Day: May 5, 2007

I’ve been reading Under Cover of Darkness a short story anthology. As I’ve been reading I’ve paid special attention to the author bios that accompany each story. I’m fairly certain that these bios are written by the authors themselves although they are all in third person. Most of the bios read like resumes as if the writer is trying to demonstrate to me their writing qualifications. Other bios read like Oscar acceptance speeches, full to the brim with thanks for specific people. But the bios that impressed me were uniformly short. Larry Niven has a story in this particular anthology. His bio simply reads “Larry Niven has written science fiction and fantasy at every length, and weirder stuff, too. He lives with his wife of thirty-six years, Marilyn, in Chatsworth, California, the home of the winds.” Larry Niven has nothing to prove to anyone and it shows in his bio. If he tried to write his bio like a resume, it would have been longer than his story.

If/when I get to write my bio for an anthology. I’m going to keep it short.