Tor.com has a couple of stories written by Jay Lake and Ken Scholes, two chaps well known and respected for their short fiction. The catch? They each wrote exactly half of each story. Scholes started one, Lake the other and, in front of a crowd at a bookstore, and switched half-way through. The stories turned out to be just as unusual as you might expect.
The Starship Mechanic
Illustration by Greg Manchess & Stephan Martiniere
If you were a technologically advanced alien race named Todd, what kind of mechanic would your ship have? And what if that mechanic liked to spend its time petting the naked cats at Borderlands Books?
Looking for Truth in a Wild Blue Yonder
Illustration by Stephan Martiniere & Greg Manchess
Don’t do drugs, kiddies, unless you really need to and/or they are recommended by a licensed therabot. And either way, don’t have sex under the influence. Unless, of course, you’re dealing with complicated grief.
A little explanation behind the stories, and the gorgeous art that comes alongside them:
What’s with all the whacky attributions this week? Well, once upon a time, Jay Lake and Ken Scholes sat down together in San Francisco’s Borderlands Books with their computers and a crowd of spectators, including a naked cat or two. Jay began to write a story. Ken began to write a story. And then, halfway though, they traded. Shannon Page was on the scene, and she brings you the details of that epic encounter.
Tor.com is tickled to bring you the results of Jay and Ken’s collaboration, and furthermore, two collaborations by artists Stephan Martiniere and Greg Manchess. Each artist turned over his sketches to the other, and, doing Jay and Ken one better, they traded back for a final pass. You read more about the art mash-up here.
What do you get when you have two of the most prominent short fiction genre writers working together? Well… I’m still not sure! Entertainment, however, is a given.
