Hugo-winning author Joanna Russ died yesterday. I didn't know her well, but she was a crucial character in one of the choice moments of my life.
I first met her when she attended some meetings of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS) in 1968. At that time I'd had just one story published and two more sold, so I was definitely just a rank beginner. At that year's WorldCon, held in Berkeley, I attended the Hugo Awards Banquet and ended up sitting at a table that included her, Fritz Leiber, and Poul and Karen Anderson. I was definitely the most junior person there, but everyone treated me politely.
Fritz won the Hugo that year for "Gonna Roll Dem Bones." As he stood up to go onstage and accept his award, Joanna was the first to congratulate him with a kiss. I was the second to congratulate him, with a handshake.
When the banquet was over, Joanna took my hand and said, "Come with me." I had no idea where she wanted to take me. Her room, perhaps? (Yeah, dream on, Steve.) But I certainly wasn't going to argue with her.
We ended up at the suite sponsored by Galaxy Magazine--my first "pro" party. There I was, surrounded by people I'd loved all my life. Roger Zelazny, who'd just won the Hugo for Lord of Light, brushed past me and asked me to excuse him! A bearded man I didn't recognize, who wasn't wearing his name badge, asked me whether I was a fan or a pro; I said that, among fans, I claimed to be a pro on the basis of 3 sales, but in this company I wasn't sure. He said, "Well, what do you consider yourself?" We talked about writing for some time before his wife came by and suggested he put his badge on, and I learned I'd been talking to Alan E. Nourse, whose books I loved...and the current president of SFWA. He'd spent time talking to a nobody like me as though I were an equal.
Joanna went her separate way once we entered the party and I didn't see her again that evening. But she had introduced me to a whole new world, and my life was changed forever.
Thank you, Joanna. Rest well.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
3 New Ebook Titles Available
In recent weeks I've published 3 new ebook titles--2 novels and a fantasy vignette.
The first novel is Assault on the Gods, which some people consider a sort of feminist manifesto. Starship captain Ardeva Korrell is used to fighting prejudice, both because she's a woman in what's normally a man's line of work and because she's from a world with a misunderstood religion. But now, on a trading mission to a backwater planet, she finds herself with another kind of fight on her hands; she and her small crew must battle an army of robots and defeat the tyrannical, god-like beings who have enslaved the primitive native population. The task before them is straightforward: to storm the gates of Heaven itself!
***
The second novel is Mindflight, a science fiction espionage thriller. The government of Earth has one main secret weapon in its cold war against its former colony worlds--telepathic spies. But what even the spies don't know is that once they reach their late thirties, they begin to develop strange symptoms that leave them mentally and physically unstable. The Terran Intelligence Agency routinely terminates these unstable telepaths to keep them from threatening the stability of the project as a whole.
Alain Cheney is one of the best telepathic agents in the TIA's arsenal. For 14 years he's been loyal and dependable. But now that he's showing symptoms of the instability, the Agency decides to eliminate him--and just when a secret development occurs that could change the future of the inhabited galaxy.
To survive, Alain must find safety somewhere. But he can't trust his enemies, and certainly not his friends....
***
The vignette is a fairy tale for adults called The World Where Wishes Worked. It's very short, but don't let its length fool you--it packs a wallop out of all proportion to its size. As one reader said, "if you want a fast, funny read, grab this one immediately." I guarantee you'll remember it.
***
Three entertaining reads for a fine spring day.
The first novel is Assault on the Gods, which some people consider a sort of feminist manifesto. Starship captain Ardeva Korrell is used to fighting prejudice, both because she's a woman in what's normally a man's line of work and because she's from a world with a misunderstood religion. But now, on a trading mission to a backwater planet, she finds herself with another kind of fight on her hands; she and her small crew must battle an army of robots and defeat the tyrannical, god-like beings who have enslaved the primitive native population. The task before them is straightforward: to storm the gates of Heaven itself!
***
The second novel is Mindflight, a science fiction espionage thriller. The government of Earth has one main secret weapon in its cold war against its former colony worlds--telepathic spies. But what even the spies don't know is that once they reach their late thirties, they begin to develop strange symptoms that leave them mentally and physically unstable. The Terran Intelligence Agency routinely terminates these unstable telepaths to keep them from threatening the stability of the project as a whole.
Alain Cheney is one of the best telepathic agents in the TIA's arsenal. For 14 years he's been loyal and dependable. But now that he's showing symptoms of the instability, the Agency decides to eliminate him--and just when a secret development occurs that could change the future of the inhabited galaxy.
To survive, Alain must find safety somewhere. But he can't trust his enemies, and certainly not his friends....
***
The vignette is a fairy tale for adults called The World Where Wishes Worked. It's very short, but don't let its length fool you--it packs a wallop out of all proportion to its size. As one reader said, "if you want a fast, funny read, grab this one immediately." I guarantee you'll remember it.
***
Three entertaining reads for a fine spring day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)