KRIS ASHTON

Perhaps because it's quite short (not much above 2,000 words) I recall little about the genesis or writing of 'Level Two: Time Trial'. I believe it was written in late 2005, about the time my life as an unpublished author ended. I know I loved the story from the moment I started writing it and my opinion of it never changed. It's spare in a good way, with none of the over-description or heaviness that seems to plague my horror, and its 'life is a computer game' metaphor tickles me. 

 

I'm usually philosophical about rejections - applying a slushie critique got 'Trouble with the Locals' published (see here) - but the readers at the first two markets I tried somehow missed this story's comical aspects. One rejection letter was addressed to 'Ms. Ashton' (perhaps understandable given my unisex name - except my bio was included in the quoted text of the email). That rejection arrived on November 30, 2006 and amid other concerns I kind of forgot about 'Level Two' for a few months. Then in late February 2007 I decided to send it to AtomJack - which I had identified as a likely market back in July 2006. Life intruded on the intended submission, but I finally got around to it on March 16. On March 17, AtomJack editor Adicus Ryan Garton (nice handle!) got the joke and made me one happy author.