Brenda Cannon Kalt

By all rights Brenda Kalt should be writing Southern gothic--stories about decayed gentility in which lives twine around each other like vines in a thicket, a la Tennessee Williams. She doesn't. She left her upbringing in the Deep South and went north to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There she met many remarkable people, married a Yankee, and commenced to grow into a wider world. She's had a lot of fun in the wider world and has made her living in the software field--first as a technical writer, later as a programmer and tester. She's still having fun. In her thirties Brenda realized she might be able to write fiction. Science fiction. Hard science fiction. Somewhat later she realized she might have a knack for flash. She does, but the same amount of angst is required for flash fiction as for longer works. The angst per word goes up, so to speak. With much sweat and toil (no blood or tears yet) Brenda produced "Cradle Song." She hopes you enjoy it.