Beyond the Cradle
To follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before, first we must find them.
Dreaded hope settles over mankind as we stare into the heavens, looking for a sign we are not alone. Fearing we will find it, puzzled when we don’t.
Among the stars or in our own backyard, lose yourself in the wonder of these tales as we humbly posit mankind’s reaction to the awesome certainty that ‘they’ are out there…or at least, they were…
Footprints in the Stars
With stories by Gordon Linzner, Ian Randal Strock, Robert Greenberger, Dayton Ward, Aaron Rosenberg, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jody Lynn Nye, Christopher L. Bennett, James Chambers, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Russ Colchamiro, Judi Fleming, and Bryan J.L. Glass
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When eSpec Books editor Danielle Ackley-McPhail invited me to participate in this new collection, she described thusly: “…all of the stories will revolve around the central theme of humanity discovering evidence that we are not alone in the universe.” She stressed that she wasn’t looking for “first contact stories,” so we were going to have to dig a little deeper and come up with something else.
When I started on what I thought was going to be my story, I had what I thought was an interesting premise. Then, as time passed and I started playing around with writing it, an idea for a completely different story began to take shape. Before I knew it, I realized this newer idea that ended up calling “Lost and Found” was something I wanted to dig in on, not just for this story but perhaps setting things up for a novel at some point. To her credit, Danielle did not, in point of fact, beat me with a tire iron when I changed lanes on her, and instead welcomed not just my idea but also the possibility of me exploring this notion further with eSpec.
I guess we’ll see.
As for the original idea I had? Well, I realized as I was writing that it was too much for a short story and I wanted to do more with it, as well. So, who knows? Maybe I’ll end up with two long-form projects out of this. Are the two entities separate or related? To be honest, I haven’t decided just yet. I guess we’ll have to see about that, too.
Huh.
The Fog of Ward. 