“And don’t try to follow me or I’ll kill this book!”
So began my story in the 1989 issue of Beyond. “Stealing Alice” takes place during a future in which the written word is a thing of the past, and books are people who, rather than being read, tell their tales. But as with any technology, not everyone gets to benefit, and so a man who can’t afford to legitimately take out a book instead kidnaps his daughter’s favorite story.
“Stealing Alice” was competently plotted and written, but as I look back on it now, I can see that it was little more than that. It did not stretch my talents, and it did not sing, and in the stories that were to come I was hoping to do both.