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Futurismic has published a new story by Michael Canfield called "Is You Is/Is You Ain't?" They've published some great fiction up until now, but this is truly a cut above. It's the story of a kind-of-hyper-Gary-Coleman, a baby-sized adult actor whose aging is retarded so that he can play the NinjaBaby, a popular infant action star. Satirical and hilarious, this is the best story in Futurismic's publishing history (I've just recommended it to the Science Fiction Writers of America for consideration in next year's Nebula award), and it grabs you right from the first paragraph:
I got my first break as stunt-double for the top goodie on Super Comix Babies. For the third season the producers cast me in a recurring role. Before the series ended its seven-year run, one or two scripts even revolved around my character. You always remember your first job fondly, I guess, but the public remembers me – if at all – for my own series: NinjaBaby. Two films spun-off from it – New York NinjaBaby and NinjaBaby II: Back to the Womb – made good money at the time. Back to the Womb is still considered important for the first use of an in-vitro actor, Tommy Baker, who played me in flashback sequences. Tommy came to a bad end; it’s a tough business. Good friends burned-out early: drugs, depression, suicide. I’m luckier than most. NinjaBaby fans tell me the movies sacrificed the grace notes that made the series a classic. I don’t know. I can tell you that when we produced the original series, we called it shit.Link (Thanks, Jeremy!)
I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.