John Joseph Adams is hot stuff these days. Barnes & Noble.com named him “the reigning king of the anthology world” and that’s because he keeps coming up with these really keen ideas for anthologies. Like this one.
The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination
From Victor Frankenstein to Lex Luthor, from Dr. Moreau to Dr. Doom, readers have long been fascinated by megalomaniacal plans for world domination and the madmen who come up with them. Typically, we see these villains through the eyes of superheroes (or other good guys) as they attempt to put an end to their evil ways. This anthology, however, will explore the world of mad scientists and evil geniuses–from their own point of view.
Evil geniuses are always so keen on telling captured heroes all their fiendish plans. Isn’t it about time someone gave them a platform such as this one to reach the masses with their messages of hope death and prosperity destruction?
So I’m incredibly excited to have sold him a short story for this anthology. It’s scheduled to come out from Tor sometime in 2011. Here’s a teaser:
We Interrupt This Broadcast
Doubled over with another hacking cough, Fidel Dobes turned away from his 1402 punchcard reader. The last thing he needed was to cough blood onto the Beluga program source cards. Across the cramped lab, Mira raised her head and stared with concern. He hated worrying her.
Fidel’s ribs ached with the force of the cough. He held a handkerchief to his mouth, waiting for the fit to pass. For a long moment, he thought he would not be able to breathe again. The panic almost closed his throat completely, but he managed a shuddering breath without coughing. Then another. He straightened slowly and pulled the cloth away from his mouth. In the glob of sputum, a bright spot of scarlet glistened.
Damn. That usually only happened in the morning. He folded the handkerchief over so it wouldn’t show, turned back to the 1402 and continued loading the source cards into the sturdy machine. Its fan hummed, masking some of the ragged sound of his breathing.
I affectionately call this my punchcard punk story.
Punchcard computing is a lovely thing, lost somewhere between the typewriters and the word processors. I’ve never used one, but my parents both did while at university in the late 60s, and I’ve done enough low level programming to, hopefully, appreciate the art — yes, art! — of programming by punch card.
Congratulations on the sale, Mary! Punchcard punk is pretty fabulous, have to say–and I’ve been excited about this anthology every since he announced it–and have all the more reason to be excited now that I’ve been teased by your story.