A Niche

This story won some dick-ass Canadian sf award that few if any of you have ever heard of; however, it has proven popular enough to warrant several reprintings, most recently in Hartwell and Cramer's massive The Hard SF Renaissance (Tor 2002). It also comprises the first chapter of my debut novel, Starfish (Tor 1999).

Sadly, even after I had immortalised her in prose, the woman I based this story on refused to get back together with me. Go figure.