Science Fiction Short Story Review: "Acres of Perhaps" by Will Ludwigsen

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In the 60s, the (fictional) Acres of Perhaps show ran late at night, delving into science fiction and sometimes magic. Narrator Barry Weyrich, the guy who once wrote about spacemen in bubble helmets, put commas in everyone else’s work, and never had writer’s block hates the conventions where he “bloviates” about how hard it was to work with Claude Akins or how they built the spaceships. He hasn’t written anything since Tony died and now he’s writing about David Findlay—who wasn’t even David Findlay, as it turned out. This story unravels, perhaps like an episode of Acres of Perhaps. David Findlay, the imaginative writer behind many of the best and most memorable episodes of the show, is keeping a secret. When that secret is found out, Weyrich uses it as leverage against him. He resents the attention David receives for his writing. The atmosphere of the story is nevertheless nostalgic, dreamlike. “Do you remember this episode?” Weyrich asked the reader on more than one occasion as if the fictional Acres of Perhaps were a common shared experience. Weyrich doesn’t seek to excuse what he did so long ago. He’s paid a price. But he’s looking for a little bit of the magic that Findlay seemed imbued with. Is it real? What is it? Does it matter? Normally, stories about writers and writing annoy me. They often take themselves soooo seriously. This one didn’t. It was more about people who write. I liked it. I have been unable to find this story in an online version. _____ Title: “Acres of Perhaps” Author: Will Ludwigsen Published in: The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2016 First Published: Asimov’s July 2015