Moonchasers and Other Stories

Introduction

These stories are, at least in an oblique way, a record of my time on the planet.

A lot of the people you’ll meet here, I’ve known in life.

The dwarf woman of “The Wind from Midnight,” for instance, is a dwarf woman I used to work with in a hotel. At day’s end we frequently pushed a pint of cheap bourbon back and forth, a forlorn pair of scared drunks. She died long ago, when we were young. I still occasionally visit her grave and talk to her. She was a lovely, endearing woman.

The hero of “Moonchasers” is a kid I grew up with, one who, at fifteen, knew more about honor and wisdom than I know today.

The old man in “Render unto Caesar” did in life what he does in my story — walk around the neighborhood looking for dead cats, which he then gave decent burials. A strange old guy, to be sure, but a profoundly decent soul for all his oddness. And, yes, the young woman existed, too, and her husband really was that violent with her.

What happens to the married couple in “Stalker” happened to friends of mine. Their daughter was murdered. The couple never recovered. That happens a lot, as people in the victims’ rights movement will tell you. Look at the face of Ron Goldman’s father sometime. I hope that someday he’ll find peace again.

“The Ugly File” is based on a woman I did a documentary film about. She gave birth to a terribly deformed baby. She felt estranged from the entire human race. She didn’t think even her husband could understand what she was going through, as perhaps he couldn’t.

The woman in “Prisoners” is based on a bright, elegant, talented young woman who used to work with me — and who spent several long sad years visiting her husband in prison.

And so on.

None of these stories is literally autobiographical, of course. I’m a storyteller, not a diarist.

But in choosing the tales for this collection, I tended to select those pieces that had personal meaning for me. I didn’t choose any that relied strictly on plot. The older I get, the less those stories interest me as either reader or writer.

A number of editors should be thanked here: Janet Hutchings, of Ellery Queen, who is not only an astute editor but one of the gentlest people I’ve ever known; Kris Rusch, of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, who knows how to get the best from me; Rich Chizmar, of Cemetery Dance, who helps me push against the constraints of the predictable; and Greg Cox, of Forge, who is a past master at handling writers. He makes you think that all those great ideas were yours, not his. Thanks for everything, Greg.

Finally, I’d like to thank my beautiful wife, Carol, for her patience, support and encouragement; and my beautiful mother for driving me to the library all those years ago when she probably had much better things to do.

I had a good time writing these stories. I hope you have a good time reading them.