RM Ambrose is a speculative fiction writer and the editor of Vital: The Future of Healthcare. He is SFWA Associate Member, an MFA candidate in the Stonecoast Creative Writing program, and attended the Taos Toolbox writer’s workshop.
His short story, “Olive Branch,” appeared in Friends Journal’s 2024 annual fiction issue.
Multiple works that he’s edited have made Year’s Best anthologies, such as Justin C. Key’s “The Algorithm Will See You Now,” as well as stories by Julie Nováková and Simone Heller (from Future SF Digest #8, which he guest edited). Two original stories from Vital (Key’s, as well as Seanan McGuire’s) are finalists for the Dinjos Award for disability representation in speculative fiction. For several years he also served as Assistant Fiction Editor at the Hugo award winning StarshipSofa podcast.
RM’s short fiction has received two Writers of the Future Award honorable mentions, and his essays have appeared in numerous Southern California newspapers and Friends Journal.
He is a lifelong Quaker and pacifist, holds a 1st degree black belt in Aikido, studied Anthropology and speaks three languages, and has over two decades’ experience in web and software development.
Why Sword v. Pen?
I wrote a short story that turned into my MFA Thesis novel – now a work-in-progress. From the earliest draft there’s been one line that readers loved above all others, even if it didn’t always make sense: “The pen is mightier than the sword, but only in asymmetrical warfare.”
Much of my writing explores tropes of violence as well as how pacifist and nonviolent philosophies are represented. Writing, especially satire, is a time-honored nonviolent tradition of resistance to oppression, and I’ve always been drawn to this age-old metaphor.
Also, as a teen I was introduced to Aikido, called “applied nonviolence” by its founder, as a form of self-defense that offered options for dealing with physical attacks that didn’t necessarily result in permanent damage to the attacker. The branch of Aikido where I trained also emphasized sword training. This form of kenjutsu influenced the specific type of sword shown in the logo.
The choice of a quill as the pen, as opposed to a more modern writing implement, accentuates the contrast of soft power with the use of force.
The sword also fits inside the shape of the feather, is subsumed by it. This represents how nonviolent resistance movements have much broader support than violent movements. Also, that over the last one-and-a-quarter centuries, nonviolent movements have been more than twice as effective at bringing change.