One of the hazards of being a science fiction writer is the worry that your story will become obsolete--an especial concern is that it will become obsolete even before it is finished. Well, that has happened to me recently.

Some months ago I began a short story about a mercenary character assassin who used internet tools to destroy his targets. Writing and life being what they are, the story was still in the works when, about a week ago now, the brown stuff hit the fan at 10 downing street. The problem, it seems, is that a certain member of the government was putting together a massive smear campaign using fictitious 'information' on members of the opposition. The intent was to distribute the fake information through the internet.

huh. sound familiar?

Instantly my story idea became worthless, as any speculative fiction publisher in the west will assume the idea came from these political events. And even if it didn't, the idea is no longer speculative fiction. Bummer. I rather liked the idea as a story framework. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

EHR

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