from Author Brock

We're excited to publish an SF tale from Author Daniel Brock in our February 29, 2016 issue. Here's what he has to say about his story "Posthumous":

"For me, ideas come and go so fast I can barely keep up with them, let alone remember how they came about. Most of them begin as small, fickle things, little more than a vague notion of something I think would be cool, that slip away unless I capture them in ink first. Posthumous, on the other hand, was one of those ideas that slipped away and just kept coming back. I’d get excited thinking about it, then lose faith and put it on the backburner. It was a bit of a struggle, but because of this, it is one of the few stories I can say for sure where the idea came from and how it evolved.

At first it was just the title. Posthumous, meaning awarded or occurring after death, always made me think of Grammys awarded after death, so the musician coming back from the dead was always a part of the story. That was the “coolness,” but for the longest I couldn't decide how to make it an actual story. Eventually, I thought the best thing to do was address the two main characters and let them drive the plot. I think for this version, that was the right thing. The inspiration for the characters came from my own music idols. Though the explosion of publicity Michael Jackson’s music received after he died played a big role in the early days of “Posthumous,” Billy Strat and his story were heavily inspired by my newfound love of Alice in Chains and my wish that Layne Staley could still be singing now. His voice alone influenced this story more than anything.

So that, in a Nutshell (ha! :D), is how I came up with “Posthumous.” One more thing, before I go. I submitted this story exactly one week before David Bowie passed away. I worked on it during Lemmy Kilmister’s last days, and was toying with the idea when they found Scott Weiland. Though I didn’t witness any of these men in their prime, the mark they left on music and entertainment has probably influenced me in ways I don't even know. This story isn’t about them, but for some reason I feel it should be, so I’ve dedicated this story to these three men and all the others we’ve lost. It’s the least I can do.

May they continue to Rock in Paradise."

Thanks Daniel!