![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/SpecFicNZlogo-150x66.jpg\" "\\"SpecFicNZlogo\\"")
<\/a>Last week I heralded\u00a0 a new \u201cmini-post\u201d series on the blog, starting today, titled \u201cHere\u2019s SpecFicNZ-Christchurch.\u201d<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nAs I set out then, SpecFicNZ is the \u201d national association for creators, writers and editors of speculative fiction in or from New Zealand\u201d<\/em> and I thought some of my blog readers might enjoy \u201c\u2018meeting\u201d the members who live right here in the Christchurch area. As I also explained, effectively my fellow authors will be introducing themselves using a series of\u00a0 common headings:<\/p>\n Here’s Who:<\/strong> a short, first person introduction to the writer So without further ado—please meet Elizabeth (Liz) Gatens.<\/strong><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Elizabeth Gatens<\/p><\/div>\n Here’s Who:<\/strong><\/span> Here’s Why:<\/strong><\/span> I\u2019m currently working on my first novel, told from the viewpoint of an unreliable narrator who never lies. The idea for my latest short story, \u201cMonocarpic Colony Blues\u201d, started with a prince, but the heroine refused to be rescued. My other short story, \u201cThe Glitch Doctor,\u201d developed from a common phrase being taken literally and projected into a cyberpunk future. The opening scene is below.<\/span><\/p>\n My GPS went to hell on the first solar flare. It wasn\u2019t an issue. I\u2019d been around, knew my way through the rat runs, the obsolete streets dividing the millions of plugged-in, socially disconnected lives festering in their single-room sanctuaries from the real world. On foot, I trailed an automated delivery mule to an intersection where street signs flickered their scrambled directions against the dawn aurora, neon-blue against apocalyptic pink. Almost pretty, if you were into that kind of shit.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The corner church had long been hacked into tiny living units, sterile cells for a sterile existence. Usertopia. Dull as the grave, and just as lonely. The vicarage next door still promised an audience with God, or at least a conference call. My first job of the day. An ageing caretaker answered when I knocked, her distrust overruled by her surprise.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018I thought you\u2019d be a man.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Me too. Disappointed, I tugged up the zip on my low-cut dress and stuck out my hand. \u2018I get that all the time. I\u2019m the technical support you requested. But you\u2019re not the vicar.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n She didn\u2019t shake my hand. The official health warnings about the latest pandemic had clearly ruined her manners. \u2018He\u2019s asleep. He has an important meeting today with all the civic leaders.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Ah, yes, the much-promoted public debate, as in actually together in the same room at the same time, to discuss ways of clearing the docks of assorted lowlifes. I tried again, flashing an ID card from my coat pocket. \u2018You called for my help. I\u2019m the Glitch Doctor.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n …”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u2018The Glitch Doctor\u201d won first place in the 2011 Cyberpunk competition run by Shades of Sentience<\/span><\/a>. It was published in “Award Winning Australian Writing 2012<\/span><\/a>“.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMonocarpic Colony Blues\u201d will be published in the upcoming \u201cRegeneration: New Zealand Speculative Fiction II Anthology\u201d<\/strong>, by Random Static<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nHere\u2019s Why:<\/strong> the writer writes speculative fiction
\nHere\u2019s What:<\/strong> an example of the writer\u2019s work
\nHere\u2019s Where:<\/strong> you<\/em> can find out more about the writer and their work—and I really hope you will!<\/p>\nHere’s SpecFicNZ–Christchurch: Featuring Elizabeth Gatens<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Liz-Gatens-256x300.jpg\" "\\"Liz")
<\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n I\u2019ve always known I\u2019d never be an astronaut. Aside from the Yorkshire accent and even thicker glasses, the zero-gravity environment made me ponder the wisdom of white space-suits. With such practicalities in mind, I settled on the next best career and trained as a librarian. After five years of enabling prisoners to escape via their imagination I swapped hemispheres and entered the dangerous world of children\u2019s librarianship. Recently, I\u2019ve realised I\u2019d wound up on the wrong side of the printed page. It\u2019s the yet unwritten stories I\u2019m hungry to explore. I now live in Christchurch with my Kiwi husband, and when I\u2019m not procrastinating in my role as the current SpecFicNZ secretary I\u2019m busy dreaming my way to distant realities.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n I\u2019m a magpie for the shiny bauble of what if. Ideas intrigue me, the possibilities of different futures and alternative pasts, but I need relatable characters to suspend my disbelief from. They don\u2019t have to be kind, or particularly noble, and I often find the back-story for the villain more interesting than the suffering of the hero. Language and word-play tickle my funny bone, and I like every sentence to pull its weight, preferably more if a double-meaning can sneak in to twist the plot.<\/span><\/p>\nHere\u2019s What: <\/strong>(Excerpt)
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Award-Winning-Australian-Writing-2012.jpg\" "\\"Award")
<\/a>The Glitch Doctor <\/strong>(\u00a9 Elizabeth Gatens)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nHere\u2019s Where:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n