Nine Science Fiction Stories — Gerald M. Weinberg

First off, I'm a storyteller. I always have been since my father encouraged four-year-old me to make up stories from words he found in his nightly newspaper. Secondly, I've written hundreds of stories and told even more. But thirdly, I'm not much of a short-story writer. Quite frankly, I'm rather long-winded, so my stories usually take a long time to relate. So how come I'm releasing a collection, a book, of my short stories? Like most people, I'm many things: husband, father, grandfather, consultant, stone-egg collector, hiker, dog trainer, teacher, and very much a writer. Both fiction and non-fiction. I like to combine some of my persona to obtain synergy among them. For instance, I love to collect an egg each time I'm traveling on one of my consulting gigs. Or, I enjoy relating a story or two when I'm on hiking in the New Mexico mountains. In the same way, I write stories that support my teaching and my non-fiction writing–but also, to promote my longer fiction, my novels. This collection demonstrates another of those synergies: the relationships between my short-fiction and my long fiction, especially my science fiction. So, if you're interested in that synergy, read on. Or, even if you're just interested in some short science fiction stories, read on anyway. You might learn something, but in any case, I'm quite confident you'll enjoy yourself.   Table of Contents Introduction Story 1. The Fixer Author’s Note Story 2. How I Learned to Solve Problems Author’s Note: Story 3. The Moon is a Harsh Pig Author’s Note: Story 4. Bi-Quinary Search Author’s Note: Story 5. Opera Fin Author’s Note Story 6. Pure Health Author’s Note Story 7. Cheating Author’s Note Story 8. The Blind Warrior Author’s Note Story 9. Jigglers Author’s Note ADDITIONAL READING