About Paul


Paul Martz writes speculative fiction about the collision between humans and the machines they can’t stop inventing. A former virtual reality engineer, he brings decades of hands-on technical experience to stories that probe memory, identity, and the uneasy intimacy between people and their creations.

Awards & Honors

Selected awards recognizing excellence in speculative fiction.

  • 2025—First Place, Drabble Readers’ Choice Awards—“The Offering”
  • 2024—First Place, Amazing Stories Magazine Readers’ Choice Award—“Dr. Harriet Hartfeld’s Home for Aging AIs”
  • 2023—First Place, Uncharted Magazine AI Flash Challenge—“More Than Electric Sheep”
  • 2022—Second Place, Roswell Awards—“Dr. Harriet Hartfeld’s Home for Aging AIs”
Certificate issued by the Speculative Fiction Writers Association.

Background

At age six, Paul saw 2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen, which led him to a collection of Clarke’s short stories—and a lifelong insatiable appetite for mind-bending science fiction. 

His General Studies degree from the University of Michigan reflects his wide-ranging interests. He has published programming books, received a patent for data encryption, and was an R&D 100 Award co-recipient. A lifelong musician, he has played drums since childhood, composed and recorded digital music, and is currently studying piano. He has traveled the world to witness total solar eclipses. Other interests include linguistics, philosophy, genetics, cosmology, and the visual arts.

You can find Paul’s stories in Uncharted Magazine, Amazing Stories, Creepy Podcast, Sci-Fi Lampoon, Punk Noir Press, 7th-Circle Pyrite, and several anthologies, including Amazing Stories: Best of 2024, Midnight Garden: Where Dark Tales Grow, and Wild: Uncivilized Tales. With Linda Ditchkus, he co-edited the multi-genre anthology Without Brakes, Fingers Crossed, featuring “The Tamarisk Hunter” by Paolo Bacigalupi. He is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and Speculative Fiction Writers.

Paul is blind from retinitis pigmentosa. He is the author of the Rubik’s Cube solution, Solve It! The Only Speedsolving Guide for Blind Cubers. His non-fiction has appeared in the Braille Monitor, and he blogs for AppleVis.com, a website for vision-impaired Apple users. His poem, “The Thompson River Flows,” placed first in the 2018 National Braille Press poetry contest.

You’ll find Paul beneath Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, sipping coffee while the snow sublimates.