if i were to edit a zine or anthology - the long list

John Klima's series of articles about starting your own zine got me thinking. Not about actually starting one, because I think I would entirely unsuited to being the overall creator (and I don't have the capital), but about what my dream list would be if I was the editor of a zine or even an anthology. I think I'd be happier as an anthology editor.

Anyway.

Here is my Long List for authors who I would consider for inclusion into my unthemed zine. The only requirement is that they must have actually written and published short fiction. Preferably in the SFF genre, but I'm willing to give some non-genre authors a shot at my hypothetical unthemed speculative zine. Oh, and they should still be alive, otherwise how on earth would they write me a new story? It would also help if I'm familiar with their work (sorry Maureen McHugh). I would pay extremely well, of course, if I had such a zine and the financing.


The Long List:
Stephen King
Mary Robinette Kowal
Rachel Swirsky
John Scalzi
Cat Rambo
Jeff Vandermeer
Joe R. Lansdale
Lucius Shepard
Jay Lake
Mike Resnick
Bruce McAllister
Tim Pratt
Robert Reed
William Shunn
Neil Gaiman
Jhumpa Lahiri
Nell Freudenberger
Joe Hill
Carrie Vaughn
A. B. Goelman
Lori Selke
Alan DeNiro
Elizabeth Bear
Genevieve Valentine
Nicholas Seeley
Charles Stross
Jeffrey Ford
Tobias Buckell
Chris Roberson
George R. R. Martin
Anne McCaffrey
Kelly Link
Connie Willis
Cory Doctorow
Karen Traviss
Kage Baker
Margaret Atwood
Louise Erdrich
Ted Chiang
William Browning Spencer


I am quite sure I'm missing a goodly number of writers, but unless I come up with someone else to add to the list, this is what I'm going to use to pare down the Long List to the Short List. I reserve the right to add an author to the Short List who is not on this Long List.

A Letter Never Sent, by Rachel Swirsky

A Letter Never Sent
Rachel Swirsky
Konundrum Engine Literary Review: July 2007


With A Letter Never Sent Rachel Swirsky has written a chilling short story which gets into the head of a pedophile who has not yet acted on his desires, if the narrator is reliable. The narrator, Marc, addresses the letter to a Dr. Wickham, presumably a psychiatrist.

My name is Marc. I am twenty-two. I need to prove to you that I am "under significant mental stress" and that I am a "threat to others." Probably you need to know something about me so that you will understand why.

Marc spends the next eight pages (single spaced) explaining to the doctor how he met and befriended an eleven year old girl named Lisa. Since we know from the beginning that Marc believes he is a threat to others, the reader spends the entire story waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something unspeakable, perhaps un-writeable to occur.

The scariest thing about A Letter Never Sent is that it feels authentic. It feels real. We get that Marc initially has feelings that he is uncomfortable with and that he truly tries to do right by not encouraging them, but then we realize that Marc is also not going out of his way to avoid situations where he will experience those feelings. Not really.

A Letter Never Sent is a terrifying story because of how trusting Lisa is and despite Marc not wanting to harm her at the beginning of the story, he remember from the first paragraph that he believes he is a threat to others. To Lisa.

This isn’t a story which brings pleasure in the reading or which would be passed around to friends because they "just have to read it", but A Letter Never Sent draws the cliches of "chilling", "powerful", and "moving" to the forefront. Rightly so. We fear for Lisa while we are hoping beyond hope that Marc will not act. This is "only" a story, but Swirsky makes it real.

A Letter Never Sent feels like a letter of warning to parents, that innocents can be harmed, and perhaps it is a warning letter. Perhaps it is just a solid, scary story where the fear lies in what might happen. Perhaps it is more since Swirsky has stated that it is a story she feels passionate about. Whatever A Letter Never Sent might be, it is a very good story and one that is worth reading despite (or because of) the fact that it is uncomfortable to read and that we might need to wash off the dirt when the last page is turned.