around the world. Each tale is a gateway into the human experience, a portal leading readers into new and undiscovered territory. From interplanetary space travel to the deep recesses of the mind, this collection takes readers on adventures spanning time and space and everything in between.
Featuring stories by
Brian Reindel, Brylle Gaviola, Christopher Deliso, Clarice Sanchez Meneses, C.R. Langille, Daniel W. Davison, Devon Field, Galia Ignatius, H. A. Titus, Iris Shaw, J.M. Elliott, Jack Massa, James Castor, Joe Gold, LB Waltz, M.S. Arthadian, Melissa Rose Rogers, Olivia St. Lewis, Pamela Urfer, Randall Hayes, Shaina Read, Shannon Aaron Stephens, Victor D. Sandiego, Winston Malone
Welcome to the voyage, Clarice and Jack!
A Lunar Awards winner published in the collection! I shouldn't be surprised. We both have great taste, Winston. 😉