A Baen’s Bar Patron Describes My Work

‘nother Mike, one of the long-time patrons of Baen’s Bar, recently suggested some alternatives to the “Slushmaster General” title bestowed upon me by Alethea Kontis, viz.,

• Admiral of the Slush
• Grand Master of the Slushy Barrens
• Explorer Extraordinaire of Slush

In the same message, he presented this “appropriately melodramatic” (his words, not mine) portrayal of the slush reader’s trade:

His steely eyes blazed through his thick goggles as he stared over the mounds and bales of slush, looking for that rough-cut diamond he knew was buried somewhere in the stacks. He knew that it was out there, somewhere, just waiting for him to find it. Despite the storm of distractions, the allure of comfortable working conditions, and all those other temptations trying to pull him away from his true work of rooting through the unending piles of slush, he would persevere until he found it. And when he did, he would turn it over to the readers, those ultimate judges of value, who would decide whether this was a true diamond to be worked by the magic of the editors or just another hunk of glass to be cast aside.

I don’t know about all that, but “Grand Master of the Slushy Barrens” has a nice ring to it ….

by