What could’ve been. What should’ve been.
Fact-driven speculative fiction.
Contents: Damages, Home for Unwed Fathers, Fighting Words, Comedown, What Sane Man, Sweet Sixteen, Ballsy, Justified, It’s a Boy, Men Need Sex, How We Survived, The Knitting Group, The Mars Colonies, A PostTrans PostPandemic World, Unless, Alleviation, The Women’s Party, My Last Year.
Magenta 2022
If you’d like an ebook version, it’s available in Kindle, Kobo, NookBook, and iBook, but you can download it as an epub or pdf right here! For free. (And here’s why.)
(If you’d like the paperback version, best to purchase online–such as at amazon, barnesandnoble, bookdepository, bookshop, etc.–where you can get a deal on the shipping.)
(And please note that you can still leave a rating and/or review on Amazon as long as you’ve purchased at least $50 worth of stuff from Amazon in the past year; just be sure to state that you received the book directly from the author. Ratings and reviews are important because the Amazon algorithm limits search results to exact title/author until a book has 25 ratings/reviews and doesn’t include a book in ‘similar to’ results until it has 50 ratings/reviews. Which means that known books become even more known, and otherwise good books remain unknown. Sigh.)
(And/or without any Amazon involvement, you can spread the word by posting on Goodreads, LibraryThing, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms.) (For which I say, ‘Thank you!’) (And please let me know so I can repost your review there!)
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“Fighting Words: notes for a future we won’t have [is] a brain-slap of speculative fiction … 18 stand-alone grenades disguised as stories … ” Reid Winslet, publicist
“Just reading it [‘What Sane Man’] was satisfying.” Anonymous, ovarit.com
“This [‘Men Need Sex’] is terrific!” An ovarite from ovarit.com
“OMG, I love it [‘Ballsy’]!” Amareldys, ovarit.com
“If you read this and it doesn’t get you thinking, pondering the issues that it illustrates, and recognizing some of the problems it is illuminating, then I don’t want to say you might be a big part of the problem, but …” 5/5 Big Al’s Books and Pals, https://booksandpals.blogspot.com/
“Readers who love the speculative social commentary of Margaret Atwood, the sharp edged fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin, and the unflinching explorations of gender and power of Naomi Alderman will find in Fighting Words a collection that is satisfying, terrific, and thought provoking.” Jessica Irena Smith
“Fighting Words: Notes for a Future We Won’t Have is a bold and intellectually stimulating collection that uses speculative fiction to challenge readers’ assumptions about gender, politics, society, and the choices shaping our future. Peg Tittle blends imagination with sharp social commentary, creating stories that entertain while provoking meaningful reflection.
“What immediately stood out to me was the book’s fearless approach to difficult conversations. Rather than offering simple answers, Tittle presents thought experiments that encourage readers to question long-held beliefs and consider alternative possibilities. Each story feels less like a prediction and more like an invitation to engage critically with the world as it is, and the world it could become.
“I was particularly impressed by the collection’s breadth of ideas. Moving seamlessly between satire, dystopian speculation, and deeply human drama, the stories examine topics ranging from gender expectations and political systems to technology, family, and social justice. The variety keeps the collection fresh while reinforcing its central theme: that the future is shaped by the conversations we are willing to have today.
“Ultimately, Fighting Words is more than a collection of speculative fiction, it is a catalyst for dialogue. Intelligent, provocative, and unapologetically original, Peg Tittle’s work will resonate with readers who enjoy fiction that challenges conventions and sparks thoughtful debate long after the final page. ” Shannon Pilcher, Goodreads 5/5
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Here’s a premise on which I should’ve based a story for Fighting Words: by some biochemical quirk, the hormones we’ve been feeding cows inhibits testosterone in humans, so the more meat men eat, the weaker they become. Within a year, males lose their 30% physical strength advantage over women. Guess what.
And here’s another: Two married women at the same time get jobs outside the home, forcing their husbands to hire someone to do the cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Ten hours/day, 5 days/week, at $20/hr. It’s a lot, but the men have so-called breadwinner salaries. Turns out Emma is hired by Alyssa’s husband (on Alyssa’s recommendation) and Alyssa is hired by Emma’s husband (on Emma’s recommendation). The two are really enjoying their evenings off and their $52,000/yr incomes.
And another (this actually occurred to me long ago, but I never thought to turn it into a story until now): worldwide, women flood the military, soon comprising, say, 40% of the ranks (which will be perceived by men as a majority) (go figure). Then, as happened when they flooded the ranks of bank tellers, secretaries, and teachers, being a soldier will become devalued, it’ll lose its prestige, its glory, its funding, its media coverage. And when being a soldier has about as much appeal as being a waitress … The end of war. Ta-dah.
Other ideas welcome; I’ll post them here.
