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I NEVER PLANNED to write a sequel to Hidden Talents. Yet, somehow, I ended up writing two ofthem. Let me explain. For a long time, I resisted writing a sequel. I felt I had told Martin’s story, andthere was nothing left to say about him. But readers kept asking when I was going to write a sequel.Everyone had a favorite character, and wanted to know what happened to him after Edgeview.Eventually, I decided to give it a try. I wrote a book about Martin’s first year in high school. It hadsome great scenes. There was a lot of humor, along with some wonderful characters. But the book, asa whole, just didn’t work.There were various problems with it. Perhaps the greatest problem was that I was worried itwouldn’t be as good as the original. I was afraid I’d disappoint my readers, and far too aware thatHidden Talents had earned a place on a lot of recommended-reading lists. I felt as if I had a legion ofcritics looking over my shoulder. This is not a productive situation.The clock was ticking. The book was scheduled for 2004. But that window came and went. Thefolks at Tor were wonderfully patient, but I felt I was letting them down. In November of 2004, I hada long talk with my new editor, Susan Chang, who’d been a delight to work with on my storycollection, Invasion of the Road Weenies. Inspired by this, and confident that Susan wouldn’t let medig too deep a hole for myself without tossing me some sort of ladder, I decided that the best solutionmight be to start from scratch. I set aside Martin’s story, though I may take another shot at it some day.But I still didn’t know what to write about.Whenever I was asked which of the psi five was my favorite, I always picked Trash. (If I wasfeeling particularly evil that day, I’d add, “Because he has the power to stop your heart.”) The more Ithought about him, the more I knew it was his story I wanted to tell. A long time ago, while listeningto music that was way too loud and way too modern, I’d written a single dizzying scene—no morethan a page or two—with someone escaping from a research lab. It was just an exercise. But when Istumbled across that scene one day, I knew it was the seed from which Trash’s story would grow.What if Trash woke up in a research lab? It was too powerful an idea to resist. I tossed the scene,but kept the concept.So that’s the story I decided to tell. During the process of writing it, I had a ton of support from mywife, Joelle, and my daughter, Alison. I also had the luxury of being able to get feedback from mygood friend Doug Baldwin.As it became obvious to me that this book was very different from Hidden Talents in many ways, Imade one other crucial decision. I needed to completely forget about reading lists, expectations,inevitable comparisons, and all of that baggage, and just write the sort of book I love to read. It wastime to recapture the solid joy of crafting a rollicking adventure. Time to return to my roots. So I gaveit my best shot. I hope you enjoyed the ride.
[...]... Unlucky was more like it Or maybe Unfriendly He didn’t seem all that happy to meet me Not that I cared By the time I’d choked down half the macaroni, I had the whole place figured out Except for one person BREAK TIME I’d watched him on and off during the meal, and I didn’t have a clue why he was by himself Well, as my dad always said, if you don’t know the answer, ask a question Of course, whenever... have to get back to my office.” With that, Principal Davis marched off, leaving me alone in the company of Philip or Torchie or whatever his flaming name was I stared after the principal That was it? Hi Bye Rip me from my home and shove me here I had no choice except to turn back to my new roommate Now that it was just the two of us, I figured Torchie would find a different song No such luck “I really... of Torchie’s bed Great Except for the lamps and garbage can, everything in the room looked flammable To top it off, the place already smelled like the inside of a fireplace I tossed my bag to the floor by the closet “What are you here for?” Torchie asked “What do you care?” I asked back He shrugged “I don’t know Just wondering Figured, being roommates and all, I should get to know you And maybe you’d... Alternative School MEMO PAD ON PRINCIPAL DAVIS’S DESK FROM DALE BRIGGS’S NOTEBOOK TAKING THE TOUR “Lip and Bloodbath live in that room,” Torchie told me, pointing to a door near the stairs “Lip’s no problem by himself Heck, he’s almost a midget But Bloodbath likes to beat on people He’s in our grade, but he’s almost sixteen Keep out of his way.” “Thanks.” This was useful information It was nice knowing where... down at his fist, which was still flat against my shirt, barely depressing the fabric The kid had the weakest punch I’d ever felt He’d hit me with about as much power as someone would use to burp a baby My second thought was that it might be smart if I pretended he’d hurt me Then they’d leave me alone But that thought came a couple of seconds too late If I dropped down now, I’d look as phony as one... exactly what I thought about him and this whole stinking place CRUMPLED LETTER IN THE WASTEBASKET OF DOROTHY ANDERSON FROM STATE SENATE BILL SJ-35A WHAT’S SHORT AND SMART AND FUN TO TEASE? I was interrupted by a knock on the door A short kid wearing glasses with thick black frames stuck his head in “I brought back your magazine,” he said to Torchie “Come on in,” Torchie said The kid walked in and handed a... hers We wove our way between the round tables that seemed to have been dropped at random on the cracked linoleum floor, heading toward Cheater, who stood there signaling his success in getting some seats by waving one arm As I followed Torchie to our spot near the far wall and plunked down on a wobbly plastic chair, I could see that the kids were split up into different groups, with anywhere from four... on, one more,” the man urged He took a real deep breath “Oxygen,” someone else said “Exactly!” The guy held up the extinguisher “So we smother the fire to deprive it of oxygen We can also stop a fire by lowering the temperature or removing the fuel Remember that.” He gave the desktop another short blast Then he turned his attention to Torchie I wondered if he was going to blast the kid with a stream... he usually told me to shut up and stop being such a wise ass But dad wasn’t here, so I figured it was safe to ask a question “Who’s the loner?” I asked Torchie, looking over toward the kid eating all by himself at a table near the opposite wall There was nothing I could see about his clothes or appearance that would explain his isolation “Him? That’s Trash.” “Nice name,” I said “It’s not like that... shut I couldn’t do much about kids like Bloodbath who’d hate me because that was how they treated everyone, but I didn’t want to turn the whole place against me I didn’t want to end up eating dinner all by myself every day, like that pathetic loser they called Trash So I stayed quiet and let them go at it Eventually, the argument faded out and everyone went back to eating “Well,” Cheater said as we finished