Malka Older is a writer, sociologist, and aid worker. Her science-fiction political thriller
INFOMOCRACY was named one of the best books of 2016 by Kirkus, Book Riot, and the Washington Post. She is also the author of the sequels,
NULL STATES (2017) and
STATE TECTONICS (2018), and the full trilogy was nominated for a Hugo Award. She is also the creator of the serial
NINTH STEP STATION and lead writer for the licensed sequel to
ORPHAN BLACK, both currently running on Realm. Her short story and poetry collection
AND OTHER DISASTERS came out in late 2019. Her short fiction and poetry can be found at WIRED, Future Tense, Leveler, Sundog Lit, Reservoir Lit, Inkscrawl, Rogue Agent, Tor.com, Fireside Fiction, and others. She has written opinion pieces for the New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, and NBC Think.
Malka says that there is something about neuro-divergence—when you have a character who thinks very differently than everyone around them and is fine-tuned particular approach. Having a flipped approach to how you observe and deduct. Also the relationships. Typically in a Sherlock-style mystery, you will have a relationship between two people (sometimes coded as neurodivergent and neurotypical—but not always). The story unfold between the partners and we can observe the contrast with how they approach the case.
Malka’s books are available everywhere books are sold, including out
Troped Out Bookshop, which you can visit to find books from all of our Troped Out guests.