Small Spec Book Awards - 2026 Semi-Finalist Feature #3
First, I featured fantasy authors, then horror authors. For my 3rd SSBA Semi-finalist post, I will be focusing on 3 of the science-fiction semi-finalists:
- Koji A. Dae, author of Casual;
- Rachel Hartley, author of Dear Stupid Penpal; and
- Amy Orrell, author of Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once.
Every Sunday between now and when the finalists are announced (or until I run out of mini-interviews), I will be highlighting the semi-finalists at a time. More information on the awards can be found here. The full list of the 2026 semi-finalists can be found here. Each author has been asked the same questions:
1. What inspired you to write this book?
2. What was your favourite part of writing it?
3. Where can we find you and your work? (socials, blog, website)
Casual by Koji A. Dae
Valya’s neural implant is amazing.
Its game-like app, CASUAL, has managed her depression and anxiety, stabilized her mood, and helped the infertile Valya get pregnant. But new laws forbid her from using the device when she's sole caregiver for her infant. Her gaslighting ex won't help her, and she can't afford a nanny, so her obstetrician insists that Valya wean off CASUAL before giving birth.
Despite a will to quit and a supportive new love interest in her birthing class, disabling CASUAL turns Valya's anxiety into full-blown panic attacks. Her psychiatrist offers to enroll her in a controversial clinical trial that would place a tandem implant in the baby and allow Valya to keep hers active. Valya must decide whether she should attempt parenting without CASUAL or install a minimally tested device in her vulnerable child.
1. What inspired you to write this book?
I wrote Casual while I was on maternity leave after having my second child. I've had depression and bouts of mania since I was a teen, but pregnancy and the post-partum period shifted my body chemistry, making those so much worse. The things I had done to manage them (sport/writing) were no longer enough, and on top of it, I had two children to care for. When I had my children (2014-2017), there weren't a lot of speculative books that focused on the experience of childbirth as more than a plot device. (Since then there have been some good ones that really focus on pregnancy and childbirth, so apparently I wasn't the only one feeling this gap). But writing it was also selfish. I wanted to process my experience of being pregnant while having mental health issues, which made Casual a very personal story.
As for the main technology used in Casual, I was very into research on Deep Brain Stimulation for treatment resistant depression, and that was just when the more intensive brain interfaces were being tested. So that became my "solution" to my problem. I wanted to explore the what-if of a possible medical solution -- one that is controlled by tech companies. The game in Casual was inspired by my Candy Crush addiction during my postpartum months and a fond memory of the game Two Dots, when it first released, back when casual gameplay was actually casual and not all about ads and monetization.
2. What was your favourite part of writing it?
Can I cheat and say all of it? Casual was my third novel. I wrote a children's book and a YA book before Casual (both of which I trunked). I think my favorite part of writing Casual was being able to let loose and write whatever I wanted since it was for an adult audience. I could go as dark as I needed to. I could be graphic. I could be honest. That was really freeing.
3. Where can we find you and your work? (socials, blog, website)
You can find me everywhere with the handle kojiadae. I am not overly active on social media, but occasionally post on Bluesky. I do have a website kojiadae.ink that I keep updated with my latest releases and some thoughts on what I'm reading.
Dear Stupid Penpal by Rascal Hartley
Soon, Aku becomes much more than a penpal. But when the crew engage hyperdrive, Aku’s punctual letters start coming at random intervals, and Finch and his shipmates realize that time, for them, is moving all wrong.
As everyone else’s penpals rapidly die of old age, Finch turns, heartbroken, to Aku; who, more than a century later, is still there.
1. What inspired you to write this book?
I've got a deep love for the stars. I have a telescope half as tall as me and as wide as a plate that can see fuzzy things in the sky and show you they're not fuzzy things after all, probably. Also, I love monsters and epistolary things and weirdness and snark and the general vibe of astronaut suits. And I love that one Tumblr post, "It matters that the love was there." That's probably at the core of this book. So, all of that, rolled into several ideas in a trenchcoat.
2. What was your favourite part of writing it?
Definitely the process of making sure Aku and Finch's voices were distinct. I played a lot with spheres of knowledge with this one. Finch is a linguist, and he doesn't have a solid grasp of some of the more technical things his teammates do. He doesn't even know the plural of Lego isn't Legos (some linguist). Finch doesn't like talking about his day. Aku does. I liked finding these characters as I wrote them.
3. Where can we find you and your work? (socials, blog, website)
You can find me on Bluesky as @rascalhartley.bsky.social and Insta as @rascalhartley, and I try to keep my terrible horrible no good very bad carrd updated: https://rascalhartley.carrd.co/
Tomorrow Was Beautiful Once by Amy Orrell
2150 – time travel has accelerated climate change and set humanity on the brink of destruction. As a Person of Mixed Era Origin with the ability to recall parallel versions of time, British historian, Jack Elliot, seems the perfect candidate to travel to the past and prevent the advent of time travel.
The catch? Success means Jack will cease to exist.
Critically injured when he arrives in the past, Jack’s life is saved by Maddie, a second-generation immigrant and resistance fighter, who mistakenly believes he’s connected to the disappearance of her sister, Suraya.
Jack’s denial soon unravels with the discovery that Suraya can lead him to his father – the man who robbed him of his mother – and that they are all searching for the inventor of time technology.
What begins as a fragile alliance soon puts their feelings and their missions to the test. Jack’s won’t be the only life affected by his sacrifice, but does he have the right to decide who should live and who should die – and will it be worth it for the futures he and Maddie hope to create?
1. What inspired you to write this book?
This story began life more than thirty years ago, in a ‘free choice’ high school English lesson. My whole family loves sci-fi – my grandfather was a well-respected SFF author – and I grew up on a diet of Dr Who, Star Trek, Red Dwarf, Back to the Future and the Terminator. It’s not surprising, then, that my teenage brain began crafting a time travel story. I didn’t sit down to write it in earnest until 2020, and by then, it was impossible to avoid the realities of our evolving political and ecological landscape when building my fictional future. I wanted to write a story that was an explosive, page-turning read, but that also puts a human face on the climate emergency, and still leaves us with a sense of hope.
2. What was your favourite part of writing it?
I loved everything about the writing process! The hardest but most satisfying part involved tying my brain in knots to make sure the multiple timelines made sense. The most fun parts were writing the different characters, particularly Frits, an angry, potty-mouthed, Danish time traveller with a grudge against Jack, and Dr Kingsley, the inventor of time travel, who I see as a cross between my grandfather and Morgan Freeman. I also loved writing the romantic tension between Jack and Maddie.
3. Where can we find you and your work? (socials, blog, website)
I’m most active on Instagram - @amyorrell_author
You can also find me on Bluesky – @authoramyorrell.bsky.social
Facebook – Amy Orrell - Author
And my website – www.authoramyorrell.com
Thanks for reading!
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