I was getting kids to write science fiction and fantasy stories. From the beginning, genre had its eye on James Patrick Kelly: his second published story, “Death Therapy” (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1978) made it into The Best Science Fiction of the Year #8 edited by Terry Carr for both Del Rey/Ballantine in the US and Gollancz in the UK. Through exchange of ideas and lively debate with them, I came to realize what was important to me about writing and science fiction. Although what I’m best known for is my science fiction, about a third of my stories are fantasy, dark fantasy, or slipstream. I am ever mindful that there is a continuous spectrum of achievement in fiction writing, from competence to mastery to resonance.