Story: TO RECEIVE IS BETTER
Number 10 in the online collection
Welcome again to the online collection, as announced here. The tenth story is TO RECEIVE IS BETTER. Links to download are below, along with basic instructions.
This story has a bit of history. I woke one morning with a bitingly clear memory of a dream — or a moment from a dream. I — or the point of view — had been in a dark tunnel, with blue light. Indistinct figures were lurching about in the gloom. That’s it. But it rapidly became an idea for a short story about cloning, which I wrote in a day — and that’s the story linked here.
As soon as I’d finished writing it, however, I knew the idea had a lot more legs… and it became the basis for my second novel, SPARES. That was a bastard to write — second novels generally are — but was eventually completed just in time for it to be with my publishers as the news of Dolly, the first cloned mammal, hit the world. My timing is very, very rarely this good. As a result the book was optioned for film by the then-new Spielberg production entity DreamWorks SKG. And yeah, that was as exciting as it sounds.
The story of how (and why) it failed to become a movie will be known to some, so I won’t rehash it here. And it doesn’t matter. SPARES went on to be translated into over a dozen languages around the world and the option was enough for us to put money down on our first house. All because of a random dream that I happened to bother to turn into a story. And this is why the writer’s life can sometimes feel like a random crapshoot in which you have very little control of your career lows, or highs.
As noted, this story and subsequent (and previous) ones in an initial bi-weekly run of a dozen are available as a benefit to paid subscribers only. That’s $5/month for two stories — or even less on an annual sub — for the next six months.
Remember also that if you refer friends to this Substack and they subscribe (including on the free version) you can earn paid benefits for yourself…
And further recall that you can upgrade to monthly paid membership at any time, and unsubscribe again with a single click... and that discounted rates are available for people who refer this site to friends.
I hope you enjoy the story!
Links
Apple Books-tailored ePub:
Generic ePub for other readers and Kindle:
PDF:
Instructions
If you click on the links above, you will be offered the opportunity to download the file to your phone, tablet or desktop. You then need to find where your device has saved the file (on an iPhone or iPad, go to the Files app — where it should be the last file created) and either click or double-click on it.
That’s how it works in the iOS and MacOS universe, anyway. I assume it’s similar under other OS but if someone has concise instructions on how it might work on an Android phone, please let me know and I’ll put it up for future reference. Failing that we’ll figure it out in the comments section.
❗Please also remember that these stories are a benefit for subscribers, and should not be shared around — especially not uploaded to copyright-thieving Web sites.
If you decide you need a ton more stories, right now, then the table-breaking The Best of Michael Marshall Smith collection is available from Subterranean Press.
If you encounter any problems either downloading or reading, please let me know.
Spares was my “gateway drug” to your writing. They say never to judge a book by the cover but I couldn’t resist. The neon orange paperback with the tiny, shiny embossed black hands on the front drew me in!
I’ve never read this version though - thank you for sharing it!
Oh good GRIEF this is chilling! It’s going to haunt me. Love the story behind the story, too.