Short Fiction and Me
So how did short stories enter my life? Not my fault. They made me do it. They being editors with irresistable themes. Also, when Martin H. Greenberg himself and in person invites you to submit a story, if you can do it in three days? Refusal is not an option. I wrote "First Contact Inc." on the way home, kids in the backseat, and it became my first short story sale.
I haven't stopped since. My favourite remains the novella, "No Place Like Home," in Forbidden Planets, edited by Marvin Kaye.
::peers around:: I have to admit, it does feel pretty good to find my short stories in an English class. Who'd have imagined that?
Click to View Science Fiction Short Stories - Annotated List
Annotated List of Science Fiction Short Stories by Julie E. Czerneda
(in alphabetical order)
(in alphabetical order)
“A Touch of Blue” A Web Shifters Story, in Heroes in Training, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Jim C. Hines, DAW Books Inc., 2007 ISBN 13: 978-0756404383 In which Esen leaves home to discover her artistic side.
“Brothers Bound” in Sirius the Dog Star, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Alexander Potter, DAW Books Inc., 2004 ISBN 0756401860 Prequel to The Clan Chronicles. First mention of the Hoveny Concentrix.
“Bubbles and Boxes” in New Voices in Science Fiction, edited by Mike Resnick, DAW Books Inc., 2003, ISBN 0756401682 Features a near future look at the University of Waterloo, as well as DNA used for nanotech. Reprinted in Canada’s Best Science Fiction: Distant Early Warnings edited by Robert J. Sawyer, 2009, Robert J. Sawyer Books.
“Dear John” in Odyssey Magazine, 1998 Issue #6 Written while waiting for a panel to start.
“Down on the Farm” in Far Frontiers, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, DAW Books Inc., 2000, ISBN 0886779081 A setting and story that continues to intrigue me. I was researching agricultural techniques and found this story coming out. Though it took a couple of tries to find a home, it was a Prix Aurora Award Finalist for 2001. Don’t be surprised if there’s more one day.
“First Contact Inc.” in First Contact, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, DAW Books Inc., 1997, ISBN 0996777577 My first short story sale and a story of which I remain very fond. It was reprinted in Italian in Primo Contatto, 2000, Editrice Nord, then with an introductory essay in Wondrous Visions edited by Steven H. Silver and Martin H. Greenberg, 2003 DAW Books.
“Left Foot on a Blind Man” in Silicon Dreams, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Larry Segriff, DAW Books Inc., 2001, ISBN 075620018X Winner of the 2002 Prix Aurora Award for Best Short-Form English. This story underwent a rewrite before submission after my first readers bonded with the “wrong” character. I added a cat. That seemed to work. In 2010 it will be reprinted in The Aurora Awards - Thirty Years of Canadian Science Fiction, Nanopress.
“No Place Like Home” in Forbidden Planets, edited by Marvin Kaye, SFBC, 2006, ISBN 13: 978-1582882116 My first novella length work. The title was the original one for In the Company of Others. In many ways, I consider this the best story I’ve written so far.
“Out of China” in ReVisions, edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Isaac Szindel, DAW Books Inc., 2004, ISBN 0756402409 Isaac wanted me to write for this, so I did. In the process I learned why I won’t write more alternate history -- it’s an incredible amount of work, to be as accurate about the past as possible. But I am proud of the story.
“Prism” A Web Shifters Story, in DAW’s 30th Anniversary Anthology of SF, edited by Elizabeth R. Wollheim and Sheila E. Gilbert, DAW Books, 2002, ISBN 0756400643 In which Esen remembers her beginnings and goes to school. Became the beginning chapter to Hidden in Sight. In the DAW anthology, Sheila Gilbert wrote an introduction describing her first impressions of me. I believe the word patient was used.
“Prospect Park” in Packing Fraction, edited by Julie E. Czerneda, Trifolium Books (now Fitzhenry & Whiteside / Red Deer Press), 1999, ISBN 1895579899 This was the first short story I ever wrote (other than for assignments in school). When I needed one more for Packing Fraction, and it had to be about technology & society (plus I had no more budget), I pulled this out and ran it by the publisher. She liked it and in the end, It worked just fine for the purpose. Technically, it’s never been sold.
“She’s Such a Nasty Morsel” A Web Shifters Story, in Women of War, edited by Tanya Huff and Alexander Potter, DAW Books Inc., 2005, ISBN 0756402867 Esen learns more than she ever wanted about Skalet. I owe the title to Kristen Britain, who's a Skalet fan.
“The Franchise” in Space Stations, edited by Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers, DAW Books Inc., 2004, ISBN 0756401763 This is a direct sequel to In the Company of Others.
“The Passenger” in Treachery & Treason, edited by Laura Anne Gilman and Jennifer Heddle, Roc Books, 2000, ISBN 0451457781 One of the rare times I wrote something without knowing what to do with it. When I saw this anthology listed in the SFWA Bulletin, I thought, this theme is my story and contacted Laura Anne. The editors agreed.
