“Space Cougar!” with Multitudinous Collaborators Published at The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction
Picture courtesy of the Magazine of Bizarro Fiction
“Space Cougar!” in collaboration with S. Hutson Blount, Peter V. Brett, Erin Cashier, Spike Marlowe, Alan DeNiro, Gordon van Gelder, Jackson Juiceely, Jay Lake, Nick Mamatas, Carlton Mellick III, E.C. Myers, Devin Poore, Ken Scholes, John Skipp, Peter Straub, and Michael Swanwick has been published in The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction Issue 6.
Against all good sense, I assure you — this short piece of flash fiction is a spoof of 1970’s sexploitation sci-fi. It pits our hero, science fiction grandmaster Robert Silverberg, against an intergalactic armada of cougars bent on subjugating the earth. Great fiction it is not.We had a devilishly fun time writing it and it was never intended to be published.
But, the story behind the story — how such a diverse group of authors got together to write “Space Cougar!” is the real publication. The spotlight is the somewhat comically embellished account of the creation, which like the byline, is almost longer than the story itself.
“Not only was great, ground-breaking fiction being created, but the authors were able to finally glorify a woman who knew what she wanted and turn a culturally derogatory term on its ear, exactly as it should be. Space Cougar fulfilled another role. It bonded the different generations of writers.”
“Great, groundbreaking fiction” notwithstanding, the rest of it is true. There’s more to tell, but I’ll leave it for another time. The armada is invading.
On the eve of the festival of Saint Sony, Hesteria grasped the slave-chains as hyssop oil secreted from her ankles. The scent of it floated through the gilded cockpit of her throne-room–a cloying mixture of wilted flower and voracious musk. Miracle of genetic engineering and misplaced expectations, she knew that her reach had finally exceeded her grasp…
One Response to ““Space Cougar!” with Multitudinous Collaborators Published at The Magazine of Bizarro Fiction”
Pity it never showed up online…..