Endings and beginnings / Vonda N. McIntyre -- Foreword / Ellen Datlow -- Acknowledgments -- The parrot man / Kathleen Ann Goonan ; Greg Bear on Kathleen Ann Goonan -- Absalom's mother / Louise Marley ; Pat Murphy on Louise Marley -- Mulberry boys / Margo Lanagan ; Howard Waldrop on Margo Lanagan -- The fate of mice / Susan Palwick ; Samuel R. Delany on Susan Palwick -- My she / Mary Rosenblum ; Gardner Dozois on Mary Rosenblum -- Bitter dreams / Ian McHugh ; Maureen F. McHugh on Ian McHugh -- Leviathan wept / Daniel Abraham ; Lucy Sussex on Daniel Abraham -- Start the clock / Benjamin Rosenbaum ; Connie Willis on Ben Rosenbaum -- I hold my father's paws / David D. Levine ; Geoff Ryman on David D. Levine -- Beluthahatchie / Andy Duncan ; Elizabeth Hand on Andy Duncan -- Another word for map is faith / Christopher Rowe ; Terry Bisson on Christopher Rowe -- The adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth / Rachel Swirsky ; Andy Duncan on Rachel Swirsky -- A boy in Cathyland / David Marusek ; Pat Cadigan on David Marusek -- The Water Museum / Nisi Shawl ; Nancy Kress on Nisi Shawl -- The evolution of trickster stories among the dogs of North Park after the change / Kij Johnson ; Ursula K. LeGuin on Kij Johnson -- The lineaments of gratified desire / Ysabeau S. Wilce ; Paul Park on Ysabeau Wilce -- Giving back / Leslie Howle