"Esther M. Friesner - Chicks 02 - Did You Say Chicks" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

Well, duh.

WhatChicks in Chainmaildid generate was a landslide of questions. These fell into two simple,
easy-to-digest categories, the first being:

"How come you didn't have more stories by men?"

Well, duhredux, babycakes. Ye Olde Editor solicited stories from the gents, but a whole lot of the gents
demurred, citing fear of being chopped up into little bitty sticky bits by the ladies. (See above: Firestorm
of Feminist Outrage! Film at eleven!)

The second line of inquiry was of the sort that does an editorial body's heart a power of good, namely:

"So? Where's the sequel? When's it coming out? Real soon now? Can't you make it sooner? Wouldnow
be too soon? Pleeease?" This question was inevitably followed by a slew of suggestions for the sequel's
title, one or two of which zeroed in on the word "broadsword." (You'll have to excuse me from making
the obvious rejoinder, but I've taken a mighty and sacred oath not the use the phraseWell, duhagain in
this introduction.)

Now I'm sure you'll all recall the tasteful disclaimer concerning the title ofChicks in Chainmail. It was,
after all, printed right on the back cover of said book. It was furthermore backed up by my own ready
admission that the title was mine-all-mine, please direct any enusing feminist outrage to my doorstep. If
anyone asked, I would admit with all alacrity that the title in question was strictlyMeaCulpaCity.

No onedidask. Fancy that. We did get a number of compliments on the title, though, and whole lot of
giggling. But I digress.

As the public clamor for a sequel mounted, the good folk at Baen (Purveyors of Really Cool Books to
the Gentry) had a neat idea: A Name That Sequel contest! And so, via the Internet, on the Baen Web
page, all interested competitors could submit their ideas for what to nameChicks 2, the prize being a
generous selection of Baen books. My sources inform me that Baen had been running monthly contests
for a while, but when this one hit, they gotthousandsof entries. Jim Baen himself came up with the idea for
the contest, and judged same. (No, he did not do it because he was afraid of what I'd come up with for a
Chicks 2title if left to my own devices.)

I have here in my hand certain documents which reveal that the winning entry, as posted by Melanie
Marttila of our good neighbor to the north(Canada, okay? Do I have to do everything for you?), reads in
part as follows:
 Comments: Ok. I'm willing to bet that Babes with Broadswords has come up about a thousand times
already. I want to be a little original so here are my best three:

Hot Leather Hauberks

PMS in Plate-Mail

Did You Say CHICKS?



Thus a star was born. Our thanks to Ms. Marttila and to all who entered the contest.