Science Fiction Short Stories

Introduction

(Robot Reading sketch by Christian Sanhueza http://kristiano1979.tumblr.com/)

Author's log, Stardate 95368.88...

When it comes to my short stories, I always get the same two complaints:

The first (and most frequent) is that my short stories are too short. It doesn't seem to matter what the word count is, be it 1k or 10k, for some people, my stories are just too short for them. This is particularly true of Science Fiction.

Part of the reason for this is that science fiction involves transporting the reader into a world that is completely alien (read foreign) world. The short story gives a very small window in these worlds, and that creates mystery. Like any good reader, when presented with a mystery, they want to see it solved.

But despite everyone's desire to turn my every thought into a gigantic epic fantasy with merchandising rights the size of Star Wars or Harry Potter, I can only do so much. It's a struggle just to put out the material I can. I got a back log of novels to write and I'm at least three months behind on my cracked.com article. Every time I break from writing to deliver food, it sets back. Long story short, It's a damn miracle that I get done what I do.

The Rick and Liz Saga (paranormal romance) started off as a monologue, then it was a scene. Soon it was a 3k short story called The Travelers. People wanted more. So it became a 10k short story. But it still wasn't enough, so it became a novella called Love and Hamburgers at  and now it is a novella series with five books outlined so far. This was all because people read it and said they wanted more.

So if you like something and want to learn more about it, be sure to tell me. However, if you just complaining that it's too short, I'm going to say, "that's just too darn bad. Fill in the blanks yourself, or wait until I'm done with about with about 20 novels." I'm not saying that to be rude, it's just that I have a ton of writing I need to get done. I'm in lead, follow, or get out of the way mode.

The Second complaint I get, is ironically, that my short stories are too long. This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes ever, from Maxon Crumb in regards to his own painting of a man with a gun to head in a corn field. "Everything in life can be put into two categories, too much or not enough."

My rule is that a short story becomes too long at 10,001 words. It is at that point, it either needs to be cut back, or turned into a novella. I really like the novella format, but sometimes I want it just to be a short for now. At least until I put out my five Rick and Liz stories. So most of what you read in this collection have already been cut back from larger pieces.

There is one story, Reprogramming, that is part of a larger multi-format story called Tales from the Construct. I call this type of story a slice in the life story. It is one of my favorite ways to get introduced into a world. 

It's almost like an anthropological study. You can get a great understanding of the rules of the world through people's normal, mundane, interactions. I know many writers like to throw us right into the middle of a battle, but I prefer to let the tea cool and savor the aroma, instead of trying to guzzle it down hot. 

Now, no short story introduction would be complete without talking about influences, else this would come off as far too egotistical. So I defer you to what I call my Holy Trinity: Philip K. Dick, Douglas Adams, and Arthur C. Clarke. That's not to say that I don't have other influences, just these are the most obvious in my opinion when it comes to my Science Fiction work.

I love PKD. His writing is dark and gritty. His worlds seem real because the people in them act like real people act. Even the most "heroic" of his characters are full of desire and vice. There are no heroes in his world, just people trying to do their job, and at the end of the day they're wholly unimportant to anyone other than themselves. 

Douglas Adams is the king of the information dump. I'm pretty sure I've read entire chapters that were nothing more than a technical point on a piece of equipment or the explanation of a scientific theory. Now, when most authors do this, I can make you want to gouge you're eyes out. But Mr. Adams has a way of doing it that is engaging and whimsical. At the end, it will leave you giggling like a little school girl who just stole a box of chocolates.

Lastly, Arthur C. Clarke... One of my shameful secrets is that I like to watch the movie before I read the book. So having seen Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, I expected the book to read likewise. That was not at all what happened.

Instead, I found Clarke to be quite brief in all his descriptions. Perhaps it was due, to the pulp style of the time, or because of Clark's other writing jobs, but I think I sat down and read 2001 in 30 minutes. Reading 3001: The Final Odyssey didn't take too much more time than that either. There was almost no technical jargon what-so-ever, everything told in plain English.

I like to think of my own style as unique, but you will definitely see the ghosts of these great authors taking over the driver's seat from time to time ("I'm not dead yet," shouted Douglas Adams from behind the computer console). But, only when I feel it would appropriate for them to do so.

If you would like to know more about my theories on Science Fiction, please check out my eBook on the subject, which you can read for free on Kindle Unlimited. Just follow the link bellow or type in my name in your KU reader.

So please, Enjoy the stories. 

But remember, they're just stories. 

If you want to give feedback, I'm all ear.

So Cheers,

Ken