I mentioned in my previous post that on Friday, I read from my unpublished short story “What Will Come After,” which won’t be out until March 2010 in my zombie collection from PS Publishing. When I give readings, I prefer using stories as yet unpublished, because I figure that gives those who take the trouble to show up for a reading, who I presume are there because they’re already familiar with my work, something guaranteed to be new to them.

Friday night at Readercon’s Meet the Pros(e) party, however, 30 people got to read that story. Or at least the first sentence. That’s because I contributed those opening words to the annual event.

For those who don’t know how Meet the Pros(e) works, each attending professional is asked to provide a sentence from his or her work, and that sentence is then printed on a sheet of Avery mailing labels. All attendees to the party are then given a sheet of wax paper, and set forth to mingle, asking each writer for a label. It’s a great idea, because it gives even the shyest member of the con a reason to walk up to any writer, however imposing, without fear.

Here’s what was printed on my label, the opening sentence of “What Will Come After”:

I am already aware of certain events surrounding my upcoming death — which, if I’m reading the signs correctly, is not that far off — as surely as if they’d already occurred and I am merely remembering them.

I’m afraid I didn’t mingle as much as I should have, getting caught up in too many interesting conversations (as with Eileen Gunn, above) to remember to play the game. But I did collect 17 of them, which I dutifully share with you here:

The thing you don’t know about dreams is the thing Marie teaches me as we follow the ambulance.

Perhaps even now it’s not altogether too late.

Sifting through the radio noise, looking for miraculous candidate signals.

Beating slowly UpRiver at a mere two knots, or eight Blocks per hour, mainly under sails bellying with a warm, maritime perfumed wind, yet also employing two small supplemental engines, these impellers being the latest invention of Roger Kynard & Progeny, Ingeniators, running on a few hundred watts of beamed power from the Daysun, Samuel

Smallhorne, far from the home Slip of number 42 in the Borough of Stagwitz (Blocks 33,011,576 through 33,011,676 of the Linear City) pulled abreast of the Downtown border of the legendary Jungle Blocks of Vayavirunga at approximately ten AM on May the twelfth.

“Git for home, Bruno!”

The future isn’t just one damn thing after another, it’s every damn thing all at the same time.

I’m a regular Danger Mouse in the kitchen.

I dreamt John Clute was extolling the virtues of Little, Big to the Queen of England, who responded by disappearing inside her carapace, only to reappear tiny, vibrant fairy-like at the balcony set into the crown of her head.

He watched them drift through the great black portals of the Chrysler Building, whose shape, he noticed for the first time, was exactly that of coffins stood on end.

Ivory beetles bore through the forests of Khao Yai even a cibiscosis sugars, blister rust, and fa’gan fringe bore through the vegetables and huddles humanity of Krung Thep.

Your editor is an assassin; it’s not as rare as you think.

I don’t care who the Willow weeps for or where the Squirrel King hides his nuts.

“Watch it, Sam, Here comes your very own Kilgore Trout.”

Now there was not a waiter-whore in sight, and a kitchen squatted on the stage where living musicians and dancers must once have performed.

“It isn’t romantic to be ravished beside a county !ane?” [sic]

It has taken me all my life to learn that time machines do not exist.

Since we were babies we knew about Kari Kari.

I can only remember the sources for a few of these. Those two massive blocks of text are from Paul Di Filippo, who couldn’t contain himself on a single Avery label. The John Clute dream was from Ron Drummond. Danger Mouse came from David Shaw. As for the others, it will be up to someone else to identify them.

And I hope that someone out there has collected a complete set, and will share it with us elsewhere!