Junkie

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Before you seize an opportunity, you have to recognize it...

Illustration by Laurie Harden.

This story was published in the July/August issue of Analog magazine. The hero of our story: interplanetary garbage man Matty Gurkow.

Willies

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Evolutionary adaptations don't always perform in expected ways.

 Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

The difference between "damage" and "repair" depends on whom you ask...

This was my fifth publication in Analog magazine, with a delightful illustration by Randy Asplund-Faith whom I met at Worldcon in Orlando FL, as I recall. My husband Jeff and I are not what you call party animals. We went to the SFWA suite intending to spend a few minutes then bow out. Instead, we met Randy and his wife, David Gerrold and Kim Mohan, got into a series of deep discussions and left when the hotel staff chased us out at 5 AM.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

"It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding tostrive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.."—Gleanings from the Writings ofBahá’u’lláh, p. 250

Bert Wells is a writer with a mission and a message ... until he meets a mysterious stranger with a seemingly simple request...

THE DEVIL HIS DUEwas originally published in Amazing Stories with illustration by John Fraze. It is reprinted in I LOVED THY CREATION, acollection of my short fiction. (You'll see how the above quote applies when you read the story.)

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

  There are things that people would rather not know—but is knowledge ever all bad?

Any Mother's Son was originally published in the May 2000 issue of Analog Science Fiction and is another in series of loosely related time travel stories.

Chronologically, it takes place some years after Heroes and continues the dialogue about the effects of present actions on future events. As one character notes, “You can only edit the present.” The story also delves into the question of how much responsibility one soul has for another.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

A tale of murder most foul...

Okay, gang — this is fresh fiction. Never published anywhere. It is the result of something my husband said to me during an episode of Murder She Wrote. I hope you like it!

P.S. My apologies to Joe Straczynski.

Featured on AnthologyBuilder.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

a peculiar little romance...

This is part of a “plaited” trilogy of stories collectively entitled Silver Lining. All three stories are written around the same aphorism: Be careful what you ask for -- you might get it. Not all of the stories are in the same genre... exactly. This is sort of a literary Easter Egg hunt. See if you can spot the connected stories as they are published on Book View Café.

This story was first published in Lover’s Knot.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Be careful what you ask for ... you may get it.

This story, based on the above aphorism, chronicles the granted wish of a couple of musicians. Parts of the story are autobiographical. Which ones? If you ask, I'll tell you. This story, like “Silver Lining” was published in Interzone magazine.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

The operative aphorism is: Be careful what you ask for, you might get it...

This is the third “panel” of a triptych of stories all written around the above aphorism. Like “Beggars Might Ride,” “Silver Lining” appeared in Interzone magazine.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

This story has a peculiar history. My agent, unknown to me, first offered it to Penthouse Publications. My first intimation of this was when I got a note from the editor of that publication telling me that he thought the story was smart and savvy and sophisticated and that he really wanted to publish it, but I'd have to cut a thousand words or so and put the now implicit sex "above the sheets." (In other words, cut story to add "steam.")  "No, fargin' way," I replied. If I'd wanted the sex above the sheets that's where I woulda put it. The story was published in Analog Science Fiction magazine. Then Cecilia Tan bought it for her anthology Sex Crime, and while she offered me the option to elevate the sexual content she added, "But I understand if you think that would change the focus of the story." (Cecilia, I love you.)

Epilogue: I got a piece of fan mail from the story's appearance in Analog. "I'm still thinking about it three weeks later," the reader said. "It was erotic in a wholesome sort of way."

Been my motto ever since.

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

This story was my second sale to Analog magazine. Stan almost didn't buy it because he thought it was a spoof -- I'd gotten the length of my eclipse wrong. Important safety tip: don't accept facts about astronomy from an anthropology major.

Writing and publishing Eclipse was like walking onstage, telling a joke and getting a good laugh. I was hooked on writing humorous SF.  

Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Reedy Watson decided at an early age that he would outrun Death. He was successful... for a time.

"... strange and compelling and thoughtful." -  Mervi's Book reviews

This story originally appeared in Interzone magazine and is featured in I Loved Thy Creation, a collection of my short fiction from Juxta Publishing. (Which you can order from Powell’s, by the way.) It was on the Locus Recommended Reading List.