As sort of a counter-thought, I thought I'd mention these two stories:
After the comments on the last post, I was reminded to catch up on Beneath Ceaseless Skies. It was sort of late, so I only had a chance to read one story: A Serpent in the Gears, from the latest issue.
This is an excellent story, balancing an inward journey with outward adventure. The setting is intriguing with lots of (good) decorative flourish - even though I confess myself to not being all that thrilled with steampunk (it doesn't really push my buttons), it's a stylish take on it.
The second story is from the Cosmic Cocktails anthology I'm reading. It's entitled I'm Not Ashamed, by Greg Beatty, and while it isn't even my favorite story so far, it's a good example of a ruminating, slice of life, low-to-no plot story that I DID enjoy. (Don't read the following paragraph if you want to come onto this story with an unvarnished eye.)
The basic premise of this story is that aliens have taken over the planet and made humans their servitors. They derive a nasty amount of pleasure making them grovel / perform / make fools of themselves. A lot of the story is devoted to the illustration of this setting. Our narrator plays along with this one evening, telling childhood stories for the amusement of a pair of aliens until things get out of control, and he stumbles out in terrible shape. Then the reader finds out what's being implied before: parts of the farce were created to gather little nuggets of information against the aliens, in the hope of some day telling the right people, some day breaking free.
To conclude this summary: it worked for me.
Carry on.
About Me
- Lindsey Duncan
- I'm a professional harp performer, chef / pastry chef, and speculative fiction writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. My contemporary fantasy novel Flow is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and my science fiction novel Scylla and Charybdis is now out from Grimbold Books. I've also sold a number of short stories and a few pieces of speculative poetry. I write predominantly fantasy, usually epic and/or humorous, with some soft science fiction. I play the traditional lever harp with a specialty in Celtic music - but I also perform modern and Renaissance tunes. And yes, you read that right - I have a diploma in Baking and Pastry and an Associates in Culinary Arts and am currently working in the catering field at Kate's Catering and Personal Chef Services (Dayton, KY). I am a CPC (Certified Pastry Culinarian) and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine).
2 comments:
I just sent a story to BCS. It's my first try to get in. *crosses fingers* It was really scary to hit the send button, but I have to start sometime right?
Indeed! No need to be nervous, though - I've gotten some rejections from BCS and the editor is always very courteous and professional.
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