Vanessa Fogg has long been one of my favorite writers. Several of her short stories are on my secret “all-time best” list, so it’s a treat to learn about her new collection, The House of Illusionists, on the blog today. Thanks to Vanessa!
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Myna: Tell us about The House of Illusionists! What themes do you explore?
Vanessa: This collection represents over a decade of my fiction writing. It brings together seventeen tales of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, including a previously unpublished piece of clown horror, “Sweetest.” The book is divided into two sections. In “Part I: Closer Worlds,” the stories take place in worlds much like our own, but with twists of time or magic.
A middle-aged woman in suburbia confronts a Faerie Queen. A pair of neuroscientists fall in love amidst their quest to map the human mind. In an old European capital, a woman is haunted by a starving ghost.
Amidst fantastical settings, these are stories of relationships—relationships between mothers and daughters, parents and children, siblings and friends and lovers. They’re stories about the desire for human connection, and the difficulties inherent to it; about the pain and complexity—as well as the joy—of relationships.
Cover design by Holly Lyn Walrath
In “Part II: Farther Worlds” the stories are set in secondary fantasy worlds completely separate from our own. Many of these have a more fairytale-like or mythic tone. A sea-witch calls to souls from the deeps. An enchanted garden wakes once in a lifetime to welcome the return of a boy it once loved. A sorceress flees with her shapeshifting lover to a protected island. And in the title story, two professors of illusion arts at a magical academy do what they can to protect their students even as war tightens a net around them.
As in Part I, human relationships are important to the stories of Part II, even as the settings are further removed from the real world. But this section also develops a second theme: the meaning and importance of stories themselves. The power and limits of stories—of how stories can save us, but also of what they can and cannot do.
Myna: When a reader finishes the last word in the book, what emotion will they be feeling?
Vanessa: I hope they’ll be feeling a mix of heartbreak and gladness, triumph and sorrow. I love bittersweet endings.
Myna: Of all the characters in your collection, do you have a favorite? Were any of them difficult to write?
Vanessa: The unnamed narrator of “Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe,” is perhaps my favorite. His character is a bit louder than the quiet, thoughtful characters I usually write—fitting for someone who’s the star of an action comic book series! I like his bravado, the way he hides his vulnerability beneath wisecracks and swagger and the assurance that he’s fine—inhaling a little death-dust is no big deal! I like the way his vulnerability (I think) comes out through the course of the story anyway, especially at the end.
Myna: How did this collection come about?
Vanessa: In 2021, Interstellar Flight Press announced a submissions call for short story collections. I’d been toying with the idea of a collection for a while, so I submitted! In arranging my collection, I started with a core of what I thought were my strongest stories at the time—the “must-haves.” From that core, themes naturally emerged, and so I selected more stories that I liked and which I thought fit well with those themes. I think of story collections as like playlists—there’s an overarching mood or theme, but there’s some variation in mood and tone and genre as well, just to keep things interesting. I hope The House of Illusionists does that for readers.
Myna: I’d love to hear about your novelette, The Lilies of Dawn. What’s the story about, and who are your characters?
Vanessa: The Lilies of Dawn is a fantasy novelette about a young woman, Kai, who has been charged with caring for a field of magical water lilies. For generations, the people of Kai’s village have depended on these lilies for the life-saving medicines they provide. But over the last few years, a flock of enchanted cranes has come each season to steal and poison the harvest. The lilies are dwindling and dying. Kai’s people are in peril. Until a mysterious young man from the city arrives, saying he may have a solution . . . This is a fantasy novelette in fairy-tale/myth mode, about gods and goddesses and their intersection with humans, about terrible choices and people just trying to do what they think best. The beautiful artwork is by Hugo-award winning artist Likhain, and it’s published by Annorlunda Books.
Myna: I’m a huge fan of your short stories. Which are your own personal favorites?
Vanessa: Two of my favorite stories open The House of Illusionists and are also available online.
“Wild Ones,” first published in Bracken Magazine
“Traces of Us,” first published in GigaNotoSaurus
And here are two more recent stories, published just this year. I’m inordinately fond of both.
“The Path She Sings,” published in The Deadlands
“When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm,” published in Lightspeed
Myna: What’s your favorite thing about writing?
Vanessa: I love being able to get lost in other worlds.
Myna: I look forward to your fiction reviews and roundups. How did you get started with that? What are you looking for when choosing stories to include?
Vanessa: I just checked my website, and wow! I first started posting those reviews over nine years ago! When I first started that blog, I didn’t think anyone was reading. I started writing there—and posting story and book reviews—for myself. It was a way to keep track of things I’d liked, and there was satisfaction in analyzing a book or story and trying to figure what made it work. To try to articulate what I loved about a work, and why. I did think there was the off chance that some reader might stumble upon my blog, and be inspired to read the linked story. And I did hope that maybe the author of a story might stumble upon a review, and realize that their work was loved.
With the rise of social media and Goodreads, and the ability to link my blog to those sites, everything changed. Now that I know that at least some people are seeing these roundups—well, that’s motivation to keep going! I just love to talk about the things that I love. I just want to boost the stories and authors that inspire me. And I’ve been so happy to see the rise of other sites boosting stories in this way—like your flash roundups, Myna! It feels like boosting a community, doesn’t it? Celebrating and sharing fiction together.
How do I choose what to include in a roundup? I choose the stories that made the biggest impressions on me for that month. There are some works that I realize are technically good—that others might put up for awards—but that simply don’t strike me much personally. These roundups are a list of the stories I remember. The ones that I love and that hit me hard.
Myna: How do you stay motivated?
Vanessa: I wish I were better motivated! I’m procrastinating on a story right now. But reading good literature always helps.
Myna: Tell us about a recent accomplishment or share some happy news with us!
Vanessa: I have a story dropping in a cool space horror anthology, edited by E.S. Magill (I think it will be out by the time this interview is posted). It’s called Space Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Science-Fiction Stories.
My science fiction story, “Remembering Day,” (first published in Uncharted Magazine, the magazine you edit, Myna!) is getting reprinted in the revival of a very cool fashion and art print publication, Black & Grey. It will be out in the “simulation”-themed issue, guest edited by Yi Izzy Yu and John Branscum, and it should be out this November/December.
Finally, I have a new story coming out in Lightspeed. I’m not sure exactly when it will run, but it’s titled “Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea,” and it’s one of my favorite stories yet.
Myna: What’s next for you?
Vanessa: I hope to just keep reading and writing.
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Vanessa Fogg dreams of selkies, dragons, and gritty cyberpunk futures from her home in western Michigan. She spent years as a research scientist in molecular cell biology and now works as a freelance medical writer. Her writing has appeared in Lightspeed, Podcastle, The Deadlands, GigaNotoSaurus, Neil Clarke’s The Best Science Fiction of the Year: Vol 4, and the Bram Stoker Award-nominated anthology, Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror. Her fantasy novelette, The Lilies of Dawn, is available from Annorlunda Books. Her debut collection, The House of Illusionists, is forthcoming from Interstellar Flight Press. For a complete bibliography and more, visit her website at vanessafogg.com.
Find Vanessa on Goodreads and Bluesky
Find The House of Illusionists at Interstellar Flight Press or Amazon
Myna Chang 