Sometimes when I put a song into Suno, what I get back is pure magic. My Flowers for Algernon-esque story, “Techno Babel” (co-written with Daniel) is one of those cases…
Also, new wave as a genre of music can be kind of amazing.
I just love the part in “The City in My Toaster Oven” where the lead sings “and I’m oblivious and cruel.” This was a fun one to make.
I wasn’t sure how it would go converting such a weird sci-fi story as “The Hand-Havers” into song… but I’ve gotten the “mother of children I didn’t ask for” refrain from this one stuck in my head soooo many times. So, I think it went well!
A lot of people in my writing group have told me that they think “Foreknowledge” is my best story. It was originally written to submit to the Machine of Death anthologies but actually landed in Apex. And now there’s a song inspired by it.
I love, love, love how “Heaven is the Best Moment of Your Life, Infinitely Remixed and Played on Loop” turned out as a song. The story itself was originally inspired by the song “Yeah Sure Whatever” on The Afterparty, make of that what you will.
Translating my story, “Two Roads Diverge,” into song was tricky, because unlike a lot of the others I’ve done, it’s not driven by either plot or place… it’s absolutely about capturing a very specific idea.
I wrote “Where Have All the Mousies Gone” after the 2020 election about how I wished my grandma could’ve been there. Then it won an Ursa Major Award. It was really meaningful getting acknowledgment like that for such a personal story. And now it’s a song!