The Underwater Ballroom Society

Начало книги

As science fiction and fantasy writers, the power of ‘what if’ is our stock in trade. But ‘what if’ means nothing if it’s not followed with ‘yes.’

It was years ago that I first heard the tragic (and quite Gothic) story of the underwater ballroom at Witley Park. The tale of Whitaker Wright and his fraudulent investment schemes in 1890s London is surely worth a novel in and of itself, but the estate he built (and abandoned) at Witley Park with its underwater ballroom has captured many imaginations. I had saved files and images of it, knowing I wanted to write a story about it someday, unsure quite how I would do it justice.

Then, one day I saw my dear friend Stephanie Burgis talking about it on Twitter.

“Wouldn’t it be great if…?”

“What if…?”

We asked each other what if we edited an anthology in which each story featured an underwater ballroom, but then we took the crucial step of saying yes to the adventure before us. Immediately, other authors who saw the conversation wanted into the ballroom, and thus The Underwater Ballroom Society was born. We built it, and they came.

Читать дальше →