The power position in the 2020 Visions anthology is held by a story called Nervewrecking written by Alex Wilson. Yes, I’m aware there is one piece following this story, but David Gerrold’s work is more of an epilogue than a story, and that’s a discussion for tomorrow’s blog post.
Of all the stories submitted, this is the one that resonated most deeply with me. It’s not that it takes on any kind of personal meaning for me, but I think it does with the author in some ways.
Alex is recovering from a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) caused by an auto accident in December of 2007, and his recovery has been a slog. The injury hampered his productivity as an artist, and affected his life by slowing down what he can do in any given day. Fortunately for all of us, it hasn’t degraded his ability to tell a story a bit.
In Nervewrecking, a man’s brain loses communication with his nervous system through misuse of technology. That has the effect of leaving him numb and insensitive to pain and other sensation. While he uses the condition to his financial advantage, the more human aspects of being isolated from his environment while standing in the middle of it takes a huge toll.
This is a gripping story, and Alex does a remarkable job of pulling the reader through. You will not want to put this one down.
I have known Alex through the Codex online writers group for about five years, but had not read any of his fiction before I started Nervewrecking. I’m so glad I invited him to submit to the anthology, because he gained a fan. When the collection comes out, I think he will gain more.
Alex’s fiction has appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction and Chiaroscuro. He has a forthcoming appearance in Weird Tales. He is a member of the Clarion class of 2006. Locus Magazine called him a “promising new writer.”
In addition to prose fiction, Alex writes comics and runs the audiobook podcast Telltale Weekly. He is also an actor. You can view some of that work here.