2012 has started well for author E.J. (Emma) Swift. Her short story The Complex appears in the January issue of Britain’s premier science fiction magazine Interzone, marking her debut as a professional author. Her work will appear in the upcoming issue alongside stories from Carole Johnstone, Tyler Keevil and Ray Cluley. The Complex was Emma’s first short story and, as such first time success is rare, it suggests that she has all the attributes necessary to make a career as an author.

Emma’s story has a mid-fifties woman facing freedom after serving forty years on a hellish prison planet. Her sentence is over … but she thinks it’s about to start.

Interzone #238 will begin mailing out around 13 January 2012. So, with that issue, Emma will join the ranks of Interzone authors like Brian Aldiss, Terry Pratchett, and J.G. Ballard, along with Liz Williams and Alastair Reynolds who established their writing careers in its pages.

Emma is 28 and has a BA in English and American Literature from the University of Manchester and an MA in Creative Writing (Royal Holloway, London). She now works at the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an affiliation of eight dance, drama and circus schools, and is responsible for communications and events. She takes time out from writing and the day job by exploring circus skills such as trapeze classes at Circus Space in London, and hula hooping.

Emma plans to make a career of her writing and is represented by Zeno Agency. Her novel, Osiris, the first in a planned trilogy, is currently waiting for a publisher’s decision.