I wrote
“Mind Games” back in 2006 (according to the date on the earliest version I can
find on my computer). It was my first Foxe story, an attempt to see if I could
transform the action-spy hero I created in my misspent youth (see "Foxe: The origins") into an action-SF hero I could write novels about (See the
first two chapters of Prodigal Prince, and more to come).
How well I
succeeded is anyone’s guess. I did get some decent criticism on the story in a
critique session at Windycon (Jody-Lyn Nye said I write good action scenes) and
I tried to work that feedback into subsequent revisions when I submitted them
to magazines. Magazines that pretty much ignored them. Not that I’m bitter or
anything.
To be honest,
though, I can see why. There’s nothing earth-shatteringly original in “Mind
Games,” nothing that would stand out in a slush pile of wildly creative stories
from 126 other unknowns that came in the same day. But I think the elements
still add up to the kind of action-SF short story I was trying to write: interstellar
intrigue on a shipboard casino, a devious villain, an innocent to be rescued,
and a satisfying amount of violence at the conclusion.
Let me know
what you think.
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