"Mars-side," a new short story by C.B. Calsing

Writer, editor and teacher C.B. Calsing recently had her new short story “Mars-side” (2009) published online at Crossed Genres, “the magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy with a twist.” Set in the decaying mining colony of Coronae Scopulus on a bleak red planet, the story revolves around a young Marsbred seamstress named Brig and her desire to live Earthside. Here are the opening lines:

Brig squinted down at the needle, trying to get the thread through the hole.

“How long, daya think?” Hets asked.

Brig shook her head.

Dark. Everything was always dark. Red dust on the outside of the dome, a local decade’s worth of cigarette smoke from the inside. But now, well, no more cigarettes, sure enough. Some real nicotine fiends had even licked the tar stains off the dome walls on the edge of the city; nothing else in the dome had ever created smoke. But that happened years ago ...

This is an interesting story, worth reading. For some reason, it reminded me of the old U2 song "Red Hill Mining Town." Bleak.

C.B. Calsing is a native of California and started writing science fiction in high school. She just earned her MFA in creative writing from the University of New Orleans. She also teaches middle school English and edits for a prominent e-book publisher.

Thanks to Dave Tackett of the blog QuasarDragon for the link!