J.R. Johnson

One thing about unfinished or trunked speculative fiction stories is that sometimes, they come true.

My work covers a lot of territory, including near-future science fiction. The problem with that is the ever-evolving definition of “near.” 

With today’s innovation landscape, it often doesn’t take very long for a speculative future to become an everyday present. I ran across a story draft from six or seven years ago, and realized that the subject was no longer fiction.

Now it’s just life.

What’s the lesson? In this case, I trunked the story because it wasn’t quite working, but in general? Focus on finishing, and submit to markets with short turnaround times.

Because the future can be closer than you think.

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