Notes on a Page – Barbara A. Barnett

"Notes on a Page" began life as a flash-length story written for a contest over at the Codex Writers' Group called Weekend Warrior. You're given several prompts Friday night and have until Sunday night to write a flash story using one of them. One of the prompts last year was to write a story in which someone finds a secret passage in a public building. At the time, I had just been offered an internship working in an orchestra library, and that inspired my take on the prompt: a portal in an orchestra hall that quite literally takes one inside the music.

I realized two things very quickly with the story: 1) it didn't want to stay at flash length, and 2) my protagonist's internal conflict was pretty weak. My first draft involved her wanting to have learned to play violin, but she had been pressured into learning oboe instead—not a particularly compelling problem. Luckily, my orchestra internship came to the rescue and inspired a more interesting angle.

The more I spent my work hours scrutinizing and marking up scores and parts, the more I thought about how, even though most of us experience music on an emotional level, there's often this amazingly complex level of technical detail beneath it all. But technical perfection, while impressive, usually isn't emotionally satisfying. As a result, sometimes a musician will be criticized for being technically proficient but lacking in personality or feeling. Similarly, we'll often forgive technical imperfection because of the emotional effect achieved. As a performer, it can be a difficult balancing act—how do I invest the music with emotion while still staying on pitch and in tempo and hitting all the right notes with the right rhythm and the right articulation?

For this story, I decided to carry the technical perfection vs. feeling conflict a performer faces to an extreme with a character who was an odd duck because her passion was rooted in technical perfection, because she didn't understand or know how to achieve the sense of feeling that others demanded from her. I think that made for a far more intriguing dilemma than the first draft's "my parents wouldn't let me play the violin" angle.

And perhaps using Beethoven's ninth symphony in the story was the obvious choice given the ironic resonance the final movement's "Ode to Joy" text would have for my protagonist, but . . . well, it just felt right.

--Barbara A. Barnett

Through the Veil—Michael T. Banker

This story was the culmination of two self-imposed missions. One was on a train, staring out the window, telling myself that I had to come up with a story idea this trip. (It's amazing how often that works, actually, I should really do it more often.) I just let my gaze flit around, latching onto random things and immediately twisting them into something else. I am a very visual person, so it's often images I’m working with. This time, melting icicles became melting wax, became a girl encased in wax like a cocoon. So there has to be some sort of metamorphosis, right? I saw her emerging from her cocoon and realizing that the moon shone like the sun, and the sun like the moon. And a boy--husband, brother--was searching for her, but couldn't find her on that other plane. I eventually lost the cocoon, but no matter, I had the seed to my story.

So, fine, mission accomplished, I pocketed that idea, knowing I was going to do something with it. Usually, I'd just set it in Generic Fantasy Land (albeit doing my best to make it as interesting and original of a Generic Fantasy Land as possible). I'd marry myself to the concept and acquaint myself with the characters and off I'd go. But I have a bad habit of writing stories that are all imagination and no research, so this time I made myself research a culture to set it in. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about an Asian culture that wasn't Japan (I majored in Japanese and studied abroad there). I chose Korea and read up on their culture, history and, increasingly as the story developed, folklore.

Note that I consider this story to be inspired by Korean culture, not restricted to it. Mudang are women of Shamanism (or Muism) who hold rituals to communicate with spirits, but the details of the ritual and nature of the communication are my own. The spirit world itself is inspired partly by their folklore, largely by imagination. I like to use research as a starting point; my goal was never to construct a world true to history.

This was possibly the hardest story that I've ever written. It was stubborn, intractable, and fought me the whole way. I quit the first time midway through, eventually coming back to insert an unsatisfactory ending. Then I left it for quite a while before finally picking it back up again, axing a redundant character (there were originally three mudang), and completely rewriting the latter half of it. I’m very happy that after all of that, it was able to find a home.

--Michael T. Banker

The Temple’s Posthole—M.K. Hutchins

"The Temple's Posthole" is filled with things that make me happy: postholes, a cool family dynamic, and lots of Classic Maya-ish stuff.

My writing group was once waiting for someone to return to Skype. After an awkward silence, our illustrious leader asked if there was anything we wanted to talk about. Without hesitation, I answered "Postholes!"

Postholes are fascinating. Carefully excavated, they can show the shape of a structure long after the actual building has disappeared. Someone else in my writing group jumped in with her love of postholes and ruins. Our leader groaned. Awkward silences have, ever since, been traditionally filled with postholes -- largely because postholes are excellent, but partially as good-natured teasing.

During one of these awkward silences, someone joked about how one or all of us should write a posthole story. The idea lodged in my brain. I day-dreamed about a postholes magic system. I scribbled in notebooks. I outlined. And I wrote.

In those early brainstorming notes, Ayin didn't have a son -- she had a romantic interest to play the role of Lord Yuknoom's hostage. It was the first trope on the shelf, and it felt flat to me even as I scribbled. There are plenty of other important relationships in the course of human existence; romance just seems to get the most attention.

And so Tzi entered the picture instead. I haven't read much fantasy where the protagonist is a mom. Kids are hard to pack for on the road to Mordor. But I'm happy that I was able to place a mother-child relationship at the heart of this narrative -- I think Tzi made this a richer story than it otherwise could have been.

My love of postholes comes from my love of archaeology, and I knew I'd be setting this in a fantasy land drawing from the Classic Maya. This story, with its abundant magic, isn't anything near historical, but I hope I was able to capture some of the feel and flare of that time period anyway.

I focused on the Classic Maya and their glyphs in college, and I've long wanted to write a story that criticizes the mountains of media that depicts them as a bloodthirsty, incomprehensible civilization. These depictions seem especially unfair, given that the Roman Empire's particular brand of human sacrifice -- the gladiators -- are celebrated. Gladiators themselves are praised for their bravery, and the socio-political motivations behind the arena are explained, neatly and rationally, as bread and circuses.

The nations I've created are fictional, but I'm happy I was able to take something that is at first glance utterly alien, and reframe it into something human and comprehensible.

More Maya stuff: Kaloomte is actually a high-ranking title. If anyone reading the story is familiar with Classic Maya titles, I apologize for the blatant foreshadowing.

Last tidbit: My favorite part of this story is the line "sit in the lordship." I doubt anyone else will notice it, but it's a direct translation from a phrase the Maya used to write about ascensions.

--M.K. Hutchins

Winning Veronica’s Heart—Ian Creasey

"Winning Veronica's Heart" is my second appearance in IGMS, following "The Report of a Doubtful Creature" in the November 2009 issue.  It is, however, a very different style of story.

I've always been fascinated by the notion of parallel worlds.  As a child I read a lot of books by Andre Norton: she was my "gateway drug" into the SF genre.  Her novel The Crossroads of Time introduced me to the idea that there existed different versions of the Earth, where history had taken different paths; and with a suitable technological gizmo, you could travel between all these alternate worlds.

It's a well-worn trope, of course.  Authors are often drawn to gaudy, big-picture scenarios: Earths with radically different histories, based on different outcomes from major events such as the American Civil War, the extinction of the dinosaurs, etc.

However, if there are many parallel worlds, then some of them will be very similar to our own, having only recently diverged.  And it seems plausible to me that if the technology for travelling to parallel worlds is ever invented, then these similar worlds will be much easier to reach than the radically different ones (e.g. Earths where the dinosaurs survived), because they're "nearer".  After all, in the realm of space travel, it is much easier to land on the Moon than it is to reach distant stars and galaxies.

The key aspect of these nearby parallel worlds is that they contain different versions of ourselves.  In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, I would never have been born, so there is no "alternate" version of myself.  However, in a world which diverged twenty years ago, there is a version of me who shares the same childhood, but who made different decisions in adulthood.

What if you could travel to worlds inhabited by your alternate selves?  What if your friends and lovers also had different versions?

I'm a fan of standup comedy, and I enjoy the observational humour of comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld.  It struck me that meeting yourself, and interacting with yourself, might make a good topic for observational humour.

The differences between your parallel selves would typically lie in the realm of minutiae — details which are small, vivid, often absurd.  These are exactly the kind of details that a good comedian can turn into humour.

I decided to set myself the challenge of writing a story in the form of a standup comedian's monologue.  To do this, I had to come up with some appropriate patter, punch lines, and so forth.  That wasn't the problem.

The hard part was writing a monologue that also worked as a story with a plot.  In reality, a comedian's routine rarely consists of a coherent story-arc with a beginning, middle and end.  A comedian will usually discuss different topics and shift between them, but without a "plot" as such.  This is very different to readers' expectations of a story.  Readers, particularly in the SF/Fantasy genres, usually expect a forward-moving plot.

So to give some shape to the narrative, I decided to describe the progression of a romantic relationship, since that's a standard topic for standup comedians.  I should perhaps clarify that I don't personally endorse the approach to relationships described in the story.  There are elements of exaggeration and absurdity — it's intended as comedy, not a how-to manual.

The final draft of the story was a compromise between observational humour and a more plot-driven tale.  I hope it succeeds in capturing the merits of both approaches.  Nevertheless, I know that in other universes nearby, my alternate selves have written an infinite number of better versions....

--Ian Creasey

Hard-sell Stories

I can’t speak for the other assistant editors (and Edmund would telekinetically extract my voice box if I tried speaking for him), but there are some stories I’ve become extremely tired of recently:

Hospital Stories

So…I’ve spent a lot of time with loved ones in the hospital.  So much time, in fact, I know the perfume and deodorants that the various nurses and doctors use.  And when I smell it on the street, my subconscious triggers the emotions that I felt when I was there in the hospital—a soup of  heart-sickness, anxiety, exhaustion, and boredom.

Writers RARELY get hospitals right.  Even writers who are doctors or nurses rarely get hospitals right (from a patient or loved one’s perspective).  Not to say it hasn’t been done well, but I’m extremely discriminating when it comes to accepting stories that treat on ideas of sickness, treatment, and relationships with the diseased. 

(No—watching the execrable Robin Williams film ‘Patch Adams’ is NOT acceptable research for preparing to write a story set in a hospital.  Nor, alas is House, ER, or Grey’s Anatomy.  I’ll accept Scrubs but only because it’s funny.  Hilarity covers a multitude of sins.  Uh…research the hilarity, NOT the practices of the residents or doctors…)

Time Travel Stories

I’m going to say what I know everyone is thinking: there are no more unique time-travel stories.  Good stories remain to be told in this sub-genre, but if you’re banking on the originality of your idea to carry your story, just…don’t.  The concept of time travel is well-worn enough that I dare to say that it’s kind of tapped out.  (Prove me wrong.  PLEASE prove me wrong.)

Love Stories

Man, for a society obsessed with love and romance, I have to say, we’re not really very good at depicting it.  At least not in short story format.

I am biased.  You know what was a good love story?  Tara and Willow in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  They didn’t fall in love immediately.  There were no star-struck moments of heady, desperate, you-were-made-for-me, LUUURRRVE.  It was a natural progression from friendship, to close friendship, to romance, to commitment. 

It took excellent writers MULTIPLE episodes over at least two seasons (by my recollection) to move them from friends to couple.

You know what was a terrible love story?  Willow and Kennedy from the last season of Buffy. 

Same show, same characters—completely different execution.  One was a such a tremendous success that we could kind of sympathize with Willow’s point in tracking down and executing the man who accidentally killed her partner.  (And her subsequent attempt to destroy the whole Earth because reality without Tara SUCKS.)  Sure.  Because their relationship had bones.  It was a product of time, energy, and consideration. 

The other?  Um…boring.  Inconsequential.  False.  Because the writers not only did not take their time building to a believable relationship, they worked contrary to Willow’s established character. 

(Also, I’ll be honest: I was kind of hoping for Oz to return.  I love me some Oz.)

Here’s where this tracks to short stories: there’s just not enough time for most writers to put characters’ romance into swing.  At least not from my point of view—as seen above, I’m kind of a traditionalist.  I do not believe that True Love is a product of sudden, sharp, mystical reactions between two individuals.  My suspension of disbelief just won’t reach that far (usually).  For it to be believable, the relationship has to have some progression.  There has to be some time devoted to getting to know one another, finding common interests, etc.

Love ain’t cheap.  The price needs to be figured into your story.

Easy-Peasy

Let it not be said that I don’t offer helpful suggestions for story themes. 

Here are some things I’m always delighted to see in the slush pile:

• Retellings of classic fairy tales (I like both dark and lighter versions)
• Humorous stories (Think Terry Pratchett rather than Douglas Adams)
• Military science fiction (Battles and skirmishes are especially welcome, along with well-characterized protagonists)
• Alternate histories (Example: I loved Stephen Kotowych’s Under the Shield)

--Scott M. Roberts

Assistant Editor, IGMS

The Postman & Always Here, by Ken Liu - IGMS

“The Postman” & “Always Here”

 Ken Liu

I used to only write very long stories. I didn’t know how to tell a story in under 5,000 words, much less 1,000. Someone told me that I had to learn to write shorter stories because they were easier to sell. So I resolved to learn the art of flash.

The advice turned out to be very useful, though not for the reason stated above. For a long time, I had much more trouble selling my shorter stories than longer ones because they were so much worse. Terrible really. But somehow practicing the very short form made my longer pieces better. (The way my writing mind works is often still a mystery to me.)

Eventually, I did get flash as a form (I’m thankful that my early attempts will never see the light of day). Both of my stories in Issue 31 began life as entries in the Shock Totem bi-monthly flash fiction contest. Entrants have a week to write a story based on a prompt (a photograph, a news article, etc.). Since the contests are geared towards dark fantasy and horror, my entries, which tend to be science fiction, don’t tend to do well. But as my purpose in entering these contests is to learn how to write flash fiction better, I’m very happy with the results.

#

“The Postman”: This was inspired by Karl Bunker’s “Overtaken” in the Sep/Oct 2011 issue of F&SF. I enjoy participating in literary dialogs where authors write stories to respond to each other – that’s what a literary tradition is: authors talking to each other through stories in a common enterprise, much as scientists converse through papers in their common enterprise. (I consulted Karl ahead of time to be sure that he had no objections with me publishing this story, which picks up on his story’s theme and offers a variation.)

There’s a long history of anxiety that our creations (robots, AIs, post-humans, etc.) may surpass us someday, leaving us at their mercy as wards or little more than pets. There’s also a long tradition of science fiction about explorers on ancient space vessels obsoleted by those on faster, newer vessels before reaching their destinations. The two worries are related to each other as well as to the deep parental anxiety about being surpassed by their children without their children’s understanding or appreciation for their sacrifices.

“The Postman” doesn’t resolve this anxiety – most anxieties that have literary interest are unresolvable – but it offers a hopeful view of how parents will be seen by their children. Hope is separated only thinly from wishful thinking, but I always prefer to err on the side of hope.

#

“Always Here”: I’ve been experimenting lately with writing stories that adopt the conventions of science fiction for fantasy and vice versa. This is one example.

I think of fantasy as literature that literalizes a metaphor. “Always Here” is a fantasy story told in the language of science fiction. As we grow older, many (most?) of us lose our sense of wonder, our openness to possibilities, our willingness to hear voices that are unexpected. This story makes that ossification of the mind literally true.

Yet the metaphor is not just a metaphor. There is some biological basis for the common belief that aging reduces our novelty-seeking behavior, makes us less open-minded, causes us to dwell on the past. Our free wills are only as free as their biological foundation.

After writing this, I often imagined what Anna would look like after emerging from the probe. And the truth is that every time I came up with a different answer. Somehow, that makes me happy.

Now Available - IGMS - Issue 31

Now Available Soon - Issue 31

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving turkey, and I also hope you saved a little room for an IGMS-style desert.

Our cover story, "Inside the Mind of the Bear" by Rahul Kanikia, is a look at a bear bent on global domination, presented in the form of a scientific paper. I know, I know, you see this kind of thing all the time. But I promise you, this one really is different from all the other scientific papers about Godzilla-sized grizzlies.

Next up is Kevin Jewell’s "The Probability Flatline." A robot programmed to work in a daycare who is about to permanently run out of electricity gets a second chance at life, but the ever-shifting odds of achieving that extended life just might cost the lives of the very children she is designed to care for.

"The War of Peace – Part One" is the first installment of a novelette by Trina Phillips, part two of which will appear in issue 32. When humans plant their new town atop the birthing grounds of an alien race who have planted their offspring seedlings below that same ground, something has to give.

Speaking of two-part stories, this issue also brings you part two (and the conclusion) of Orson Scott Card’s excerpt of his new novel “The Gate Thief,” sequel to his popular novel “The Lost Gate.” “The Gate Thief” isn’t due to be released until March of 2013, but you can read the opening right here in IGMS now.

Doubling as our audio feature for this issue, "The Flittiest Catch" is tongue-in-cheek look at the perils of fairy fishing in the open skies. Written by Robert Russell, the audio version is read by the appropriately gruff-voiced Stuart Jaffe.

And last but certainly not least, we once again bring you a pair of short-shorts. Since they're both under 1,000 words we decided two was better than one, to ensure everyone got their money's worth. Both—“The Postman” and “Always There”—are written by fan-favorite Ken Liu, who is also the subject of this month’s InterGalactic Interview, brought to you by guest-interviewer Jamie Rubin.

So what are you waiting for? Time to dive in and start eating… er, reading.

Edmund R. Schubert
Editor, Orson Scott Card's InterGalactic Medicine Show

 

P.S. As usual, we've collected essays from the authors in this issue and will post them here. Feel free to drop by and catch The Story Behind The Stories, where the authors talk about the creation of their tales.