Deal Me In Catch-Up Post

Still working my way steadily through the short stories for Jay's Deal Me in Challenge--52 short stories in 52 weeks based on shuffling and drawing a new card every week--although you wouldn't know it by my posts recently. I'd like to blame it on being sick for a whole week with strep throat--but that doesn't explain the other weeks that I haven't done. So....here are the stories I've read that will get me back on track:

Week 26--I drew the Queen of Clubs which gave me "10 [to the 16th Power] to 1" by James Patrick Kelly [from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.]. This interesting time traveler story gives a different take on someone going back in time to the 1960s to try and change history. Most people focus on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. But Mr. Cross has a different objective in mind when he lands in the backyard of a young boy who loves science fiction stories...and is more likely to believe in a man from the future than most. Excellent story! [And--I found an actual "Kennedy" playing card for my image! below]

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Week 27--I drew the Six of Hearts which gave me "The Dancing Detective" by Cornell Woolrich [from Murder by Experts by Ellery Queen, ed.] (a story I now remember reading some time in the past). In this, Ginger, a dance hall girl, loses her best friend when a killer makes a habit of killing girls from the dancing halls. Nick, the policeman on the case, takes a fancy to Ginger and when the killer sets his sights on Ginger, she has to hope that Nick will get the messages and clues she's left behind--before she becomes another "Poor Butterfly" in the killer's collection.

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Week 28--I drew the Six of Spades which gave me "Written in Blood" by Chris Lawson [from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.]  Written before 9/11, the story focuses on Muslims and the fear and resistance people of their faith face. A man discovers a way to write the Qur'an in the blood (DNA) of the faithful, but a believing man of science fears what use the secrets of that DNA might be put and makes his daughter (a budding young scientist herself) promise to find the key to the DNA...and a way to protect Muslims from their very faith being used to kill them.

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Week 29 [this week!]--I drew the Five of Diamonds which brings me to "The Sky-Green Blues" by Tanith Lee [from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.]. A strange story about Frances, a journalist on an alien world, who wants to complete an interview with an elderly writer before invaders destroy everything. She and the writer's servant escape the enemy invasion...only to learn that that the story Frances has been recording may be a different kind of story all together.

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