 Unparalleled
Journeys II
(Science fiction -
android/social SF)After
the success of Unparalleled Journeys, Ed Knight at Journey Books
Publishing decided to do another one. This new antho, Unparalleled
Journeys II, was planned to contain Golden Age sci-fi only, and it
does, with a great mix of original ideas.
When I heard Ed was doing another one, my
first thought was to do another Will & Tass story, to follow
"White
Ribbons, Red Roses" from UJ and the two-part serial in Amazing
Journeys, "Wings of the Spirit." However, the Will & Tass stories
generally run around 11,000 words, and Ed had capped the word count at
about 7,000 words for UJ2.
So I went off to write something new and
then realized I'd had two stories Ed had accepted for Amazing Journeys,
slated for issues #13 and #14. Ed had decided to cease publishing the
magazine after #12, however, and I hadn't submitted those two stories
anywhere else. Both were about androids -- the first in a not-so-distant
future of Earth, the second in a more distant future (but still not far
off). I realized I could write a third short piece in the far future and
give Ed three stories for the price of one. I ran the idea by him and he
loved it.
The "story" in UJ2 is actually
three stories, but it is entitled "Androids Take Over the World." It is
broken into three parts:
- Androids Take Over the World:
Incidentally, Ed once again asked me to
co-edit this antho for him. Ed has a great eye for good stories, but I'm
the hard editor who is ruthless with things like grammar and punctuation
usage, so we make a good team that way. I'm proud to say, however, that Ed
chooses the antho stories; mine aren't in it because I helped him edit it.
Ed's the kind of guy who, if he didn't get stories he felt were right, he
simply wouldn't include them -- even if the writer is the guy helping him
edit. That's the only way to do this: Be true to your passion.
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