On 27th August 2015, I finished writing a story about space moths. It was for an upcoming charity anthology on the theme of “carers and sci-fi”, and what started as a small idea grew into nearly 5000 words about a young scientist who befriended a race of alien moths and saved her desert planet from crop failure. I was very proud of it. I was even more proud when I received an email from the editor, Dale Anthony Church, accepting Silver Lining into The Big Care Write-Up’s first anthology, Carers of the Cosmos, which raised money for the Carer’s Centre.
Ten years later, and the Big Care Write-Up, which is now known as Write in For Charity Leicester (WI4C) has remained a part of our lives ever since. Thanks to WI4C, I met my now-partner Dale, and several friends in real life, as well as reading stories from emerging writers near and far. There have been 7 anthologies in total, plus a Christmas special, which have raised money for the Carer’s Centre, LOROS, and now Leicester Hospitals Charity.
If you live in Leicester, chances are you’ve been to one of its three main hospitals, or know someone who has. I was born at Leicester Royal Infirmary, my dad worked there for many years, and I myself have worked across its hospitals over the last 7 years. I’ve seen first-hand how the NHS works together as a whole, especially through difficult times, and so this is a cause close to my heart. Leicester Hospitals Charity helps to provide state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, supporting patients and staff.
Ten: a Celebration marks 10 years of WI4C Leicester, collecting stories from past anthologies alongside new stories written on the theme of “ten”. My story is Neon of the Above, set in a universe where everyone can control a particular element. Not fire, water and earth, but the chemical elements you find in the periodic table. Ether Nitrate is a 29-year-old who can control neon. She has dreams of making it big in music, but she’s feeling pretty lost in life so she seeks out a cat café at the edge of the Kuiper Belt. I wanted to write a story that pondered that feeling of urgency you get as you approach your thirties, but wrap it in a cosy sci-fi layer (with some wacky world-building). I like research almost as much as I like writing, so I had fun reading about the elements and learning that we have a lot of dwarf planets at the edge of our solar system which don’t get mentioned enough. At least Pluto has company.
Ten: a Celebration from WI4C Leicester is available to read via donation to Leicester Hospitals Charity. When you donate via the JustGiving page, you will receive a “thank you” email with a link to download the anthology. Please spread the word, and join us in celebrating ten years of writing stories for charity!
Neon of the Above (Excerpt):
I come from a family of Nobles: folks who can control noble gases. That’s the rightmost column of the periodic table: chemically inert, colourless gases. Not as interesting as the Lanthanides or the Halogens, but still pretty useful. My parents are both Xenons (they met at a xenon lamp manufacturing plant on Jupiter, it was very romantic), my brother is an Argon (he has a nice business in wine preservation) and my sister is a Helium (she sells birthday balloons, and has an uber-popular podcast where she reviews holomovies in a high-pitched helium voice).
And then there’s me. Ether Nitrate, the first Neon in my family since my great-great Aunt Ethyl. I’m twenty-nine, I live in a ship the size of a 21st-century autocar after I blew all my savings chasing a career in music, and I’m a cook at a fried space weevil restaurant on Venus. Well, I was. I quit my job this morning. There was an incident with an undercooked space weevil that was so undercooked it crawled into a food critic’s bag. I got pulled into the boss’ office, he fired me, and I told him that I would rather fly my ship into the Sun than pickle another damn space weevil anyway. Fun fact: the Sun is 0.12% neon. Bet you didn’t know that.
Thoughts?