I love reading stories. When you need a quick fiction fix in the course of a busy day and you don’t want to commit to a novel, there’s nothing like a good story to satisfy.
Writing stories is fun, too, and quicker than writing a novel. Sometimes. Sometimes a story spills forth like a gift from the gods, requiring only a bit of editing when you’re done with the draft. And sometimes a story demands more researching, soul-searching, and multiple drafts than seems humanly fair before the damn thing is done with you.
But oh! to see your story in print. And sometimes, just sometimes, you get lucky and sell the project to the movies for more money than seems humanly possible. Inspiration strikes. Love at first sight. Good things happen.
Chronologically, to wit:
“Arachne” Omni (December, 1987). Reprinted in Cyberpunk (March 1996, Replik [Sweden]). An idealistic young lawyer, plugged into a hellish futuristic telespace, confronts a powerful ancient archetype.
“Guardian” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (October, 1998). Reprinted in Transcendental Tales from Asimov’s Magazine (Donning Books, 1990). Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica, Numero 5 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991 [Germany]). A woman terrorized by urban crime invokes a supernatural Haitian protector.
“Deus Ex Machina” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (December, 1988). Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica, Numero 6 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Gogols Frau (Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1994 [Germany]). During the next devastating Big Quake in San Francisco, a professional woman encounters a compelling terrorist and uncovers a terrible corporate conspiracy.
“The Oniomancer” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (February, 1989). 1989 Nebula Short List, Best Novelette. Reprinted in Asimov’s Ficcao Cientifica Numero 7 (Brazil, 1990). Reprinted in Hayakawa Science Fiction Magazine (Japan, 1991). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991). The FIRST female punk bicycle messenger. Period. She finds an alien artifact on the street and all hell breaks loose.
“Tomorrow’s Child” Omni (December, 1989) Film rights optioned, 1990—2000. Film rights sold to Universal Studios January, 2001. An aerospace executive, desperate to save his critically burned daughter, resorts to a mysterious artifact found in the old wreckage of a space craft.
I’ve been saving this story for my own collection and never sold or published it anywhere other than Omni. I’m proud to present the ebook adaptation of “Tomorrow’s Child” for the first time on Nook and Kindle.
“Stripper” Unique (Premier Issue, July—August, 1990). Reprinted in Unter Die Haut (Fama Verlag, 1991). An exotic dancer with a touch of Kali and quantum powers foils the Mob when they try to muscle in on her turf.
“Hummers” Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (February, 1991). 1991 Nebula Short List, Best Novelette. Reprinted in Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror Fifth Annual Collection (St. Martin’s Press, 1992). Edited by Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow. An artist dying of cancer discovers guidance in ancient Egyptian magic.
“Triad” Universe 2 (Doubleday/Bantam, 1992). Edited by Robert Silverberg and Karen Haber. An androgyne on a strange alien world falls in love with a seductress from an even stranger world. Also includes stories by Brian Aldiss, Barry Malzberg, Joe Haldeman, Jonathan Lethem, Kathe Koja, Jamil Nasir, and Carolyn Gilman.
“Destination” Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (September, 1992). Edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. On the road across America, one of the riders in Sal’s Delta Royale Eighty-Eight might be that serial killer the radio is buzzing about. But who? Based on a true story. Beware of ride boards.
“The Sixty-third Anniversary of Hysteria” Full Spectrum 5 (Bantam, 1995) Edited by Jennifer Hershey et al. A retelling of the friendship between the Surrealist artists Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo, exiled in Mexico City during World War Two, and Carrington’s harrowing brush with madness. Also includes stories by Michael Bishop, Karen Joy Fowler, and Neal Stephenson.
“Felicitas” Desire Burn: Women’s Stories from the Dark Side of Passion (Carrol & Graf, 1995) Edited by Janet Berliner Gluckman. What’s a werecat to do when her rich, powerful boss by day won’t leave her alone by night? Also includes stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Poppy Z. Brite, Katherine Dunn, Lucy Taylor, and Marina Fitch.
“Daughter of the Tao” Immortal Unicorn (HarperPrism, 1995) Edited by Peter S. Beagle and Janet Berliner Gluckman. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, 1895, a luckless slave girl finds salvation in Chinese magic from a fate worse than death. Also includes stories by Peter S. Beagle, Judith Tarr, Susan Shwartz, Robert Devereaux, and Dave Smeds.
“Every Mystery Unexplained” David Copperfield’s Tales of the Impossible (HarperPrism, 1995) Edited by Janet Berliner Gluckman and David Copperfield. Reprinted in Poland, China, and other countries. In San Francisco 1895, it may be the Golden Age of stage magic, but Professor Flint, his son Danny, and their traveling magic show have hit the skids, resorting to fake séances to make ends meet. Through the transcendent power of love and a mysterious beautiful lady, Danny faces the truth of his mother’s death. Also includes stories by Ray Bradbury, Kevin J. Anderson, Joyce Carol Oates, F. Paul Wilson, and Dave Wolverton.
“Transformation and the Postmodern Identity Crisis” Fantastic Alice (Ace, 1995). Edited by Margaret Weis. Whatever happened to Alice? She was such a peculiar little girl. What’s she like now, at forty? The perils of falling down the rabbit-hole can’t compare to the perils of leaving Wonderland behind. Also includes stories by Roger Zelazny, Janet Asimov, Jody Lynn Nye, and Lawrence Watt-Evans.
“The Hanged Man” The Shimmering Door (HarperPrism, 1996) Edited by Katharine Kerr. Snap, a disgruntled telelinker, discovers how to claim the freedom and success he craves thanks to a lovely gypsy who guides him through the secrets of the Tarot.
New stories are on the way!
And, at long last, two story collections—Here You Enter the Future, the Past, and Fantasy: Science Fiction Stories by Lisa Mason and Here You Enter the Future, the Past, and Fantasy: Fantasy Stories by Lisa Mason--will be published in Winter 2012. See Next Thing and watch this space!
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