Here is a story I like.

It’s a story I’ve spent quite a bit of time on, over the years. It’s even a story I’ve sold - twice – only to see the magazines that accepted it both shut before the story ever saw the light of day (so if this blog mysteriously goes tits-up in the next few days, perhaps the story is to blame). Its done the rounds of publishers, many of whom have been nice about it but none of whom want to print it. Perhaps they were just being nice. But then again, it’s probably not quite fantastical enough to fit most of the markets I’m trying to sell. Plus it features Nazis, and that seems to be enough to put some publishers off. Which, I suppose, is their perogative.

So, rather than leaving it rotting on my hard drive, unseen, I thought I’d offer it up to you, dear readers, for nothing. Free. Gratis.

I should say that while Marcus is a fictional character, IBM really did supply the Germans technology throughout most of WW2 – through a Swiss subsidiary – and the census data was eventually used to round up undesirables. The story was inspired by a Edwin Black’s fascinating IBM and the Holocaust. I have no idea if Albert Speer knew anything about the IBM Hollerith machines but he could have and the excerpts from Speer’s final address at Nuremburg are his own words, though I’ve juggled the order of the paragraphs for effect.

Feedback would be nice. Otherwise, enjoy.

The full text is after the break, or you can download it in MS Word (be_aware.doc) or pdf versions (be_aware.pdf). Read more »

Posted June 5, 2009 Comments(0)