One of the more enjoyable things I’ve been doing during this pandemic is listening to podcasts and audiobooks when I’m out walking the dog. Currently, I’m listening to Ted Chiang’s collection of stories, Exhalation, after recently finishing his first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others.
While I own a copy of Stories of Your Life, I don’t yet have a printed version of Exhalation. Apparently, there is a story in the collection that is no included in the audiobook. That story, Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom, has been published to Medium by Chiang.
As of this writing, I haven’t finished reading the story. However, the premise is there are devices that allow people to talk to an alternate universe version of themselves. I find this concept enchanting and have used it myself in a story that will be included in Captured Ghosts called “And the Wind Cries Mary.”
Which, of course, reminds me that I really need to work on my collection of short stories and essays.
