In our [March/April issue, on sale now!], we’re thrilled to bring you Deborah L. Davitt’s “A Long Journey Into Night,” the follow-up to her 2021 AnLab-winning story “A Shot in the Dark.” In our Q&A Davitt herself, find out why she prefers to leave current events out of her fiction, and what inspired her to write a sequel to her award-winning novelette.
AE: How did this story germinate? Was there a spark of inspiration, or did it come to you slowly?
DLD: This story is a direct sequel to my first Analog appearance, “A Shot in the Dark,” which appeared in January/February 2021, and which won the Analytical Laboratory Award in its length category for that year (thank you to the voters!). I simply wasn’t done with the idea of Aeʻahaukaʻe, the Wanderer; its first mysterious appearance in the solar system pretty much demanded a sequel, and I’m grateful that Analog wanted to publish both halves of the tale!
I’m sure I had Rendezvous with Rama firmly at the back of my head as I wrote both stories, because the first Rama book was really formative for me. I first played the computer game of it, believe it or not, and then graduated to reading the novel when I was twelve or so? I know that the computer game was released in 1984, but I didn’t get to play it until a few years later than that.
AE: How did the title for this piece come to you?
DLD: Unusually for me, the title for this story came before the story itself; I wanted to write a sequel, and I wanted a title that followed on “A Shot in the Dark” but inverted it, so I came up with “A Long Journey into Light” and had to write the story that justified that title. I was particularly pleased with myself when I found a place to insert the title into the words of the story. Usually, my process is quite the reverse. I generally write the story first, and then find the title in a key piece of dialog or narration and make it work that way.
AE: Is this piece part of a greater universe of stories?
DLD: If I write a third piece about Aeʻahaukaʻe, it will certainly seem that way, won’t it!
AE: What is your history with Analog?
DLD: I have wanted to be published in Analog since I was a kid. Analog, Asimov’s, and F&SF were at the top of my list from the Fiction Writer’s Guide I got for Christmas each year in my teens—along with the late, lamented Dragon magazine. I had sample copies of several of the magazines sent to me, back when magazines did that sort of thing, but trying to write something that would please the editors looked as distant a prospect as the stars themselves!
This is my third story to be published in Analog. Both of my previous two actually won or tied for first in the Analytical Laboratory voting; the other story of mine you might want to check out is “Beneath the Surface, a Womb of Ice,” November/December 2022. (Again, a huge thank-you to the voters!) The kid I was growing up in Reno would never have imagined such a thing!
AE: How much or little do current events impact your writing?
DLD: I actively try to avoid current events in my writing. Some of it leaks through, despite my best efforts, but I want my work to resonate for people in five years, in ten years, not just today. I want someone browsing back issues to be able to go, “Yes, I feel this way!” at the characters’ situation, and not go, “Man, weren’t we all naïve back then? Things are so much different now than we thought they’d be.”
Of course, that last is almost inescapable when trying to predict the future in a science fiction lens, but you do your best to just tell the best story you’re capable of, and let history take care of the rest.
AE: Are there any themes that you find yourself returning to throughout your writing? If yes, what and why?
DLD: I tend to deal frequently with grief and loss, with learning to live after grief and loss, with making mistakes and making them right, and with veterans and their plight, and so on. My dad was retired Army, and dealt with a prolonged fight with chronic, then terminal illness, so that obviously left marks.
I want someone browsing back issues to be able to go, “Yes, I feel this way!” at the characters’ situation, and not go, “Man, weren’t we all naïve back then? Things are so much different now than we thought they’d be.”
AE: What other projects are you currently working on?
DLD: I actually started a podcast last year called Shining Moon: A Speculative Fiction Podcast, in which I interview other writers and editors about their work in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. As I write this, it’s over thirty episodes strong, and I’m finding new voices and new topics all the time. It’s available wherever fine podcasts are found, so you should totally check that out.
AE: What are you reading right now?
DLD: Well, because of the podcast, I am actually reading a lot of short fiction these days, in a whole host of genres. This coming week, for example, we’ll be talking about YA and middle-grade fiction, and the week after that, we’ll pivot to dark fantasy and horror again. The menu is varied!
AE: What careers have you had and how do they affect your writing?
DLD: I worked first as a teacher of rhetoric and composition at the university level, and then spent seventeen years as a technical writer, in fields that ranged from nuclear ballistic missiles to NASA to computer manufacturing. The biggest lessons I learned in technical writing are organization and clarity. Some writers delight in obfuscating their meaning and making the audience fight for every morsel of understanding. I can’t be arsed with that. I want people to understand my message, to understand what the characters are going through, and to empathize with them. Even in my poetry, my goal is to be as transparent as clean, fresh water. Well. Most of the time, anyway.
AE: Where can readers follow you and your writing?
DLD: People can follow me (and my podcast) at a number of places!
www.facebook.com/deborah.davitt.3
Twitter: @davittDL
Bluesky: @deborahldavitt.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/@ShiningMoonSpeculativeFiction
www.shiningmoon.buzzsprout.com
The Astounding Analog Companion 