107 – Zin E. Rocklyn and the Commonality of Pain

Send us a text

Time to get weird and wiggy and wondrous.

Our guest this week is Zin E. Rocklyn, author of many short fictions, and her (very) recently award-winning novella Flowers for the Sea.

It’s an afro-speculative blend of science fiction, horror, fantasy, myth, dystopia, pre-history and apocalypse – all confined to a single boat in a big, bad ocean, and all told within 100 pages.

Phew – it’s dense!

Zin and I cover a lot this week. We barrel through her the twin crises of reproductive rights and climate change – and look at how inequality is a huge component of both. We talk about writing the body, evoking smell and how pain has many uses.

That sounds dark. It is. But there is also light, including an unexpected reference to an old British sitcom, the juxtaposition of Zin and Hyacinth Bouquet made me laugh!!

Enjoy this one.

Flowers for the Sea was released October 2021, by Tor 

Other books mentioned in the episode include:

• We Are Here to Hurt Each Other (2022), by Paula D. Ashe
• Spectral Hue (2019), by Craig L. Gidney
• No Gods for Drowning (2022), by Hailey Piper
• “My Genre Makes a Monster of Me”, by Zin E. Rocklyn (2018) in Uncanny Magazine, 24 

Support Talking Scared on Patreon 

Come talk books on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com 

Support the show