Author's Note

At the risk of over-explaining, I wanted to add a quick note regarding "A Mountaineer Who Wants To Kill". It was so much fun to write! And I dug in to invest much more time and energy in it than the other stories in my summer writing exercise. Even so, I realize that I made several factual mistakes. The entirety of my climbing knowledge has been acquired from one book and a few Discovery Channel episodes. So mistakes were bound to happen. For instance, I know now that Mt. Everest can't be seen from any vantage point in Kathmandu. Also, I'm sure that, despite much Google-ing, I screwed up some of the information about camps, seasons, and equipment used in climbing the word's highest peak.

Still, I hope the ride was enjoyable. I meant to create a yin-and-yang sort-of duality to the story — Aaron's life for Dawa's; Turner's life for Robert's. Every scene has a pair of some kind, and the final scene refers to a kind-of mysterious balance.

So if you're a world-class climber and you were offended by my ignorance, I apologize. The best way to keep that from happening again is to take me to Nepal with you.