This week my story, “On the Snark Watch,” appeared in Perihelion SF. I’m thrilled that it’s found a home.
Without breaking certain oaths, I can say that I wrote this story on a short deadline, and I had to follow a writing prompt (Military SF on a space base) and include a toy. That toy was a pen. Its name is “Fuzzy.”
Now, I’d a read a bit of Military SF, but I’d never attempted to write anything like that. Too bad. Here was my chance.
The actual writing process took about 12 hours, and included a panicked late-night visit to my writing instructor (who was himself a vet) to ask, “What do you call that place on the ship where you keep the munitions?” He also suggested I add a lot more cursing (which, sadly, I toned down for various editors).
In the end, I drew upon conversations with friends and family who’d done their time in uniform, stirred in a bit of handwavium, and added a hint of Bug Eyed Monsters.
Enjoy.
