Cupcakes

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ODYSEE

Toward the topic:  "Extragalactic Sanctuaries"

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Author's Commentary: "Cupcakes!"

A couple weeks back, I wrote a story called “The Prospectors,” and when I finished I was happy with it, but it was a bit of a sad story. My late brother, a talented songwriter, wrote a song titled “Sad Song,” and one of the lines went: “If you keep writing sad songs, no one’s gonna smile about it.” That got me thinking about sad stories and how authors shouldn’t keep writing sad stories, at least not exclusively. So I got it in mind to follow up that sad story with something decidedly more upbeat, ridiculous, and aspiring to take itself not even remotely seriously at all.

Though I’ve written amusing episodes and the occasional funny line into my fiction every now and again, this is the first time I’ve ever attempted to write a “comedy.” And I put the category in quotes because in my mind it takes a special kind of audacity to write Comedy. I respect the art of writing comedy too much to think that I’ll just try it on one day and think that what comes out will qualify as Comedy. But at the same time, having read and loved Calvino’s Cosmicomics, I know sci-fi can and should (at least occasionally) be fun, funny, and not take itself overly seriously all the time.

For what it’s worth, the outcome here amuses me. I hope it’s at least up to that level for you.

Here’s hoping!

Rowe.