Shifted (ePub)

Even in elementary school, Colin D. Jones expressed a goal of someday writing science fiction. Despite showing a strong aptitude in writing, his teachers were generally less than supportive. "They told me there was no future in that," Jones says. "The mantra they chanted was that writing and art were fine things, but one couldn't expect to make a living at it. To put food on the table, I'd need a 'real job'."

Undaunted, Jones talked the school secretary into letting him use the mimeograph machine, which he used to produce a weekly student newspaper. "I was drawing cartoons, printing lists of jokes, and writing stories. I had a tendency toward subversion, though, and they finally barred me from going anywhere near office equipment."

In high school, Jones says, he decided to put his creative talents to use someday as an engineer. "Mathematics intrigued me. At the time, the U.S. space program was still booming, and my thinking was something like, 'Why write science fiction when I can live it?' "

But in college, Jones was drawn back to writing. "I had an English instructor who was the faculty advisor for the college paper. I was writing essays about space technology and making straight A's, and he asked if I'd like to have a couple of my essays published. It didn't take me long to switch majors, get out of engineering, and get back to playing with the language."

After college, Jones married and did some freelance work, writing articles on aerospace technology for mass-market publications such as the now-defunct magazine, Future. "I supplemented my income from writing by working as everything from a home insulator to a short-order cook at a steakhouse. Eventually, I wound up as the assistant manager of a shoe store and the boss, seeing my obvious lack of enthusiasm, fired me."

Jones decided to enlist for service with the U.S. Army. Initially, he signed on to do radio repair work since military journalism slots were scarce. Two months into his tour, one of

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