MY FATHER’S CLUB
Notes: Next to HOLLYWOOD NORTH, this is my most personal story. It’s loosely based on my dad’s last days in a senior’s high-rise in Toronto.
Opening line: “When I die,” my father once said to me, “I’ll try to do it when you’re in town, so you won’t have to make a special trip for the funeral.”
Reviews:
The story appeared on Ellen Datlow’s much-lamented SciFiction.com. While I could find no published reviews, I can assure you that my friends and family LOVED the story. Love love LOVED IT! Of course, I suppose it’s possible they were influenced somewhat by the critical guidelines I provided in advance of their reading: “Be sure to tell me how much you loved it.”
THE FOURTH KISS
Notes: There was this girl in first grade who’s mother died after a long and lingering illness. I always thought it strange she never missed a day of school. She was a top student, in fact. (Me, I would’ve been a blubbering ninny.) And then, later, in high school, there was this other girl. Every time she smiled at me I’d get the feeling she was about to stick a shiv between my ribs. I’m not sure why I combined the two into a single character, but I did. (Exciting on another front, too. First time I saw my name on the cover of F&SF.)
Opening line: Closest I’ve come to romanticizing this whole thing is the Wolfman.
Reviews:
It’s tough to find reviews on the story. It goes back a few years. Probably just as well, seeing as how I recall a couple of particularly nasty ones. The closest I came is this: “An interesting story about a boy who gets involved with a girl. Nothing much, you would expect, except that the girl seems to have a strange hold over him, and all boys who get involved with her. Each time they kiss, his emotional and mental state becomes more violent and connected to her until, in their adult life, it is time for that fourth, and final, kiss that will determine their fates.” — Soh Kam Yung, GeoCities
PUCE BOY
Notes: I was in Lake George, NY, playing miniature golf with my daughters, when we came upon this obnoxious 12-year-old girl who was heckling any and all players, including us. (Not that I didn’t deserve it.) During brief pauses in her putdowns, I learned she was the owner’s daughter and played the course all day, every day. This story quickly followed.
Opening lines: Dumb. Dumb as a gull humping a 747 dumb.
Reviews:
“The issue gets off to a running start with … the creepy, perfectly clocked tale of a man with a dark past.” – Christopher East, Tangent
“Michael Libling’s enchanting and disturbing tale … is a must-read.” — Thomas L. Martin, SF Crowsnest.com
THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY & HORROR, SIXTEENTH EDITION
PUCE BOY was my second story to make Ellen’s Datlow’s and Terri Windling’s annual volume. The appearance was just as much of a thrill as the first time around.
TIMMY GOBEL’S BUG JAR
Notes: My first sale to the, then, “new editor” of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Gordon Van Gelder. And my first story to make a year’s best anthology, specifically The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror, Fifteenth Edition, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling.
Opening lines: Nobody remembers Addison anymore. And not just because so much like misery has passed our way since. No, I blame the Russians.
Reviews:
“Very much in the Stephen King vein of youth and horror combined. In the late 1950s a group of youngsters find something most peculiar in the bug jar to which the title refers. A skeleton. A very small, human skeleton.” – BestSF.net
THE YEAR’S BEST FANTASY & HORROR, FIFTEENTH EDITION
I learned via email that TIMMY GOBEL’S BUG JAR had made the cut. I can’t think of a better way to make first contact with an editor, specifically Ellen Datlow.
THE PLIABLE CHILD
Notes: Stigmata. Oven mitts. And the Golden Age of Radio…. At least one of which was and is a passion of mine.
Opening line: I prayed to God, Jesus and Gracie Steinmetz that night, the night Doc Welland said, “Not much time now, I’m afraid,” and Dee was finally forced to take to bed for good (though there was nothing good about it).
Reviews:
“This is an interesting little tale about a young child who becomes whatever people want. She’s not a genie, mind you, more like a piece of clay that molds to one’s desires. I enjoyed this one, and given the girl’s power, I can’t say I was surprised that there was a decided religious angle to the story.” — Douglas Cohen, Monstrous Musings
PHEROMITEY GLAD
Notes: The original title was EINSTEIN’S BAGELS, but editor Kim Mohan felt readers would expect two things: something about the bagel chain and something about Einstein, neither of which figure prominently in the story. I retitled it PHEROMITEY GLAD, a title I have always hated. Wish I would have given it more thought.
Opening line: They laughed when Land sat down to play the rejil. They had good reason. Land, a purebred Earthenkind, could not possibly play the instrument, insufficient and insubstantial oral interfaces, of course.
Reviews:
My first encounter with online reviews. The first I came across was glowing, declaring the story the best thing this issue of Amazing Stories had to offer. I was ecstatic. Me! A literary superstar, at last! Unfortunately, a few moments later, I stumbled upon Dave Truesdale’s review and well… uh… I learned a valuable lesson about believing any review, good or bad. To see how Dave destroyed my ego, click Genrealities and go to Part 5. Better yet, read the whole essay.
MOSQUITO LEAGUE
Notes: I was a fat kid and a lousy athlete, but did I ever love to play baseball! This story was a case of wishful thinking, throwback edition.
Opening line: What struck me first about Benny Clay were the dead mosquitoes.
Reviews:
Again, not exactly a review, but it’s the best I could find. “…An entertaining story about two boys, one fat and cowardly, the other prone to fist-fights, who form an alliance to help each other: the former to learn how to play baseball, the latter to learn how to avoid being bullied too much. Into this wanders a strange liquid provided by the fat boy’s mother that may prove to be more than it seems.” — Soh Kam Yung, GeoCities
A BITE TO EAT IN ABBOTSFORD
Notes: This was my first professional sale, bought by editor Peter Crowther for his DESTINATION UNKNOWN anthology. Piranha moths! Need I say more?
Opening lines: Payday was in the air. Larry Heffer burst into Bert Kobol’s Silver Diner, eyes wide, tongue dragging, and nude except for the leather belt which hid nothing.
Reviews:
None that I could find. Again, this was published in the early days of the Internet. Nonetheless, I’m sure that everyone who read the story LOVED it. How could they not? Like I said, piranha moths, eh?
SITTERS
Notes: My first published story, thanks to F&SF and Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and my second pro market sale. I probably shouldn’t have written it. To this day, I cannot go to the beach without this story coming to mind. By the way, I had nothing to do with the Nazi clown on the cover.
Opening lines: Some things you need to keep to yourself. Sometimes, it is wiser just to go with the flow. It is certainly safer. “Daddy,” she said, “there’s a clicking in my head. Click, click. Click, click.”
Reviews:
“A man, his wife, and their daughter take a vacation on the coast of Maine. …A haunting twist on a fairly common theme.” — Jim Bailey, sff.net