The Sky, a Book, and a Journey

For the past week or so, Helsinki city has been all abuzz with the 75th World Science Fiction Convention. The sky itself honoured the event. On the opening day, there was a round hole in the clouds that just about makes one think that some con-goers from out of town -- or perhaps from another planet -- had forgotten their stealth drive on "clear skies". And as the event closed during the weekend, a thunderstorm raged through the city, as if it didn't want the convention to end. All very appropriate.

I was privately amused because the sky happens to play a significant part thematically in a sci-fi story of mine that happened to get officially launched during the convention. In my story, the sky has become a mere myth, and the desire to see the sky is an important motivation for the main character, Bitty. So, it seemed appropriate to begin this post with a quote from the said story.

"The trick is to keep moving, Bitty," she said. "Don't stop, Bitty dear. Never stop."

from Never Stop by M.A. Tyrskyluoto

In an effort to instruct her son, Bitty's mother vocalizes a philosophy that permeates every level of society in my story. Never Stop introduces a post-apocalyptic dystopia where constant movement in the System and within an artificial environment known as the Railpoint Complex has apparently become the purpose of human existence. Though the story is set in a time and place separated from ours by a handsome chunk of years and a cataclysmic event, in many ways it is not so different from the modern world. In truth, many if not most of the inventions and phenomena that are everyday parts of life in my story already exist in some form today.

I'm sure cyborgs aren't that far in the future either.

Some rough concept art for the cyborgs in my storyverse.

The story in question is the titular piece of Never Stop - Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, one of two English-language anthologies released recently by Osuuskumma. As part of the editorial team, I can say it did not escape our notice that, as its name suggests, never stopping is an idea that resonates through the entire anthology. Departure, travel, and discovery aren't the only themes in the anthology, but the book does feature a diverse range of protagonists each with their own journey, some of which are mentioned in the announcement of Never Stop and The Self-Inflicted Relative on the publisher's site:

The Wings of the Hornet Queen by Artemis Kelosaari tells a story of a hard-as-steel female officer who´s decided to win the battle against the boundaries set by nature and society and go beyond those boundaries. Josefiina’s Cart of Wonders by Maija Haavisto offers a fresh and hopeful vision of disability, set in a Finnish steampunk milieu. Anne Leinonen’s Maid of Tuonela is a poignant story of love that transcends death, against a backdrop of Finnish mythology. Anni Nupponen’s The Tiniest in the World tells us about one’s diverse roles in life and seeking for one’s own place.

Unlike mine, the other stories are translations from Finnish originals. I'm happy to have been part of getting these works out there for the English-speaking world to explore. It's a special type of happiness that results from a collaborative work like this. Many people contributed to the creation of this book baby -- my fellow editors, the translators, the authors, the graphics designers and of course the wonderful Emmi Itäranta who selected the stories. For me personally, the anthology has been a journey in itself.

I was reminded of that when I found this picture from among the photos on my phone.

A lonely autumn leaf fell on my manuscript as I was proofreading it by the dwindling campfire.
Photo © M. A. Tyrskyluoto

Around this time last year, I spent a fair bit of time sitting in the woods editing Bitty's story. I remember it felt like a mix of getting back together with old friends and meeting someone new. The majority of the milieu and characters were based on notes for a storyverse I had imagined long ago, but Bitty himself was born that summer. It was exciting to watch him grow. Exciting, and a little bittersweet. Just like children, they tend to grow too fast, characters.

Now it's time for Bitty and his friends to go out and meet new people. New readers. Hope that they, well... heh, never stop.