A ten-year-old boy discovers that the fantastic dangers in his comic books may be closer to reality than any scientist suspects. When a friendly voice from another star offers him an astonishing invention, Tommy must decide whether he is speaking to an ally—or helping an enemy reach Earth. From Beyond the Stars by Murray Leinster. That’s next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast.
One of the questions we hear quite often is, Why did so many science fiction authors use pen names? There were actually several reasons. Magazine editors usually didn’t want a single issue to look as though it had been written by just one person, even if one author had supplied several excellent stories. Writers also sold stories to competing magazines, experimented with different styles, or simply wanted the flexibility of publishing under multiple names.
Today’s story is a perfect example.
If you pick up the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, you’ll see that From Beyond the Stars is credited to Will F. Jenkins, one of the many pen names used by William Fitzgerald Jenkins—the author we know today as Murray Leinster.
So why didn’t he simply use Murray Leinster? Because the same issue already featured another Murray Leinster story, The Boomerang Circuit. Publishing both stories under the same byline would have made it obvious that one writer dominated the magazine.
But there’s another twist. A third story in that very issue, The Nameless Something, is credited to William Fitzgerald, another variation of his own name.
The result? Of the seven stories published in the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, three were written by the same man—William Fitzgerald Jenkins. By using three different bylines, the magazine appeared to showcase a wider range of authors, while readers unknowingly enjoyed three stories from one of science fiction’s most prolific and influential writers.
We will find our story on page 82 in the June 1947 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, From Beyond the Stars by Murray Leinster…
Next on The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast, Stranded on an iron asteroid by ruthless competitors, two Earthmen discover that their foolish-looking captors have one irresistible weakness. Steve Burgess has a daring escape plan, but activating it could send the entire asteroid hurtling toward disaster. Juke Box Asteroid by Joseph Farrell.
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