Thomas Eggenberger grew up in the States but has spent his adult life overseas. Back in Tokyo after eight years in France, he currently works as a translator.
Thomas rediscovered his love of short stories during the COVID lockdowns. He has also had a short story published at Fiction on the Web, and is currently working on several fantasy novels and sci-fi novelettes.
Q: Do you have a favourite quote? (From a book, film, song, speech…)
A: No, but I do have a favourite bit of wordplay. There used to be a bar in Tokyo where the kanji characters meant ‘possible/impossible’ and were read ka-fu-ka – Kafka. It was a high-end sort of place that I had no business setting foot in, but I always wished them luck just for the clever name.
Q: Is there a book that you keep going back to, and if so, how many times have you read it?
A: I don’t think I’ve ever read a book twice. There are just so many books out there, and I prefer to always have a novel experience.
Q: What is the least interesting part of writing for you
A: Trying to get the writing published, if I can count that as part of the writing process. It can be very difficult to find the right home for a piece, and there is essentially no feedback along the way outside of No (and hopefully, eventually, a Yes). It’s like playing Marco Polo with a group of sadists.
Q: What superpower would you like to have and why?
A: I would be happy with anything, really, in case whoever hands out superpowers is reading this.
Q: If you could teleport yourself anywhere, real or fictional, where would it be and why?
A: Wherever the last human to exist is going to die. I want to see how far we make it and how it all ends.