Apex Books & Apex Magazine

Happy Book Birthday to ChloroPhilia by Cristina Jurado! If you are a book backer, your digital copy of this title will be coming to your inbox today. Follow this link to buy a copy: https://www.apexbookcompany.com/products/chlorophlia

~

Would you sacrifice your humanity to save the world?

Kirmen is different from the other inhabitants of the Cloister, whose walls protect them all from the endless storm ravaging Earth. As a result of the Doctor’s cruel experiments, his physical form is gradually evolving into something better fit for survival in the world outside.

Kirmen worries about becoming a pariah, an outcast among the other denizens of the domes. But his desire for affection and acceptance, and his humanity, fade a way as the Doctor’s treatments progress. What will happen when the metamorphosis is complete ? What will be left of Kirmen and the group of survivors that he knows and loves?

In English for the first time (translated by Sue Burke), ChloroPhilia, an Ignotus Award – nominated novella by Cristina Jurado, is a strange coming–of-age story while addressing life after an environmental disaster, collective madness, and sacrifices made for the greater good.

~

Cristina Jurado is a bilingual author of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other hybrid genres, as well as editor, translator, and sf promoter. In 2019 she became the first female author to win the Best Novel Ignotus Award (Spain’s Hugo) for Bionautas. Her recent fiction in English includes her collection Alphaland & Other Tales (Calque) and many stories in various venues, such as Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, Apex magazine, and The Best of World SF by Head of Zeus. Her works have been translated into English, Italian, Romanian, Chinese and Japanese. Distinguished as Europe’s Best SF Promoter Award in 2020, she has worked as editor and contributor in Apex magazine and Constelación magazine, as Spanish slush reader for Clarkesworld and as editor for the Hispanic initiative Futura House.

~

What was the inspiration for ChloroPhilia? How did Kirmen and his world come to be?

I have lived in the Middle East, in Dubai, for 15 years. The desert is a very dramatic place, and I’m interested in how extreme environments effect people. Sandstorms in particular have always fascinated me because they are very different than what movies show: normally you don’t see them coming as they just appear like fog that thickens slowly but surely. I always thought that an eternal sandstorm was one of the most terrifying natural phenomena one can experience, so I took the premise as far as I could. Kirmen, a name that I took from the Basque language (I lived in the Basque country in my childhood), is the embodiment of hope in a society which understands that, in order to survive, it has to completely adapt to the new weather conditions. He is a teenager subject to an ongoing transformation amid the normal struggle youngsters experience, so his emotional state is a roller-coaster. I wanted to describe his journey in a way it captures the madness his enclosed society is developing. To show that collective madness, I chose an unusual structure that detaches readers as much as possible so they can focus on the moral implications. 

What is the worst piece of writing advice you ever received? The best?

The worst was by a male publisher in the beginning of my career. He told me to quit science fiction and write paranormal romance because “no science fiction female author in Spain will be taken seriously”.

The best advice I was given was not to read reviews because I should not measure my value as an author by the number of stars people give to my stories.

What is your writing process like? Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I normally start writing the end of the story. Sometimes it’s just a sentence or a paragraph, although, a couple of times, I did finish the entire last chapter of a novel before anything else. This doesn’t mean I don’t change things later if I have to, but I need to know where I’m going in order to tell a story. Don’t get me wrong: the beginning is very important for me too, but I find it easier to perfect once I come up with the ending. Neither a map nor a compass author, I would call myself a “destination writer”. The plot is very organic and grows based on the characters towards where I need the story to go. In fact, I recommended to some of my writing pals this process to fight writer’s block, and it has proved to be really effective.

What is your reading process like? Are you an obligate finisher or a reckless abandoner? One book at a time or dozens? 

I also tend to read the ending first. It’s a very bad habit, I know, but it helps to calm my anxiety: when I’m reading, I become very agitated and need to know where the story is going in order to enjoy it. Maybe this is very counterintuitive but the more I write, the more I focus on the ending, which I don’t mind being open. In fact, I love open endings, and I use them in most of my stories.

Normally I always finish books I committed to reading for articles, reviews, blurbs or as a professional reader for authors and publishers, but otherwise I don’t hesitate to abandon a book is the quality is not there or I’m getting bored. And yes, I read many books at the same time but try to avoid the ones from the same genre I’m writing, so I don’t feel I’m pocketing ideas.

If you could only have one book to read for the rest of your life, which would you pick? Why?

The one that never ends because it’s been written as I read it. It would have to be a mix of genres with fantasy, science fiction, humor., drama and many adventures. Wait! Does this sound a bit like real life?

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I read all kinds of genres, from poetry to theater, listen to K-rap (Korean rap) and watch videos on interior design. In fact, one of my relaxation techniques is imagining how to furnish rooms, from kitchens to offices and bedrooms. The smaller the space, the better, as it’s more challenging.

What are you working on next?

I’m translating my novel Bionautas from Spanish into English, a post-apocalyptic tale of humans from out of Earth coming into our planet and triggering a global pandemic. By the way, I wrote it in before the Covid pandemic. It deals with what means to be human and how society rebuilds itself even after terrible disasters.

In Spanish I’m working on two projects: a feminist thriller set in a cursed village and a fantasy novel of a future Earth with evolved humans.

~

I love to prepare homemade pizzas. This is the recipe of my mother-in-law for Zaartar pizzas called “Manakish”:

For the dough:

3 cups bread flour

1 cup of lukewarm water

1 tablespoon of dried active yeast

A pinch of salt

A pinch of sugar

3 tablespoon regular olive oil

For a Zaatar (thyme) topping:

2 tablespoon zaatar (thyme) blend

Half cup regular olive oil

For a regular pizza:

Tomato sauce

Black sliced olives

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

-In a bowl test if the water is just about lukewarm (if it is too hot it will kill the yeast). Adjust with cold water if necessary.

-Add the sugar to the water along with the yeast and stir well until it dissolves. Leave for 15 minutes allowing the yeast to ferment and bubble.

-In a large bowl, add the rest of the salt, the flour and the oil followed by the yeast liquid and bring together. To knead by hand, turn out onto a floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes.

-Place the kneaded dough ball into a large mixing bowl and cover with cling film or damp tea cloth, leave to rise for around 2 hours or until doubled in size. If the room is cold, turn on the oven on at the lowest setting then turn OFF and transfer the dough to prove inside.

-When the dough has risen, with floured hands knock back the dough and shape into a ball. Divide into sections or according to the size desired.

-For a zataar topping, stir 2 tablespons of zaatar mixture with ½ cup of regular olive oil until you have medium consistency

-Turn on the oven on the highest setting (usually 230°C/450 F)

-Roll out a small dough ball on a floured surface so it is quite thin (approx 5-10mm)

-Transfer to a non stick baking tray, spoon on the zaatar mixture leaving a small margin around the edges and dimple the surface lightly with your fingers.

-Bake for 10 minutes, turning half way if necessary to get an even bake.

-For a pizza, transfer to a non stick baking tray, spoon on the tomato sauce leaving a small margin around the edges and dimple the surface lightly with your fingers. Add the black slice olives and the schrredded mozzarella cheese.

-Bake for 10 minutes, turning half way if necessary to get an even bake.

Bon appetit!!!

~

Favorite things

My last work in Spanish was a fantasy novel about teenagers with superpowers titled Limítrofes (Borderliners) and the entire music list was built on J-Hope from BTS rap songs. His last solo album, Jack-in-the-Box is absolutely amazing! I also love David Bowie’s music (I wanted to be him when I was a teenager) and “Suffragette City” is one of his songs that always makes me happy, no matter how sad I feel. My weakness in books is new weird and thrillers: I absolutely adore China Miéville and John Le Carré. I think I’ve read most of their books, some several times. One of my favorite characters of all times is the imago in The Taint by China Miéville.  

~

Photo Tour

Cristina Jurado’s workspace with a desk next to a large window, in front of two file cabinets.

Cristina Jurado’s bookshelves.

Cristina is in Al Ain oasis in Dubai (UAE)

Liwa Resort in Abu Dhabi desert.

Some of the books written by Cristina (with Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as support)

~~~

Thanks to the author for joining us! If you read and review ChloroPhilia, we’d love to hear about it!