I recently joked to a friend of mine in a letter (yes, I still write actual letters), that if I keep up my current level of production, I may end up with enough stories to put out an indie story collection of my own. If that happens, I'm not going to do what a lot of writers do and just name it after one story in the book though. (That's just lazy.)
Coming out later this month will be yet another anthology, which will feature another of my short stories. The overarching genre of the book will be science fiction, and the title of the compendium will be Star Crossed.
Around the same time that Renee Gendron asked many of us to contribute to In the Red Room, she also sent out another request for some of us to write a story for this book. 6 of us agreed (besides Renee and Dustin), and the 8 stories that appear in this book are fantastic.
What I didn't expect is that, unlike the three previous books I was lucky to be part of, this one would be a flagship book for a new small press,
Fedowar Press. It was a delightful surprise realizing that I and my colleagues would have stories featured in one of the first titles of a burgeoning new press. It's not often in life that one gets the opportunity to be on the ground floor of something completely new. The chance to be so is one all of us (I think), appreciate.
Like the other anthologies, this one too had its own unique specifications. One--Renee's trademark--we all had to include an element of romance in our stories. Two, the stories all had to be some form of science fiction. Three, every story had to be less than or equal to 10,000 words (the largest max word count we've yet had). Finally, each of our stories had to be in some way inspire by a picture (much like In the Red Room), and for once you can see the illustration because it partly serves as the cover of his book. Besides that, we were free to write what we wished.
The title of my story included in this volume is "Slow Recovery." Out of all the pieces I've yet written for these projects, it is the longest, with the final word count being 8,400 words (give or take a few). For those of you who are writers amounts roughly to 40, typed manuscript pages. Amazingly, unlike my other stories, I managed to finish this one with a bit more of a cushion.
"Slow Recovery," however, as a story, slightly predates this anthology.
A few months back, I was cleaning out my phone's memo app, and I happened across a few lines I'd written, largely as an exercise to hone my abilities at writing good opening lines. (I should point out that I don't like writing on my phone because I have sausage finger.) I decided that I'd save these lines, just in case I figured out what the story behind them was. These were the lines:
"When Juan awoke, he couldn't recall how he'd ended up in the
starship medical bay. His vision was a bit unfocused, and his head throbbed. A
concussion, most likely, so he didn't sit up.
Another dull sting also emanated from his right arm. Slowly, he lifted
it over his head, and his heartbeat broke into a sprint
A bandage encased his whole arm
below the elbow—everything but his missing forefinger and thumb. What in
the galaxy had happened to him?"
(Not bad, right?)
Well, when Renee's offer to be part of Star Crossed arrived in my inbox, I jumped at the opportunity. SF has always been a genre in which I'm comfortable writing, so unlike with my stories in New Normal and Red Room, I was playing in my wheelhouse. However, once I examined the requirements to be part of this anthology, I realized that I'd already started my entry for this collection.
This piece, of course, had its challenges. My colleague Diane Callahan (@QuotidianWriter), read this piece in a very rough form and gave me some tough criticism, especially regarding its thematic underpinnings. Her criticism, however, spurred me to revise and rewrite it. I think her notes did a lot to strengthen the piece, especially my protagonist, Dr. Juan Ramos. Without her insight, the story--on a plot and character level--would've been okay, but thanks to her, it's much improved.
Star Crossed will be out April 26th, 2021. But, please, if you've enjoyed my stories in the past from the other anthologies, or pieces from the other authors included in this book, then consider pre-ordering it today.
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