I’m very pleased to announce the sale of my short story “Body Language” to Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. This is an important sale for me for three reasons.
- This is the first story I wrote after attending OSC’s Literary Boot Camp and was one of the hardest things I’ve written because I was so painfully conscious of process. Ever word that hit the page marked a deliberate effort to use the new tools I’d been given.
- This is the first story I wrote to a specific market. I wanted to sell it to IGMS. You’ll note that I wrote it four years ago. That’s because it was rejected the first time around, but I was offered a chance to rewrite it and resubmit. It took years for me to do that.
- This is the only story I have written where the main character is a puppeteer.
So when Edmund Schubert, the editor, called me to tell me that he wanted to buy it, refraining from shrieking with delight was very difficult.
Here’s a teaser of “Body Language.”
Saskia leaned into the darkness above the stage, only vaguely aware of the wood rail against her hips as she retied the left headstring on her marionette. On the stage below, the Snow Queen’s head eased into balance. The marionette telegraphed its stance back up the strings to the control in Saskia’s hands. She ran the Snow Queen across the set to check the repair, barely conscious of her own body on the bridge above the stage. It was almost like being immersed in a VR suit.
One of the techies called up. “Hey, Saskia? There’s a detective here for you.”
Congratulations!
Can you sum up in a few words what makes this an IGMS-specific story?
Bear in mind that when I wrote it OSC was still the editor. He liked mysteries, SF, deep penetration 3rd person POV and stories where two ideas merged. He also talked about having the character’s occupation and history influence how they viewed everything.
I have no idea what characteristics pulled Edmund to it.
Congratulations! 🙂
Congratulations!
hmm… maybe this section of Utah has more going for it than you initially thought. .. Congratulations!
Wow! Great!
Yahtzee! I loved this when I read it last, and I’m sure it’s even better now. You will have room for your Hugo, right?
Congrats! At least you’ve had some good news to offset the bad luck with the moving truck!
That’s awesome! Congratulations!
I’ll bet it feels like coming full circle. Nicely done, Mary!
Puppeteer as main character? I’m intrigued!