I had the pleasure of hearing Rob Callahan read this story as part of his 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival show. That actually complicated editing, as the rhythms of spoken stories don’t always mesh with written language rules. I spent a lot of my editing time telling myself, “I don’t care if that’s not how he read it; put in the damned comma already.”

Michael’s thoughts on the story here.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

If you dislike adorable, precocious children in fiction as much as I do, you will enjoy this story as much as I did. I can’t say much more without giving away a lot; suffice it to say that telecommuting and nanotechnology do not mix, and, if you have children, you will never look at them the same way. This story contains a prime example of “Editors make mistakes, too”: witness the comma I put in and then took out three times as I read on in the sentence and realized it didn’t say what I thought it did.

Michael Merriam muses on the scariness of “Play Time” here.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

Conrad! Stop making the copy editor laugh! She will snort tea on her computer screen, and your story will be full of the really weird editing marks. She will also have to try to explain her laughter to her wife, and “giant, poisonous, carnivorous, exploding spider-leeches” doesn’t sound nearly as funny as it is. Duh.

Michael battles the spiders here.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

Sometimes when I’m editing, I miss the story-forest for the copy-trees, as it were. When I finished my first editing pass-through of “The Haunting”, I had to stop and read through it again, for the story, which starts out funny in a “magical realism in modern America” way and ends up taking my breath away with unexpected reality. Hands down, my favorite story in the anthology. It is evocative, heartbreaking, and, yes, haunting.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

I am a sucker for stories where humans are ever so proud of our technology–and it comes around to bite us in the ass. I said “Uh-oh” a lot while editing “Ratatosk”, because I could see where the story was headed, and while I liked that destination a lot, I knew the protagonist wouldn’t.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

Horror is an unkind genre to copy editors. We’re so busy keeping our eyes on spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other fiddly details that we miss the slow establishment of foreboding that is the genre’s forte. When I first read “Trespassers”, the climax seemed to come from left field. On a second pass-through, I noted subtle use of words like “snaking”, “furtively”, and “feral”, quietly building a foundation of pervasive dread.

Michael muses on “Trespassers” at his livejournal.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

Broken Up, Jo Robson. “Broken Up” is short and (bitter)sweet. It’s both parties’ account of a break-up (not the one you’re thinking of) that gives us well-developed characters, emotional resonance, and interesting technology–in 750 words. Barely felt like I earned my editorial keep with this one, since it was so short, and I didn’t really have much to say beyond, “Hey, cool.”

Michael’s thoughts on “Broken Up” here.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

“Unbelieving Jaxx” puts the punk in steampunk (and castlepunk and a few other ‘punks, besides). There’s sex, drugs, violence, and Templars. I went to war with commas on this one, and I think I came out victorious.

Michael’s thoughts on this story get twisty.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

Since I edited alphabetically by author, this was my first story, and it set the bar delightfully high. The sheer mass of naked longing in “The Starlite” made me shiver. I experienced desperate nostalgia for things I didn’t know I missed. A story best read with your nearest and dearest close at hand; you don’t want to be alone when this shit starts going down.

Michael’s view of “The Starlite” (and Interesting Facts About Joel Arnold) can be found here,

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.

I experienced computer difficulties while working on “Siren”, so I can tell you a lot about the first page and a half. And what I can tell you is that Wittman does a terrific job of plunking his characters into a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t situation and having them react in believable and slightly terrifying ways. I also appreciate his subtle painting of the Dr. Aimme-Ben dynamic.

“Siren” pushes Michael Merriam’s buttons at his livejournal.

Sky-Tinted Waters is available via Sam’s Dot Publishing.