I’m pleased to point out that Ballista issue 7 is now available to pre-order and contains my short story Crunch.
This is Ballista’s final issue and, while I am naturally biased, it would be nice to send them off in style so please buy one. Hell, buy lots.
You can order them here: http://www.flapjackpress.co.uk/page2.htm
Enjoy.
Congratulations, Neil.
Cheers Gareth
Well the flapjack press bods were very quick in delivering my copy of Ballista. It took me about 2 weeks to get round to reading it and that’s exactly what I did this afternoon.
So yes, I like that Dave Tallerman story – it was pretty in the world it described.
And that PMT zombie story was just hilarious – must show that to hubby during my red circle days.
But your story – a whole different matter. It’s made me think. It didn’t feed me all the information and so I had to use my brain. Much like flash fiction “remembering lisa” which I read a month or so ago and have been thinking about since – the UI designer in me wants to discuss the whole challenge of uploads.
So back to Crunch – I had to cross my legs as the daughter was held down. The whole concept of people getting younger as they age is not new (sorry neil!) – it’s been done in Third Rock from the Sun and also I seem to dimly remember a star trek type show having the same theme. However, none took them back to the womb literally. So many questions have been buzzing in my head and for that reason I think it was an excellent piece of fiction. Thank you for treating me as if I have a brain.
@Plummy mummy – thanks for the feedback. If you liked Crunch you might want to check out Time’s Arrow (Martin Amis). I hadn’t read it at the time of writing but was dimly aware of the concept and subsequently read it. It also uses the trope of time running backwards but has a different focus being more about the nature of evil and conscience; where as Crunch is more about life and family.