About
Hi! I’m Edwin H Rydberg. I write science fiction, where I explore the changing landscape of humanity as influenced by technology. I’m fascinated by the amazing and unexpected ways in which technology and society interact.
I mostly write YA SF because it allows me to explore the extremes of wonder and horror of the changing world through the eyes of people who are new to it (yet somehow still managed to be jaded –> teens, go figure!)I’m also starting a new Alternate Futures podcast where I feature interviews with independent science fiction authors and read new chapters from the SF Campfire Stories I organize.
Pre-pandemic, I used to regularly attend UK SF conventions. Now I’m working on starting some online ones (that are not just Zoom webinars!), so check back regularly to stay up to date. Or better yet, join my e-mail list.
Welcome to Alternate Futures!
Broadly speaking, Alternate Futures encompasses my interest in futurism as expressed both in thought-provoking, action-filled stories as well as factual blog articles. The former includes not only original, stand-alone short stories, but various writings about my own Eternity universe-under-construction.
I update the blog weekly with a new unique short story, or an article revolving around characters, settings or backgrounds from Eternity. All the writing on AlternateFutures.co.uk is freely available, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. All I ask is that you attribute me as the originator. 
If you like what I’m building here, you can sign up to my newsletter below. And please share with anyone you know who might be interested.
When I was a kid I liked 3 things: space, comics, and science (video games entered my world a few years later, although this was still early 80s so that meant mostly arcade coin-ops). At ten I created a comic about a war between Earth and Venus. It featured the exploits of Terran space spy and his mission to infiltrate a Venusian space station. As you might guess, this was shortly after I’d seen Star Wars (the one now called ‘A New Hope’). I didn’t write another piece of fiction for twenty years.
In the meantime I learned more about space, science and technology (in my teens I could quote the specs for all the latest fighter jets and I was the only person in my graduating class who knew what a quark was — yeah, I was a big hit at parties). After some indecision about my future life direction, I eventually became a biochemist. However, a fortunate post-doctoral position not only turned me back toward writing in general, but also rekindled my long dormant love of science fiction writing.
After winning a Europe-wide science writing competition in 2005 and then hitting a whole series of life changes in a very short period of time (including being downsized, marriage, child, moving country, and becoming a stay-at-home-dad), I decided this was the time to move on to a career in writing and publishing.
To begin, I joined a vibrant community at Writing.com that led to my forming Utility Fog Press and publishing the Assassins’ Canon and Farspace anthologies (I also went into digital art for several years, selling several pieces at conventions). During this time I also used the inspiration from NaNoWriMos to write the first drafts of three novels. A short time later, a writing course at the nearby university led to the formation of the York Novelists writing group, which was very helpful to my development as a writer, and eventually led me to form Promoting Yorkshire Authors — a regional author support group that is developing promotion opportunities in Yorkshire, UK for regional authors. While I’m no longering involved in this group, it continues to go strong.
Throughout this time I published very little of my own work, preferring to help others publish theirs. But that’s changing now. In the last few years I published the beginning to my superhero series Altered Destiny as well as an action-adventure SF novel titled Game, Set, Deathmatch. However, in light of recent developments to my Eternity universe and the publishing landscape in general, I have started reworking both of these while also revising the sequel to GSDM. These should all be published sometime in the next year. You can watch the progress on my progress page, or keep up with the latest with my newsletter.
Born: the northern tip of Lake Superior
From: the Canoe Capital of Canada
University: Waterloo (B.Sc. Biochem), UBC (Ph.D. Biochem)
Post-doctoral positions: Weizmann Institute, IRBM
Research topics: HIV Reverse Trascriptase, Human alpha-amylase, Acetlycholine Esterase, HCV RNA Polymerase
Writing awards: 2005 EMBO science writing contest, 2021 Best Biochemist Self-Publisher (Changes Mental Health Charity, Tales on Tuesdays)
Author groups: Writing.com (2006 – 2009), York Novelists (2008-2015), Promoting Yorkshire Authors (co-founder, 2014 – 2019), Campfire Stories (2020-Present)
Publishing company: Utility Fog Press (2008 – present) and facilitated self-publishing imprint Quantum Dot Press (2016 – present)
Artwork: LightspeedDreams.net
Books: Game, Set, Deathmatch; Altered Destiny: Echoes of the Past; Assassins’ Canon; Farspace 2
Do you:
- enjoy science fiction
- like having regular short stories direct to your inbox
- want to stay up to date on my podcast
- want to have access to beta versions or advance reader copies of the growing multiverse of Eternity
