This is the fourth volume of my Passing Strange series of science fiction and weird short stories. It may be the last, since I think I've run out of titles that are variants of 'Passing Strange.' Well, I can always start another series.
As with the stories in the other books of this series, I've kept these tales short and plot-based. Each story, tho strange and improbable, is based, in part, on hard science. In order to explicate the scientific aspect, I've appended the author's notes to several of the stories that were heavily based on recent scientific findings.
You will note from the previous paragraph that I am continuing to use the words 'tho' for 'though' and 'thru' for 'through,' as I have thruout the previous volumes. I hope other writers will adopt this convention, which I believe eliminates some of the confusion and distraction brought about by the similarity of those Anglo Saxon verbal/visual delinquencies: 'though,' 'thought,' 'through,' and 'thorough.'
Several of these stories carry personal associations of some kind. Abomination was inspired when my writer friend Bret and I exhibited our books at a local paranormal cosplay fair, where I observed many people in weird costumes. It caused me to think this might be the perfect place for a real alien to appear without being noticed. The mouth of the Abomination is pictured at the end of that story.
The writing of Beastly Bar was a challenge from a friend who sent me a beastly birthday card to base a story on. The card image appears at the end of the story.
Catch and Release was inspired by my son-in-law, Jesse, after he returned from a fly-fishing trip in which only catch-and-release was allowed. The fishing fly mentioned in the story is pictured at its end.
Mind-Locked was partially the product of witnessing my father's locked-in mind condition for several months before he died.
The Paper Knife draws on my career as a librarian. Early on I was tasked with inventorying a group of rare books in a spooky basement of the Fort Worth Public Library.
Almost reflects my long-standing interest in both neuroscience and Neanderthals. I have written a thriller with a half-Neanderthal boy as the protagonist and I am currently writing a book on the neuroscience of poetry.
Cabal uses the same time-travel conceit and location as the story "Elevator Talk" in my book Beyond Passing Strange.
All the World's A Stage riffs on my experiences with the eccentricities of actors I encountered while producing plays during my library career.
The other stories here, as I stated, are based on recent scientific discoveries I found interesting. See the author notes at the end of each for details.
As with my other books in this series, these stories were written not only to entertain, but to stimulate thought and conversation. I hope that will be the case for you.
