May I Seat You at the Buffalito Buffet?

My friend Lawrence Schoen invited me to write an introduction for Buffalito Buffet, which is the definitive collection of his "Amazing Conroy" stories. Why? Because I love those stories.

They strike right to the heart of what I feel a good science fiction short story should be: an exploration of a new idea, the juxtaposition of some concepts that have gone previously unjuxtaposed, and last-but-not-least, a fun read. 

I wrote said introduction in early July of 2012, and in the whirlwind that has been the last twenty-one months, totally forgot I'd done it. Over the weekend I got an email from Lawrence announcing the launch of the ebook, and to my inestimable delight my name was on the cover.

Is it silly for me to be giddy about this? About my name on the cover of another author's book? It's almost as if somebody's plans for world domination are beginning to bear fruit, but only almost, because that's not something I'd plan, not when my current job is so much fun.

Anyway, I went back and read the intro, and I won't lie: Howard Tayler of 2012 managed to make Howard Tayler of 2014 excited about going back and re-reading these stories. 

Is that silly? I hope not. 

"An alien, a hypnotist, and an oxygen-excreting omnivore walk into a bar..." -- actual lead-in text from Howard Tayler's introduction to Buffalito Buffet, by Lawrence Schoen