But yes, once I started thinking I might write a hippocamp story, I was intrigued to discover that there aren’t a lot of them out there, which is very odd, given how ancient the notion of them is. The hippocamp was where the story came from. What drew you to the hippocamp for this story, versus another mythic creature? The hippocamp in “What You’ve Been Missing” was a great one to pick, because it doesn’t seem to be utilized nearly as much as it ought to. There’s not enough joy in the world, and some things are so painful that I write in order to try to make them a little better.ĪM: In a lot of your other fiction, you include mythic creatures from various cultures and time periods. I’m kind of always looking for joy in the dark. This story, while not about him but an invented character and an invented character’s world, is nonetheless me looking for any spark of joy in the dark. The cat in his lap, a kind person, a bright lipstick. He’d transformed from a stoic person to someone who could love giddily without history, and sometimes he did. His loss of memory, of sentience, was slow and excruciating, but occasionally momentarily joyful. Though I knew him well, I never knew the person his sons had known.
#Prismatica samuel r. delany series
When he died, it was after years of his mind piecemeal disregarding the rules, flinging his past and present off like a series of shirts. My beloved former father–in–law was a tremendously intellectual man, a professor, pioneer of public broadcasting, and a WWII vet who, at the end of his life, suffered from Alzheimer’s. That, these creatures, their affiliation to the seat of memory, led me to this story. The brain’s hippocampi are the seat of memory. But as usual this reason a) wasn’t enough for me, b) had possibilities, and so I wrote a story. Turns out there’s an obvious reason - as in, the brain’s hippocampi are seahorse–shaped and were therefore named after the mythic animals. This story came from me wondering why they were called hippocampi, that sparking a memory of brain diagrams, and then wondering why there were parts in the brain with the same name as these mythological winged horse–fish… so, research. MARIA DAHVANA HEADLEY: I bought a set of beautiful Art Deco brass hippocampus bookends on eBay. Headley, and maybe some of those super secret upcoming projects, check out her website at or follow her on Twitter at MAGAZINE: To get the preliminary question out of the way: What was the genesis for this story? She’s unfettered and fascinating, and this month, Apex Magazine is thrilled to bring you her short story, “ What You’ve Been Missing.” She’s also the author of Queen of Kings, a historical dark fantasy novel about Cleopatra, and was a 2012 Nebula Award finalist for her short story “Give Her Honey When You Hear Her Scream.” She’s also got lots of secret projects up her sleeves - maybe ball gown sleeves.
Did I mention she has a seven–foot taxidermied crocodile? Because she does. In New York, she once dated everyone who asked her out for a whole year just to see what would happen. She wears ball gowns and tiaras while writing on occasion. Maria Dahvana Headley is not your average writer.
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