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, Alternate History, Aqueduct Press, Black Denim Lit, Expanded Horizons, Four Star Stories, Future San Francisco, Inducement by Lisa Shapter, Kaleidotrope, LBGT, Life on Earth by Lisa Shapter, M-BRANE SF, Military SF, My Work, New England, No Woman No Plaything by Lisa Shapter, Planet 38, Planet 50, Salvage by Lisa Shapter, Searching by Lisa Shapter, Short Stories, The World in His Throat by Lisa Shapter, Things We Are Not

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:

Website: https://www.tree-and-stone.com
Facebook: @Tree and Stone Magazine
Mastodon: @treeandstonemag@mastodon.social
X/Twitter: @TreeAndStoneMag

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

March 4, 2021

Five Below’s “8 Count Fountain Pens” Review

For however long it lasts, Five Below currently stocks an “8 Count Fountain Pen” set of $5 (US) rainbow-colored “Made in China” fountain pens that look a lot like the set of rainbow Ooly fountain pens at bookstores and art supply stores. They are not exactly like the Ooly pens: the design of the pen and nib is slightly different and the pen body colors and ink colors are slightly different. The cartridges are narrower (less ink!) than Ooly proprietary cartridges and the 2 cartridges do not swap (i.e. to get more cartridges for your Ooly pens buy them from Ooly.)

**The 8 Count Color Fountain Pens/8 Colored Inks in their package. (The inks are inside the pens.)**

Of my set of 8 pens Five Below most wrote after the usual steps with any new fountain pen: wipe the tip of the nib with rubbing alcohol (or hand sanitizer) to remove any protective wax or grease, give the feed a brief bath in warm water with a drop of dish soap or Castile soap, blow through the feed (as if blowing up a balloon) to remove any dust or microscopic plastic shavings, then rise the nib in warm water and shake it dry. Insert the cartridge (directions are on the back of the package: I had to press hard on a firm surface and then remove the cartridge and dip the point of the nib into the cartridge to be sure the plastic seal was really broken – then put the cartridge back in.) One pen out of the 8 was a slow starter so I pressed gently back on the metal nib and dipped it in water: after that it worked as well as the rest.

**Briefly cleaning the feed and nib is a helpful step with any new fountain pen.**

These pens all came with a little piece of white paperboard to cushion the cartridges inside the pens during shipping. It’s not a part of the pen and can be recycled but it’s an odd touch and a sign of how small these cartridges are. (The back of the package notes that the ink cartridge diameter is “2.6mm”. That would be great if I had any idea of the diameter of a standard pen feed ….) I did get a standard international cartridge (a generic fountain pen ink cartridge) to fit on one of the pens and it wrote without leaking: so once the cartridges that came with the pens run out they can write with ordinary cartridges and there are several brands in rainbows of colors to choose from.

These are also not eyedropper pens: unless you can make the full 16th of an inch hole in the back of the pen watertight there will be no filling the whole body of the pen with bottled ink.

**The 8 Count Fountain Pen inks vs. the Ooly fountain pen inks on Hammermill Multi printer paper.**

These pens write well enough, have a slight flex in their nibs, take standard cartridges, and are an inexpensive pen for matching the color of your pen to the color of ink, inside (or for trying out no-name inks that might clog a prized, more expensive pen). They are as good as most low-end pens with stamped steel nibs (inexpensive or disposable Pilots, Itoyas, Zebras, Oolys, etc.) and I haven’t yet gotten them to leak. (They do write better if kept point down: better pens should be kept nib up.)

*Top*: The 8 Count fountain pen *Bottom*: An Ooly fountain pen

-Lisa Shapter

Note: I have no connection with Five Below, I bought these pens on my own at full price, and I owe a thanks to YouTuber SuperRaeDizzle for mentioning that Five Below has a website.

Lisa Shapter's Blog

Thoughts of a Science Fiction author

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

About “Planet 42 Beta”

About “Crush”

About “Planet 42 Alpha”

Five Below’s “8 Count Fountain Pens” Review