Hey Barney,
You want Pleasure Domes, I can show you Pleasure Domes....
If you look over here we have a very nice fixer-upper with just one owner - A Mr. Khan... Cuba, Kubla, something like that.
Over there we have a little number that I heard was a popular spot for Gene Kelly in his later years.
Anyway, if you don't like these - I'm sure we can find something around here for you.
Take my card - give me a call - our financing terms are VERY reasonable.
Sex Queen - Sex Slave, it's those pleasure domes that arouse my interest, er, I mean concern me. But seriously, thanks for setting me straight on the title. Personally, I think taking notes while talking to Harlan on the phone should be some sort of new Olympic sport. Of course, if I keep messing up his titles it'll be a bloodsport.
Gregg - while I am as concerned for Ray Bradbury's health as anybody here I couldn't help but think of Vonnegut's recent theme that it's our big brains that are always getting us into trouble! Certainly the case with me. Well, in the words of Wallace from the claymations - "Time to take the dog for walkies..."
Xanadu: Thanks for the update on Ray Bradbury's condition. There don't seem to be any websites on him with any information more current than 1998.
I was sad that day when I found out he had a stroke. He was going to do a book signing after the speech, and that would have been the first time I ever met any author I've read. I was going to ask him to sign my Best of Henry Kuttner collection, which he wrote the introduction for, and I was hoping he'd be pleased that someone still read his old friend Kuttner. Later that day I stopped by a bookstore and checked out the most recent Bradbury publications. I read some of his recent introductions in those books, and noted that he seemed preoccupied with the mental process of writing and storytelling. Ironic then that he would be felled by his own brain. A stroke is perhaps the worst fate for a writer.
Nicole! Welcome back.
Everybody::: hmmm. Well, I changed my major last monday, having finally dropped out of the engineering rat race (I used to say that my writing would interfere with my engineering studies. Then I prioritized my life and found that my lack of interest in engineering was interfering with my writing time), and was figuring out my schedule for next semester (all philosophy classes) when I spied a rather interesting graduate class that I'm going to try my damndest to get into. It was listed in the schedule of classes as Engl 240: Seminar in Creative Writing. Then my eye wandered across the page toward the time. Saturdays, nine AM. Then I saw the prof: UK LEGUIN. hmmm. I'd heard rumours to this effect from my writing professor last semester and most of me was hoping it was true, but my skeptical nature kept me from fully appreciating the apparent reality of it all. Now I just have to see if an undergraduate Phil major has a chance at getting into a graduate english course. It would be nice, for once, to have a story ripped apart, not because its that "genre crap," but because it's just crap.
Also, to anyone in the SF Bay Area and beyond: Le Guin will be speaking at San Jose State University on April 27. Previous, on March 16, we'll have Joyce Carol Oates.
All of a sudden, I'm looking forward to next semester.
---Peter
ALL: oops, Barney and Andy got the title of the Ellison novella wrong. Its, "The Toad Prince, or Sex Queen of the Martian Pleasure Domes." (at least that's how "Amazing has it listed) (Whew, perfection ain't easy). Out here, DTS
HEY, BARN: Just wanted tuh add somethin' to yer bulletin about that new Ellison novella, "The Toad Prince,or Sex Slaves of the Martina Pleasure Dome" -- if you 'n the rest of the good folks at this here site mosey on over to this here URL --> (www.wizards.com/amazing/coming.asp), you'll find a page that trumpets the news even further. In fact, from that page you can take a link to another page that goes on to describe Ellison's new story thusly: "...a wild, weird, and wonderful novella purposely written in the style of the 1940s and 1950s. A pure space opera done as if you were picking up this magazine in late 1949. It's not parody, it's not satire, it's the Real Thing-a pulp-era adventure guaranteed to give you that one last frisson of melancholy joy as you drench yourself in dear nostalgia one more time. So oil your sonic blaster, crank up your anti-grav sled, don your plasteen shorts, and come with us, back to a time when Space was Lighter..." Don't know 'bout the rest of you folks, but that there sounds pretty good to me. Gotta go now. Everybody whistle...doo-doot,doot,doot duh-doot,doot,doot duh-doot,doot,doot,da-doo! See ya later, Barn! --Andy (aka, DTS)
Gregg -
It just broke into general news that Ray Bradbury indeed had a stroke - his right side is paralyzed, but he is expected to make a full recovery. He is resting in his Palm Springs home.
Hey Kids! Ellison news! I don't mean to steal any of Rick's thunder but I was talking to Harlan a couple of days ago and he asked me if I had seen issue #599 of Amazing. I confessed that I had not and he informed me that if I checked out the coming next month blurb I would find that the 600th issue of Amazing would feature "The Toad Prince; or Sex Slaves of the Martian Pleasure Domes" which Harlan has been tinkering with for many many moons. He said he had been up until 2:00AM with it and that it was possibly being typeset as we spoke. It looks to be an all-star issue with Silverberg and many other notables. #599 also has an article by Kristine K. Rusch in which she favorably mentions "Repent! Harlequin, said the Ticktockman" and reproduces the cover plate from the HC edition of the Illustrated Ellison, which one does not see everyday. Outside of my house. The World Fantasy Con was quite nice and the Dillons are the nicest people and far too good for the likes of us. We're lucky to have them. Can somebody lend me about 10 grand? I saw some stuff at the art show that would look really nice in my hall. Well, I must go get cinematically caught up. Happy Reading. Bear Hugs - Barney
INFOMAN - Pure speculation, but could IHNMAIMS have been left out of the tradepaper because of HE's unhappiness with it? There's been persistant talk that the adaptation was well below HE's expectations, and only ran in the issues it appeared in because the original text of the story was prtesented as well (allegedly a concession DH made to HE). Granted, I have NO substantiation for any of this grapvine chatter, so if anybody has concrete data, I welcome the opportunity to stomp out my ignorance like so many crawly things at the picnic.
Nicole: "I Have No Mouth..." came out in "Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor," issues 1,2,3 and 4 -- but it wasn't included in the reissue that collected HEDC 1-5 (not sure why, except maybe there was a copyright problem). Informationally, the Man.
Yep, it's been a while...(looks over all the new faces and hugs the old-timers) Long hiatus there, don't want to get into it. As it is, I'll be around a lot more than usual. Anyway, does anyone know the name of the comic that had _I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream_ in it? I've been looking everywhere for it. -Nicole Over & Out
HE is quoted briefly in "The Sandman Companion," which hit stores this week. The contribution, which is only a few paragraphs in length, essentially praises "Sandman," calling it "seminal work which influences everyone." Nothing shocking to fans of Ellison or Gaiman.
Buried more deeply within the text may be more from HE, though. His name does appear highlighted on the back cover, and I haven't read the whole thing yet, and it has no index. So. A great buy anyway, for Gaiman fans.
Joe: Yes, I was aware DOOMSMAN was regarded as crap when I bought it, and I did so anyway to fill a hole in my collection.
A couple of HE's out of print books are now available on bn.com as an e-book. However, you have to spend $260+ for the mini computer so you can read the book. Sounds like a nifty idea, if only it were cheaper. You can use it to read at night (has a back light) and it has a dictionary.
As for the double-volume "A Touch of Infinity/The Man With Nine Lives," that *is* a hell of a find. Not because it's rare (but it is *very* rare), but because, from what I know of both of those books, the writing isn't all that bad, something worth reading. Good show.
I just feel like rubbing it in: Somebody paid $25 for DOOMSMAN? Have you ever *read* it? It's crap. (I've heard HE agree with this assessment many times.) I got my copy for buck five years ago, the original edition. Hee-hee.
Anybody hear anything about Ray Bradbury? He was scheduled to give a lecture in Allentown, PA on 11/7/99, but his appearance was cancelled due to illness. An announcement was made that he had a stroke last Thursday. Any news out there on his condition?
Hey folks, time for a little de-lurking. The Best Friend-type Person and I were watching some movies last night, finished them off a few minutes before the local late news was done, and turned on the glass teat. Imagine my surprise when I found that the boobs who run this network had taken The Howard Stern Show off and replaced it with The Outer Limits. Wow! Now to the icing on the cake. The episode that was on was entitled 'The Human Operators', based on the short story by one Harlan Ellison and A.E. Van Vogt. Naturally, I responded as I often do to such things: I jumped up off the couch, sending The Best Friend-type Person falling to the floor, where she cursed me in Italian, and caused the wild bunch, sound asleep, dead to the world, to come to their four-leggedness, yapping and barking at nothing while I hurried off to my office to snag my battered paperback copy of Partners in Wonder, in which can be found said short story. Great, it was, reading the story again after I watched the 'based on version'. Gotta say, though, the short story was the better of the two. Interesting aside: The voice of Ship was Malcolm MacDowell (sp?), who, in this context, sounded just like Unca Harlan doing a writing workshop, and the narrator, the boy, bore an obvious to a younger days Unca Harlan. Question: Since the resemblance between the narrator and HE is so obvious I am curious as to whether or not HE had any say in the casting. (Yes, I know: It's unlikely, but, still. . .). Finally, where can I find the piece of music listed at the start of the short story? Well, lurking mode again. Until next time. . . Jim Hess
Mr. SA - On average, the Ace double goes on the secondary market for $60 - $70, with some ridiculously low (about $25) or high ($125) prices on either side; I paid $45 about seven years ago; I'd say you paid a fair collector's price. And as an aside, I thought "The Sound of a Scythe" - which still hasn't come out - was going to be a revised, longer version of "The Man With Nine Lives". Could be wrong, but I seem to recall a couple of forthcoming lists in the past that made this claim.
Mr S.A.: Offhand, I'd say that rare Ace Double was a good find, and I wouldn't feel bad about the price as long as the book is in decent shape and it's not coming out of the food & rent money. I paid 25 bucks or so for a DOOMSMAN, and it wasn't even the original edition. A completist's gotta do what a completist's gotta do.
From "Dream Watch", September 1999, Number 62
Review by Sandra Bruckner
"J. Michael Straczynski discusses some of the problems encountered with Crusade - but also fills in some gaps and goes into some of the potential story lines for the series. Where could the first season have taken us? What would we have discovered? What questions would have been answered?
"All that in the past, JMS talks about the future. He's just finished an adaptation for National Public Radio of a classic short story "The Marching Morons". It will be included in a series entitled "Beyond 2000" on NPR, dramatizing short stories and hosted by Harlan Ellison."
Hi all, I went to a used book dealership today and bought a copy of an ACE Double Novel Books of Harlan Ellsion's A Touch of Infinity/The Man With Nine Lives (copyright 1960) for 50 bucks. I have never heard of this book before but I knew that an abridged version of The Man With Nine Lives appears in Ellison's collection The Sound of The Scythe. Well I was wondering if I was ripped off (even so I think it was worth it anyway because I'll pay anything for Ellsion's stuff). And has anyone read these short novels? How are they? Thanks for the help.
As for the fate of White Wolf. I think they've been trying to back out of the publishing game for about a year now, but have been going at it slowly so as not to renege on too many commitments. As for their being sold? That was a hoax perpetrated as a publicity stunt for a new game set of theirs. They've fixed up the website with the proper information and explain why they did it. I think maybe their timing may have been a little improper because my first reaction to viewing the site was not "oh, they've been sold," but "oh they've been hacked." Oh well.
---Peter
ALL: Someone, I can't remember who it was, posted a query about White Wolf, asking if they are still in business and, if they weren't, what it meant for the future of the EDGEWORKS series. Well, while I can't answer that last part of the question, I can tell you that Robin Wayne Bailey, who latest trilogy (a continuation of the Fritz Lieber Farfhrd and Gray Mouser series) was being published by White Wolf (they managed to get the first book, Swords Against Shadowland, published)...I can tell you that Bailey advised his agent is shopping the next two books around to another publisher. Bailey told me that although White Wolf hasn't come out and admitted that they have basically "shut down" the publishing end of their business, he's pretty sure that will happen (and perhaps it already has). Bummer.
Out here, DTS.
Well, Finder, on reflection, I'm actually going to wait until it's sold.
BUT ... writing that letter to Unca Harlan DID do me a world of good--I looked at it and said, "Hey! With a little tweaking, this could be a good query letter!"
Writing the query and synopsis, you see, are two of my big fears. So that's another one I owe Ellison.
On another note: Have you ever noticed what a joy it is to be young and ignorant?
I just paid a quarter for a copy of the 25th Anniversary copy of F&SF--the one with "Islets of Langerhans" in it--and was delighted to the core to find not only an Asimov Black Widowers story I'd never read, but also a Sturgeon story I didn't know, a Philip K. Dick story that was new to me, a Papa Schimmelhorn story by der scribbeler R. Bruton dot I haff neffer seen, one by Pohl and Kornbluth, Judith Merril, Poul Anderson, Dickson, Vance ...
It can be FUN not knowing stuff, if only to experience the joy of new discovery!
Alex - No harm, no foul. As someone who uses the wee small hours to great (or dubious - it depends) creative advantage, I've stood on that bleary, early spot myself. And yeah, upon reflection, the direct route for a business inquiry might be a little hinkey. I think Infoman (naturally) has the right pitch and yaw for the plane. Whichever route you take, best of luck!
Hey Alex - just want to say good luck with the thing! You get bonus points just for persevering enough to finish!
FINDER: Oops. This is what I get for editing until eight in the morning and posting when not fully awake. My apologies.
(but would it seem overly familiar to send what is, after all, a business letter to the man's home? I worry about these things.)
CHAD: The story that she's thinking of is "Broken Glass", which can be found in the book ANGRY CANDY.
Hi. I'm a big Unca Harlan fan, but my brain isn't big enough to answer a question posed by my girlfriend.
She says she read an Ellison story involving a woman on a bus, in which a man on the bus enters her daydreams and acts as a voyeur. She also claimed that there may have been some lesbian overtones to the story, in terms of the woman's daydream.
This story sounds very familiar, but I cannot place it. I appeal to the collective minds of the bulletin board: Does anyone know the title and volume(s) this story appears in?
Direct email responses to chadu@yahoo.com would be appreciated.
Much thanks!
Alex - Huh? Who said anything about the web site and Rick? I was speaking the direct house address (i.e. Ellison Wonderland, Casa Del Ellison, that sporty mansion in the hills) as opposed to the business P.O. Box HERC utilizes for correspondence. The man versus the recording collection apparatus. I can only presume that you read WONDERLAND as WEBDERLAND and hastily hit me with that stick on principle...
FINDER: Well, no; I don't want to "send it through" the website, for two reasons: One, Rick may be stocky, but he really doesn't look like a mailbox to me. It's not his job (hell, this whole WEBSITE isn't his job), and I don't want to impose. Two, Yeah. Not taking the time to write out and mail a hold-the-paper-in-your-hands letter. I'm sure HE would just get all warm and tickly at that thought.
PHILIP: Well, the anxiety is more brought on by the whole submission process--and felling "intimated" by Harlan? Is that like being made a friend? (Sorry; couldn't resist)
INFOPAL: Oh, I know; it's just that I want to get these things out of the way--and, to be honest, the more I write ABOUT the book, the better query letter I'll be able to send (I absolutely SUCK at query letters and synopses. I've a few published friends helping me, but I'd really rather just have the option of taking an agent/editor hostage and making them read the whole thing--I want to be judged on the BOOK, not on a letter.
(and no; I wouldn't pull a Rupert Pupkin; that was only a joke ...)
ALEX: one more thing. (And this isn't meant to discourage you). Usually, things like rights for quotes and such can be dealt with via a publisher (they have folks to do just that) once your book is sold. Just a thought (and perhaps a way to save yourself, and Ellison, some time). Yours in-the-know, Infoman.
ALEX: regarding your wanting to use a quote of Ellison's for your book. Actually, if you want to do it the old-fashioned, professional way, you should write to his agent, Richard Curtis, whose address is available online and off. You'll even see a note on the indicia page, advising people to do just that. Informationally, the man.
Alex: If you haven't sent the letter to HE yet, it wouldn't hurt to throw in a sentence saying you'd be willing to pay a small fee for use of the quote. You might think this is silly, but it's not.
I've sent official requests to the HERC, and the response is usually prompt. If you give HE your telephone number, he's likely to call you personally and talk about it---if it's something he feels needs talking about. No need to feel nervous. Harlan's a good guy. He is *thee most* down-to-earth, sincere and honest, and relaxing person to talk to. Perhaps he was slopping on the charm when he was talking to me, but I don't think there's any reason for you to feel intimated talking or writing to him.
Alex - Though I haven't had occasion to get mail turned around from HERC, I seem to recall that HE's reply to the note I jotted off to his home address arrived in my SASE within three weeks. Of course, mine was a "hi, think I have a book you're looking for, loved "Slippage", how's the ticker?" letter. Given your reason for writing, I wouldn't think it would languish unduly. And I think it would be appropriate to send something like this on the direct route to Ellison Wonderland, rather than through the business machinations of HERC - more direct for everyone involved.
Okay.
Biting the bullet--and maybe jumping the gun.
I'm finishing the final edit of my novel tonight, and I'm finally writing to Harlan to ask permission to use his lines as an epigram.
I'm not a little intimidated, to be honest; though I've met a fair number ofcelebrities online or face-to-face, this is the first time I've written what construes a fan letter since, at the age of eleven, I wrote a gushing paean to Garry Trudeau, of DOONESBURY fame (still have the postcard he sent back, too).
I know this isn't actually a "fan letter", but still, it's daunting.
Anyone know how long it usually takes for letters sent to the HERC to receive replies--IF they receive replies (I'm surprised the man even has time!)?
(And yes; SASE is enclosed)
Hey folks,
If anybody is going to the mid-Ohio con and can pick me up a program book from that event or any other Ellison related media [ie. audio or video tapes] I can and will gladly repay in kind. Drop me a line. Thanks.
Re: Thedore Sturgeon. Personal favorites would have to be "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister?" and "Some Of Your Blood" By the way, his favorite cover for "Some of Your Blood" was the Ballantine pb with the glass of wine and the rose on the white background. I was lucky enough to have met him a few times in the 1970's and I have to say that he had a genuine capacity to make you feel that what you thought and said and the way you chose to feel about others genuinely mattered. It was a sort of charasmatic gift I suppose. A very different kind of charisma than Harlan has. I've often wondered if I met him now if it would be the same way. Being a teenager looking for role models can screw up your perceptions mightily but I suspect he was still nearly unique in his ability to make people feel included. He once told me I had asked the only intelligent question he had heard at a particular convention and I still smile to think on that.
Hey folks, anybody else going up to the 25th World Fantasy Convention next week? Let me know and or say hi if you see me.
Just acquired a copy of a fanzine with a LONG essay comparing Harlan"s work to Lord Byron's with follow-up correspondence from Harlan and the author. Heady stuff. Be good to each other...
(Delurking for a moment) Hi, all! My favorite Theodore Sturgeon book is "E Pluribus Unicorn" and one story in this is, I think, my favorite short story of all time. It is "A Saucer of Loneliness". This story breaks my heart whenever I read it. I highly recommend both book and story. Thanks for listening! Bye!
(Going back into lurkdom)
Just found this place! I love Ellison's stuff but havn't read it for a while. I just started reading William Browning Spencer's short stories and love them. Has anyone eles read Spencer? His story "Haunted By The Horror King" is hilarious.
PEG: Yup; been going there once a day for a month now. I've checked them out extensively, and while it may have begun as something of a lark, if a charitable one, is definitely the real deal.
I hate to break in again, but has anyone visited White Wolf's web site recently? I'm guessing they've been hacked. In case not, and they *have* been bought by this group called Anonymous Liberty, what does this mean for the continuation of the Edgeworks series?
I love this contradiction on their page. Apparently "ANONYMITY is key to taking responsibility for your actions"... so identify yourself by giving us your e-mail address and demographic information.
Anybody get the new Harlan B5 Profiles card yet?
I did.
Hehehe.
Hi good webderlanders. Normally I wouldn't promote a website on here, but I thought you folks should know about this. Most folks on this board seem to be generous and more than willing to help a good cause.
Well, I got one for ya, and it's simpler than you ever imagined. Some of ya may already know about it. It's called The Hunger Site, address is www-thehungersite-com.
This site provides the easiest possible way for you to help the world's hungry. Just click the donate button. That's it. No names, addresses, forms, requests for money - nothing but a simple click on the internet. The site uses business sponsors who pay for the food, and in return the businesses get free promotion (button links to their websites show up on the thank you page after you donate).
Let me add that this is a legitimate endeavour; the site works through the United Nations world food fund. It is not a chain mail or hoax. Don't take my word for it - just go to the site and look around, you'll be able to tell.
I can't tell you enough what I think of this charity. I think they've really found a new way to get people to "do their part" (though in honesty it's the businesses who really chip in). It could be the equivalent of corporate giving in the e-commerce world.
Thanks for listening, we now return you to your regularly scheduling posting... Peg
FINDER: You're funny. And very cool. I like yuh (no matter what anybody else says:) Have a good one. And remember the immortal words of "George of the Jungle" (as voiced by Brendan Fraser): "Javajavajavajavajavajavajava!" Informationally yours, the man.
The scary thing is, Infoman, you almost had me. It took my little voice saying "Read it again, you dope" about four times that kept me from hitting 'Send message' prematurely.
Boys and girls, there's a moral here: never contemplate responding to a post until the first cup of coffee hits and at least a few gray cells are operating, including the ones that cause you to read more carefully. otherwise, you run the risk of asking for more info on a man named Shuttletusche, and (dare I say it?) making an ass of yourself.
Uuuuunnnnngggghhhhhh. Need more java....
FINDER: O. Henry, the "undisputed master" of the short story? In the early 1900s?!!?! I beg to differ! You have obviously overlooked the great short fiction Loyld Andrew Shuttletusche, who wrote such fine short fictions as "Analmisbehavin'"; "Bummed Out"; "Can It!"; and my personal favorite, "Butkiss." Although subsequent studies by University Academics across the nation revealed that these fictions were thinly disguised erotica which revealed Shuttletusche's peculiar sexual obsession, I submit that these hidden (backdoor?)themes do nothing to invalidate the genius of the man. Long live Shuttletusche! (say it with me, friends) Long live Shuttletusche. (whew). (It's amazing what too many deadlines and too little time can do to a person's mind). Informationally, the man.
Yes, Finder, O Henry was another glaring omission. The more I think about it, the more I realize that, for the most part, they simply ignored short story writers, at least the American ones.
I also think that between his novellas, short stories and scripts, Richard Matheson deserved a spot as well.
There were plenty of names that could have been cut. I won't agure that To Kill a Mockingbird is a great, great, important book but does Harper Lee get to make it based on precisely one work? Maybe, maybe not.
Oh well, at least the list did inspire me to start reading more of the so-called great works of the century. I realized how few I had actually read.
I'm working my way through Lolita right now. Hey, it's pretty awesome but I wish I had a smaller dictionary 'cause I have to lug this big one around with me wherever I'm reading Lolita so I can look up words every two or three minutes. Geez!
-chris
Given the number of possible submissions (and omissions) from the Writer's Digest list, I was surprised to see Rod Serling made the list. He was part of the reason I developed an interest in scriptwriting inthe first place - to accomplish the storytelling in a half-hour script that he could when he was "on" first roped me into stringing words. Sadly, I've found very few other people in my travels who remembered him as a writer, rather than as "that Twilight Zone guy" - and those who do have been prone to dismissing him as a "television" writer.
And while we're on writers with twist endings, let me throw another omission lament on the fire: O. Henry, undisputed master of the short story from 1903 to 1910.
RE: typos in MY post. Okay, you say tomato, I say TUH-MAH-TOE; you type "their," and my fat fingers type "there." Go figure. Out (of) here, DTS.
RE: the "Writer's Digest" list of the week. Maybe there was a typo. Maybe the list included the "best-selling" and most influential writers. And since best-selling writers could conceivably influence everything from jobs at the big, NY publishing houses to the stock market (lookit what "Harry Potter" and J.K. Rowling did for her British publiser's stock), then there list could actually be looked at as a valid one. (Hey, would I kid you guys?). Out here, DTS.
About the 100 Most Influential Writers of the Century list, Chris said, "John Grisham and Danielle Steele make the cut but no HE."
I'm gonna puke.
CHRIS: Well, considering that they said "Best, most influential ... "
The list is for shit.
No Maxim Gorky.
No Carson McCullers.
No Lillian Hellman.
No Dashiell Hammet.
No Ezra Pound (He may have been an ass, but his infuence cannot be denied).
No Grantland Rice.
No H.L. Mencken.
No John O'Hara.
No Yukio Mishima.
No Carl Sandburg.
No Mickey Spillane.
No Studs Turkel.
No Donald E. Westlake.
No P.J. Wodehouse.
No William R. Burroughs.
No Philip K. Dick.
No Joyce Carol Oates.
No Dorothy Sayers.
No (god help us, she is influential) Susan Sontag.
And what about those who lived on the cusp of the centuries?
Twain? Shaw?
No evenness.
No validity.
Harlan might himself say that he is the LEAST of the omissions on this list--in fact, I'd dearly love to see a column or commentary or two on this (and other such lists) written by Harlan.
PETER: Yes, I'm doing my own editing--with input from a few friends--many of whom are themselves published writers (oh, the envy I feel). I took a day or two away from the book, and will set in on it tonight and likely, the entire week.
See, I'll do three run-throughs:
"That's wrong; fix it."
"That's wrong; the style jars. Fix it globally; make it consistent."
and
"That's right--but dammit; it's too pretty. Take it out. "
That way, I can catch what needs fixing, in any of a number of ways.
THEN I sit down and read it all aloud.
That'll make for fixes, too.
Then ... I query, synopsize, submit, fiddle, twiddle, and resolve.
And, no matter what, get the NEXT book off the ground.
Hoo boy.
Mr SA:
Writer's Digest, not Reader's Digest. It's the current issue. Just came out this week, I think.
I also noticed another "slight" omission - H.P. Lovecraft doesn't make the list.
Uh.... say wha'?
I'd think it was a prejudice against short story writers but Borges makes the list (which he obviously should) as do several poets.
Maybe you can _almost_ understand someone overlooking HE just out of sheer ignorance but Lovecraft? I would think he'd get serious considertion in any top 20 - how many more influential writers have there been this century? And they picked Edgar Rice Burroughs so it's not like they were discounting pulp writers either.
Surely we could have bumped Danielle Steele to make room for either Lovecraft or HE... :)
-chris
Alex, are you planning on doing all your own editing? I don't know about you, but I tend to lose a certain amount of objectivity whenever I try and edit any of my work. That's why so many typos and technical eccentricities escape my notice until AFTER I send my stories out, or even worse, after the rejection notice comes. Ah well.
Now to go work on my own writing. This one I'll hopefully finish.
All-- after my crisis of academic faith, I'm making the leap from the loathesome (but financially fruitful) computer engineering and am leaning my logic studies toward Philosophy with a math minor. I think the thing I missed most in my year of pure math and science was discourse. That, and the fact that both computer engineering and math dehumanize logic. I cannot live without discourse. And dat-course, of course. As for my future employment prospects? I have technical expertise to fall back on, should the need arise.
Of course, there is the one in a million shot that I actually finish a novel, have it taken up by the first publisher it hits, and sell the movie rights for half a million dollars... but come on, let's be realistic: quarter of a million. hehehehe.
---Peter
Chris: What issue of Reader's Digest is that list in? I have the November issue with Streep on the cover but can't find the list inside. Is is a special issue by any chance?
OTTO: No; Sturgeon was different than Trout in that he had great ideas AND his execution of them was superb. Sturgeon was unlike Vonnegut in that he a), wrote with a cynicism, but his stories were full of love whereas Vonnegut writes with a love of cynicism, and b), he got better as he got older, whereas Vonnegut ...
(I like them both, by the way)
And you might want to read VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL, written by "Kilgore Trout"--it's pretty funny.
FINDER: I've said it before in this forum, but the novel posits that every single god, goddess, deity, or monster ever praised, worshipped, feared, or cursed is still extant, in one way or another, on earth.
(and yes; this was begun long before I'd ever heard of "Scartaris", dammit)
It's narrated by Dionysus, and has as its protagonist, his son Priapus, who is weathering troubles with his mortal wife, a radio sex therapist.
And there's a serial killer reaving his way through the "god community" ...
CHRIS: Your ear does you justice, sir; Besser was indeed a regular with Abbott and Costello, and is in a good many of their movies.
And yes; I saw that damnable list as well ... I was going down the lines, muttering, "yeah ... okay ... definitely ... should be ranked higher ... no ... no ... NO WAY ... okay ...", and a lot of "But what about--?"s came to my lips.
Lists.
Pfft!
Didn't Joe Besser also appear on the Abbot and Costello radio program frequently? I seem to remember hearing him. Was he also the "I'm a bad wittle boy" guy?
He didn't work with the Stooges, though.
The Writer's Digest issue with the "100 Greatest Writers of the Century" is out. Naturally, the first thing I did was look to see where Harlan was listed.
The answer is nowhere. I naturally assumed this was because they were prejudiced against science-fiction or fantasy authors but, no, there are quite a few listed including Octavia Butler, much to my surprise.
John Grisham and Danielle Steele make the cut but no HE.
Perhaps Harlan would prefer not to be included on a list with them. :)
Actually, I don't mean to slam Grisham - I just find the whole 'legal thriller' genre deadly boring.
I did my part in voting on the web site. I voted for HE, Carl Sagan and Hunter Thompson. Thompson was my only vote to make the list.
An odd choice - E.B. White actually made the top ten. OK, White clearly belongs on the list but would you put White up there and not Theodore Geisel? Odd.
Yeah, I know, lists like this are moronic to begin with. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't find them interesting.
-chris
I have to cop to woeful lack of knowledge of Theodore Sturgeon's work, though I've liked what little I've read ("Microcosmic God" and "And Now The News" to be exact).
Alex - Congrats on completing your manuscript. Now, just to get your juices flowing for the query process (and because I'm a nosey little beggar), what's it about?
Peter - Quality aside, I'm gratified that there's someone else who remembers Gummo.
Otto - The "Woo! Woo!" didn't ever really concern me, but the barking like a dog was very unsettling.
I'm finally back to work with my words - eight pages of short story today which, given my dubious output of a page in the three months preceeding, feels like rain after a long drought. The trick is doing some more tomorrow...
Otto, your friendly weekend research service says: Ted Sturgeon - 1918-1985, Kurt Vonnegut 1922- .
How this will help, I haven't the faintest.
P.S. The info is from Clute's 1993 Encyclopedia of Science Fiction - which I bought in hardcover for $75, in much wilder days I'll add. (God, I love reference books.)
I feel the need to defend Shemp. The most I have ever laughed at a Three Stooges short was during one where Shemp was drunk -- I swear I almost blacked out, I was howling so hard. And it was really just this one marvelous, understated moment: Shemp attempting to strike a cigarette and light a match with it. Say what you like for Curly (I personally find the "Woo! Woo! Woo!'s" frightening, for reasons I can't define and which probably stem back from a deep childhood trauma), but Shemp will always have a special place in my life.
As far as Theodore Sturgeon goes, I've got this weird bee in my bonnet that I'm far too lazy to research myself. Does anyone know how T.S. and Kurt Vonnegut stack up, chronologically? See, I keep looking at the names Theodore Sturgeon . . . Kilgore Trout . . . Theodore Sturgeon . . . Kilgore Trout . . . and wondering, is this really just a weird coincidence? (Oh, and I think "The Hurkle is a Happy Beast" is definitely one of my personal favorite Sturgeon stories.)
Alex - Congrats, and further good luck...
ALL: Not that it's really on-topic, but
YAAAAHHHHOOOOOOO!!!!!
I have FINALLY finished my novel!
Now, I just have to do the final edit--and, the part I hate and fear: Start writing query letters and synopses to submit to agents.
(and I have to write Harlan, to getb permission to use a quote of his as an epigram at the book's beginning)
Oh; just so people aren't toatally confused by what Peter said: The Shemp of which he speaks is an in-joke among the Michigan Mafia of Sam Raimi, his brother, also a director, Bruce Campbell, and a few others.
In the credits of their movies, you will sometimes see the credit for "Fake Shemp".
This comes from Stooges lore.
When Shemp Howard died, he left the Stooges with quite a few unfinished shorts. To save the shorts, they went ahead and finished them anyway, with a rather obvious stand-in. You can usually tell, because said stand-in's generally running around, his face covered with his hands, yelling for Moe. The restof the time, he's shot from the back.
The Raimis, et al., would credit their friends who served as doubles, extras, what have you, as "Fake Shemps"--in fact, they started using the name as an all-inclusive verb--"What have you been up to?" "Oh, just shemping around." "I have to shemp this over to the film school>"--that sort of thing.
An, to whomever it was who slammed Joe Besser and Curly Joe DeRita--Besser was a great comedic character actor, whose effeminate "Oh, YOU!" became a catchphrase; watch Warner Brothers cartoons and you'll see a lot of Besser hommages.
But you're right; he just wasn't that great as a Stooge.
(I'm still so jazzed--I'm DONE!!!)
BARNEY: AAARRRRGH!!! Harlan was in Jersey last night, and me not knowing it here in Philly ...
Ah, well; at least I got a couple thousand words in on MY novel--which, it looks, may be finished sometime this week, as opposed to in a year that DOESN'T begin with a "1" ...
Mr. SA: Yes, Sturgeon was a master. It's always annoyed me that people like Sturgeon and Bester and a whole lot of other amazing talents never even got the grudging respect that the literary world gives Bradbury, Harlan, Clarke, and le Guin. Ah, well.
Anyway.
I was introduced to Ted Sturgeon's work through his novels: GODBODY (which should be thought of as the flip side of STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND), THE DREAMING JEWELS, MORE THAN HUMAN. Seek them out; you won't be disappointed.
As for what I think are his best short stories?
One that has always been a favorite of mine is "The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff"--in my collection, it can be found in--lemmesee ... a great 1959 two volume set edited by Anthony Boucher called A TREASURY OF GREAT SCIENCE FICTION--uniformly excellent stuff in that. An easier place to find the story is half of a book (Tor Double No. 9) published in '89--Asimov's "The Ugly Little Boy" is in the front.
Another great one is "Slow Sculpture"--that's in a couple "Best of ..." books from the Seventies; I have it in STURGEON IS ALIVE AND WELL.
Be honest, ANY Sturgeon story is a jewel--I'd recommend you pick up one of the books that have just recently come out: KILLDOZER: THE COLLECTED SHORT WORK OF THEDORE STURGEON. I think it's up to Volume Four.
Enjoy!
I'm showing my youth here, but when I think of Shemp, I don't think of the Three Stooges. I think of Sam Raimi movies. And as far as I'm concerned there were only three Marx Brothers. Zeppo and Gummo just weren't very funny. Yes, I know that makes me some sort of philistine.
By the way, I too have put up a web site. It is more of an extension of my ego, and would only be of interest to people for the sake of morbid curiousity, but it's there. Besides, it lets me play with graphic design (of which I design all of my own). The content is incidental. (and Jim, I'd like your URL but I'm too lazy to email) Mine is at home.pacbell.net/posul/
that is if any one is interested.
---Peter
Xanadu:
I've got a copy of the same book you mentioned--coincidently in approximately the same degree of decay as yours. The tattered cover finally gave up the ghost during my last plane trip.
What perked my interest to post was the mention of this book. It kind of got me started in reading sci-fi short stories years ago, but my tastes have never evolved into the more modern stuff. I'm still captivated by the imagination and the craft that many of the early masters demonstrated way back when. Is it because they were pioneering a genre and there more ideas to explore that hadn't been "done to death," or was it because we knew so much less about the physical universe, and more speculation about the nature of things was possible? I don't know what it is, but I never get tired of reading those old stories about (civilized) life on Mars, even though I know with today's scientific evidence that it probably didn't happen. Am I just weird, nostalgic or "other"? I'd be curious to see what others say on the subject.
BTW, "Microcosmic God" is fabulous...and just to throw in my obligatory "Simpsons" reference, you may remember they reprised that story (in part) during one of the Halloween episodes.
Corey
(who is impressed with everyone's
expansive knowledge of the Three Stooges
and breakfast cereal icons of yesteryear)
Re: Stooges - I'll take Iggy.
I'm baaaack. After about a month with no computer to speak of I get back on, only to find that Rick had his lifted. ARRGGHHH! Oh man, that sucks. Having had all manner of media storage devices stolen over the years I've come to fantasize about scenarios where I could just pay a ransom. Hell, I'd send them a thank you note [with money] if they'd just pop the tape or download the files. Sociopaths should give scholar squirrels a break. Yeah, that'll happen.
Well, I was in Jersey last night and Harlan was pretty much his usual self. Terrorizing college kids, mocking arrogant stupidity, and having dustups with the local police in the dead of a New Jersey evening. Same old same old. Many of the usual suspects were there. Hello Tim, Kevin, Jeff, Cliff, etc. I think I can safely say we were all exhausted. Harlan's tank was definitely on E by 11:30 last night. He had done classes and signings before we got there. Susan was her usual perky self but I'm beginning to think Susan could be perky in situations like the Alamo. Many of us had 2-5 hour drives ahead of us when we left so I just hope we all made it. I'm beginning to wonder what the whole Ellison experiance would be like if you removed the element of mandatory sleep deprivation. Well, I'm off to a half-day and then about 10 hours of sleep. Mmmmmmm...sleeeeeeep.
Mr. SA - I love "Microcosmic God", I have it in a collection called - Science Fiction Hall of Fame - The Greatest Sience Fiction Stories of all Time, Robert Silverberg, ed.
It is, without question, the single volume ALL science fiction bookshelves should have on them. I cannot recommend it enough. It was my first introduction to some of the older luminaries of the field. I have dog-eared my copy so badly it has been tape repaired twice - go out, get it, you will not be disappointed.
All - my apologies if the frippery of my previous posts has turned you all off - it ends here... for now... :)
Xan
I just started reading Theodore Sturgeon and was wondering what you guys thought were his best short stories. I just finished "The Ultimate Egoist" and it was fantastic. I am really looking forward to your responses.
OK, my finger slipped... I meant to type 1973... really... honest... DON'T LOOK AT ME IN THAT TONE OF VOICE.
And yes, I am familiar with the two monsters you mention, but they truly were supporting characters.
But just for fun - I would suggest Ben Affleck as the Count, the enimitable Keanu Reeves as FrankenBerry, and as my personal favorite, good ole Boo - James Earl Jones.... (Hey the choice is bold...)
P.S. Does anyone else also recall Sir Grapefellow and Baron Von RedBerry...?
Xanadu - I make no value judgement in Stooge quality; I'm simply saying that with the man on the street, Curly was a probable choice to fill in the blank: "Larry, Moe and---" You went with the less obvious, though chronologically correct, choice. Bygones. Your Batman argument, though, is apples and oranges. With today's proliferation of popular film adaptations of popular television series (and this is an important distinction - with non-popular film adaptations, of which there are many, the original series performers retain their distinction) the prevailing answer is usually a question: In the movie, or on TV? In the case of Schumacher's Batman, the question might also be "Which time?"
Oh, and alluding to shoddy research, as you did earlier - shame, shame. Boo-Berry didn't appear until 1973. But for a guess, you were pretty darn close. C+ And since we're building an ensemble cast, why not pull in the other two General Mills creatures, the maligned and forgotten Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy? (I see that look on your face - would I snowjob you on this?)
Chris - Thank you. Shemp was a pretty good Stooge.
Finder - "Producer-like grasp of group character dynamics"? How many producers you know would actually go back to the original source material, rather than the populist adaption of an earlier era? (No offense, Curly) If you ask people 30 years old and up who played Batman and Robin - most would mention Burt Ward and Adam West. Does this mean that Joel Schumacher is right in his choice of direction for the current movie franchise? Thought so...
So I stand by my original statement.... Anybody who would make a "Count Chocula and FrankenBerry: The Movie" and ignore the powerful performance of the original Boo-Berry in their second short from 1972, has GOT to have rocks in their head. 8P
P.S. And it's good to see that you study, crib notes or not... :)
I came here hoping you'd have more information about the Harlan Ellison's Matrix story, but I didn't see anything so I figured I'd tell you about it. On the Official "Matrix" site, http://www.whatisthematrix.com, they have a comics page that has several stories written by scifi/fantasy authors and drawn by comic artists that take place in the universe of "The Matrix". Many of them are incredible. On the introduction page they mention that Harlan Ellison has signed on to write a short story for the site. It hasn't happened yet, but the site mentions that they are preparing for a second wave of stories. Perhaps Harlan's will be one of them. Stay Tuned!!!!
Thanks for the tip on Dan Simmons. Until next time. . .
Both Curly and Shemp were great Stooges.
Now Joe Besser and Curly Joe DeRita, on the other hand...
One of my greatest regrets in comic book collecting is that all the photo covers of Gold Key Stooge comics have Curly Joe on the cover. *bleh*
-chris
Whoops! Didn't edit out all my crib notes. Must have gotten distracted by that "Got Milk?" commercial that was just on. The shame of it all...
ACTUALLY, Xanadu m'boy, you're right, more or less: in their vaudeville days, in addition to being Stooges (of which there were many groups using the name on the circuit, causing Columbia no end of trouble when they first starting making Stooge shorts) Moe, Larry and Shemp were part of the act "Ted Healy and his Three Southern Gentlemen"; Shemp left the act and Curly replaced him in 1932, before they ever made their first short for Columbia. Or, as we say back in Gibsonville, "No study."
But let's be honest - when asked to name the Three Stooges, how many people conjure up Shemp before Curly? Which only makes me worry more about your character dynamic choices in relation to public tastes... :)
Curly took his place in 1932, before they ever made their first Columbia
short.
Finder - Curly was the movie addition to the Stooges, Shemp was the original third stooge from their vaudville days... Please, if you're gonna pick a nit, please do the research... :)
Jim - the email is: DSimSHRIKE@aol.com, you're welcome.
Hey, ho, folks, on another topic, reaaaaally quick: Does anyone know what the e-mail for Dan Simmons is? I had it until I wiped the old system (and forget to tag it to the file drawer). If my pathetic excuse for a memory serves it is aol. Has 'shrike' in it. If you would, aim it into my e-mail above. Thanks again. Until next time. . .
Xanadu - That you would substitute Shemp for Curly clearly indicates that you have a producer-like grasp of group character dynamics. Shemp indeed. Next thing, you'll be trying to tell me there were only four Marx Brothers...
And Boo-Berry hasn't been anything more than a supporting character for the last fifteen years...that's like throwing Scrappy Do into a starring turn...
Sheriff Buck, Finder -
What? No Boo-Berry? I'm sorry, we gotta find another writer for this project.... Obviously the current batch have no appreciation for what makes the Classic Trio work.
It's like Kirk and Spock without McCoy, or Moe and Larry sans Shemp....
The very thought sends chills down my spine....
Just when you thought you'd *finally* gotten rid of me... Nice discussion, and I'm enjoying reading it. I'm peeking out from under the of the Cone Of Silence, just to send a big *HUG* to Rick. Wish I could send your laptop and discs back instead.. :-( ..
Couldn't agree with you more Finder. Somehow, that whole "Kinder, Gentler" thing sorta worked out to be more of a Silent Selfishness, where Kindness means you couldn't get out of it (or needed the tax write-off) and Gentler means you do a Mother Theresa impression smiling, looking concerned, and using a soft tone of voice when you give someone the shaft.. and Stealing is only applicable when you're caught and convicted.. *sigh* It's as if Conscience has become that short intermission between opportunity and justification sufficient to placate morals and ethics, something to be silenced quickly so it won't get in the way of personal profit. Somehow, a re-read of Charles Dickens social commentary does NOT seem one whit dated..
As far as FanFic, accessibility, etc. thread - I quote a Kat Stevens song, "Everyone needs someone to look down on..." Or was that a Kristofferson song? The entire notion that "Art" is beyond the capabilities of the majority of people to appreciate flies in the face of the pretty universally accepted definition of Art being a form of communication. If it's not communicating, it's not good art, whatever it's form - and communicating means everyone, not just people trained in arcane paths of enlightenment to the "secrets" of the craft. I get VERY tired of the constant "unwashed masses" bashing, whether it be the artists blaming the public for not "getting" how 'great' their stuff is, or the money moguls assuming everyone else is too stupid to know a good thing when they see it unless it is packaged and PR'd the "right" way.
I don't know where Bix lives in Michigan, but I live in Michigan, too. There are apparently enough "enlightened" people living here to support a wide variety of arts from the amatuer/local community group level through the internationally recognized professional level. There are 4 bowling alleys within an hours drive from my house - there are 9 theater groups, 3 film societies, 6 museums, 12 dance troups, too many art galleries to count, and live music everywhere they serve coffee (and many places they don't), and more.. Follow the road to town Bix, that's where the good stuff is...
College? Major? huh? I took classes that looked like they'd be interesting and/or fun.. :-) .. And kept doing that until they chucked me out with a Degree, so I'd have to pay Graduate rate tuition.. Done a lot of different things since then, some even vaguely related to a few of the classes I took in College.. I didn't go to College to get a job, I went to learn things I would have a tough time learning any other place. *shrug* Hey, it worked for me..
Dunno from Writers Block. I do know that variety is the spice of life, and things that are a focus in my life at any given time tend to be replaced by new things over time. There are some things that "stick", but not usually as a focus - more like personal hygeine, something that's done on a regular basis, but not something to base your life on.
Whoa! Long catch-up post! *Cone of Silence - Down* I'll be seeing you, even if you don't see me.. ;-)
Locus has an ad for a new VanVogt collection with an HE introduction. FYI.
The Dark Horizons web site has a little blurb on Shyamalan's next film, allegedly titled "Unbreakable", for which they're reporting he's getting a cool $5M for the script (plus his director's salary, plus alleged back-end profit percentage); the site also offers a minor plot blurb, which I won't repeat for the sake of those of you who like your films as spoiler-free as possible. Aiming for start of filming in Philadelphia in April 2000. Though I'll admit, "Count Chocula and Franken Berry: The Movie" might be a pitch I could get behind, Sheriff.
Peg - You've seen my Keepers? Damn. I thought I ditched them for good after that thing at Denny's in St. Louis. Man, every time I set down roots and start a new life - er, never mind.
But seriously, I agree with you. I've been on both sides of the arguement. I lost my wallet as a college freshman. Whoever found it was kind enough to drop the pictures and the other miscellaneous contents into a campus mailbox, but kept the money and the wallet itself (brown alligator skin that I got from my grandfather - I spent two semesters watching everyone who pulled out money to see what they were carrying it in, blind wrath in my heart. Never turned up, though.). It was a low class event in my life. Fade Out.
Fade In, two years later. I was walking across campus with a friend of mine when we found a wallet in the snow - ID, credit cards, about seventy dollars in cash; never gave it a second thought: we looked up this poor guy in the student directory, found where he lived on campus, and returned it to him. The look of astonishment and his puzzled "It's all here" upon inspecting his wallet, while sad comment on the state of human affairs, was about as uplifting a thing as one could ask for on a cold day in hell, er, Binghamton. The high road is remarkably easy and profoundly rewarding sometimes - pity more people don't opt for it.
Sorry, Sherriff.
Shyamalan just sold said idea for said screenplay.
He's getting $4 mil or so for it--not counting his director's fees.
He's being rather secretive about it, but it would appear as if it's going to be another original Shyamalan-only film. I don't think he goes in for adaptations anyway ...
(and yes; he IS another Philly boy)
Hey y'all, this nifty tidbit came from today's "Science Fiction Weekly":
"The Sixth Sense writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is reportedly pitching a new supernatural film to Disney that will star Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson."
Pure speculation, of course, but...could this be "Mefisto in Onyx"? Jackson still owns the rights, and, while the phrase "supernatural film" is vague as all get out, "Onyx" certainly would qualify.
It's been a couple decades since we've had a good HE film adaptation. I'd ask Rick to see if HE can confirm/deny, but from what I understand, authors aren't often kept well-informed about the status of Hollywood adaptations of their work. (You should hear Ray Bradbury speak on his treatment at the hands of Mel Gibson and co. with their "Fahrenheit 451" project.)
Again, this is just a fan wondering and hoping. Please take it as such. Do not report this as a "rumor." I do not wish to read a blurb in next week's "Entertainment Weekly" announcing Disney and M. Night Shyamalan's "Mefisto in Onyx" if in fact the project is a feature film of "Count Chocula and Franken Berry."
Jim, I don't think Rick minds a handy url or two, but as I recall, that Cerberus of a program he set up to run this joint in his absence doesn't like HTML tags.
There's my email. Would you kindly send your URL along? Please? Pretty please? With treacle and onions? Hmm??????
What humility? What ego? What looks? Moi? Nah. The short is, as I recall, Rick gets pink and cranky and makes Unca Harlan look like Mother Teresa if you even THINK to post urls here. Soooo. . .e-mail is da word for now. Sorry to hear about the laptop, Rick. I'm still waiting on the replacement DVD/CD-rom drive for mine.
Until next time. . .
Most odd. (Oh, and hi all, by the way.) This just arrived from Eyes@Amazon. Did someone mistype, and this is Volume 5 (finally), or has White Wolf decided just to skip V5 entirely and continue? (The artist is correct for Volume 6; I believe Jill Baumann was scheduled for Volume 5.)
"Edgeworks : The Collected Ellison (Volume 6)"
by
Harlan Ellison, John Snyder
List: $22.99 -- Our Price: $16.09 -- You Save: $6.90 (30%)
Subjects: Science Fiction; Fiction - Science Fiction; Fiction;
Science Fiction - General; Short Stories (single author)
Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Inc.
Volume 6Binding: Hardcover
Expected publication date: October 1999
ISBN: 1565049659
URL: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565049659/ref=s_e
Rick, I'm so sorry to hear about your laptop.
I know what's like to do something like that on a much smaller scale. I left the disks for my undergrad senior project in a campus computer room - needless to say they were long gone when I went back to look. And while it wasn't a lot of money's worth, it *WAS* a lot of time and effort and it really ticked me off that someone took them.
I personally don't believe in the finder's keepers argument. If you take something that doesn't belong to you, knowing it doesn't belong to you, without making effort to return it to it's owner (if possible), then you are stealing. Period. Even when you leave something that way, it's still a theft (unless some amazingly kind soul turns it in to the police, highly unlikely).
So you have my empathy and sympathy. I'm sure we kind webderlanders would be happy to help if we can, just let us know. (along with being patient about updates of course...)
Peg
Well, my wife left my laptop with all CDs and programs on board on the sidewalk in Atlanta. So the stuff that was going up today has been delayed until I can retype a bunch of stuff on my desktop system and generally recover from this devastating blow. Sorry to disappoint, believe me no one is less happy about this than I...
I care, but I'm about ready to eject from the Web and don't wish to hit my mail. Stop feigning humility Hess, and post a URL already! kiss, kiss---keegan.
Well, after a reasonable period of time away I return and find the more things change the more they stay the same: the snobs and self-appointed elitists continue to piss and whine about every little goddamn thing. (Well? SOMEBODY has to be in charge or bitching and moaning. Kudos.)
Oh, yeah. I have a web site (sorta) now. Drop me a line if it matters. Until next time. . .
Rick -
Just a quick note to see how Harlan and Susan fared during last night's quake... when you now, of course....
It says email, so if anyone wants to email this guy and tell him that the title is "Silent in Gehenna," and appears in the collection APPROACHING OBLIVION, go right ahead.
---Peter
I am looking for the name and location (ie. collection name)
of a Harlan Ellison story I read about 20 years ago. This
story was set in a corporate/facist near future, and followed
a radical who was trying to foment rebellion/revolution.
About 2/3's of the way into the story, he is kidnapped by
aliens who imprison him in a tower overlooking a large
city. In this tower he preaches revolution to the masses
of slaves below. Whenever they are in earshot, the masters
beat themselves, but as soon as they move away they again
beat their slaves.
Please e-mail your responses to
david.cruzuribe@mail.trincoll.edu.
I would like to use this story to make a point in a
seminar.
David Cruz-Uribe, SFO
Trinity College
Hartford, CT
ALL: Recommended reading, anything by recent Nobel Prize winner Gunter Grass (insert your own umlaut over his name and the word). If you're partial to mostly fantastic fiction, Grass fits in to this category. In fact, like Garcia-Marquez and Borges, Grass was writing what is now termed magical realism way before it was popular. Most people know of THE TIN DRUM (in which Oscar M., a child that never grows old, navigates the dangers of WWII); but you may not be aware of THE FLOUNDER or THE RAT (in which co-narrators, who are animals, play a big part), or THE MEETING AT TELGTE (an "alternative historical" novel involving various poets and writers from Germany's history). To give it all a "bluesky" description, Grass is sort of a mix between John Irving (who was influenced by him) and Jorge Luis Borges. His latest, MY CENTURY, uses a structure similar to Ellison's "The Pale Silver Dollar of the Moon Pays Its Way and Makes Change," inserting autobiographical portions of the authors life into stories and vignettes which take place between 1910 and 1999 (and there are fantastical elements as well...like a fictional character, who resembles the author's dead mother, breaking down the "fourth wall," etc., etc.). Good stuff. Grass is definitely one of the more under-rated writers of the 20th Century -- at least he was. Out here, DTS.
I think part of the problem is that simply because of the age of the work, Shakespeare has been elevated within academic circles to that golden-circle seating known as "classic". Unfortunately, when something is placed on that pedestal, it earns a very highbrow shadow that sends a lot of people running. Is it too cultured? Balderdash. A lot of it has gotten a bad reputation simply because of its good reputation. I read my first Shakespeare play in an English textbook in Junior High. Saw my first performance then, too ("A Midsummer Night's Dream") and I've loved both reading and watching his work performed ever since (having the Shakespeare Theater in DC is a big plus for this). And the masses can be drawn into watching the man's work today, and enjoying it - the theaters are full of him. I liked Mel Gibson as Hamlet. I liked Kenneth Branaugh as Hamlet too. Different flavors and takes on the character and the story, but both entertaining in their way. I'd bet if you took an audience and told them they were going to see a movie with intrigue, suspense, ghosts, swordplay, humor, romance, and a tragic ending, and DIDN'T tell them it was Shakespeare, they'd eat it up. I think it's all a matter of perception and representation of the work.
As for the dumbing-down of Chaucer - and probably Homer, Dante, Ovid, and any number of other authors who wrote with a style now considered by publishers to be outdated and too difficult to sell to the masses without "clarifying" the text for the modern reader - that's a bigger kettle of fish. I recently found and have been reading a translation of Aesop's fables done in the early 1800s (containing the Latin and English text side by side - very cool little book), and you can't believe how those have been slurred, blurred and evolved through the centuries. It's a fascinating read, knowing how the fables play out today. I understand the commercial and the realistic reasons for, say, simplifying Chaucer for the reader. He's by no means an easy read, but spins some fine yarns. Still, I don't agree with the concept.
Peg - I'd love a new book announcement, but if I was a gambling man I'd bet that he's signing in conjunction with the audio release that was just done. More than likely if a new book was in the pipe, we'd have already heard about it (it's always seemed like Harlan give a good advance notice that helps build word of mouth). Of course, no one would be happier than me if HE was scribbling his name beneath the words "Blood's A Rover - A Novel By Harlan Ellison" on a title page later this month. I just don't see it in the cards.
Don't worry, Maggie. I don't take it personally.
Yes, I agree that Shakesepare and Chaucer were the Sidney Sheldons of their day. But the point I didn't make is that the language is so colorful, and so different from what we have now, that to truly appreciate it beyond face value means that you have to know how to read it. I, also, had Shakespeare courses in college and enjoyed them, but let's just say that a good portion of Michigan isn't exactly a playground for the literate-minded. The people that I grew up with thought going bowling, playing bingo and hitting the bars was a great night out. Forget about sitting home and reading, or going to a play. A movie qualified as an intellectual experience.
The thing is, most people won't pick up these works unless they've been simplified. It's very difficult to find an original translation of Chaucer; most of the copies on the shelves have been "cleaned up," or modernized. Take a look around bookstores, and you'll see what I mean.
You're definitely right about Shakespeare being for the masses. In the 19th century, his plays were the most popular theatrical productions all across the American frontier. And you've only got to read the opening lines of Romeo and Juliet with all those (nearly) idiotic puns about coal and colliers--not to mention the phallic references--to know that this wasn't Oxford fare. -- Billy D.
*WYLIE*: Your movie description does sound like "To Sir, With Love" -- but there was a Portier/Cosby movie (circa 1973?) called "Do It Again" if memory serves (and lately, it ain't been serving much, not even leftovers). -- Billy D.
Shakespeare, et. al. - I'd like to make a distinction.
I think Maggie is right, but I'd put the vocabulary a bit different. I think anyone can *enjoy* Shakespeare. It was written for the masses, as entertainment. Now, to dissect it and analyze it, look for hidden meanings, deep truths, even the do numericial breakdowns of the rhyme, rhythym and meter (is that redundant?) is a bit more of a challenge. But I think *anyone* can watch it and enjoy the play as much as people enjoy movies and TV and plays today (probably more so - the writing was better and probably the acting, too!)
[and another thing, for those of you who want more Shakespeare in your life, go to the Oregon Shakespeare festival, it's fab, we go every year and have a great time, the acting is superior, the productions are well done and frequently inventive, just can't say enough for it]
Ta Peg
Bix - please don't take what I am about to say personally, because it is not meant that way. You have just touched a rather sore spot with me.
Shakespeare and Chaucer are not highbrow. They are not meant for the highly educated and I am just sick and tired of this whole weird crap that believes that an ability to enjoy Shakespeare is an indication of a superior mind or somesuch. Peeves me no end. I majored in theatre and I love Shakespeare and it is not, and let me repeat this for those in the oxygen seats, not difficult. When I was in college, I used to watch the BBC Shakespeare productions. My 5 year old sister would sit and watch them with me. I really didn't think that she would sit with me very long. I figured she'd sit for a few minutes and then get bored and give up. Didn't happen. She would get very involved in what was happening on the screen. Totally enthralled. She laughed and when I asked her what was going on, she had a very strong grasp on the action. Fast foward to 12 years of public school later. That same sister hates Shakespeare now. She has told me repeatedly that she just isn't smart enough to understand it. Bull crap. I'll tell you what I've told her over and over until I'm just purple in the face - Shakespeare was written for the masses. Shakespeare is taught in our public schools as something high brow and difficult and we teach our children to hate something that is natural and easy for them. Bull crap. Yes, Shakespeare is quite possibly the most brilliant writer the English language has ever known. Why is he up for most brilliant? Because he used the language to communicate. He wrote plays to be performed and every time I hear this same wretchedly programed opinion on Shakespeare, it makes me want to rush right out and start teaching it.
As for Chaucer - ditto.
Shakespeare and Chaucer were the Sidney Sheldons of their day. That they also happened to be brilliant writers is their gift to us. Read the stuff out loud and stop getting so wrapped up in what your teacher told you.
Heads up - just saw this on the Dangerous Visions website (updated Oct. 9 so info is recent).
Harlan Ellison will be doing a signing from 2 - 4 pm on October 30th. No other info was provided. Here's the link:
http://www.readsf.com/events.html
Cheers...... Peg
PS - does this mean the momentous announcement prophecied by our kind webderleader might just be an impending book release...?? (this is how internet rumors get started....)
P.P.S And if it is Edgeworks 5, would you market that under non-fiction?? (just out of curiousity that is. I mean really, the book doesn't have any speculative fiction, fantasy, western, mystery, etc., in it, so how could a bookstore *live* with themselves unless they market it as non-fiction!)
Anyone see THE OUTER LIMITS lately? Is it just mean or has the show really gone down the toilet? Dumb, with a capital D. And isn't HE's "Human Operators" supposed to be aired some time this season, or has he smartened up and no way?
Yes, an enlightened group! Fan fic IS nothing more than a lark, something to keep the synapses from cooling down when we're surrounded by drab reality and the pressures of everyday life. It's good to hear, I've got to tell you. People either get rabid about the existance of the stuff ("Ban all amateur efforts! Toss them into the well of ineptitude and be done with them!") or view fan fiction as the ultimate in literature ("Isn't Angel so dreamy?"). Ack.
And you're right, it's brain candy. So is television, cable, videos and the whole home entertainment system idea. So is going to the movies. So is listening to almost everything on the radio. It's not easy for the average person to strive for greater things in their life, or even worth it, in some cases. Few people improve their education to the level where they can enjoy Shakespeare and Chaucer, relish in the joys of Bach and Beethoven, or be knowledgeable enough about to analyze his work. These higher-level media are often "dumbed down" (Cliff's Notes), picked apart for the "juicy" tidbits (a kiss planted on a woman's arse), or made popular simply by mass distribution (I've got a Monet calendar on my desk, each day listing tidbits about his life and work. Special).
Rather than raising the I.Q. of John Q. Public to appreciate foreign works in their own translation, or to seek out the deeper meanings in a piece of work, it takes less effort to drag things down to the common level. Sad, eh?
Could have been, Peg. I'll look it up in my Videohound. Thanks for giving me a place to start. G'night!
Wylie - was it "To Sir, With Love" (not that I've seen the movie but the plot description fits...)
Hi all. I used to read star trek novels and still own most of them, some are favorites. I never, however, mistook them for really good books. They were just an extension of the tv show, which I was very fond of once. Lots of different writers write teleplays for star trek and the books are just the same thin brain candy. My understanding was that most of the authors of said books felt the same way--writing them simply to get more of a fix when they had seen every episode and new ones were slow in coming. I think fan fiction writing is masterbation--healthy, but you wouldn't want to devote your life to it. Or, to quote Sidney Poitier from a movie made long ago, "It makes you feel good, but it doesn't produce life." (Anyone know what movie that was? I watched it as a kid and those words have stayed with me all these years. He played a teacher of tough kids and I believe Bill Cosby was in it as well.) Have I beat the topic to death now? I always come in late . . .
Hmmm. Fan-fic as a way to hone craft. Kinda reminds me of Jaimie Abersold play along records. Useful to an extent, but useless in the long run because in the real world, the cats in the rhythm section often play the unanticipated......
I don't quite agree with the demonization of fan fiction.
I think fan fiction can be an excellent way to polish some of your skills as a writer. You're right, it is a shortcut. So what?
You borrow another world and other characters so that you don't have to dissipate your energy on that particular aspect of creation. Instead, you can work on your descriptive abilities and your characterization techniques.
I don't think it's any different than when a baseball team has fielding practice. They're not playing the entire game - they're eliminating other element to focus on one and do their best to perfect it.
I wouldn't want to write fan fiction as my main body of work but I believe a writer can benefit greatly from the exercise.
-chris
Rick! Such imagery! I now and forever have an image of some pimply fanboy trying to stick his hand up Captain Kirk's ass. That is not a pleasant image, to say the least. Brilliantly effective, but unpleasant nonetheless. But you're right. It is a shortcut. It is someone saying "I'm not going to take to time nor the initiative to create memorable, interesting, and fully fleshed out characters to flourish in the world of my imagining. I'd rather take the shadows of someone else's world and characters, and place them in neat little situations like I did with my GI Joe action figures when I was six."
And really, it is the difference between someone who molds a clay model of a dinosaur and the guy who goes to Toys B Expensive and buys the complete set of Jurassic Park Thunder Lizards complete with neutron glyder ray and kung-fu claw grip.
I just finished reading THE STRANGER by Albert Camus. Great book, even if I found some of the characters to be completely despicable. I recommend it without reservation.
---Peter
Bix,
I see one problem with your path to readership. I don't think people discover writer's via the fan fiction on the web, or even in hardcopy.
Those authors I enjoy and whose work I seek generally weren't discovered via shared universe /fan fiction work. There's only been a couple I came to know from that route (ashamedly, from the Star Wars books - my guilty pleasure). I don't even read web-based fan fiction - I have too many other things piling up on my bookshelf.
Personally, I usually come to know authors via short stories or book recommendations from friends or reviewers in SF/F type periodicals. Like this board, where many a good nod is made. If I buy a shared character/setting book, it's typically because I know the "host" author (i.e., Clarke, Niven, Asimov) and possibly the guest author.
Nothing to get too worked up about, just thought you'd like one reader's view (and I am not a writer).
Peg
Okay, time for me to chime in with my thoughts on writings and fan-fiction.
On writing: most people need to stop worrying about whether or not they are "writers" and just write - or don't write. I for one am certainly not happy with my expertise in the craft -- that's one reason I'm going back to school full time next spring -- but while I don't harbor any illusions about the quality of my work that does not mean when I am producing something I do not think I am a "writer" or that I am not producing "writing".
If you aren't comfortable with the results of your art, whatever that art may be, you should study the art and the work of others and above all else PRACTICE. But don't let that stop you from calling yourself a writer or poet or singer or dancer if that's how you see yourself.
On fan-fiction: I don't find fan fiction to be of any lesser quality than any other forms of amateur fiction you can find out there. It's all mainly crap, and if it were not someone, somewhere would be buying it. I hate to burst any bubbles, but there is this notion that there are great works of literature out there, sterling examples of craftmanship that touch the heart, masterworks that use language as Da Vinci used marble; and that these remain unsold and unseen because of crass and petty agents and editors and publishers. This notion is largely a myth. It is a delusion that enables those whose work languishes on web pages and Usenet groups to think that their work is underappreciated rather than simply mediocre.
Yes, it is hard to sell writing - but good writing DOES sell. It is no different from any other product or service - while the market may be far from perfect the fact that someone will pay you to do something is the best indication you have that you do it well. I don't want to hear how hard it is to get published or how it's too expensive to submit stuff. I don't care to hear the odds. If you have the talent and the craft and the will, you will find a way to be heard.
Perhaps fan fiction gets an especially bad rap because it often involves a theft of imagination. It's a shortcut - you don't have to describe your protagonist or your settings because everyone who reads your work KNOWS what Luke Skywalker looks like or how the command deck of Babylon 5 is laid out. So many of these stories read like an expanded outline because the author hasn't bothered to breathe life into the characters. I don't have any use for this stuff - it's like listening to a co-worker telling you what happened on last night's "ER".
The original work of fiction represents the Writer as Professional. Fan fiction represents the Writer as Puppeteer - sticking a hand up the ass of someone else's creation and trying to make it talk.
I suppose coming uninvited into a fictional world and performing this sort of literary prostate examination on its characters is a good way to practice one's writing and get feedback on it. But let's not try to make it any more noble or any less ghoulish than it really is, okay?
Read Chandler and Hemingway and learn how to describe people. Practice your art however you please and try to touch others with your vision and your words. But please don't come into my house and tell me you might be an unrepresented Dostoyevski on the basis of your making Captian Kirk's lips flap.
Alex - beautifully put. I don't know that my stories will ever get beyond where they are now. I like to think that someday, I'll be able to walk into a book store and see my name on a book cover, but if that doesn't happen, I won't die of it. I do know that I need my stories, and that the way my life is now, I feel them rattling around in my brain. They're just moving too quickly for my tired out brain to catch right now. I'm working to change that because I want them back. Small, worthless though they be in the commercial world, they're still mine and I will fight for them with all that's in me.
As for fan fiction - other than authorized stuff - ie MZB's collections, etc., I don't read it. I have enjoyed some of the shared world anthologies - Medea, Harlan's World springs to mind . I don't read Star Trek or Star Wars or any other kind of fiction like that either.
Speaking of MZB - I was saddened at her passing. I always thought that she was great person. She was definitely on the short list of people I would be willing to stand in line to meet. I was rather shocked and apalled that her passing didn't make the paper here until several days after her death and that it didn't seem to even blip on the radar nationally.
So, back to the job hunt. There has to be a job that will get me out of the 4 hour commute somewhere!
Well, I'm glad to have raised a topic of interest and generated another line of conversation from the board. Everyone has expressed a clear opinion on the matter of fan fiction, with what appears to be a mostly negative stance.
However, I don't believe that anyone is aware of the vast amount of fan fiction now available on the Internet-- not just "Babylon 5," but everything from "Buffy" to "World Wrestling Federation" pseudo-adventures. This form of communication has opened a door and spawned would-be writers across the world to indulge in their favorite fantasies. No, it's not Shakespeare or even HE-quality work, but it has flooded the net and it is, most definitely, "out there." But copywrights DON'T apply to fan fiction unless sales are involved, and within that limit, everyone has free license to do as they please.
To an extent, I agree it is a waste to use another writer's characters to put together what is, for the most part, a collection of downright bad fiction. I'm not saying that what I wrote is any better than anyone else's, either.
Let me ask you this, however: is a television scriptwriter, or a serial author, that much less of a writer? When a person does a weekly sitcom or drama, are they just wanna-be writers because they're taking someone else's characters as inspiration? When someone cranks out ten or fifteen "Star Trek" or "Star Wars" books and earns a living through that, does that make them less of a creative person? They could very well be producing excellent stories on their own, with their own characters and situations.
But who would care? The majority of readers and television viewers don't want "new" adventures, they want to slip into stories with familiar names and faces. It's sad, but true. Americans have an uncreative majority; just look at all the copycat school shootings that have gone on over the past few years. We can't even come up with creative ways to kill each other.
From a writer's standpoint, I have to say that I have no shame or embarrassment in the works that I've created with others' characters, for several reasons. I always include an equal amount of my own characters at the same time, to balance off the familiar ones, as well as developing any under-developed characters. Also, it's something to at least keep the mental ball rolling, to keep my brain from locking up and either producing no work at all or stagnant pieces with no real meat to them. Third, it's a way to get things read. People will read about the familiar, but they won't give a damn about my latest novel.
Last of all, because I am unrepresented (hell, I can't even afford the postage to send agents my work, much less print out things, and all the computers I work off are someone else's), no one cares about what I have to say in my short stories and novels. What I've come up with is unmarketable, because I'm unknown. The miracle story presented on television, where a publishing agent randomly picked up the first "Harry Potter" book, is an exception to the rule; all my efforts would no doubt be tossed into a slush pile and forgotten... provided I could even find the cash to toss my work into the fray, which I can't.
Hence my frustration at the writing profession. If the only way that people will read anything I write is to use well-known characters, so be it. I'll do that, because it keeps my fires burning-- and it's a far more tragic thing to let a gift die than to restrict it to one avenue of existance.
Hmm. Lotsa stuff to catch up on.
On the subject of fanfic:
It's a shame and a waste. Oh, it's great when little Johnny and his barefaced boy scout pals make up rousing tales of their heroes, tearing about the house to make new tales for old heroes, but when "adults" do it, it's a horrific waste of time and talent.
Oh, sure; anything that brings enjoyment is a good thing, but I'll stick with Polonius' advice: "And above all, to thine own sense be true."
I could no more write stories of characters other people have created than I would cook in their kitchens unsolicited. For this reason, I stay away from media-based or "sharecropped" work, even though it may be by the likes of Peter David, Vonda McIntyre, W.T. Quick, Ann C. Crispin, David Gerrold, and all the other writers whose work I like who do media books. I'll begrudge them their work not at all, but I won't buy work that isn't wholly THEIRS, in idea and in ownership.
(there are a few exceptions: Nicholas Meyer's Sherlock Holmes stories, Robert Parker's Philip Marlowe books Philip Jose Farmer's Tarzan--but don't ask me why these don't offend me)
Fanfic, when bad, is simply horrible, proving that the acme of someone's ambition should be just that: Working at the Acme.
When good, it's heartbreaking; the talent that writes so beautifully should have taken the time to make up its own characters--and there's the "no-return-on-the-investment-save-a-chuckle factor, as well ...)
That reminds me: For a similar view--and much enjoyment, check out Sharyn McCrumb's two sf fandom mysteries--BIMBOS OF THE DEATH SUN and ZOMBIES OF THE GENE POOL. You'll laugh; you'll cry; you'll recognize a lot of friends ...
PETER: I did go to school for what I wanted (print journalism), but I put far too much credence in the stupidities of both myself and a few of my instructors, and VERY foolishly "dematriculated", allowing anger to rule the day.
TODD: Thanks for the heads-up. I e-mail George Scithers every now and again anyway (he posts to a few newsgroups in which I'm active); I might as well ask him (and he's also on the short list of agents I want to solicit when I'm FINALLY finished my novel).
Which brings me to the other big item: Writer's block.
Until just recently, my .sig file was something Edmund Wilson said to Lillian Hellman when she was one day complaining about her own writer's block, "Foolishness. A writer writes. That's all there is to it."
I had this as my signature file because I was trying oh-so-very hard to cleave to it.
Didn't work.
Even tonight, I sat staring at the screen for what seemed like the millionth time, with nothing to show for it. I haven't actually written since going on vacation at the end of July.
Oh; I've edited, plotted, researched and brainstormed--but not one new word has made it onto the screen.
That said, here's what I have to tell you, so listen up while I school you a mite:
There is no such thing as writer's block.
(Nor is there the broad, sweeping version, intimating that ALL scriveners must so suffer the pangs of dry pens on the mental scratchpad: "writers' block".)
Nope; no such animal.
What there are instead are myriad: writer's unreadiness, writer's downtime, writer's recharge, writer's apathy, and, most common of all, writer's fear.
That last is what I wear around my neck like an albatross. The fear that what next flows from my fingers won't be as good as what came before, the fear that what came before was in itself the height of dreckishness, fear of rejection once the work is finished, fear of success now and failure ever after, fear of the unfamiliar, fear that if I end up writing shit for the next chapter, it'll so infuriate and/or disillusion me that I'll give up on the work entirely, fear of losing the safety of being untested, unproven, and unpublished, fear of anything and everything under the sun.
Almost all of these are irrational. Almost all of these, even when unconsciously felt, I recognize when I start feeling them.
Yet it has taken me so long to get out from under their curse.
The solitary nature of writing itself, you see, like Goya said of the sleep of reason, breeds monsters.
Great carrion-breath dragons and hydrae pinwheel about in the murk of my brain, working doubletime to sabotage the work I do, and though my conscious mind rejects these bugaboos, it's all too easy to shamble off for a snack, a chat, a quick look at a book, website or newsgroup.
But I will let them have no more dominion over me; will not allow five years of work go down the tubes just because one final chapter refuses to come easily.
I will write.
God help me, I will write until my eyes grow red with effort; until my fingernails crack on the keys, until I can wring no more words from this feeble, febrile brain.
Because I deserve it.
I'm good enough.
And triumph WILL be mine.
(sorry for the overly lyrical style of this post--it comes from working to get inside my narrator, who thinks in a more archaic style than you or I.)
Fan fiction is a violation of copyright. However, each show handles the issue differently.
Blake's 7 creator Terry Nation expressly encouraged fan fiction and I'm sure was permissive of web sites and such.
Star Trek, on the other hand, has had to crack down on such copyright violations. Part of that can be laid at the feet of a "cold-hearted corporation" but much of it is a matter of necessity. If they do not defend the copyright over the years, they can lose it. Something like this happened with James Bond and allowed the production of the film Never Say Never Again even though it wasn't an "official" Bond film.
Generally speaking, I think most authors and creators will cut fans slack as long as there is no intent to profit from the material. However, it does not have to be created for profit to be a violation of copyright.
Hey, why doesn't someone try publishing a story with Jeffty or the Harlequin and the Ticktockman as characters and see how he likes it. :)
-chris
Fan fiction, most spectacularly Kirk/Spock porn written almost exclusively by female TREK fans (frequently involving one of the characters getting hurt, and the other having to take care of the injured party in dire, isolated circumstances; eventually this leads to tender intercourse, apparently--I've yet to see any of these texts, but Joanna Russ has a great essay in her collection MAGIC MOMMAS, TREMBLING SISTERS, PURITANS AND PERVERTS), has a long tradition of trampling on copyrighted characters. While most of this material up through the '80s was distributed when at all in hardcopy fanzine form, the newsgroups now seem to be the distibution mode of choice. So, websites, authorized or not, seem not too surprising, if indeed more susceptible to lawsuit than newsgroup postings. If there is parodic intent, however, one has a cover--certainly I doubt Fox pays Damon Knight ("To Serve Man"), the estate of Jerome Bixby ("It's a GOOD Life"), or others whose stories have been the ultimate basis for SIMPSONS Hallowe'en episodes, and I also doubt Donald Barthelme's "The Joker's Greatest Triumph" (1963), which has Batman and Fredric Brown discussing the former's current career, led to any payment by the author nor THE NEW YORKER to DC Comics nor Mr. Brown, although it clearly is the hidden source of the ABC live-action camp BATMAN tv series. (Meanwhile, fan media fiction, including sexually explicit "slash" [as in the solidus between Kirk and Spock in "Kirk/Spock"] fiction, is commonly being bandied about involving, among many others, even such unlikely-to-me character sets as those from the Canadian-US production DUE SOUTH.)
I hope I missed it--when you were discussing sword and sorcery a while back, did no one really mention Jack Vance? Certainly THE DYING EARTH and THE EYE OF THE OVERWORLD (collected with other stories as CUGEL'S SAGA I think it was) are enough by themselves to put Vance second only to Fritz Leiber in this field (Glen Cook at his best in this mode often reflects both Vance and Leiber). Joanna Russ (who borrows Leiber's characters at times) did some good work with her Alyx stories, Michael Shea did an authorized sequel to Vance's OVERWORLD (back when such things were rarer) and went on to other good work, and I also hope I simply missed the references to Karl Edward Wagner, who not only did the best Howard-character sequels, but did even better work with his own Kane (who resembles Solomon Kane only in his grimness). I'm glad to see someone cited A A Attanasio, whose historical fantasies are too little-known here (they sell ok, but are much more popular in the UK). Alex, Attanasio did his graduate school work in biochem at the University of Pennsylvania, in the early '70s.
Also, Alex, the Philadelphia SF Society still meets on some regular basis around here somewhere...and writer Camille Bacon-Smith still organizes author-readings under the title Philadelphia Fantastic. Some of them, such as Geo. Scithers out in KOP, might even be able to tell you where Heinlein's apartment was.
You know, Keegan, I too went to grad school for a while in a subject that was slightly off my desired topic...a mistake, but if I'd stuck with it, I think I would've been happier with consequences. Good luck!
BIX: Uh, I could be wrong, but I believe there are copyright laws set in place that require you to get permission to use characters created by other writers, as you seem to be saying you did in the note posted below (particularly in the case of the "Quantum Leap" thing; your mention of "Corps Values," which is a take on the "Babylon 5" show, doesn't state whether or not you've used characters from the TV series, but if you have, I think that might also be a problem). I could be wrong. But I do know that the folks who own franchises like "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" require that you gain permission and sign contracts, etc. So I'd bet that it's the same with the two SF shows mentioned above. If I'm right, and if people start to take notice of your site, you may get more attention than you bargained for. Out here, DTS.
I don't suppose this is directly HE-related, but kind of indirectly because he had a bit to do with the TV series, "Babylon 5." For anyone who is interested in the Psi Corps aspects of the series, feel free to drop by my website, "The Psi Corps' Martian Facility":
http://babylon5.acmecity.com/nars/122
There's a fiction story there, "Corps Values," based on J. Gregory Keyes' trilogy (and yes, it falls into that wretched category of "fan fiction," because no one will buy anything from an unknown and unrepresented writer). I also included a "Quantum Leap" story to revise the horrible ending of the television series, and there are a couple of shorter works in the link to "Bix's World"-- one is a sci-fi/horror twist called "A Crack in the Night Mirror" and the other is an autobiographical passage entitled "Dial 'M' for 'McDowall'" about actor Roddy McDowall, God rest his soul.
(And, yes, this is in every way the starved writer's ego begging unashamedly for any attention from the outside world)
Peter, I studied both what I wanted (actually, first what I thought I wanted, then what I did want) and it was happy circumstance that it was also what I needed. After flopping in computer science, I switched to chemical engineering. Much to the confusion and utter disbelief of many, I actually enjoyed math and chemistry (except organic, but that was partly due to the prof) and all that technical stuff. And fortunately, it's a well paying though sometimes cyclic field, with a lot of interesting work.
The only time I considered majoring in something bound to leave me penniless was junior high. I toyed with the idea of majoring in music (I played clarinet, and did through college). But, my parents and reality talked me out of it. I finally owned up to myself that while I had some natural talent, it was just that - some, not a lot - and that I would never be the type of person to want to *practice* for hours and hours every day. I loved playing, but discipline has never been my strong suit. I must admit that, having given it up after college, I miss it.
it's late, I'm waxing nostalgic, later..... Peg
Peter --
I AM taking what I want to in college: A double major in Philosophy and English. (D'you want fries with that?) I was going to take what I thought I needed, and get a Business minor, too, but I decided to hell with practicality. I haven't hit any sort of panic yet along the lines of "oh my god what am I going to do with my life almost everything I know is fairly useless in real life," but that's because I feel comfortable falling back on the optional career of street maniac.
Re: Writer's block. I've got a paper prospectus for 20th Century Drama due on Monday, and I know that I've been studying my options with a deep and all-consuming dread. I believe in its existence with all my little heart.
Wow, what a great set of comments.
Peter, I don't think I took either what I wanted or what I thought I needed in college. I took the courses that were most convenient. College is really wasted on the young, IMHO. If I were starting my undergrad work, I would bring a whole lot more enthusiasm to the process. I regret not taking more science classes simply because I found lab work for organic chemistry so hard.
Paul, thanks for the book recommendations. I will check them out.
Xanadua, Finder, Maggie and Peter again, thank you kindly for the comments regarding writing. I have been truly puzzled by my lack of ability to write recently, mostly because it was always so easy for me my whole life. This recent impotent feeling I get while staring at a blank screen is a whole new experience, much like first love and almost nearly as painful.
However, you are right. The fate of the world or even of my own life does not rest on my writing something today or tomorrow. There are other things occurring in life now. The word processor isn't going anywhere.
On the other hand, I do wonder if I might not be better able to write if it became a matter of necessity for me. HE talks about this in "An Hour with Harlan Ellison" interview. He (and many other writers of the time) wrote because he had too. To pay the rent. There was no divine inspiration and no luxury of procrastination afforded to him. He just cranked it out to get his next paycheck. And he got to flex his writing muscles every single day and eventually turned into the man who could produce works like Jeffty is Five and Mephisto in Onyx.
Perhaps the key is to not be afraid to write absolute crap. After all, if you don't it out of you, you just become constipated, right?
Thanks again for the comments.
-chris
Peg! Glad they got there ok. I baked them the morning I mailed them. I think that they need a bit more cinnamon, but then I'm more of a molasses cookie kind of person. I'd really appreciate your feedback on them.
Xanadu - very nicely put. Actually beautifully put.
Keegan - I always loved the research end of the things and would get so involved with that, that I ended up pulling all nighters to write the darned things. It's a wonder I passed any of those classes! As to the degree thing, have you considered that you may be living in the wrong state? My sister graduated with a bachelor's last spring and is now teaching band at a junior high near her. Then again, the population is decidedly skewed towards country music in that part of the world. I'm sure that my uncle would be happy to have you around (he's a devoted jazz fan and has been trying to convert the rest of the family for years), but an audience of one isn't quite the same.
Maggie
- they got here tuesday. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
Peg
P.S. - thanks for the tapes! My hubby loves Holmes and often has extended driving trips (well, not 4 hours like yours but long enough...)
Chris -
It is not the quality of dreams that makes you a dreamer. It is not the frequency; or if you dream in color; or if you dream long, involved tales. It is the fact that you dream, and that fact alone, that makes you a dreamer.
As my erstwhile partner in crime, Finder, said so much more eloquently than I could hope to; remove the onus of an adversarial relationship to writing. Let it be a joy and a force for change in your life. You may never sell a story, or a script, or an article, or a novel. You may become the next Harlan Ellison. That journey is yours alone to take. But take it with a smile and a song in your heart. Whether you are a Writer, by some arbitrary, academic measure of published output, or a writer of your heart that takes each piece, and puts them one after another into the trunk. In the end, the only audience you need to please is yourself.
Now that advice won't put food on your table if you wish to make writing your vocation, but as I heard Harlan once tell a young man during one of his talks, don't try to be a full-time writer. It's a hard, thankless job and there's no money in it. Don't study to be a writer in college - go out and do things, whatever you can get - have real world experience and real world skills you can fall back on. Harlan said he could always fall back on brick-laying if the writing gig ever fell through.
And lastly. "Writer" is merely a label. A way of categorizing folk into neat little packages. Real life ain't neat little packages - it doesn't matter if you fall within the white lines that say "Writer Within". You are what you are, regardless of the label. If your heart says write - then write and rejoice. If your heart says nevermore, then move on and rejoice. Writing is not life's ultimate achievement, nor is its opposite a failure. It is merely one more thing we can to do to explore our world and our lives.
Chris--
A good book about getting over your writing fears and hang-ups is Julia Cameron's "The Right to Write". Cameron precedes from the thesis that we are _all_ writers, regardless of how we make a living or spend most of our time. Our need to communicate with other people, she asserts, makes us writers.
And if anyone is looking for a great book about writing genre fiction, you can do no better than Michael Moorcock and Colin Greenland's "Death is No Obstacle" which, in its way, is just as inspiring as Cameron's book.
Ohgod. I shouldn't even be allowed to write. I just got back from an exam and (FINALLY) the library. The words! words! words! WORDS!
I don't understand why it overwhelms me so. I love to learn. I LOVE words, and I even like to write. Why do I hate school so????
I studied what I thought I needed. I am a jazz musician and I've known it for a long time. I studied music education for two reasons: because I thought it would give me a strong background in skills of musicianship and because it would also give me a day gig (teaching music) which is related to my primary pursuit (playing music).
I would rather have studied jazz music per se. I would have learned the same musical skills, but through the use and language of American popular music, NOT classical musics in and through Western European art music.
At this point, I am only studying music in the formal setting because the State tells me I must have a masters' degree to teach in the public schools. Quite frankly, my high school educated mother was one of my best music teachers. I'm resentful that I have to have a pedigree.
Peter - that's actually a good question. I majored in theatre, although the very first class I ever took in college was poetry writing (where I discovered that there are a lot of really bad poets out there, and while I wasn't the best by a long shot, it could have been worse - and we won't even go in to Sunny, the California blonde. Sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason). Theatre was what I needed at the time, and it was fun (or as much as anything could be fun, considering the mental state I was in at the time), but it isn't really marketable and, to tell the truth, I'd love to go back to school and study anthropology and literature - I swear, the way lit is taught in public schools can be pretty wretched. My 21 yr old sister loved watching the BBC Shakespeare plays on TV when she was 7, but now she thinks she's too dumb and that Shakespeare is this big fat sacred cow. Peeves me and makes me want to become a high school English teacher.
I too have spent time contemplating whether or not I'm a writer and the answer is, I don't know. I do know that I'm a story teller. I have a terrible time getting the stories on to the page. I think that it has to do with that wretched theatre major. I've written things that have been published in the local paper (arts section, not a big deal. Not like I'm getting money for it or anything!) and the editor was just shocked when I told him how I write them. I tell them to myself out loud over and over until they flow right. When I'm trying to get them down on paper, I have a harder time finding the flow. To tell you the truth, I don't know that I have any long stories. I'd like to find out, but between a job I'm not keen on, and the 4 hours a day I spend on the bus, I can't seem to even find the little stories I was writing before. They still come, but I can't tell them to myself on the bus and so work them out.
Wish I had a car. Well, job hunting now and the goal is a job that will let me afford a car and my trips. I need a lot of trips.
Peter - I studied what I wanted. Of course, I was blessed by a couple of nice classes that accomodated my interests while also meeting requirements - the History of Modern Warfare springs to mind (the grade was based on two ten page papers of our choice, written on ANY topic relating to modern warfare. That one of my papers was an analysis of Warner Brothers' wartime cartoons entitled "Of Course You Know, This Means War" should tell you the fun factor for me.) And I went with certain professors, regardless of the subject matter, because they were masterful instructors. I certainly didn't take Faulkner as one of my major authors because the class on Poe was full. But in retrospect, the Faulkner class was challenging and I've come to enjoy his writing as a result.
Keegan - Hang in there, songbird; look that paper dead in the eye, wrassle it to the ground, give it what for (because we all know you've got the power), and dance it up to the prof with a smile on your face and a little be bop in your step.
Here is something for all you college grads out there. Did you study what you wanted? Or did you study what you thought you needed?
I find myself in latter situation, and I'd rather be writing.
---Peter (there was more, but it seemed too much like me whining)
I don't know from writer's block. I *do* know all about "term-paper anxiety". I have it bad. I failed 20th century Music History in undergrad all because I procrastinated on finishing my paper. I asked for and GOT two extensions. I then asked for an Incomplete and the prof (a brilliant and very hip musicologist) looked me square in the eye and said, "No. You fail." It stunned me and cost me a fifth year in undergrad.
Since then, I have finished my papers, but I don't always do the "brilliant" work which, word has it, I can do. And I get really stressed out in the process. I go through the motions and end up doing shoddy research because I mentally "give up."
I'm now taking a Baroque history seminar with the man who failed me in undergrad. He knows I am capable of good writing and research because I aced his class in Bibliography and Research. I wrote an excellent paper on the technique of jazz singing. You'd never know it from my Net rantings, but I actually can compose complete---sometimes complex---sentences, and yes, I know exactly where one should use a comma (though I, apparently don't always know exactly where to put a period). -/:>)
Anyway, I'm feeling that anxiety again. I'm going through library avoidance and that's not a good thing. The paper is due on November 2 and I dare not ask for an extension.....
Deadlines suck.
CHRIS - I stood at this particular crossroads about five years ago. I had essentially stopped writing - poetry, short stories, screenplays, the whole gamut. I made a lot of proud noise about having this idea or that concept, but the actual "work" rarely amounted to three scribbled sentences in a beat up notebook. And I reached the point where I thought I had to make a decision: to write or not to write. Was I going to put legitimate energy to it, or wasn't I?
When I asked myself that question and thought on it, I had an epiphany. The realization sank in that the question was moot, because it was a question set up entirely in adversarial terms. To "give up" writing made it sound like a loadstone that needed to be cut loose because it was strangling me. But if that was the case, if it was causing such angst, why was there even any question about keeping something like writing in my heart? Answer: because the writing I was talking about giving up was a chore - and that was something writing was never supposed to feel like. I put pen to paper to escape, to dream, to vent, to love, to crusade, to laugh - and now I was debating the merits of cutting it loose like some kind of albatross?
And that's when I realized if I treated writing like I was obligated to it, I would never enjoy it, and I would be better off not doing it. But I found I still loved it as a part of me. So I de-obligated it. I re-made it something creative I do when the inspiration strikes me, I reinvented it for where I was in time and space. And once I came to terms with what it was and what I could do with it again, I found it flowed; off and on, mind you, but when it's on, I think it's pretty good. And since then, there've been a number of well-realized projects that I've enjoyed creating. As a bonus, I found when I returned to it (and I took a solid year off from serious work on it), it was more mature, as I was more mature. I've been tuning and playing ever since.
To your questions; are you a writer? Certainly. Is Harper Lee any less a writer because she's had no public presence since "To Kill A Mockingbird"? Hardly. Writing is a craft like any other; you either weave the basket, or you stare dumbly at the wicker. Once you can weave, it's impossible to just stare again.
Can you be a writer? That depends on you, your relationship with writing, what you want to do accomplish. It sounds like you need to come to terms with what writing means to you and the image you have of it. Maybe you need to reinvent its meaning and rediscover what you like about it before you can make an objective decision.
Should you be honest with yourself and move on to other pursuits? ONLY if you can look yourself in the eye, identify the things in your heart of hearts that you enjoy about putting pen to paper, and decide those things are truly dead to you. If it is, then bury it and move along. Always know that writing can be like a phoenix when you bury it. But there's no reason writing can't also be an old friend you have tea with every now and again, just to get something out of your system. It has to be whatever it needs to be for you, but you control it.
PETER - Believe me, the orange cheesecake is a little slice of heaven - perhaps too much so. My family hounds me incessantly. I made a pecan pie for Christmas last year - my sister's first question was "You brought a cheesecake too, right?" I'm required to give the thing a ride home at the holidays, or Santa leaves me coal. And since the parents split, I need to bake two. And now my dear old Aunt Marguerite, having tasted a slice, made me promise to bring her one this Christmas - and I can't say no to her, she's such a nice lady...anyway, any adventurous souls with a springform pan who'd like the recipe, let me know - then you too can become enslaved by the Cream Cheese People...
Chris-- of course you're not a writer. Sheesh.
Okay, seriously though, a writer is something you become the moment you set down and put words on paper (or on a screen). A professional writer is one who gets paid for their words, but there is no shame in being an amateur. Hell, one of my best friends in the world, a girl capable of such sweetness and compassion, and at the same time sadness that she can't always express her emotions forthright, has volumes and volumes of journals and poems. And I'm talking really good poetry. She has an ear for rhythm and an eye for detail that make me jealous. But she doesn't get things published, and her words are only read by close friends. Do I consider her a poet? Yes. Do I consider her a writer? Yes. And a damn good one at that. However, she has had a lot of her own personal traumas and dramas over the last year, and her writing has fallen off. She hasn't had time to write down even little things.
I think what I'm getting at is that you don't have to give up writing forever. Once a writer, always a writer. For some people it's like oxygen, for other's it's like cheesecake. I cannot give up oxygen, just like I can't give up writing. However, if it were like cheesecake? I think I could probably give it a miss for a while and still say that I'm a cheesecake connoisseur.
Maybe there are some associations between writing and past events which make the prospect of picking up pen and paper (or sitting in front of a word-processor) troubling? Who knows. It's late, I'm incoherent with exhaustion, and it's all I can do to keep words spelled correctly. I'm going to make a book recommendation. It's particularly apt on this subject. Stephen King: Bag of Bones.
Sorry if I'm not being any help, I'm not even sure what I'm writing right now. This is why I stopped writing stories past midnight. I used to think some of my best ideas came out after midnight, then I read them during the day. hehehe.
---Peter (signing off and falling into sleepyland)
Great comments on writer's block. I am appreciative.
I have thought about this a lot recently and am trying to decide whether I am a writer or not. I have no doubt HE would say not and I am inclined to agree but I'm not willing to give up the ghost just yet, not without more thought.
Here's the situation: I used to write all the time. I had no problem with it. It felt natural and was enjoyable. I had a story published in a an amateur mag but never in any "real" mag or for money.
However, I have not written for nearly three years now. This period does coincide with a series of personal traumas that need not be detailed.
I had thought for most of that time that I simply had other things to worry about more. Now, though, I don't think I have that excuse any longer. And yet... I still don't write.
I was tempted to say "cannot" write but I can obviously sit down and write so let's stick with "don't."
It is not for lack of ideas, it is for lack of craft and, I believe, lack of attention span.
This puzzles me as this was never the case for me at any point in my life before. I was always sure I was a writer even though I never had any particular plans about doing it for a living or even getting paid.
But that seems to have changed.
So here's a question I pose. And I do not wish anyone to alter their answer for fear of offense. I am not easily offended and, even if I were, would not be offended by any potential answer as I don't know it myself.
I haven't written for nearly three years. I do not write now even when I try to. Am I writer or not? Can I be a writer or not? Should I be honest with myself and move on to other pursuits?
Like I said, have no concerns about offense. I expect HE fans to have no trouble being brutally honest.
-chris
Writer's block? I don't believe in such an animal. Writer's cramp? That's another story. I get writer's cramp occasionally, and I don't mean my hand or my wrist. Writer's cramp is when my brain has squeezed shut for some reason or another, whether it be personal, or just something to do with the story. Like Finder, I tend to go off and do other things when my brain is cramped. I'll read, cook, watch tv, play a computer game, study for exams, surf the web, contemplate my navel, contemplate a certain female's navel, write something totally unrelated to my current project, write a poem about a certain female's navel, sing, listen to music, sing while listening to music, play my trombone (that was before I neglected it for three years and the slide seized up on me, I'm saving up for a new one), make lemonade, drink lemonade, and maybe write a letter to a certain female and ask her about her navel. Then, when my brain has relaxed some, I go back and work on whatever it was I got stuck on. Sometimes that is three months later, of course. In fact, I've just got back to one story I started over the summer. Now I know where it is going, and my brain has retracted a bit, allowing the ideas to come through. I've never had all of my creatvie channels turn off at once, which is what I would consider writer's block, but I have had some slow down with heavy traffic and the occasional road accident.
---Peter(all that talk of navels, I'm in the mood for oranges... speaking of oranges, Finder, that orange cheesecake sounds like it'd be deeeeeeeliscious... I'm a cheesecake kinda guy)
Ok, here I am housesitting at the Nirvana for gadget heads and people who love water (are you kidding?!?! Not only does this place have a it's own (free - have I mentioned I rent?) laundry facilities and dishwasher, it has a shower bigger than my closets with 2 (count 'em) shower heads and, oh be still my beating heart - yeah, you all thought I saved that for male induced hormonal derangement - a hot tub and serious collection of single malt Scotches. Nice to have friends!) and working on finding a job where
a) I don't have to work for a naive, narrow minded 28 year old who keeps trying to convince me that working at Kmart in Ames, IA makes her "worldly."
b) my commuting time is reduced from 4 hours a day to 1 or less. And I'm easy with this. Pay me enough to buy a car and not have to give up next year's return engagement in Paris, and I'm on it.
So, spent hours working on resumes, cover letters (thank god for libraries!) and internet job searches and, before I sign off, I check the board.
Does writer's block exist? Funny you should ask! I have a book by Mercedes Lackey where the lead character, besides being seriously into the occult, is a romance novelist. At one point in time, the character tells a room full of HS students that there is no such beast because a professional writer can't afford the affectation of writer's block. If she gets stuck, she works on another project, takes a break, talks it through with somebody, etc., and then gets back making the rent. Seems like you're handling the thing correctly Finder!
Personally? I don't get writer's block - other than for cover letters! Then again, it's hard enough to read on the bus, let alone write, so I'm not doing much of it these days. Most free time is directed towards getting away from this stupid, mind sucking #@* commute.
With me, not being able to move along in a story or script - and we're talking grand mal hitting the wall, complete blank slate, gosh Bob what do I do now BLOCK - happens one of two ways:
1) It may be a total vapor lock on the writing at hand. I permutate the tale in my head until I've choked all the life out of it, and I stand there like Lenny examining the poor unmoving bunny rabbit wondering how I fix what I innocently mauled; or
2) It may be something else that's bothering me that I haven't fully worked out yet in an wholly unrelated area - dating, family, work, the things I slip into writing to escape from. But it lurks in the back of my mind and festers until it comes to a head, I deal with it, and I get back to the business at hand, that being the forementioned permutating and choking.
Number 2) solves itself, and writing is merely a casuality that recovers. I've found I can work around Number 1) by moving on to one of my other creative pursuits: photography or cooking. Both provide a very good chance to cool down and for me to rebuild my writing thoughts, clean the BS filter, and renew my gramattical efforts.
Of course, there are perks: in the course of writing the first third of my novel, I took some killer still-life shots in the National Cathedral, and perfected both my orange cheesecake and pecan pie recipes. Who ever said writing - or lack thereof, for that matter - can't lead to some great things anyway?
Hmmm.... sounds like something a college prof might say on an essay test.
(I'm *so* sorely tempted to say, sure, right down there on aisle 8 in the hardware store, got 2 brands.... *giggle*)
Yes, it exists, even for those of us who aren't writers. I get blocked consistently when it's time to write annual performance reviews, appraisals, etc., on myself. Takes a while to overcome, then the words will come.
But then again, I'm considering writer's block to be that state when, asked to write something, can think of nothing to put on the page. Is that what you meant.
Topic of Discussion:
Is there any such thing as Writer's Block (tm)?
Or is it just an excuse?
Discuss.
Finder-- I usually say that I'll go back to a story and send it off somewhere else, except I usually move on. Occasionally I get back to a story, see something wrong (or right) with it, and go about re-writing, or at least editing. However, I am abysmal in my proofreading and therefore find the prospect of taking the fine tooth comb to my stories (again) disheartening. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I usually find some glaring technical error in the first two pages that just stares up at me and says "I'm the reason you got the rejection letter instead of the check."
Mainly though, I just see myself growing, and sometimes see things in my earlier stories that make me cringe. Strange turns of phrase that make my hair stand on end, or interesting grammatical constructs that can only look good at three o'clock in the morning after studying for a particularly stressful exam mark many of my earlier stories. I just thank goodness the post office doesn't pick up at three in the morning, or I'd be in real trouble.
So, I guess my answer is, I say I'll send them out again, but don't. Perhaps that's my biggest problem, since sending things out is something I'm just getting comfortable with. Re-sending should be the next logical step.
---Peter
FYI
I got a note from WhiteWolf today:
-----------------------------------------
Edgeworks 5 & 6 are delayed indefinitely. We do not have a new release date for either of them. Sorry, but I don't have any information beyond that.
-----------------------------------------
- t
Peter - That pre-supposes there's a shred of logic left in the weary space between my eyes and ears...more power to you with a submission, but let me ask: if Van Gelder takes a pass, do you turn the tale around and snap it off to another market, an Analog or Asimov's or other? Currently I trunk it and move on to one of the other ten ideas in my head, with a vague promise to self that I'll re-examine it later. Just curious about other methodologies.
wow!! The Webderheads return to the roost! Big Welcome Back *HUG* for Wylie, Jason, and Peg :-)
I thought it was the same Jason you did Keegan.. So you've got company if we're both wrong ;-)
Re: the e-read - I'm not sure that it would be much diferent financially for the authors, since people have always bought and passed around books and magazines (and often xeroxed the latter). In fact, I've often wondered if authors who complain about losing royalties due to people lending or xeroxing their work royalty-free resented libraries for giving out royalty-free reads of their work.. Not saying they do - just wonder what the difference is.. ;-)
Quarterly greetings to all! Life without my own computer is like having no phone, I swear. Looks like I've missed a lot, as usual, and I've missed all of you. PETER: Go for it. That Gordon guy ain't so hot. Does anyone else miss K.K. Rusch? Good luck to you. PEG: I missed your visit! I'm sorry! Things are just work, work, sleep, work, work here so who knows if I would have been able to hook up with you, but I sure would have tried. Hope you had a marvelous time--it's been the prettiest (and warmest) fall I have ever seen here. DOC: you are so close and yet I haven't been to the city since the day we met...how's it goin'? I think about you and Sue and Joe all the time. Speaking of SUE! Hey lady! Still laughing here everytime I think about our day. Omigosh--I know I should be emailing instead of holding old home week on the bboard, but my time on this borrowed computer is almost up. I'll get in touch again and sooner this time. Take care all!
wylie
Finder-- using that logic, what does that say about those of us who send material to F&SF editor Gordon Van Gelder?
Speaking of sending things in, I've just finished a new story and feel really good about it. I suppose I'll try F&SF first. Only problem is, I really do feel like I've been cut at the nuts after recieving a GVG rejection. Though I guess it's because he actually READS my stories before rejecting 'em. Ah well, nothing ventured...
---Peter
Hey Tim - if I ran the zoo, I'd shave half an hour off the sorry sight that has become "Saturday Night Live" and give HE a weekly, half-hour live program to wrangle with who or what ever he might care to during any given week: skewer the religious right, interview Dan Simmons, give his favorite soup recipie, whatever. In a world where Jack Van Impe can preach his take on the gospel (and as an aside, who in their right mind would listen to a preacher whose name breaks down into "Jack of the Imps" anyway?), wouldn't it be just as kosher to listen to Harlan expound a little? America might even learn something along the way.
That being said, I will probably never get to run the zoo because I just can't get behind spending millions of dollars on what mundanely passes for entertainment these days.
where's the love?
We sorely miss H.E.*s appearences on Tom Snyder*s
show! Politically Incorrect is a waste of his time &
wit. Please... get him scheduled on a decent venue that is
viewable on our limited cable access.
Hello folks! It's been a while since I've been on here, but I've got a fast, new computer here at home now, so I should be visiting frequently. Anyhow, I'm the managing Editor of Filmfax and Outré magazines. We're near where Harlan worked at Rogue about 40 years ago, and he writes for us occasionally. In fact, we've got an up-dated version of his 3 Faces of Fear coming up soon. Our next issue is a Twilight Zone tribute, with comments by Harlan, and he lent me some swell pix Bill Rotsler took of him in the early '60s. Just thought you'd like to know.
More later.
James JJ Wilson
Jason, aren't you Jason Kurosawa who's been a Webderdenizen since the way back??? I thought that's who you are. Should I remember you more specifically?
Any, on the financial stuff: that makes sense. As long as the artists are getting paid and the copies are clean. Bootlegs have their charm, but they are often of inferior quality. It sounds like a cutting-edge literary venture. Here, here! and Salud!
keegan do you even remember me?
As for how he gets payed. I believe someone pays for the codes allowing them to download and decrypt the download.
As was said the guy doing this is HE's former agent so I'm sure HE feels he'll get payed
Hi yall, back from the land of grapes and plays.
Maggie - did the package arrive???
Rick - how kind of you to throw me a birthday e-party! Whatever else could you be planning for October 18th?? *giggle* Well, I wait with baited bytes for what you truly are planning.
(I must admit, between Rick's announcement and the post about e-reads, it makes one wonder about any possible connection....)
Got tons of laundry and my plants *need* me after so long an absence... Later! Peg
KEEGAN & FINDER: re. the electronic rights and ebooks discussion. Noticed that a previous poster (can't recall the name right now) mentioned that the site which had Ellison's books available was run by Richard Curtis. Curtis (who handles Ellison and Dan Simmons, among others) is one of the few agents who are on the "cutting edge" of dealing with copyright issues and how they pertain to the writer. He is, I 've been told, dedicated to making sure writer's get their due in this respect. So, in that regard, I'd say Ellison's work is in good hands as far as the internet sites are concerned. Where hackers and such are concerned, I don't think anyone will ever be able to stop the occasional no-life bone-head with something to prove. Out here, DTS.
Jason - Interesting news. It bothers me that I work in a technical field and am a stone's throw from Gaithersburg and heard absolutely nothing about this conference - usually the promo material piles up to the waist.
Keegan - the most plausible compensational scenarios for the E-Book concern to work under would probably be either a) an up-front fee paid by the reader for the book, of which the author collects a set amount (a kind of E-royalty), or b) the author gets a set amount per hit on the web page or file containing the title. Where I imagine it gets dicey is in handling of the file; without getting into encryption keys and other safeguards, it becomes very easy to suck text out of cyberspace and pass it along at the web site's (and author's) expense. I knew professors who used "An Edge In My Voice" as class text back at SUNY-B; with inadequate protection of the author's electronic manuscript, I can see where students would adopt a "let's all chip in a quarter and buy an electronic copy we can pass out on disk to everyone" attitude.
Hi, Jason.
What do I think? I think it's always been about content and it appears that HE thinks so, too.
What do you do? Pay to read the e-book? How's HE collect on all that? None of my business, I know, but I'm not asking in a personal light. How does it work financially for any author or his/her estate?
I once had a humanities professor tell me that I was the only man he had met who had actually read and finished Mists of Avalon. Of course, this same guy was fired from a tenured position a year later.
---Peter
Long time no stop by. Hi keegan. Got this in the email
a little late but oh well
HARLAN ELLISON was a keynote speaker at the Electronic Book '99
(http://www.nist.gov/ebook99) conference sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), 21-22 Sept in Gaithersburg, Md. Ellison will address the conference, whose attendees are largely in the technical and electronic fields, about the relationship of human values to technology. The author, who chooses not to own a computer and composes all of his stories on a manual typewriter, "working at the level of technology that best produces my art, and not one grommet more sophisticated," nonetheless recently decided to release some of his books electronically. Thirteen of Ellison's works will be published in e-book format by E-Reads, an e-book startup whose Web site is
scheduled for launch later in the year. Ellison's books will join some 600 classic titles in such genres as thrillers, fantasy, romance, science fiction and suspense The Ellison titles to appear on the E-Reads list are STRANGE WINE, SHATTERDAY, SLEEPLESS NIGHTS IN THE PROCRUSTEAN BED, OVER THE EDGE,
AN EDGE IN MY VOICE, CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER, ELLISON WONDERLAND, APPROACHING OBLIVION, DEATHBIRD STORIES, MEMOS FROM PURGATORY, I HAVE NO MOUTH & I MUST SCREAM, WEB OF THE CITY, and SPIDER KISS. E-Reads was founded by RICHARD CURTIS, Ellison's long-time agent turned e-book publisher. Curtis
will also be addressing the conference. His speech, "Content Spoken Here," reminds the technical community "that without good books, the e-book is nothing more than a fancy, but empty, shell."
====
what da ya think?
Man, this is the first place I've heard of Marion Zimmer Bradley's death. Wow. I didn't hear a peep anyplace else.
That's a drag. I wasn't so much into the collections of short stories and stuff, but I did like her re-workings of classic legends from a woman-centered, pagan worldview. Reminded me (kinda) of the Living Bible: not a direct translation of a story, but a paraphrase. MISTS OF AVALON and THE FIREBRAND really made me think about those myths in a different way.
And spelling... yuck...
My apologies for the wretched grammer of the preceding post. I am distraught...
A bit of news that might affect Harlan... (Though he has pretty much disavowed himself of the property.)
A company called Digital Stream has apparently created a "Special Edition" of the classic Star Trek episode "The Doomsday Machine" - in this "Special Edition", thay have completely eliminated the original exterior effects shot and inserted brand new CGI shot in their stead, as well as "enhancing" some interior FX.
(If you can't tell from my liberal ""'s, I am stunned and amazed, and I wholeheartedly decry this as monsterous tampering akin to "colorizing" old B/W films...)
A more thorough explication of this can be found at aint-it-cool-news.com - in the coaxial news area.
Now, I had disquieting feelings about the whole Star Wars Special Editions things, but the original creator was directly involved in it, so I choked down my bile. But with these horrendous, thalidamide piles of steaming offal, I have to let it out. And since I sincerely doubt many, if any, of the original creators will be involved in the desecration of these episodes, I object. Quite strongly, even.
I urge anyone who cares to write to Paramount, and tell them in no uncertain terms that this kind of revisionist reworking is NOT ACCEPTABLE, and will be met with hostile response. (I don't really care if you like the original Star Trek, are mildly amused by it, or if you complete hate it. This is an awful precedent to set, and someday they will get to a series you like....)
I'll note that this is not a "done deal", in fact, according to the article I read, it is strictly a spec concept by this company, Digital Stream (I'll note that their website is now down). We can stop this if we work together.
(And Rick might mention this the next time he speaks to Harlan. While he doesn't care for what they did to his script originally, I doubt he wants anyone else adding their "improvements" to the stew.)
Aggravatedly,
Xan
I was sorry to hear about Ms. Bradley's passing. You're almost always too young to go but 69 is way too young.
Mists of Avalon was a very challenging and important book to me. I doubt I had ever read a "mature" book (i.e. not Judy Blume or other kid's books) written by a woman at that time, esp. not one which focused on female characters. It was pretty special.
I went to Border's today and was impressed to see they already had a small memorial for her set up with a brief bio and other info as well as a bunch of her books. Who says bookstore workers don't read?
Well, John Byrne has done plenty of work recently.
It is of interest in the sense that a train wreck is of interest to some. All depends on your taste.
Spider-Man:Chapter One - since they screwed up Spidey's origin so badly the first time, I think I'll just change everything then maybe this character will catch on!
Ugh.
-chris
Not that it's particularly on topic here, and I have no idea of Harlan's opinions of her, but I just found out that Marion Zimmer Bradley is dead at age 69.
I always hate it when those names I remember from my earliest reading memories go....
To Whom It May Concern:
"The Useless Pages" now has a link to "The Harlan Ellison Chatroom".
http://www.go2net.com/internet/useless
Keegan: I must be as old as you are. How fondly I remember the Byrnes of the '80s, David AND John. Has either done anything interesting recently? Are they still alive? Am I still alive?
KEEGAN: "Weirdness with a little bit of Middle America inside" perfectly describes "American Beauty." It's a satire of the middle class, American family (and the truly American art of Jonesing -- keeping up with the Joneses -- at the expense of your own happiness). Kevin Spacey as the unhappy husband is excellent ("I rule!"); ditto for the rest of the cast (Annette Benning does a great job as the imperfect perfectionist wife). Homophobia, the Lolita complex, parent/teenager relationships, marriage, life-in-the-corporate-world, fast-food restaurants...all this and more is put on the skewer and roasted over an open flame. Hilarious stuff. To top it all off, few films ever had a more perfect ending (the closing monologue is dead-on...so to speak). Informationally yours, the man.
OOOH! Infoman *and* Finder speak positively of the same movie.
Quite frankly, from the trailers on the teevee, I can't tell what the hell this movie is about (remeber: when *i* think "American Beauty", I think Grateful Dead or, remotely, rose gardening).
What's SO worthwhile about this flick, IYO?
Am I living in the wasteland?
BTW: one of the greatest things I've read about film in (in general) for a while was on Salon (www.salon.com) about the re-release of Jonathan Demme's concert movie "Stop Making Sense." The author posited that David Byrne was not "Middle America with weirdness inside, but Weirdness with Middle America inside" (or something more-or-less like that).
Then I hear something about Byrne and Talking Heads on Terry Gross's "Fresh Air". What the hell?? Is there an 80s revival? And why the hell do I feel so goddam old all of a sudden??????
Infoman never lied - "American Beauty" is fascinating, beguiling, and will get under your skin. Take it from someone who played hooky on Friday to ensure a daytime viewing experience devoid of the typical Friday night youth element.
ALL: If you haven't seen "American Beauty" yet, hie thee to a theatre and do so -- now! It's a classic. Informationally yours, the man.
I thought it was "cromulent" not "crupulent."
What a cornucopia of wisdom is the internet!
Corey - Edna Krabapple questions the validity of "embiggens" (she'd never heard it before coming to Springfield) - and that snippy Miss Hoover replies with the exact remark provided by our esteemed webmaster in his post. --Finder (who can't remember to take out the trash - go figure)
Rick, how much did you have to pay INFOMAN for that announcement?
THEFOLLOWINGISANADVERTISEMENTPAIDFORRICKWYATTENTERPRISES:
You think you know fear?
You think you know terror?
Everything you think you know about
!!!!!TERROR!!!!
will prove to be...grammatically incorrect!
COMING COMING COMING
on October 18th (in chat rooms eveywhere)
!!! RANT !!!
(by Rick Wyatt, age...neveryoumind)
Be Afraid.
Be very, very...er, um...uneasy
TO THE 83,000 PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN ASKING WHEN THE WEB PAGE/RANTS WILL BE UPDATED: Wait for October 18th. That's all I'll say right now.
TO ALL: I don't know why you're complaining about "embiggen", it's a perfectly crupulent word!
When I visited this board a few minutes ago and read Joseph's question, I knew I'd find the answer in my paperback copy of SLIPPAGE, which also has "The Man Who Rowed Christopher Columbus Ashore". And sure enough, on the lawyer's page it says, "The stories in this collection originally appeared in the following anthologies or magazines" and first on the list is THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES:1993. I was pleased as punch and all set to post my answer as "INFOMAN, Jr." but my masculine intuition told me to hit my browser's reload button just in case. And I'll be God damned if the REAL INFOMAN hadn't already provided the answer! In fucking credible. That's what you are, INFOMAN.
And of course Harlan would never write "embiggen". I was just being a silly goose.
Actually, Springfield's founder was Jebadiah Springfield. Coincidently, they just replayed the episode locally where "embiggens" is used. I can't remember if it is Marge or Lisa that questions the validity of such a word...
Corey--Simpsons fanatic
JOSEPH: the volume you are looking for is "Best American Short Stories 1993" (it was published in 1994, of course). TOM: Can't believe you'd think Ellison would use a nonsene word like "embiggen," even in jest; especially these days when "lite," "rite" and "irregardless" are so widely accepted as correct. ALL: I know I may be expecting too much, but, being a former news junkie I happened to switch on the tube late yesterday (around 4:30) -- AFTER writing, doing house chores, and playing Dad-- and happened to catch an MSNBC "anchor" talking to a NASA rep. about the latest Mars debacle (speaking of the CLimate Observer, here -- millions of dollars and they can't even get a navigation expert that knows how to calculate properly -- no kidding, it was all due to a decimal point...what's been called the worst navigation error in over 30 years); anyway, this jamook from MSNBC is talking to the guy from NASA and he asks, in all seriousness, "Has anything like this ever happened before?" I could see the NASA guy to a visible double take. (personally, I wanted to throw a brick throught the TV, only I knew it wouldn't hit home). I mean, the MSNBC idiot couldn't have been any younger than mid to late twenties (I'm guessing the latter -- no older than 30, tops), so that would have made him at least 18 years old in 1993 -- when the Mars Observer disappeared. How the hell do feeps like that actually get into the "news" business? (sigh). Ellison is right. Breakfast really is nostalgia for generations born after 1965. It's a brave (and clueless) world we live in folks. Informationally, the man.
Anybody remember which edition of "Best American Short Stories" HE's "Rowing Columbus Ashore" appeared in? I would be most grateful to whoever can provide this information.
Troy McClure, as Springfield founder Hans Springfield: "A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
Webmaster Wyatt: You have not updated your rants page in many many a moon. Are you all ranted out? If someone else submitted a rant would you consider posting it? (And are you still writing?)
"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man (or woman, as the case may be)."
Who said this? Was it Harlan?
No, keegan, I'm not a music major. Just somebody who's listened to music what ain't the Spice Girls. And you're right, INFOMAN is one smart cookie. Which leads me to my next question: Why does Shostakovich keep quoting "The William Tell Overture" in the first movement of his Symphony No. 15? And my third question: Does anybody give a shit? (Please don't answer my third question.)
TOM: What can I tell ya, kiddo. I've seen the internet abused by so many kids looking for a shortcut on their homework, that I just figured you were doing the same. I should'a given you the benefit o' the doubt. I'm sure you weren't up to anything like that...and if you click on the "home" button at the top of this page, Pandas will fly outta Rick's butt (really). INFOMAN, signing out (up, up, and away...no wait, that's the other guy's line).
Oooh!Oooh! I know who Anton Webern was! You a music major, Tom?
I'm sure Infoman knows too. He's pretty much a genius, ja? 'Least based on what I've seen 'round here.....
Always lurking (still not reading anything but the 'Net for fun, tho'. Now I'm reading books and articles on Baroque improvisational practice. Big fun. Whoopee.)
Thank you, INFOMAN, and give ol' Norrin Radd a big smooch for me. (Does INFOMAN even know who Anton Webern is?)
TOM: Yeah, his name was Raph Mittgang -- now go do your OWN homework, ya knucklehead!
Anyone know the name of the soldier who shot Anton Webern?
And now for the latest "Ellison Mentioned" news: As reported by Robert Silverbery in the lasest ediion of Asimov's, he and Ellison were asked by a fan for their autographs. After HE signed, Silverberg took the book, crossed out Ellison's signature and replaced it with his own. Love to hear HE's take on the same story. -- Billy D. (Sorry, that's as interesting as I can get tonight).
See what happens when you forget to pay attention to what's
happening with your formatting? Drat and double drat.
Moira> HI! yourself...
Syzygy> As for 'Sword & Sorcery' recommendations, why not start
with the man who coined the term -- Fritz Leiber. Robert E.
Howard antedates him in the *writing* of it, but Fritz made it
something more. I've only read the first of the Thomas Covenant
books, but I'm trying to work up the resolve to read the next --
I would be far more eager if the title character weren't so
utterly annoying.
Recently, I've been reading and fighting with the novel. If you haven't read Gaiman's NEVERWHERE, it's terrific. So is Frank
Robinson's latest, WAITING. Anyone out there kn0ow how we can
bludgeon or otherwise pursuade a publisher to present Eleanor
Arnason's follow-up to RING OF SWORDS?
Gotta dash -- BARNEY> Get my letter?
Cheers,
Doc
DTS - don't know that I liked Action all that much, but it was nice to hear a Warren Zevon tune on TV! Way better than that awful moment last fall when our erstwhile hizzoner, Governor Jesse Ventura, croaked his way painfully (at least to these ears) through Werewolves of London during his inaugural party at the local basketball palace. Good to know a fellow Zevon fan!
I have to say that I find the S & S recommendations decidedly tilted towards male authors. Not picking a fight, just observing that it seems odd to me as I like the fantasy genre and most of my favs are women and there are lots of good sword fights out there if you're interested. Just a curious thing.
Syzygy--I'd like to backup Maggie on her recommendation of Jennifer Roberson's "Sword-Dancer" series. The characters undergo MAJOR life changes and the author does an admirable job of rising above the stereotypes of the S&S genre.
Lot's-o-stuff here.
Maggie - the Teat is in hand and will soon be coming to you/
Wylie and other Nothern California residents - anyone up for a get together? We'll be in Sonoma 22-25th, and have evenings of 22, 23 & maybe 24th free, plus all 4 days. If you're interested drop me a note @ email above (Wylie - fixed the blocking so you should be able to send me mail now).
Syz - I'm easy to please, so take my recommendations with some caution. Count me a third on the Zelazny Amber series, I thoroughly loved it. I enjoyed the Belgariad series by Eddings, but I wouldn't call it necessarily thought-provoking. I'd give it 3 out of 4 on your list, lacking the cerebral pull bit. I remember liking The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage by Barbara Hambly, but they're more a short fun read. I get most of my fantasy (S&S or otherwise) from F&SF magazine. Anymore, I lean more towards the science end and less the sword, so I've not much else to recommend. I will make one other though - C.S. Lewis' Narnia books. I loved 'em as a kid, used to read them when I was having nightmares. Not really S&S, but certainly fantasy, and cerebral in a C.S. Lewis sorta way.
Ciao - Peg
Chris, shouldn't that be Philly-stine?
I know. I'm sorry. I have poor pun impulse control.
---Peter
I know it marks me as a Philistine but I like sword and sorcery.
I absolutely loved the first six Dragonlance books. I'll admit I read them in high school and I'm not sure I'd be quite as enthralled by them now but I remember them as vividly as any books I have ever read. It's not deep but it's great action with good, distinct, memorable characters. Please don't blame them for spawning so many hideous offspring.
Nobody has mentioned R.E. Howard yet? Oh, come on! I think his work is wonderfully representative of the great pulp fiction years. And I suspect a few people out there have heard of Conan. I think Solomon Kane was another interesting Howard character.
Fritz Leiber, obviously.
I liked Eddings' Belgariad but I will grant that his books are amazingly similar, almost insultingly so and he wears thin quickly. Still, I think he writes dialogue very well and creates likeable characters.
Terry Brooks' The Sword of Shanarra was fun but you might as well just read the real thing (Lord of the Rings) instead.
I second the nomination of Alan Dean Foster's _Spellsinger_ series. Just a load of fun and it's never annoyingly cute or dopy.
I even liked Gygax's first couple books about Gord the thief but after that, they got real bad, real fast.
I also liked R.A. Salvatore's first couple trilogies -Ice Wind Dale and then the Dark Elf trilogy - but those books also got real bad after that. I think he's a talented writer who is just cashing in on the franchise now. But I guess I can't blame him. And he wrote some good stuff. So I give him a thumbs up.
-chris
DOH! How can I make a list of S&S books without including Terry Pratchett? Especially since I'm currently reading his latest American release, CARPE JUGULUM. At their worst, his books are merely parodies of S&S conventions (the accepted practice kind, not the run around on crystal meth dressed up as a klingon kind) and a few modern ones as well. At their best, his books can be sharp, biting satires about war, religious ferver, affirmative action, education, Christmas, etc...
---Peter
Oops--forgot to recommend the work of another Philly boy; Michael Swanwick has written some really good fantasy, and some of it could ostensibly be considered to rub up against the Sword and Sworcery genre.
And, speaking of swords, try Saberhagen's Books of Lost Swords.
Hmm ... Sword and Sorcery.
Fritz Leiber aside, the genre has never held all that much appeal for me.
Still and all, there are a few recommendations I could give:
I'll second the Zelazny Amber nod--and I HATE sequels! It's pretty good--god enough to make me overcome my distaste for sequelitis, anyway.
For an offbeat view of the S&S world, you might try Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger series--it's a nicely tongue-in-cheek rendering of an anthropomorphic--but in no way cutesy--magic-based world.
A few other humorous fantasies spring to mind: A guy named Glen Cook has written a few books that are fun--they're pastiches of the Ross MacDonald/Raymond Chandler detective story, set in a world that is firmly S&S.
However annoying Terry Brooks can get in his straight stuff, his "Magic Kingdom For Sale--Sold!" series can be a nice little snack.
For the classics, you really can't go wrong with Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series, or with most of the things L. Sprague de Camp did with Fletcher Pratt.
A.A. Attanasio has done an interesting series of Arthurian fantasy.
Moorcock's Elric books and stories are great--as long as you don't start dressing up like the characters ...
Heinlein did a nice bit of work with Glory Road--though some think it overly misogynistic (Me, I think Farnham's Freehold is the one that deserves that tag ...).
Now, I know it really isn't S&S, but the best fantasy I've read has been in the John Thunstone and Silver John stories and books by Manly Wade Wellman. Whenever I see a Wellman book, I try to buy it on the spot--they're just too hard to find.
I pretty much think Harlan had his first and last word on the subject with Delusion for a Dragon-Slayer.
And, if you've some time, and want to have a good bout of laughter over what Sword and Sorcery should NOT be, plug the words "Eye of Argon" into a search engine (try to get the MST3K'd version).
SYZ: Never been a big fan of "S&S," but, for what it's worth, my recommendations are "Nifft the Lean," and "The Mines of Behemoth" by Michael Shea (both feature Nifft and his companion, Barnar Hammer-Hand). The first won a World Fantasy Award. Good stuff.
Out here, DTS.
Syzygy--
An excellent sword and sorcery writer is Lord Dunsany. He was one of the first to write modern fantasy and influnced Leiber and Moorcock. Del Rey recently reissued two of his novels in paperback, "The King of Elfland's Daughter" and "The Charwoman's Shadow." I've read the former and it's very good, reminiscent of Gaiman's "Stardust."
Hey Syz - I don't know exactly what your tastes run to, but I personally, could never really get into Donaldson's work. The White Gold Bearer series, all I ever wanted to do was just slap the lead character and tell him to just grow up and stop whining (I have a lot of problems with a lot country music too - it's the whine factor! ). Have you tried any of Jennifer Roberson's stuff? The Sword Dancer series is pretty good. I am also fond of the work of Mercedes Lackey, although there isn't always a lot of sword work, kind of more sorcery and character and relational issues. You might try the Swordsworn series about a swordswoman and a sorceress who travel together. Some of their adventures are very funny. Kristine Kathryn Rusch wrote a series called The Fey. It's, oh 5 books I think. If you described them to me, I would likely refuse to read them, but I found them to be very interesting. They're much darker than anything Lackey writes and the characters are very 3D. If you want a good read and don't really require the sword part at all, I would strongly recommend the works of Charles de Lint. Some great stories. Katherine Kerr also has some very good books about a couple of souls who have been reborn over time and who are currently traveling as a mercenary and his woman. Have you ever read any Marion Zimmer Bradley? Her Darkover books are SF and S&S. There is also a series of books by different authors by Daw (I think, don't quote me!) where old fairy tales are retold. Those are very fun too.
Anyway. Be very glad to hear if you liked any of those books.
Syz... I don't know if it's S&S, but Rick recommended a while back the Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake. It's an epic with style. Peter- I just rec'd my tapes as well. I ordered through B&N on-line and they appear to be in order.
Syz, I'm not really into the sword and sorcery stuff, though I did enjoy Raymond Feist's Magician books. Also, though it isn't typical sword and sorcery, I'd check out Zelazny's Amber series. That one is best read one book after another, starting with Nine Princes. And I cannot believe I'm recommending this, but try out Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It's D&D stuff, but I still remember the characters, even today, and so it's definitely left and impression on me.
---Peter
Can anyone recommend a 'good' sword & sorcery fantasy novel --- one that is either part of a series or not. From the prompting of friends, I've tried reading various books by Dave Eddings, Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks, but I have found that I quickly become bored with the prosaic descriptions, thin character sketches and tiresome plot devices porvided by these authors. Because I am hopelessly ignorant of the genre, I don't know if this seemingly derivative style of writing can be considered a current trend or not. In short, I'm looking for something that has the cerebral 'pull' of, say, Simmon's Hyperion saga, or Le Guin's Eye of the Heron and The Dispossessed; something immersive, as in Tolkien's trilogy; something as ornate and stylistically pleasing as a Fritz Leiber story or a Gaiman/Barker epic; and something with a little cynical mythos to play as a backdrop, as in Moorcock's order/chaos multiverse. Any recommendations would be appreciated. (I'm running out of history books, and I have the feeling that I need to spend a little more personal time on the outer fringes of reality for a change.) Any thoughts on the Thomas Covenant books, by Stephen R. Donaldson? Has Harlan written any 'S&S' Fantasy?
I just got the "Voice from the edge" tapes yesterday. I think my only problem so far has been the fact that some of the tapes look as if they were spooled by an eleven year old. I had to carefully pull out some of the tape on a couple of them and respool with a pencil, or risk having my Aiwa mini eat it halfway through "Grail." Anyone else have this problem?
Ah well, school to attend and all such wastes of precious writing time.
---Peter
The email add that got munched was akostyn@ix.netcom.com. "Your computer is your best friend -- and your worst enemy." So saith my Dad. Hey, for a big birthday bash for HE let's all chip in and get him an iMac. Preferably a "Raspberry" model.
I wanted to try to reach the author of "Life After Eden," story and email posted on the Visitor's Comments part of the site, but
no longer works. Does anyone know where Amy can be reached?
Shane: oops, sorry I misread you.
Chris: Did we see the same movie? Altho' I reiterate I think "Truman" isn't "really" sf (to resounding silence). To quote (I think) Poul Anderson: if it's good, it's not sf, and if it's sf, it's not good (only he did it in couplets).
Rick: You ROCK. THANK you. I LOVE those three people in the chatroom. Toonces is safe(r).
RECOMMENDATION: Mark Fabi's "Wyrm" -- a stellar read -- another book called "Mercury Rising" is supposed to be late this year.
ALL: I don't normally recommend TV shows, but "Action" is the best thing I've seen since the premieres of "Ally McBeal" and "The Practice" (did I steer you wrong with those shows way back when?). It's about the movie industry, so there are a lot of jokes regarding that strange biz. I forgot to jot down the name of the writer for the two epidsodes which aired back to back tonight(unpardonable sin, I agree), but he or she is great! And Jay Mohr and Illeana Douglas are two of my favorite character actors (when you see 'em, you'll recognize 'em). And Buddy Hackett threatening to "pop a cap" in a well-read and well spoken pimp was defintely surreal. If that isn't enough, big name stars like Keaneau Reeves and Salma Hayek (on episodes tonight) will be popping up to give the show a base in reality (Keaneau's part was hilarious). What's more, the theme song is "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands," by Warren Zevon (anyone show that uses music by the maestro can't be all bad). Tune in, you'll be entertained -- or your money back. Out here, DTS.
Okay, Moira et al. I fixed the chatroom. Try the link now.
Moria: I never ment to imply that BABYLON 5 in general or "Sleeping in Light" in specific was "just a television show." B5 is the one of the most complex character studies that has ever appeared on television and SiL should have won the Hugo and the series should have been nominated for an Emmy, or at the very least, a Cable ACE award.
The Truman Show?
The Truman Show?
Say what?
Were voters required not to have watched anything they voted for?
What an overwhelmingly average movie. It was a great idea with an underachieving script. How in the heck could it win an award of any kind?
-chris
OH, does anyone know how to work the chatroom. Rick, I'm gonna kidnap Toonces if I can't figure this out.
Shane: While I agree with you about the short story:novel::TV show:movie analogy, "Sleeping in Light" was to me anyway more than "a" TV show -- it was the culmination of five years, for many of us, a real emotional experience, and while it wasn't "better" than "The Truman Show" (which I LOVED), it was the capstone on ~years~ of great storytelling. I thought the nomination was a great gesture to Straczynski for his incredible feat of pulling off the show, and it would've been such a GREAT kick in the ass to the TeVee Powers That Be to have "B5" win the Hugo as "Crusade" was yanked off the air. But I digress....For five brief years, TV sf finally began to get within hailing distance of written sf....and I expect possibly to be flamed for this, but I didn't really think the "Truman Show" was sf at all. (O dear, now I've raised that golem "But what IS sf" from its unquiet grave....)
Moira Russell: I was very displeased that SLEEPING IN LIGHT lost the Hugo. It wasn't so much that SiL lost to THE TRUMAN SHOW, but that they were placed in the same catagory. Putting a television show up against a movie is like pitting a short story against a novel.
First time I've been able to get back here in a while.
Lotsa stuff--I'm tempted to ask where the flames and trolls are, but I'll just sit back and enjoy the serenity.
TODD--You might want to go down to Sansom Street, to what used to be called Booksellers' Row before the megastores moved in like (use the metaphor of your choice: glaciers with bloody moraines, ravening brontosauri, or Joan Crawford (B&N), Bette Davis (Borders), and Ida Lupino (Amazon)--all looking for scenery to chew). There you'll find a great little bookstore, Joseph W. Fox--they have a very nice Borges section, as well as dialectic and classics you just don't find elsewhere. They haven't any HE in inventory, but they'll happily take orders.
PHILLY IN THE HAY-OWSE--I really don't know the reason so many of us (fans and writers) are here, but what rankles is the dearth of good conventions here. Sure, we have the Worldcon Millennium Philcon in 2001, but our cons usually leave much to be desired--the best I can remember in the last few years was a con where we had Chip Delaney; before that, the 1993 ComiCon, both of which I couldn't get to.
On the writerly side, we have George Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer out in King of Prussia, Michael Swanwick somewhere in or around town, and a few others, whose company I fully intend to join (when this damned novel is finished). Quite a few comics writers live around here, as well, though Mark Waid and Devin Grayson are the only ones who spring to mind.
In wartime, of course, Saturdays and Sundays saw get-togethers here that consisted of George O. Smith, L. Sprague deCamp, Fletcher Pratt, John W. Campbell Jr., Murray Leinster, L. Ron Hubbard, Ted Sturgeon, and others, all of whom would meet at Heinlein's Broad Street apartment. I'd love to find out where that apartment was (Heinlein mentions it as being 300 yards from the Broad Street Station of the Pennsylvania Railroad), and try to get the city to put up a plaque. Anyone up for some searching in 1940s phonebooks?
Of course, we Phillyfans have never had the impetus to get together and jaw a bit. Should any want, I'm having a housewarming for my little apartment come Saturday the 25th--e-mail me if interested; there'll be a lot of writers from the newsgroup I hang out in.
Does anyone know how to work the Chat Room? Whenever I try to connect, I get the "connection refused by server" message.
***
Re the message about the "cancellation" of Edgeworks # 5....well, these are quality volumes, obviously meant to be definitive editions, and I think HE and others go over them thoroughly; and while there've been some delays before, they've come out pretty much on schedule. Probably the best thing to do might be to send a POLITE note to White Wolf inquiring her or not this volume has been CANCELLED (and that's the operative word here). If not....well, we'll just wait. If it has....that's the time to fret. Screaming at White Wolf, or Harlan, or Rick, or each other, probably won't help.
The ironic thing is I just finished reading Rick's latest rant about his stance on TLDV....and I have a personal story to share on this one. (Wait, don't all run at once....) Some time ago, I pitched an idea to the editor of an on-line journal. He was wildly enthusiastic. I promised him the ms within at least two months. He said great. Months went by. And by. A year, in fact. I wasn't sloughing, sitting back and thinking, "Ah HA, I have tricked him and the legions clamoring for this article." I just couldn't do it on time (for various personal reasons mainly). A writer cannot churn out copy magically....writing is intense, gut-wrenching process, and if a writer can sort ot all the crap happening in daily life and wrest a few quiet hours in front of the blank screen/page/whatever and then WRITE something, that's a little bit of a miracle, every time. (I sent the article to the editor a full years after he asked for it. He wanted some changes. I haven't been able to do it yet...due mainly to a cross-country move which left me broke and scrambling for temp jobs. But I live in hope I will, and then this monkey will be OFF MY BACK. With all the pressure and guilt and frustration I've felt over this piddling little project, with no one privy to my delays but the editor and me, I shudder to think what Harlan might feel after twenty-some years with writers and fans all kvetching in public about when will it be done...)
***
I can't pick a favorite book by Harlan. I was introduced by "Approaching Oblivion," read "Slippage" and "Mefisto in Onyx" in the library because I couldn't bear to take time to check them out and drive them home and THEN start reading them, I spent food money on "Edgeworks, Vol I" and "The Essential Ellison and "The City on the Edge Forever," I cut my teeth as a writer and reader on the one-volume version of "Again, DV"....
***
Am I the only one here who thinks Connie Willis is more than a bit overrated? Although I LOVED "Fire Watch," I wasn't blown away by "Doomsday Book" or "Bellwether" and while I thought "Dog" and "Impossible Things" were good I didn't think they deserved all that acclaim....And speaking of awards what do others here think of "Sleeping in Light" losing the Hugo the "Truman Show"? Does "SiL" stand on its own? Does anyone want to talk about HE's inflence on B5?
I obviously have way, way too much time on my hands....
HI DOC!!!!
DTS,
I must respectfully disagree with you.
The examples you gave aren't very relevant.
This was a book with a scheduled publishing date. The schedule was not kept. That's the part that's frustrating to some people.
I don't think fans have any right at all to expect a writer to write anything in particular. It's his business what he writes and when the hell he writes it.
But I think fans do have at least some right to expect schedules to be kept to.
In this case, I most certainly think there are ample reasons to explain the book's delay. HE has had some pretty important shit come down in his life in the last few years and he probably has other priorities.
But we were set up to expect a book roughly every 6 months or so. Or, heck, even every year out of the Edgeworks series and it isn't happening. I think the frustration is at least understandable even if you don't think it is ultimately justified.
I know I've been looking forward to seeing a nice long stretch of Edgeworks books on my shelf. But I can wait. I owe HE plenty for all the joy his writing has brought into my life. And he doesn't owe me much a darned thing.
So I wait patiently. But I am a little bummed out about it. Is that so wrong?
-chris
ALL: I gotta say, all this whining (ala Martin, in the previous post) or handwringing over the delay of a book (be it EDGEWORKS 5 or SLIPPAGE) where Ellison is concerned is really too much. I love reading books by John Irving. He puts out a new novel every four years...once it was even five years. And William Styron has been working on THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR for over twenty years...but I don't think fans of either writer have gone to pieces over the waiting periods. They find plenty of other books (by writers that are just as good) to read in the meantime. Hell, I bet they even go so far as to REREAD books by either of those writers if they really need a "fix" of a certain kind of prose. Out here, DTS.
All the time I hear these damn rants about the lack of quality books, but when you try and get the book, you find that's it's on hold for another × months or like Edgeworks 5, cancelled and no reasons given!
Maybe it's time I either give shared universe books a chance or give up reading alltogther.
Maggie- just check the on-line used book dealers. There are plenty of copies available. Bibliofind, MX, ABE, Powells, Alibris etc. etc. etc. I wouldn't panic about Amazon cancelling E5. That doesn't mean HE cancelled it. I'm sure the footnotes and indexing are causing the delay.
Maggie - email me at home address above. May have a line on copy of Glass Teat for you.
Peg
This is me making bad disbelief sounds. I sure hope that business about Edgeworks 5 is an untruth. The first Ellison book I ever read was The Glass Teat. I stupidly loaned it and haven't seen it since. And I have NEVER SEEN a copy of The Other Glass Teat! I just want them both so badly!
Amazon.com no longer has a listing for Edgeworks 5, but still has Edgeworks 6 listed with a publication date of October 1999.
White Wolf's site only list volumes 1-4.
Anyone else have any info?
Ah, well if it is true, and the fate of the edgeworks series truly in question, then I guess I'm off for more skulking in back alleyways, searching for beaten and battered copies of out of print books...
---Peter
I'm surprised at being (apparently) the first to post this note from Amazon.com, and hope I'm not stepping into something that's old news and which has already been hashed over thoroughly. I've not been able to find any additional details anywhere else, so I'm hoping someone here might have a scoop on the inevitable "What?!?! Why?!?!"
________________________________________________________________
"We have contacted the publisher to place an order for "The Glass Teat, the Other Glass Teat (Edgeworks , Vol 5)" (Item # 1565049683).
Unfortunately, it has come to our attention that the publication of this item has been cancelled. For this reason, this item has been cancelled from your order and you have not been charged for it."
________________________________________________________________
*sigh*
da9ve
ADAM: I read it. I liked it. And I wasn't confused. I don think it's a classic like "Blood's A Rover" or "The Man WHo Rowed Christopher Ashore," but it's a solid piece of work. (Especially when you consider that he did it in a store window with NO rewrites -- I've noticed that Ellison does some slight tweaking on stories [most recently, on "Midnight In the Sunken Cathedral"] when they are reprinted after the intial appearance; but the manuscript of THIS story, from the day it was typed, reads exactly the same as the version in F& SF). Out here, DTS
Unfortunately, I haven't recieved my F&SF. Although I'm sure that the issue I've been eagerly anticipating will be the one that gets lost in the mail. Either that, or my subscription has just run out and I don't know about it. How did I become so jaded?
---Peter
Has anyone gotten a chance to read OBJECTS OF DESIRE IN THE MIRROR..., Ellison's new F&SF story yet? I've only read it once and think that I probably need to go through it once or twice more. It starts out very well and then gets very, very strange.
Mr SA: Lucky for you, I got muh trusty ishuues of Locus right 'chere (as they say in Texas). Here's the info for obtaining tickets to WHC200, to be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver Colorado: Send a check to WHC200 Inc, P.O. Box 32167, Aurora CO, 80041-2167. Tickets cost $75 until 12/31/99. Thereafter, the price jumps to $100 ($125 at the door). The guests of honor will be Ellison, Peter Straub, Melanie and Stever Rasnic Tem (of Colorado), and J. Michael Straczynski. Editor guest of honor will be Ellen Datlow, and the toast master will be Dan Simmons. For more info, as the date gets nearer, you can contact the following email addresses: trbarker@earthlink.net OR
EBryant330@aol.com (if you contact Ed Bryant, at the second one, tell him Dorman sent ya). Out here, DTS.
How does someone go about getting tickets for the World Horror Convention and on what exact date in May does it plan on taking place?
JOE: Yeah, Asimov and Heinlein worked at the same research center during WW II (along with a couple of other SF writers), but Heinlein's project was separate from the others...and so top-secret he never discussed it with them...which brings me to...BARNEY: After scientists successfully cloned animals (something which they said they would never be able to do), I don't discount any possibility. In fact, I'm bettin' that not only were Isaac and Bob "in the mix" together, but that two mothers (Dorothy Parker and Mae West) were used as well. By the way, in case you didn't notice the earlier note, thanks for the special delivery. Very cool, and very much appreciated. I'll be heading to Denver in May 2000 (World Horror Convention, at which HE will be a guest of honor and Dan Simmons the toast master), and I'll see what I can do about repaying you in kind (assuming that this "con" will put together a like package -- I'm a relative newcomer to conventions, so I have no idea). I'll keep you posted. Out here, DTS.
***Joseph*** Even if this WERE true, Harlan was born in 1934. Even mad love and twisted eugenics couldn't possibly account for...
Didn't Asimov and Heinlen work at the same Navy lab in Philadelphia during World War II?
Connie won the Hugo for "To Say Nothing of the Dog". (just announced)
Ah, but I'm only here by accident. I'm originally from Wisconsin. The land that gave you Ed Gein, William Proxmire, and Jeffrey Dahmer!! The horror, the horror...
that's Bloch.
Todd,
RE: Blair Witch. My experience has been different. FIlm students HATE this movie. I know everyone I've talked to from my film school thinks it sucks. But I usually find them an excellent contrarian indicator. The whole school/indy film world has turned on this movie like rabid dogs. It dared to be successful and that's an unpardonable sin.
As for the Philly connection, someone once told me this southeeast PA area was fertile ground for F/SF authors. Maybe it is true for fans too. I have no idea what that's based on although Piers Anthony did go to school just down the street from me.
And Heather from Blair Witch is from this area too. And Sixth Sense was filmed in Philly.
Along with the Poe house, we must be the horror capital of the nation!
-chris
If you want the penguin Borges (the ones actually translated by Borges himself - which fact has led to a big stink and major arguments in the the lit crit page - which is THE DEFINITIVE EDITION? "Complete" vs "authorial imprimature"?) then order from UK, ie: through Amazon.co.uk, because penguin has pretty much put all of their Borges titles back out over here.
Todd- Thanks for the tip for F&SF. I'll e-mail them. As for fav. books, the E4 version of Love/Beast is great. Neither Your Jenny Nor Mine kicks me in the head every time. ALL- there's that great photo of HE, Block & Clarke at the 1952 con in Clarke's latest non-fiction book of essays.
STRANGE WINE might be my favorite Ellison book, and so might be STALKING THE NIGHTMARE...but probably PARTNERS IN WONDER, with the wonderful Avram Davidson essay along with Ellison's counter-essay and a lot of good fiction (if not quite as high an average as the best of the solo work of most involved) is the one that has had the most effect. Hidden history links Ellison and Borges--to say nothing of Davidson, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut and so many others.
Wow. Checking in any less than daily can really pile up on one here...and how'd we get so many Philadelphians, Chris, Alex, Barney not too far off in Allentown...
Charlie-thanks for the heads-up on a paperback of the COLLECTED FICTIONS of Jorge Luis Borges. I've never forgiven Penguin and Dutton for immediately putting their Borges line out of print as soon as the former bought the latter. As for mail-damaged F&SFs, as recently as a decade ago (the last time I had a sub), one could for a small premium request your sub be sent in Kraft envelopes. These didn't keep the magazine from being slightly bent at times (whether upon envelope-stuffing or in transit, I know not) but they certainly arrived in better shape than regular sub copies or some newsstand copies I've seen. Write 'em at Cream Hill or through the FSFMAG.Com site...
Chris, in re BLAIR WITCH--I do love good film. BWP was a decent stunt of a film, more I would countersuggest a film-students' film than a film-lovers'. The people I've known to be most affected by it see a caricature of themselves onscreen.
Sorry I wasn't accessing in time to be of help with ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR info, but I will note to Bill Dennis that if you have Bravo available to you, THE AWFUL TRUTH is a sequel series to TV NATION, Michael Moore's current project.
Keegan--I think I will see THE IRON GIANT, and your rave is the straw on the scales (mixed metaphors on demand), if I can catch it.
I'm rather glad in some ways that no one (till now) has responded to the wrongheaded "mixing is impossible" post...as I'm someone descended of nearly a dozen "nationalities" and two, at least, "races," you might intuit that I find the impossibility of such mixing rather an alien notion...
SA: Hard to pick favorites...after all, THE BEAST THAT SHOUTED LOVE AT THE HEART OF THE WORLD has some real classics in it. Ditto for DEATHBIRD STORIES. And, of course, STRANGE WINE, SHATTERDAY and ANGRY CANDY are really great, too. And MINDFIELDS is a bit of perfection as well. Pick a favorite? Fat chance. Might as well ask someone to pick a favorite flower, or ice cream flavor, or hair color (or shape or size) on a woman, or...Out Here, DTS.
I was just wondering what everyone though HE's best book so far has been (and nobody answer with The Essential Ellison).
Mr SA- Thanks for the review. I also read of Ellison/Carroll comparisons. That's why I was intrigued.
Charlie, I am reading Jonathan Carroll's new book "The Marriage of Sticks". I am 182 pages into it and it is amazing!!! I have never read any of his other books but started with this just because I read a rave review in The Washington Post. The reviewer compared Carroll's suberb style of writing with Ellison's and That is why I picked it up. You have to get through the first 130 pages before anything fantastic happens so if you want that type of thing to hit from the start you might not like it, but I must say that so far this is a wonderful book and am looking forward to finishing it tomorrow.
I still haven't received my copy of F&SF this month. It better arrive soon. However, I once received it in a plastic USPS bag because it was so mangled.
Small Rant: Does anyone elses F&SF arrive crumbled at the edges through the mail? Plus, F&SF uses those mailing labels that aren't removable and they're plastered to the front cover. Anyway, the latest 50th Anniv. issue arrived w/the typical edges damaged. Ughh. At least Analog uses the removable labels. (For some strange reason, Analog never seems to arrive damaged)
Now that we've fleshed out Connie's latest, I'd like to know where to start w/Jonathan Carroll. I haven't read any of his books and wonder what you all recommend or for which work he is known best. Also, has anyone checked out Card's Ender's Shadow, yet? Wonder how it stacks w/ the original.
Re: To Say Nothing of the Dog. I particularly enjoyed the references to the Jerome K. Jerome novel "Three Men and a Boat; To Say Nothing of the Dog," a novel which I maintain to be one of the funniest books in human history (particularly Harris and the garden maze). Anyone looking for great humor in the P.G. Whodehouse tradition (humor built on character and situation, mixed with wonderful Victorian British reserve and confidence (a.k.a., snobbery)) will enjoy this book. Love Connie Willis' stuff.
Speaking of recent science-fiction, has anyone else read "In the Garden of Iden" or "Sky Coyote" by Kage Baker? Interesting couple of specualtive novels about a world where there are human-derivative immortals working for a future "Company," saving cultures and artifacts - but no one who works (read: slaves) for the company seems to know what the exact objective is, or what will happen to them when they reach the future. Good, thoughtful look at the *real* consequences of immortality.
A little question for anyone as randomly compulsive as I am -- has anyone else noticed parallels between Willis' Doomsday Book and Dorothy L. Sayers' The Nine Tailors? Just curious.
I have been doing a little dance of joy. My college library (rated tenth worst in the Midwest) has all four current volumes of Edgeworks. Will wonders never cease? This means that I no longer have to cart my ENTIRE HE collection over 1000 miles to school and back. I still manage to haul along a fair number, though . . .
http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/authorInfo.asp?authorCode=148884&userid=1ZKNWPM1NN&mscssid=SJ31FNH6BXSH2J730017QRP4N5BEDNBC&pcount=0&srefer=
That's all of it I could copy/paste. Just the Barnes and Noble part will get you to the home page. Then do an author search for you know who and pick up the bio sheet from the sidebar. It's OK for what it is but they only list 2 of 21 pseudonyms and they spelled one of those wrong so don't bet the farm on the accuracy of all the other attributions.
***DOC*** drop me a line if you see this. Barney
Charlie, how do I get to that HE bio at bn.com, I just can't seem to find it.
There's a new HE bio at bn.com. It's actually pretty detailed and decent.
For those interested, there is a new e-bay in space: goldsauction.com.
Alex: I believe the Willis novel you mentionted is still up for the HUGO this year. If there's any justice in the Universe...or even common sense... -- here's hoping. Out here, DTS.
Just thought I would let everyone know that the 50th Anniversary issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction is out. Harlan's new story is called "Objects Of Desire In The Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear". Off to read it now.
Yes, I'm back after a move and getting a new killer-diller hoochie-coochie-boomalini computer that's far too powerful for me ...
I just finished Willis' TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG and loved it all to pieces. A great book whose many in-jokes add, not subtract from, the pleasure gained reading it. It's interesting; I'd known Willis from the short stories of hers I'd read in the Eighties (well, FROM the Eighties)like "Last of the Winnebagoes" and "All My Darling Daughters" and was very impressed that she could so easily switch to a genteel Victorian motif while still retaining the acerbic edge of her earlier stuff.
Judging from the latest LOCUS Readers' Poll, I'm really surprised that it lost out on the Nebula and Hugo Awards.