The
Orphan
has no house style, no manifesto, no reliance on theory,
no political agenda, and utterly no interest in 'good writing.'
no political agenda, and utterly no interest in 'good writing.'
Issue 2
M. John Harrison is the award-winning author of eight previous novels and four collections of short stories. Viriconium was short-listed for the Guardian Fiction Prize and Climbers won the Boardman Tasker Award. His most recent novel, Nova Swing, won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2007 and the Philip K Dick Award in 2008.
This is an excerpt of a memoir concerning addiction, AIDS, and insanity. Consistently ignored, its development has been abandoned.
This piece has survived the death of six computers and almost two decades. At one point, the author knew exactly where the story would go and how the mystery would be solved; this is no longer the case. However, the author still holds a place in his heart for the abandoned.
In its original inception, this was nowhere near violent enough. Quoth one Mr. Peter Watts: "Do you have any idea of the hormones involved post-partum? I mean, this should be Thunderdome. With strollers." And there you have the movie pitch.
Originally part of the novel The Moon's Accomplice, this piece had to be cut due to stylistic differences and an overabundance of POV characters. But the author still likes the Sphinx and is happy to have found her a home.
Molly Crabapple is an artist and the founder of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, a 100 city cult devoted to burlesque and drawing.