Mari Mitchell writes about...

Fun with Bewildering Stories

Dear Mr Webb,

When I first saw “Special Challenge 251” I thought I would pop in and see what this was all about. (Hey, I like a challenge.) What I thought I would find was a story challenge (you know, write a story about flying cabbages... ), but I found something altogether different.

I think it is wonderful that you challenge your readers; you invite them to participate even more than just clicking and reading words.

Now I understand (more or less) how the site works. Yes, each site is a bit of a challenge and takes a little time for me to figure what is where and why.

I do read a fair amount of BwS now. I try and get a story a day in or so. It occurs to me know that it is a tad like those old pulps, my father read as a kid. He was always a closeted Sf fan.

It does my ego good, I have never found a story I thought of as lackluster. Ergo, mine may have the same spark. I pray that these sparks will turn into a blaze someday.

Thank you for letting me share in your light and allowing me to warm my hands for awhile.

Mari Mitchell

Thanks for the kind words, Mari; much appreciated! We’re looking forward to your first story for us, “Fur and Moonlight,” currently scheduled for issue 259.

Rachel Parsons has also said that Bewildering Stories reminds her of the old pulp science fiction magazines. Remembering how I used to look forward to the next issue of Astounding, when I was a kid, I take a certain fond pride in the compliment.

I’ll just add, for the benefit of all new readers, that I hope the Bewildering Stories site isn’t too hard to navigate. You can get to almost anywhere from anywhere else in one or two clicks. And that’s saying a lot, because it’s a very big website; the trick is to know what’s where, and that takes a little exploring.

As I always say, probably the best place to start is with the Quarterly Reviews and the old semi-annual Retrospectives. And when you find authors you like, you can find their bibliographies easily by just clicking on the bio link in the copyright line or by clicking on “Biographies & Bibliographies” or the “Authors, Titles, Genres” index in the menu bar.

Happy exploring!

Don