Today we’re talking with Carla RA, who writes about robots and might be a robot herself. We just can’t know. Carla is a scientist by day and a sci-fi writer by night. She is a Brazilian cosmologist (of the quantum kind), mathematician, and historian of science. With her secret identity as a sci-fi author, she likes to speculate on humanity using fantastical, science-based themes.
Tell us more about your short story work.
My latest publication is a short story titled “Wild Pistols.” It’s about David, an unreliable, good-natured narrator trying to be accepted and find a place to settle. The catch is that David is the first sentient robot to ever exist—or is he?
This story is very dear to me because it was the first time I had a story accepted for publication. And it happened both in Portuguese and in English! I have sold microfiction in English before, but Wild Pistols was the first short story I published.
Seeing the reaction to this story has been quite an experience. By the end…
<span style=”cursor:help;” title=”spoiler text here”>…we don’t really know if David is a robot or not. I had readers telling me it was too evident he was a robot, while others said it was clear as day that David was a human. I find this amusing. These conflicting impressions make me think I did something right with this one.</span>
Why do you write speculative fiction?
“Write the stories you want to read.”
Carla ra
I don’t have a passionate or touching answer to this one. I mostly read science fiction, so that’s what I write about.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
Ideas pop up from nowhere all the time. I think reading is the greatest source of story seeds (but not the only one). So, I don’t really need to be inspired to get those. I need inspiration for how to build a story out of these ideas. For me, at least, ideas come in the form of “What ifs,” and crafting a plot and characters around this question is not intuitive to me. Sometimes, it’s undoable! I have a whole folder with story seeds waiting for a plot that might never come.
Therefore, I would say that my main source of inspiration is to study the writing craft. Learning more about plot structure, tropes, character design, plot bits, and that kind of stuff is what allows me to create an engaging story around a vague idea. I’ve heard people saying they avoid studying the craft, fearing it would hinder their creativity. For me, it’s the opposite.
Studying is my primary source of inspiration.
(This sounds super nerdy, right? I’m aware of my dorkiness.)
What is your favorite sci-fi, fantasy, or horror trope?
Time travel. There’s something about playing with time that always entices me. You can get creative in so many ways without falling into clichés.
What is your favorite speculative fiction book (besides yours)?
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I knew the tale way before reading the book, as many do. However, reading it is a whole other experience. The story is much more nuanced than what is immortalized in the tale of Fankenstein’s monster! It earned a top spot on my favorite list.
What is the best robot story you’ve written?
Now that you’ve asked, I realize I wrote many robot/AI stories. How funny! “Wild Pistols” and “How to Identify a Robot” are published; Artificial Rebellion is all about AI also…
Well, to answer the question, I think my favorite that I wrote was the last one, the yet unreleased flash fiction “Unobserved.” I’m still in the honeymoon phase with this one.
What is the world you long to see?
That’s a tough one.
The tricky part about embracing diversity is that one’s utopia is another’s dystopia. So, I won’t describe a utopia.
There are a couple of things that I believe are within our reach and would improve our collective lives significantly: being more in tune with our natural environment and slowing down our daily lives. Sadly, many people see wilderness as exotic or uncivilized, all the while living a frantic life, always in a rush, anxious for the next thing. I want to live in a world where taking it easy and enjoying nature are not perceived as being lazy and rube.
How does your day job as a scientist impact your work?
The biggest impact I perceive is the other way around. Exercising my creative writing has changed the way I approach science. I found a place for creativity in my work, leading me to make a less stilted science. It improved how I usually explain ideas and concepts. It’s a lesson on storytelling: you can only make your message accessible if you know how to deliver it.
Bonus question: Novels or short stories? Which do you prefer to read? Which do you prefer to write?
Short stories all the way! I struggle to write longer formats, and I often get bored reading a full-length novel.
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