When Leslie What came up to Portland to read in the CALYX reading a few months back, she proposed that we collaborate on a story for the themed anthology Is Anybody Out There?, edited by Nick Gevers and Marty Halpern. I’d never co-written a story or written a story to fit a theme, but I am adventurous (when adventure doesn’t involve danger or leaving my house) so I said yes.

We just found out our story was accepted and will be published in the anthology! Is Anybody Out There? is due out in June, 2010 from Daw Books. Here are the details about the theme and the creation of the anthology from Marty Halpern.

Our story is called “Rare Earth” and one early reader calls it “PortlandTASTIC.” I’m really proud of our work, and excited to see it in bookstores next summer!

And yes, there was a fortune cookie for this too, but my camera is out of batteries.