A2 #WomenWritersNet I think you and @anna-orridge.bsky.social are in agreement that there's a great deal of worry involved with contemplating the future and that #Writing about it makes it more manageable. I think some #Writers also like to lean into warning us about how things can get worse, too.

A3 #WomenWritersNet The world I’ve created is pretty familiar to ours, but one way I try to indicate it is set in the future is through the character's seeming acceptance of needing to take precautions against the outside.

#WomenWritersNet A2: I'm not drawn to it, per se. If setting it in the future fits the story, I'll do it. The story in A1 is science fiction. I have written erotica and romance. I currently write horror. If I do set stories in the future, it tends to be in the near future or an alternative timeline.

#WomenWritersNet A2: I'm not drawn to it, per se. If setting it in the future fits the story, I'll do it. The story in A1 is science fiction. I have written erotica and romance. I currently write horror. If I do set stories in the future, it tends to be in the near future or an alternative timeline.

A3 I must admit I did actually put the date and place at the top of the page. 😅 It was recommended by editors, to orientate the reader.

But I think it would be fairly obvious even without, because it's set in York, a familiar city transformed by devastating floods. #WomenWritersNet

A3 It’s usually by referring, not quite explicitly, to actual current events, so readers can infer that the story is imagining possible conclusions from those events. For example, in ‘DeBunked’ the small population lives in a city named for the current US president. #WomenWritersNet

A2 #WomenWritersNet Sometime, #Writing the future is like putting a wish out into the world about what you'd rather avoid or what you'd rather see. It's certainly an interesting (if concerning) meditation.

They're affixed to semi-permanent bar you set along a wall, functionally a portable doorway that adds a new room/space to your home. #WomenWritersNet

A2 I didn't realise that was your inspiration, Sandy! It must have been a frightening experience, even if temporary. Do you think writing about it helped deal with the trauma in some way? #WomenWritersNet

A2 #WomenWritersNet Those are interesting parallels, Joanna! Because our current situation is influence by the past, and you can trace how changes led to know. Just as you think about now (and the past) and see how changes could occur.

#WomenWritersNet A1: I not only have written stories set in the future, I predicted it in at least one of them. In UNFOLDING HER WINGS (2009 - GLBT erotica) my lesbian characters filled out birth documentation called PARENT 1 and PARENT 2. Some states starting using those terms a few years later.

A2 There’s no way to escape worrying about the future. Writing helps channel those What-ifs and let us imagine pathways through which we might exert some control, or at least find things tolerable. #WomenWritersNet

Q3 How do you indicate to readers that your writing is set in the future? #WomenWritersNet

#WomenWritersNet A1: I not only have written stories set in the future, I predicted it in at least one of them. In UNFOLDING HER WINGS (2009 - GLBT erotica) my lesbian characters filled out birth documentation called PARENT 1 and PARENT 2. Some states starting using those terms a few years later.

A1 You can also read ‘DeBunked,’ by signing up to my website. It’s about a plot to keep certain pudgy orange fingers off the nuclear button, and I still think it might be worth trying. #WomenWritersNet nastasyaparker.com

A1 I wrote a trio of dystopian future stories in 2016 (can’t imagine what inspired me…) Here’s a link to ‘The Apocalypse Alphabet,’ distilling the end of the world into the experience of a mum and her boy. #WomenWritersNet www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BOJ...

A2 #WomenWritersNet That makes sense, although I imagine it's fun to think about their lives beyond the books.

A1 Incredible description, Sandy! Especially how it goes beyond smell... #WomenWritersNet

A2 - My story is set in a recognizable, hopeful future, making it a blast to write. Who wouldn't want their own pocket dimension?!

Had to shelve a half-finished AI story, too depressing #WomenWritersNet

A2 #WomenWritersNet That makes sense, Sandy. It's such a writerly #Inspiration --what would it be like if this was permanent? And #SpecFic is a great genre for imagining the 'what ifs'.