What happens when a former Homeland Security medical intelligence analyst turns a global pandemic into science fiction?

Former Department of Homeland Security Medical Intelligence Analyst Helen Hynson Vettori joins me as we explore the real-world experiences that inspired her Black Swan trilogy — a near-future political sci-fi series shaped by emergency management, biological preparedness, cyber warfare, and the fragile relationship between governments and public trust. From her time as a paramedic to Homeland Security analyst preparing for pandemics and biological incidents, Helen brings a unique insider perspective to the topics.

We discuss COVID-era decision making, the dangers of communication breakdown during crises, cyber warfare as a modern form of world conflict, and how societies respond when fear overtakes trust. We also dive into the worldbuilding behind Black Swan Impact: post–World War III geopolitics, future AI systems, lunar infrastructure, and the challenge of writing speculative fiction that feels uncomfortably plausible.

Books of hers we discuss: Black Swan Impact, Black Swan Shock

https://www.helenhynsonvettori.com/

alternatefutures.substack.com

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Indie sci-fi collective Darkly Lem — five authors writing under one unified pseudonym — discuss their Transmentation series and the broader Many Worlds shared-universe project. They outline a consequence-driven multiverse of interdimensional societies defined by competing values, political systems, and internal power struggles, contrasting it with the MCU’s approach and explaining how they maintain stakes by focusing on worlds and societies rather than preserving characters.

They explain how they collaborate through twice-weekly meetings, a large living “bible”, intensive multi-pass editing, and evolving drafting methods including assignment, co-writing, and “exquisite corpse.” They outline how Many Worlds began as Cadwell Turnbull’s project and has grown to over 20 authors, and aims to connect short stories and novels via a meta-narrative.

We also discuss multiversal traveler mechanisms, personal proxies, identity “meshing,” and the complexities of social governance and different times and scales of a society's development.

Books of his we discuss: Transmentation: Transience, Transmentation: Transgression

https://www.manyworldsforum.com/

alternatefutures.substack.com

alternatefutures.co.uk

Retired Royal Australian Air Force wing commander John R. Carlos talks with me about his debut novel Cryonic Dreams: Awakening and the real-world experiences that shaped its themes of control, surveillance, and ethical clarity. John shares insights from his 42-year military career in administration and logistics, including deployments to Egypt, the Middle East, and Sudan, and describes a post-COVID political shift that intensified his focus on authoritarian drift.

He then unpacks his structured worldbuilding method—mind map, key variables framework, and timeline—used to extrapolate a plausible dystopian future, and present the story’s core themes of authoritarian control.

We also discuss cryonics science, propulsion ideas, hybrid publishing and marketing, and broader questions about collapse, neo/techno-feudalism, perpetual war, and whether the West can recover a “classical center” through citizen-led resistance.

Books of his we discuss: Cryonic Dreams: Awakening

johnrcarlos.com.au

alternatefutures.substack.com

alternatefutures.co.uk