KRIS ASHTON

I was crossing the road on the way back from lunch one day and passed an extremely attractive girl heading in the other direction. That should be illegal, I thought – the sort of quip my friends and I might have exchanged on such an occasion. But as I continued on, I began to wonder: What if being attractive really was illegal? What would a woman go through to preserve her beauty?

 

Before I sent it off, I knew ‘The Beauty Without’ was a confronting story, and one reader – I’m guessing a woman – rejected it with the comment, “The last line put me off completely.” Rather than put me off, however, this remark just gave me greater faith in the story. If it could provoke that sort of reaction, I thought, it deserved to be published. When SciFantastic editor Sarah Dobbs accepted it in November 2005, it was a small ray of happiness in one of the darkest years of my life, and I will always be grateful for her open mind, courage and insight.