Lance Robinson in the Writers of the Future Epic eBundle

This interview is part of a series on the authors contributing to the Writers of the Future Epic eBundle, available starting July 11.

I first met Lance Robinson when he was a winner in Writers of the Future Volume 40. I have been fortunate to attend the workshop in recent years to blog about the experience and also to meet and talk with the winners, sharing memories and lessons from my own time as a winner. The Contest is about Paying It Forward, after all. Lance was an active and attentive participant, both in class and after, and he was full of great questions. I am extremely honored to join him in this eBundle.

When he is at his day-job, Lance Robinson is a social scientist whose work revolves around the human dimensions of managing natural resources. Environmental themes and musings about human beings’ economic, cultural and spiritual relationships with nature are often woven into his fiction. His short stories have appeared in magazines such as Analog, Riverside Quarterly, and Chaos Theory: Tales Askew. In 2023, he won first place in the quarterly Writers of the Future contest, and his winning story appears in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40. His own collection of short fiction—Chasing New Suns—was published in September 2024. Lance currently makes his home in Robinson-Superior Treaty territory on the traditional land of the Anishnaabeg peoples and Fort William First Nation in the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

I had the opportunity to ask Lance a few questions about him, his work, and the Writers of the Future Epic eBundle.

How are you associated with Writers of the Future, and what does it mean to you?

My novelette “Five Days Until Sunset” won first place in the quarterly contest and appears in volume 40 of the annual Writers of the Future anthology. So many recognizable names in science fiction and fantasy have a connection to Writers of the Future, and many of those were winners or finalists in the contest earlier in their careers. It’s an honor to have my name on that list. On top of that, the support that Writers of the Future provides to early career writers is invaluable.

Tell us about your book in the bundle. Why did you choose this book from all your works?

Chasing New Suns is a short story collection that takes the reader from Apartheid era South Africa to humanity’s first foray beyond the solar system, from precarious ecosystems in northern Alberta to the shiny glam of time-adept neocolonialists between the stars. The stories are diverse, but I suppose the common thread is an exploration of integration and disintegration, unity and discord.  A couple of the stories are about human beings’ interconnectedness with nature; all of the stories, in one way or another, are about our interconnectedness with each other.

My aim for the stories in Chasing New Suns was to write science fiction with heart.

What was your favorite part of writing/editing this book?

I approach writing as a way for me to make sense of the world, to explore questions about ethics and morality, loneliness and disconnection, politics, spirituality, and finding meaning in life. But it’s not only that writing these stories let me scratch my philosophical itches; doing all this in way that gives me the opportunity to imagine our future and imagine new worlds, and wrap all that up in science fiction storytelling is simply a lot of fun.

Chasing New Suns is my first book. But if people follow me at substack.com/@lancerobinsonwriter, they can stay up to date on my new short fiction appearing in magazines like Analog Science Fiction & Fact.

Is there another story or author would you recommend to your readers as an exemplar of the Writers of the Future Contest?

David Hankins won the Writers of the Future Contest with his story “Death and the Taxman,” which appeared in Volume 39 of the anthology. He later expanded it into a novel, and it’s fair to say that his Writers of the Future experience has been a springboard for his career.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing a novel that will be a prequel to my Writers of the Future award winning story “Five Days Until Sunset”. Stay tuned.

Learn more about Lance Robinson

• https://lancerobinsonwriter.com/
• https://substack.com/@lancerobinsonwriter
• https://bsky.app/profile/lancerobinsonwriter.com
• https://www.instagram.com/lancerobinsonwriter/
• https://www.facebook.com/lancerobinsonwriter