Imaginative Firsts: On Writing Debut Sci-Fi and Fantasy

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Wednesday, 7:00 pm EDT June 10, 2026

The Center for Fiction
& Livestreamed

Wondering what it takes to write an immersive—and transgressive—speculative tale as a debut author? Join us for a conversation with sci-fi and fantasy novelists Joseph Eckert, Thomas Elrod, and Isabel J. Kim. Throughout their discussion, the panelists will consider sci-fi and fantasy’s place in the literary world, dive into the genres’ ability to reinterpret familiar topics, and share their unique creative processes. Yume Kitasei, author of the post-apocalyptic novel Saltcrop, will moderate the conversation. A book signing will follow the event.

Featured Novels:

The Traveler is the story of a reluctant time-traveler and his son—and the bond between them that even millennia cannot break. An adventure full of heartbreak, hope, and futures beyond imagination, it follows their desperate attempts to reunite as they fight against forces they can’t comprehend.

The Franchise depicts a Hollywood-owned fantasy world called the Malicarn, where nothing is quite as it seems. Convinced that their fantasy lives are real, the Malicarn’s inhabitants ignorantly live and die at the studio’s whims—until one actor attempts to bring freedom to a population that already believes itself to be free.

Sublimation is set in an alternate America where the act of emigrating creates a copy, known as an instance: one person enters the new country, the other stays behind. When her grandfather’s death forces Rose to return to Korea, she comes face-to-face with the version of herself she left behind—unaware that her instance has plans to steal her body and her life.

We offer two in-person ticket options: the $10 Standard Ticket and the $40+ Supporter Ticket. Both provide the same access, but if you’re able, we kindly suggest registering for the Supporter Ticket to help sustain our programs. Please note that tickets do not include books; we encourage you to order in advance online or purchase copies at the event.

Featuring

Joseph Eckert

Joseph Eckert

Joseph Eckert grew up in Northern Wisconsin before heading to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study history. He later attended the University of Iowa and received a master’s in political science. He’s been writing speculative fiction since high school and remains most interested in placing believable characters in unbelievable situations. Joseph currently lives in Greater Seattle with his wife, daughter, and grumpy old cat.

Photo Credit: Yasuko Eckert
Thomas Elrod

Thomas Elrod

Thomas Elrod lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and daughter. His writing has appeared in the LA Review of Books, Independent Weekly, and elsewhere. The Franchise is his first novel.

Photo Credit: Lucas Sinkinson
Isabel J. Kim

Isabel J. Kim

Isabel J. Kim lives near New York City in an apartment filled with books and swords. She is the author of numerous short stories and has won the Nebula, Locus, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and reprinted in multiple best of the year anthologies. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing law or podcasting. Sublimation is her first novel.

Photo Credit: Amanda Silberling
Yume Kitasei

Yume Kitasei

Yume Kitasei is the author of Saltcrop, The Stardust Grail, and The Deep Sky. She is Japanese and American and grew up in a space between two cultures—the same space where her stories reside. She lives in Brooklyn with two cats, Boondoggle and Filibuster.

Photo Credit: Sylvie Rosokoff

Featured Books

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The Traveler

By Jospeh Eckert

Published by Tor Publishing Group

PURCHASE

It’s a day like any other when Scott Treder first jumps forward through time. One moment, he’s on his way to work, fingers drumming the steering wheel. The next, he’s tumbling headlong down the road, his car gone, a dozen panicked voicemails from his wife waiting on his cell.

7:51am. Monday, April 13th.

A blink of an eye.

7:52am. Tuesday, April 14th.

An entire 24 hours, gone.

This one moment—this first spontaneous slip—marks a change in the course not only of Scott’s future, but that of the world. From this point on, at precisely 7:52am every morning, Scott inexplicably travels forward in time in ever-doubling intervals. First one day lost in a blink, then two, then four, until weeks, even years, are passing him by in an instant.

Meanwhile, his wife is left alone to pick up the pieces of the life they once shared together, and, before long, Lyle, Scott’s genius seven-year-old son, will surpass him in age.

Because while his dad is rocketing forward in time, Lyle is growing up–graduating early, studying at Berkeley, becoming the foremost scholar of quantum physics, all in an attempt to bring his father back…

Meet an extraordinary father and son in this captivating, heart-wrenching speculative debut.
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The Franchise

By Thomas Elrod

Published by Tor Publishing Group

PURCHASE

A land filled with magic and dragons and wizards and warriors. Thousands of people live and work within its borders, fearful of their enemies and loyal to their king.

The classic fantasy world of The Malicarn has been brought to life on the big screen in a series of phenomenally successful blockbuster movies, almost entirely populated by characters in total belief that their sham fantasy lives are real.

A fan-favorite actor finds himself doubting the studio’s work, but this franchise has an almost unstoppable momentum, and bringing freedom to a population that already believes itself to be free won’t be as easy as he thinks.

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Sublimation

By Isabel J. Kim

Published by Tor Publishing Group

PURCHASE

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?