Today’s links Justin C Key’s “The World Wasn’t Ready For You”: Black horror that cuts with a surgical scalpel. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018, 2022 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Justin C Key’s “The World Wasn’t Ready For You” (permalink) The World Wasn’t Ready For You is Justin C Key’s first book. It’s a short story collection, from a major publisher. This is basically unheard of. Big publishers rarely publish collections, and when they do, it’s almost always after a string of extremely successful novels: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-world-wasnt-ready-for-you-justin-c-key?variant=41016598036514 Yes, there are exceptions. Ted Chiang. Kelly Link. And now, Justin C Key. To be in such company is, as they say, a big fucking deal. I can’t say I’m surprised. Key was my student at the Clarion West writing workshop – a year full of standout writers among whom Key was still a standout. I was immensely impressed with his work then, and when I found out that he was also an MD and a father, a young man juggling an unimaginably intense work and family schedule and still producing this polished, scary, precise work, I knew he could have great things ahead of him. But to be honest, I wasn’t sure he would write. Key was so obviously brilliant and competent, and had such an important dayjob, that I could easily have imagined him deciding that making up stories was fun, but that it was not nearly…Pluralistic: Justin C Key's "The World Wasn't Ready For You" (19 Sep 2023)