Andrea Tillmanns lives in Germany and works full-time as a university lecturer. She has been writing poetry, short stories, and novels in various genres for many years.

Andrea’s story ‘The Mechanical Dragon’, self-translated from the German—in which a mechanical dragon, a wind-up toy, develops sentience—features in THE BARE BONES BOOK OF SPECULATIVE FICTION. The anthology’s editor Tejaswinee Roychowdhury interviewed Andrea to find out about her literary influences.

How do you perceive speculative fiction vis-à-vis the world around you?

Speculative fiction is a wonderful way to see something new in the familiar, to explore boundaries and possibilities, and to embark on journeys that wouldn’t be possible in reality.

Who and/or what are some of your influences while writing speculative fiction?

That changes depending on the books I’m currently reading and the movies or TV shows I’m currently watching. Often, a single keyword or image is enough to spark a new story.

Tell us about the creative process behind your story.

I’ve always loved wind-up mechanical toys, and I’ve always loved dragons, too. So, it seemed only natural to combine the two…and to wonder what a mechanical dragon might feel like…