Only a few days until Interzone mails their Jason Sanford special issue. Last week I previewed two of my stories in the issue—"Peacemaker, Peacemaker, Little Bo Peep" and "Memoria." Now comes my last tale: "Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime."

Set several decades after the collapse of our monetary economy, the story focuses on Millisent Ka, a talented young woman born in a neo-feudal musical fiefdom. Without giving away too many spoilers, let me simply say the plot revolves around the new payment system which took the place of money. But as with all attempts to improve the world, this new economic system didn't turn out as people intended. So it's up to Milli to create some new world disorder.

Of all my characters in this issue of Interzone, "Millisent Ka Plays in Realtime" features my favorite. I flat out loved writing about Milli and I wouldn't be surprised if readers also relate to her. In addition, this story is my comment about the recent near-collapse of our financial system. This doesn't mean I was deliberately writing a commentary about economics, but it was on my mind. For more about authors and their ideas, read what I said during the WFC panel on that subject.

Above is the story's spread from Interzone 231. The surreal art is by Dave Senecal, who has created many delightfully mind-twisting illustrations for genre publications.

This issue of Interzone will be mailed to subscribers on Thursday. And don't forget if you subscribe to Interzone you can receive this issue for free.