But... Watching Steven Barnes Taught Me To

Consider The True Picture. Think Of Myriads Of Tiny Bubbles, Very Sparsely Scattered, Rising Through A Vast Black Sea. We Rule Some Of The Bubbles. Of The Waters We Know Nothing.

The Human Species Really Could Have Faced Global Thermonuclear War. During Seventy Years Of Cold War We Grew Used To It.

The Brightest Minds In Our Field Have Been Trying To Find A Definition Of Science Fiction For These Past Seventy Years. The Short Answer Is, Science Fiction Stories Are Given As Possible, Not Necessarily Here And Now, But Somewhere, Sometime.

Species Evolve To Meet The Environment. An Intelligent Species Changes The Environment To Suit Itself. As Soon As A Species Becomes Intelligent, It Should Stop Evolving.

The Reader Has Certain Rights. He Bought Your Story. Think Of This As An Implicit Contract. He's Entitled To Be Entertained, Instructed, Amused; Maybe All Three. If He Quits In The Middle, Or Puts The Book Down Feeling His Time Has Been Wasted, You're In Violation.