This small-press hardback is rather more than an anthology of short stories. Rather, it is an exploration by Christopher Priest of his early writing career, from his childhood – not particularly literary – through his gradual realisation that he wanted to be a writer, through early surviving stories, via his first professional sale (to Kyril Bonfigioli for Science Fantasy in 1967), through sales to Michael Moorcock for New Worlds. He finishes with a story entitled The Interrogator, which he submitted to Ted Carnell for New Writings in SF. Carnell rejected it but made constructive suggestions, sufficient for Priest to revise the story and re-submit it in 1968, whereupon it was not only published, but in due course formed the first half of his first novel, Indoctrinaire.
So this book isn’t really about the stories. Rather, it’s a personalised account of the development of a writer over a period of five years, from someone who wanted to write to a living to someone who not only did write for a living, but was able to make some (not a lot, but still some) money from it. Chris Priest was in his late sixties when he assembled these stories, and there ls an element of “grumpy old man” in his commentary, though I got the feeling that this was slightly tongue-in-cheek.
Anyone who has tried writing for money will appreciate this book. Anyone who fancies writing as a career should read it. It probably won’t put them off, but at least they won’t be able to say “No-one ever told me…”
Deep Waters Reading 