Featured Interview With Elle F. Kingsley
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello, I’m Elle!
I’m an award-winning futurist, AI ethicist, and bestselling sci-fi author, recognised among the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics™ and TechWomen100 honourees. My work spans AI ethics, legal tech, and global policy, advising organisations like the UK Parliament, the Commonwealth, and the European Commission. I’ve also worked on cutting-edge technologies like generative AI in Big Tech and specialise in cyberlaw, data protection, and privacy.
I put all this into my sci-fi work, weaving deep insights into technology, society, and policy to imagine future worlds—so that you don’t have to. My work explores how emerging technologies shape humanity, crafting stories that inspire thought about our digital futures.
I’m originally from England, spending time in Guildford before moving to London, where I’m currently based. My work has me travelling frequently across Europe and Asia, especially to Germany, China and South Korea, so I’ve learned to embrace a life that’s always on the move!
While I’d love the idea of a pet, my lifestyle makes it tricky, so I channel my energy into exploring new places and making the most of wherever I find myself. I love exploring new cultures, connecting with people, and finding inspiration in unexpected spots. Life’s an adventure, and I’m always eager for the next chapter.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always had my head buried in a book! I was fortunate to pick up reading at a young age—by 6 or 7, I was devouring classics like Alice in Wonderland and Grimm’s book of Fairy Tales. But a defining moment came when I was 8, during a school assignment to write a scary version of the Macbeth witches’ potion, which when then go up on the wall in the corridor. Knowing my audience would be other students and inspired by Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids, I conjured up witches tearing out naughty children’s intestines and putting them into their cauldron.
Needless to say, teachers were not pleased. They called my parents in, claiming my story was “far too dark” and would terrify the other kids. When asked why I’d written something so gruesome, I replied, “But you told me to make it scary!”
The teachers insisted I rewrite it, removing the scary parts. But my mum stood by me, arguing that I’d simply followed instructions.
Unsure what to do, the school suggested punishment.
The punishment? I was taken to the bookstore and free to pick any book I wanted while proudly called a “mini Stephen King.”
Fast-forward to today, and The Last Garden reached the same bestseller list as King at #30 on literary short stories. It’s reached #2 on the new releases list, just below Dostoyevsky. Life has a funny way of coming full circle, doesn’t it?
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m a sucker for the classics, especially in sci-fi and dystopian genres. Authors like Orwell, Huxley, and Kafka shaped my love for tales that explore dread, paranoia, and the human condition. Fahrenheit 451 is an excellent addition and commentary on literary rates. The Terror by Dan Simmons is another favourite that masterfully combines historical fiction with a creeping sense of doom.
On the sci-fi front, there’s Dune, which is iconic in its own right. I thoroughly enjoy Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem, which blends dystopia with speculative science and a lot of philosophical and ethical debates.
Similarly, I draw a lot of inspiration from classic philosophical ideas, especially those related to technology, surveillance, and freedom. Thinkers like Voltaire, who challenged ideas of progress and freedom, and Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the Panopticon, which explores surveillance and control, really influence the different nuances of the role of surveillance, technology and control in shaping society. These concepts help shape the moral dilemmas I explore in my writing, particularly in dystopian worlds where the lines between freedom and control blur.
These texts challenge us to think critically about power, surveillance, and the role of the individual within society. I apply these ideas to my storytelling, creating dystopian worlds where morality, freedom, and technology collide
Beyond books, I draw inspiration from other forms of storytelling, too. Anime like Psycho-Pass, series like Black Mirror or Mr. Robot, and graphic novels like V for Vendetta, and even games like Orwell, We Happy Few, BioShock feed my creative energy. Great storytelling, in any form, really inspires me to create my own worlds and narratives.
These immersive adventures remind me of the power of storytelling—it’s the only medium that can truly transport us to entirely new realities.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
“The air, thick with smog, choked the sky with a never-ending amber haze. Ivy tightened her mask, its edges biting into her skin. Around her, the forgotten shuffled, their makeshift filters from scavenged waste barely keeping the lethal air at bay—each breath, a gamble.”
In a world gasping under the weight of environmental collapse, The Last Garden is a short story, exploring humanity’s desperate attempt to reconnect with nature amidst the fallout of failed climate goals. Towering domed cities like Solara shine with technological brilliance and innovation, protecting their inhabitants while the world outside lies in ruin—a barren wasteland abandoned to those left behind. Within the dome, advancement flourishes, but at what cost?
Unchecked reliance on technology has created an illusion of progress while erasing the natural world and the very essence of life it was meant to protect. Meanwhile, outside, the Seed Savers, an underground faction, risk their lives to preserve Earth’s final seeds of hope.
What sets The Last Garden apart is its nuanced portrayal of morality, where I invite readers to consider their own complicity in systems of convenience and destruction. The Last Garden was born in a whirlwind of creativity, with the first draft written over two intense, caffeine-fuelled days to meet the deadline for its original publication in Futurescapes Zine.
The story poured out of me, driven by a sense of urgency to explore the themes of hope and humanity’s relationship with nature. Though the writing came quickly, the ideas behind it had been simmering for years—drawing from real-world climate concerns, the recent UN Summit of the Future, and my fascination with speculative fiction. Using the Three Horizons Method, I envisioned a utopian world where systems coexist, then stepped back to focus on the challenges and issues that may arise. This exclusive extended edition, published by Pariah Tales, was then finely tuned over a few months.
This tale is for anyone who has ever asked, “What would I sacrifice to create a better world?”
You can find your copy of the The Last Garden here: https://amzn.eu/d/0PP8ZYe
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