Occasionally, editorial correspondence becomes a Bewildering Story all its own.
Dear Mr. Bora,
[Deep Bora] I would request you not to publish “Mars Accelerates,” as it has been booked for publishing in the month of September.
[Don W.] Reservations noted. Accordingly, we will do nothing with either “Pluto” or “Mars” pending further word from you.
[Deep Bora] In this case, I shall be glad to go into minute details and explain the meaning of the stories.
[Don W.] Thank you for your kind offer to explain the stories. However, the editorial policy of Bewildering Stories holds that all writing must explain itself. That does not mean that the implicit explanation need be comprehensible: Bewildering Stories welcomes surrealistic literature.
Paradoxically, perhaps, Bewildering Stories also welcomes literary criticism, including the kind you propose. We may be very interested in publishing your explanation of either “Pluto” or “Mars” or both without having published the stories in question.
In fact, the stories themselves need not even exist. We have already published reviews of imaginary films, and our guidelines (under “Submissions” in the menu on the home page) suggest several other ideas for secondary literature where a primary source is non-existent.
[Deep Bora] Would you be in a position to accept another story written by me, and based upon science fiction?
[Don W.] By all means, we would be happy to receive it.
[Deep Bora] I shall explain the theme of the story in detail prior to sending the story. I am sure that once the subject matter is clear to you, you will consider the editing matter a child’s play.
[Don W.] As indicated above, we will consider your explanation of the theme of the story as a separate submission; that is, as a “story” in its own right.
You may object that, hypothetically, we might be in a position of asking you to let us publish the explanation when we do not publish the story itself. We would reply that we do not consider that an objection and, in fact, see no contradiction. Of course we would hope to be able to publish both.
[Deep Bora] You see, one cannot achieve total peace of mind and body unless one knows how.
[Don W.] While we at Bewildering Stories are always open to enlightenment, we are nonetheless prudent. We would prefer to acquire first a general idea of what this “total peace of mind and body” might consist of.
[Deep Bora] Again, one cannot decipher the origin and basis of astrology unless one knows the details.
[Don W.] The history of astrology is no doubt fascinating. Speaking as a co-editor of Bewildering Stories, I can say that we might like to publish a factual article on the subject.
However, I have my doubts: such literature is already plentiful on the Internet, and there seems to be no point in repeating it. At best, I think, you might provide a little historical information to supplement or correct what is already known. You may consider that to be more trouble than it is worth.
[Deep Bora] And astrology — let me assure you of this fact — governs the lives of almost 75% of the literate and educated population of our world! We seek such books and now the Internet for a daily forecast of events and perhaps, the future. Our Future.
[Don W.] Bewildering Stories would be intrigued, I think, by astrology seen from the point of view of space aliens. For example, inhabitants of the Moon might well develop an astrology based not on signs of the zodiac but on phases of the Earth and the various geographical and atmospheric features that they would see. For example, they might see the continent of Asia as embodying tradition, solemnity and grandeur, while the Americas might represent energy, humor and change.
Over the eons, factions would arise among the Moon astrologers as volcanoes, ice ages and continental drift changed the face of the Earth. Certain promising interpretations would be deemed heretical — to the great sorrow of all — as the population centers professing them are wiped out by random asteroid impacts.
Meanwhile, in the nations on the Far side of the Moon, an entirely different astrology would arise. It would be completely ignorant of an Earth forever invisible. It would be based on the Sun, planets (except for Earth) and stars but use a super-Ptolemaic model of the Solar System that requires for its predictions a mathematics far in advance of that used on the Near side of the Moon and even on Earth.
The advanced mathematics leads to the rise of a new faction favoring a heliocentric model of the Solar System, which logically implies the existence of a primary planet around which the Moon revolves. A war threatens to break out between the Super-Ptolemaists and the Heliocentric Primarists when, suddenly, an explorer from the hitherto unsuspected Near Side appears...
In conclusion, Mr. Bora, I consider this correspondence a “Bewildering Story” in itself. May we have your permission to publish this letter as a factual item or in our “Letters” department? We will alter your name if you so request, but I don’t see the necessity.
Regards,
Don Webb
for Bewildering Stories
Copyright © 2003 by Bewildering Stories