Over the past fifty years, Neal Barrett Jr. has published over fifty novels in a rich variety of genres. Stress Pattern (1976) and the Aldair series (1976-1982) and well-respected in the SF field as remarkable works of planetary romance and far-future dystopia. Barrett is a prolific writer of short fiction as well.   His novelette, "Ginny Sweethips' Flying Circus" was a finalist for both the Nebula and Hugo Awards, for best novelette of the year. His short story, "Stairs," received a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.

"I think the people on this forlorn planet, the aliens, the severely disabled  spacers, the junkyard technology, etc., leave the reader (I hope) with a far  larger picture of terrible wars, unthinkable distances---a great many stories,  secrets, lost causes and fears, that we'll never know. I think every good story  should do that. My favorite stories and novels are those that come off well on
their own, but leave such a sense of wonder behind. The untold parts of the  stories are often what make the stories themselves so wonderful."