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Afterword to
"They Came From Ooter's Place"

Copyright © 1999 by Karl El-Koura

This is the afterword that appeared in The Annual Best of SpaceWays Weekly 1998 (March 1999).

To begin with: I love this story.

It was the first thing of mine to be paid for and published. Not only that, but it was bought by the first editor I sent it to; it therefore doesn't have a hint of whatever taint—if only in the writer's mind—rejection might leave on a story.

It was also the single smoothest writing experience I've ever had, once I realized what it was about. The story is admittedly rather short, but shorter stories are sometimes the hardest to pull off—this one, and maybe I shouldn't admit this, was an absolute breeze. I've written stories that killed me, that drained me, that made me want to throw my computer out the window and myself after it; but Ooter's was pure fun.

All of which is icing. Here's the cake:

This story reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of how narrow my field of vision was (for better or worse); of how clear-cut my decisions were (ditto); of how innocent and delightfully simple the world seemed to be (ditto again).

Much of the feedback I've received on Ooter's leads me to believe that most people think it's a funny story. Maybe you did, too. I certainly intended it to be, when I wrote it. But now, re-reading it, I find the story depressing as hell. This little kid has lost his best friend and doesn't even know the real reason why. And the worst thing is that, one day, he's going to figure it out.

Karl El-Koura
February 1999

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