Playing with Reality

By Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Charles Myloft Martin the Third arrives at the shadow golf pro-am with a plan. But her plan quickly forces her into a hazard.

First, the club refuses to let her play because of her gender. Then, she finds help in the unlikeliest place.

But that help comes with a handicap—one she failed to realize she had. One that will make her question her own place in the "real world."

"Rusch has fun in a light-hearted take on the gender politics of golf, and virtual reality, in a pro-am tournament with some very special participants."

—Best SF

• Language: English
• Publisher: WMG Publishing
• Release date: Jun 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201129194

Kristine Kathryn Rusch

New York Times bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. She publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov's Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award.   

Book preview

Playing With Reality

PLAYING WITH REALITY

KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH

WMG Publishing, Inc.

CONTENTS

Playing with Reality

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Also by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

About the Author

PLAYING WITH REALITY

It took me forty-five minutes to get to the first tee. Not because I was slow, not because I dawdled on the practice green, but because the dumbass in the clubhouse wouldn’t let me onto the course.

Never mind that I paid more money than some people earn in their lifetimes to be part of this pro-am. Never mind that I was a legitimate member of this golf course.

What seemed to matter to the Small Minds in charge was that although my name is Charles Myloft Martin the Third and I have had a membership here since I took my first breath, I am a female Charles who theoretically had the bad manners to fail to show her face here for the first thirty-five years of her life.

Never mind that I have shown my face here. Until last year, apparently, the Small Minds in charge always thought that I had come as a guest of my father (Charles Myloft Martin the Second), and not as a member in her own right.

Ever since I showed at 6 am, just like the materials sent out with my ticket to the pro-am told me to, I had been subjected to a one-sided discussion of rules and honor and tradition.

The men surrounding me, listening to the discussion but not participating in it, were all captains of industry, heads of government, and, in fact, partners at major worldwide law firms. Like me, they had paid hundreds of thousands for their membership over the years, and unlike me, apparently, they were entitled to walk on the course and play the ticket they’d paid for.

As I scanned the crowd—by then it was 7:30, and the first groups were going to start at 8—I had my realization, mostly because of that thought about the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I didn’t stamp my cleated golf shoe nor did I lose my temper, although I truly wanted to.

Instead, I used the wiles of my gender—the expected wiles of my gender, I should say—smiled sweetly, and said in dulcet tones, "Well, then. If I’m not entitled to all of the perks of membership, I must ask for the return of my membership fees, plus interest, right now. And since my membership dates back to the date of my birth, I must ask for the fees for all thirty-five years at once."

The Small Mind behind the polished mahogany desk flushed dark red. I knew he wasn’t in charge of memberships, just the rules. He was an employee, hired for his tremendous