As Time Goes By

I've been going over my galleys for Nano Comes To Clifford Falls and Other Stories, and I've noticed something odd. Either the stories have mutated over time or my critical judgement has. There are some stories I remember not liking that much, such as "Computer Virus," that I now think are pretty good. There are other stories I felt quite enthusiastic about when I sold them, but which now seem to have developed deep flaws.

One of the latter is "Shiva In Shadow." I wrote it because Robert Silverberg asked for a story for an SFBC anthology called Between Worlds. This theme anthology was originally supposed to be called At The Galactic Core and all the stories set there, but apparently I was the only one who wanted to set a story at the core, and so the scope was broadened. Since at the time I had no idea what went on at the galactic core (a lot), I got a book and read it. But as I reread the finished product four years later, I think I got too carried away with the science. The story is jammed with facts about Sagittarius A*, IRS 16, and shocked molecular gases. Any hard-SF story is a balance between what's going in the science and what's going on inside the characters, but I was a little shocked myself at how out of balance those elements are in "Shiva in Shadow." What was I thinking?

Too much. I was thinking too much, leading with the head and not the heart. Ah, well. It's only one story in the collection.