It’s a great event. I really enjoyed it. Book dealers fill the exhibit hall, and at a row of tables next to the stage waves of writers and artists autograph their works for fans, free, throughout the day. Some of the people signing when I first arrived were Karen Anderson, Barbara Hambly, and Tim Kirk. Joe Lansdale and his daughter, Kasey, were at one of the dealers tables.
Kasey Lansdale and her father Joe Lansdale.
On the way in I met Tim and Serena Powers. Tim said he looks in on the File 770 blog, which was nice to hear. I had a long conversation with Marc Schirmeister, who I last saw at Sasquan.
I met artist Tony Gleeson for the first time – an artist often mentioned here in news stories — and he in turn introduced me to author Odie Hawkins.
Quite a few LASFS members were present — Matthew Tepper, Michelle Pincus, Karl Lembke – in addition to the member/authors who were signing. I hear Robert J. Sawyer visited the Loscon table later, after I had gone.
Robert J. Sawyer. Photo by Michelle Pincus.
While touring the dealer tables I saw lots of classic old stuff — but got a giggle out of seeing a copy of Zotz! Among the precious wares in a glass case. That’s the book which became a (negative) legend and running joke in the LASFS Xmas Gift Exchange — even though it’s a hardcover, you couldn’t get credit for contributing ZOTZ! as a gift unless you included with it something else that was worth the minimum. One year I unwrapped a copy which came with a $5 bill…
The event staff were doing a really good job — seemed to have an eye open for everything, and treated people very nicely.
I can’t end without mentioning the Civic Auditorium’s rather odd parking structure. The property is built into a hillside. You enter the structure on the bottom level, as you would expect, however, to exit you have to drive all the way up to the roof — which puts you on a level with another driveway to the street.
There will be over 80 dealer tables and 55 authors who will sign their books for free, among them Joe R. Lansdale, Barbara Hambly, Steven Barnes, Karen Anderson, Richard & Wendy Pini, and William F. Nolan who has been attending almost as long as the show has existed, with over 30 years of appearances.
All the names are listed above on Tony Gleeson’s flyer.
The guests’ signing schedules are shown in the table below.
(1) If film criticism ever becomes a duel to the death, people will say, never bet against David Gerrold when cinematic science fiction is on the line…. See his new review on Facebook.
All right, so let’s talk about SNOWPIERCER, a brilliantly produced movie that ultimately fails in the two most important ways a science fiction film can fail.
I’ll take the easy one first — the audience will suspend disbelief, they will not suspend common sense.
The idea here is that the Earth has frozen over. The only survivors are living on a train that circles the globe endlessly.
1) The Earth is frozen over because scientists have decided to put something called CW7 in the atmosphere to halt global warming. They do it with chem trails. It works too well. The planet gets too cold, everything freezes down so cold you’ll freeze to death in minutes.
Now, look — whatever that CW7 stuff is — you’re gonna have to put several million tons of it into the atmosphere to cools down the planet. That’s a lot of chem trails. It’s going to take a long time. Years. Decades perhaps. Even if you could retro-fit every jet plane in the world on its next scheduled maintenance, it would still take millions of miles. And you would think that as soon as the temperature gradients start falling too fast, not matching the projections, the scientists — or whatever agency behind it — would stop the process to evaluate the results. But no — whatever this CW7 is … bam, it freezes everything to a giant planet-sized popsicle.
2) Where did all that water come from? Even in this planet’s worst ice ages, there wasn’t enough H2o to make enough snow to cover every continent. ….
Unfortunately … even as an ALLEGORY this thing doesn’t work.
It seems like eons pass in between series of Doctor Who. As with many shows which only run 10 or so episodes in a season, they’re over so quickly, and then there’s another year or more of wait before the show comes back. It turns out that the BBC would love to see more Doctor Who as much as fans would. However, the cast and crew, led by Peter Capaldi himself, have said no to requests for more episodes. The reason, according to Capaldi, is that while they could make more episodes, what they couldn’t do is make more good episodes.
There is a level where I am all aboard with this. Ecosystems are webs of health that combine fiercely interdependent predation/competition with meshlike interchanges of sight/sound/chemicals that clearly manifest types of cooperation, even communication…. as I elucidated in “EARTH.”
On the other hand, I also step back to see the qualities of this book that transcend its actual contents, for it fits perfectly into the process of “horizon expansion” that I describe elsewhere. A process of vigorously, righteously, even aggressively increasing the scope of inclusion, extending the circle of protection to the next level, and then the next. See also this Smithsonian talk I gave about the never-ending search for “otherness.”
David Brin, a scientist, a science fiction author and a commentator on the world’s most pressing technological trends, is in residence at the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College from Oct. 5 to Oct. 25.
As part of Brin’s fellowship, he will mentor selected Bard students on their fiction and nonfiction writing. He will also offer a number of lectures and discussions. On Sept. 30, at 11:30 a.m., Brin will talk with Hannah Arendt Center Academic Director Roger Berkowitz and “Roundtable” host Joe Donahue on WAMC radio.
On Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. in Reem-Kayden Center 103, Brin will speak about his book, “The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose between Privacy and Freedom?,” with Berkowitz. On Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Bertelsmann Campus Center’s Multipurpose Room, he will attend a debate on “National Security is More Important than the Individual Right to Privacy.”
Bard College is located in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.
Trans people are a big thing these days in equality circles. People are asking what they can do to help the trans cause. Quite simply, the most important thing cis people can do for the trans community right now is to accept us as fully human; not as something to be gawped at and whispered over, not as a clever metaphor with which to discuss gender, but as ordinary people just like you. For cis writers, that means putting us in their stories.
I reject the idea that trans characters should only be written by trans people because cis folk are bound to get it wrong. While there are some really fine trans writers, there simply aren’t enough of us in the world to do what is needed. We have to be part of all fiction, not just fiction that we write ourselves.
Robinson makes no apology for the 21st-century tech of his 26th-century explorers, arguing that progress in science and technology will asymptotically approach “limits we can’t get past”.
“It’s always wrong to extrapolate by straightforwardly following a curve up,” he explains, “because it tends off towards infinity and physical impossibility. So it’s much better to use the logistic curve, which is basically an S curve.”
Like the adoption of mobile phones, or rabbit populations on an island, things tend to start slowly, work up a head of steam and then reach some kind of saturation point, a natural limit to the system. According to Robinson, science and technology themselves are no exception, making this gradual increase and decrease in the speed of change the “likeliest way to predict the future”.
(7) Les Johnson’s guest post about putting together a mission to Mars on According To Hoyt suits the current Mars-centric news cycle very well.
Since I work for NASA and have looked extensively at the technologies required to send people to Mars, I am often asked how close we are to being able to take such a journey. [DISCLAIMER: The very fact that I work for NASA requires me to say that “the opinions expressed herein are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.”] Basing my opinion solely on information that is publicly available, the answer is… not straightforward. Let me break it into the three areas that Project Managers and Decision Makers (the ones with the money) use when they assess the viability of a project in an attempt to explain my answer.
(8) MARK YOUR CALENDAR: April 3, 2016 will be the next Vintage Paperback Show in Glendale, CA at the Glendale Civic Auditorium from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. STILL $5.00
(9) Editors Eugene Johnson and Charles Day have started an Indiegogo appeal to fund their Drive-In Creature Feature anthology from Evil Jester Press.
Get in line. Buy a ticket, and take a trip to the DRIVE-IN CREATURE FEATURE. Where the monsters from the classic films from the 1950’s to 1980’s shined on the large iconic sliver screens. Where the struggle between human and monsters came alive for the fate of the world. Monsters created from an experiment gone wrong, legendary beasts long asleep, now awaken by melting humans, visitors from a far off world that aren’t as friendly as they appear. Monsters like giant parasitic bugs and ancient sea beasts on the prowl. A mysterious plague turning the homeless population into Moss people. A government sponsored monster goes toe-to-toe with a monster of Celtic myth. and many more are included.
Intriguing tales by some of the best names in horror, including New York Times Best selling authors and comic book writers, Jonathan Maberry, S.G. Browne, Elizabeth Massie, Ronald Kelly, William, F. Nolan, Lisa Morton, Joe McKinney, Jason V. Brock, Weston Ochese , Yvonne Navarro, including cover art by Cortney Skinner…
During the months of September and October, Alamo Drafthouse locations nationwide will host THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES Feast, featuring a screening of the Vincent Price classic paired with a delectable multi-course feast using recipes from the book. Topping each evening off, Victoria Price – daughter of Vincent and Mary – will be in person sharing memories of her father before the film with her multi-media presentation “Explore, Savor, Celebrate: Life with Vincent Price.”…
In 1965, Mary and Vincent Price published A Treasury of Great Recipes — now regarded as the one of the world’s most beloved cookbooks. The book features recipes collected by Vincent and Mary at restaurants around the world, including original menus from classic restaurants and photographs by the great William Claxton. It has come to be regarded as “one of the most important culinary events of the 20th century” (Saveur Magazine) and was recently named the eighth most popular out-of-print book of any kind by Booklist. The 50th anniversary edition incorporates the original edition, unchanged and in its entirety, along with a new Foreword from Wolfgang Puck and A Retrospective Preface from Victoria.
That is something that many authors fail to grasp – and not just new ones. I recently read a diatribe by Adam Troy Castro – who missed this completely (He was attacking John Wright, who seems to be engaging his readers… who aren’t part of his publisher’s tribe). I quote: “has been abusing his publisher in public and attacking his editors as people” which is a bad thing, according to Castro “being an asshole to the people who give you money is not a good career move.”
The latter part of that is certainly true. What Castro seems to have failed to figure out is that the money doesn’t actually come from the publisher. It comes from readers – the subset of the public who love your work. If you abuse them, you’re dead. If your publisher abuses them (which is a fair assessment)… lose your publisher. Reassure your readers that this is not your attitude.
Here’s the thing about writing: It’s really hard. It’s a LOT of work. You do most of this work alone and then you send it away and you have absolutely no idea whether it’s reaching anyone or not, how it’s being received, whether or not it means to others what it means to you. I have said before that I am no Emily Dickenson. I write to communicate, to receive a signal back from the array I am constantly sending out in the world.
I write to not be alone.
(14) Alex Pappademas shreds the new Muppets series in “A Rainbow Rejection” at Grantland.
The most fanciful thing about ABC’s muppetational but seldom celebrational The Muppets is that the late-night talk show behind whose scenes it takes place has a female host. In this regard, I support its vision. I support nothing else about The Muppets except the pilot’s use of the great Jere Burns, drier than a silica gel packet as always, in a B-plot in which he refuses to accept his daughter’s interspecies relationship with Fozzie Bear. His issue seems to be more about Fozzie being a bear than being a Muppet — at dinner, he makes snide comments when Fozzie compliments the salmon — but in a broad-stroke sense, I am with Burns on this one. I guess I’ve found the one marriage-equality hypothetical on which I’m a fuming mossback conservative: Turns out I am opposed to the sexualization of the Muppets and therefore to the implication that humans and Muppets1 can or should miscegenate.
This puts me roughly on the same team as the fainting-couch wearer-outers at the Donald Wildmon front group One Million Moms, who took a break from their courageous war on homofascist breakfast cereal and sinfully delicious lesbian yogurt on Monday to declare a fatwa on the new Muppets as “perverted” based solely on the ads — particularly the one that promises “full frontal nudity” and features Kermit the Frog in a casual locker-room pose. A clock that stopped in 1955 and should be thrown in the garbage because it’s an insanely and attention-hungrily homophobic clock is still right twice a day: There is nothing good about this ad, and perhaps you should not be in the Muppet-selling business if you can’t sell the Muppets in 2015 without adding the implication that Kermit fucks, let alone that Miss Piggy wants to fuck Nathan Fillion.
(15) Marc Scott Zicree has posted a new Mr. Sci-Fi video about the Profiles in History room at Monsterpalooza that showed items from his collection that will be going up for auction tomorrow.
(16) The Mets, one day after clinching the National League East, had their rookies take the super hero “hazing” to another level… Or, rather, they removed another level…
[Thanks to James H. Burns, Andrew Porter, the other Mark, SF Site News, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Kendall.]
Thanks to John King Tarpinian for these links to interviews, reviews and videos of people who will be signing at the Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Show tomorrow, March 22.
“There were hundreds of artists who turned out a cover or two during the paperback boom that began in the 1940s,” [Hard Case Crime’s Charles] Ardai says, “but only one who turned out more than a thousand, and that was Robert McGinnis. By sheer volume, then, he had a disproportionate impact on the field. But it was a matter of quality, too—his skill and artistry were the equal of Rockwell and Parrish, and his breathtaking women were the stuff of fantasy for a generation of readers. (Two generations, actually, since I fell in love with them when I discovered my dad’s collection.) The Mike Shayne novels, the Carter Brown novels, the Shell Scott novels, the Modesty Blaise novels—what would these have been without McGinnis?”
Stephen Woodworth’s From Black Rooms is a fine example of a quality SF/thriller/suspense/horror story. It’s the kind of series full of stand-alones that you can pick up anywhere, but then if you love series characters, you may want to read the earlier volumes first (beginning with Through Violet Eyes) as this one gives away a few revelations from those.
Do these stories take place in the same context as Doyle’s Holmes books (parallel stories) or are they set in their own time and place apart from the original series?
They take place in the World of Sherlock Holmes, but they do not spring from or tie into any of Conan Doyle’s stories except for the use of some of the same characters. My major conceit in my stories is that Moriarty is not the super-villain that Holmes believes him to be, but is more of a Robin Hood—stealing from the rich to give to the poor, and to support his scientific experiments. Holmes has a warped view of him because he’s the only man—and certainly the only villain—he’s ever dealt with who is as smart, and perhaps just a smidgen smarter, than he is.
If you mean, why do I write fast-paced fiction laced with thrills and chills, it’s because that’s what I’ve always felt I was meant to do. Strange, isn’t it, how one can be so certain of something, even as a young child. The desire to write a story, any kind of an interesting tale, is something I’ve had since I was able to connect the fact that I loved to read with the idea that it would be possible for me to create stories of my own by writing them. At the age of eight, I announced to my parents that I would be a writer, and that’s what I became.
What does Atkins think of public/political outcry against violence onscreen? After all, he DOES write those wicked horror movies and books…
“My basic position,” he says, “is of course anti-censorship so any stance from authority figures (even the benignly rabbinical Joe Lieberman) that seems to me to be the apparently-reasonable thin end of an ultimately-repressive wedge makes me suspicious. I don’t buy the ‘influence’ argument because its reductio ad absurdum is Charles Manson finding instructions to slaughter in Beatles’ records. You can’t legislate for lunatics. If some retard kills people because he got all worked up watching RAMBO then lock him up. But don’t put David Morell or Sylvester Stallone in the cell next door. Crime is an act, not a thought.”
How did you first come to discover the Barsoom books by Edgar Rice Burroughs?
When I was a young husband my bride surprised me by insisting that Tarzan of the Apes was a really good novel, not just trashy kid stuff. I’d read a little Burroughs as a kid. I still remember sitting under a cool elm tree on a warm spring afternoon and becoming immersed in Tarzan and the Ant-Men. But a long time had passed and I think my perceptions had been warped by too many bad Tarzan movies. She got me to try Burroughs again and I was instantly hooked. I started reading all the Burroughs books I could find. I was already a science fiction fan, and was totally captivated by the Barsoom series.
From actor to director, from composer to producer, Bruce Kimmel has been a part of the entertainment industry for thrity-some years (or more). Baby boomers instinctly recognize him from his guest starring roles on such television classics as “The Partridge Family,” “Laverne & Shirley” and “M*A*S*H.” Cult film lovers know him for two strangely wonderful films from the 1970’s – “The First Nudie Musical” and “The Creature Wasn’t Nice;” each film saluting a genre, with riotous results.
There will be over 80 dealer tables and 45 authors who will sign their books for free, among them William F. Nolan who has been attending almost as long as the show has existed, with over 30 years of appearances.
Report of the 35th Annual LA Vintage Paperback Show and Sale on March 16, 2014
By John King Tarpinian: Based on how my feet were yelling at me the morning after it was a good show. We were at a new venue this year. Everybody appeared pleased with the new location, The Glendale Civic Auditorium, a 1938 WPA project. Attendance was almost double that of last year. We were conservative in the number of vendor tables that were sold, 101, and could have sold a couple dozen more. The vendors I talked to said they had the best sales in years. Some that only had one table this year already said they’d be adding tables next year.
We are proud of our list of authors who come to sign: Karen Anderson, Peter Atkins, Ann Bannon, Stephen Blackmoore, James Blaylock, Jason V. Brock, Louis Charbonneau, John DeChancie, Dennis Etchison, Christa Faust, Mel Gilden, Donald Glut, Cody Goodfellow, Scott Tracy Griffin, Barbara Hambly, Denise Hamilton, Earl Hamner, Jr., Odie Hawkins, Glen Hirshberg, Stephen Jared, George Clayton Johnson, Earl Kemp, Bruce Kimmel, Tim Kirk,,Dani & Etan Kollin, Michael Kurland, Terrill Langford, Rick Lenz, Richard Lupoff, Michael Mallory, Ib Melchior, Lisa Morton, Larry Niven, William F. Nolan, Charles Nuetzel, Gary Phillips, Felice Picano, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, John Skipp, Harry Turtledove, Len Wein and Stephen Woodworth.
Our special guest this year was Harlan Ellison, always irascible and entertaining. His signing line did not move as quickly as would have liked. To that end Harlan stayed hours after the show was over and signed books for those who chose to stay. A table was setup outside the hall even after the doors were officially locked. Say what you may, I believe that was a class act!
One sad note, this is now the only show of its type in the world. It used to be just the largest in the world now it is alone unto itself. London is no more, New York announced that last year was its last year, others had already fallen by the wayside. Not sure if the attendees are aging out or people are no longer picking up a real book to read. Yes, eBooks have their benefit but can you imagine these authors signing iPADs or Kindles all day long?
All uncredited photos by John King Tarpinian.
The hall at 9:15 a.m.
Hall at 10:30 a.m. Photo by John Sasser.
Harlan Ellison holding court.
Harlan Ellison and Len Wein. Photo by John Sasser.
Classic Twilight Zone writer Earl Hamner Jr. meets new Twilight Zone writer Dennis Etchison. Photo by John Sasser.
Logan’s Run collaborators William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson with heads bowed, signing.
The 35th Annual Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show will be held in a new location – the Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 North Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA on Sunday March 16. The one-day event runs from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $5.
The show gets its drawing power from a long list of popular writers who come there to sign:
Karen Anderson, Peter Atkins, Ann Bannon, Peter S. Beagle, Stephen Blackmoore, Jason V. Brock, James Blaylock, Louis Charbonneau, John DeChancie, L.J. Dopp, Harlan Ellison, Dennis Etchison, Christa Faust, Laura Freas, David Gerrold, Gary Gianni, Mel Gilden, Tony Gleeson, Donald Glut, Cody Goodfellow, Scott Tracy Griffin, Barbara Hambly, Denise Hamilton, Earl Hamner Jr., Odie Hawkins, Glen Hirshberg, Stephen Jared, George Clayton Johnson, Earl Kemp, Bruce Kimmel, Dani & Eytan Kollin, Michael Kurland, Terrill Lee Lankford, Rick Lenz, Gary Lovisi, Richard Lupoff, Michael Mallory, Ib Melchior, Lisa Morton, Larry Niven, William F. Nolan, Charles Neutzel, Gary Phillips, Felice Picano, Jerry Pournelle, Tim Powers, John Skipp, Harry Turtledove, Len Wein, Stephen Woodworth.
More than 45 of these authors and artists will sign for free. Check the website for their schedules.
This weekend the city of Pasadena, home of the Rose Parade, is hosting the 47th California International Antiquarian Book Fair. This year’s is paying special respect to the 450th birthday of William Shakespeare.
I saw old Argosy magazines that could be had for $8, a Gutenberg Bible at a bargain price of $7,000,000, and everything in between. How about a single page from Schindler’s actual list? Needless to say this is the type of show that you make sure the mortgage check has cleared before you enter the hall.
There were exhibitors from all over the US of A, plus the UK, Italy, France and Germany. Imagine the shipping cost for those vendors. But then again, they probably had an inventory worth $1,000,000 plus. There were about 200 vendors — you do the math.
Seminars included “What Shakespeare Ate. Dining in the Elizabethan Age” and “Printing the Declaration of Independence.” There was a working manual printing press that children would make a copy of it for their souvenir.
Lucky for me I’ve made the acquaintance of a number of the vendors, some who also attend the world’s largest vintage paperback show I am one of the hosts of in March. (Shameless plug) Many vendors have become friends, in years past. I’ve even helped man a booth where my friend had an original manuscript of Dracula.
This show alternates years between L.A. and San Francisco. Admission is only $12 and is a real bargain. The show is worth going to for the education and the wow factor. You’ll see museum quality manuscripts. Books you’ve always dreamed of owning. Or ways to justify what you already own by discovering what volumes similar to the ones on yours bookshelves are being sold for.
Not sure what photos Mike will select to show but forgive the less than stellar quality. Most items were under glass and very bright lights with lots of glare.
Robert Kerr got pictures taken with some favorite authors and a favorite comic book while at the Vintage Paperback Show last weekend. Thanks to John King Tarpinian for the captions.
Len Wein with fan Robert Kerr holding a copy of X-men that his father bought him thirty years ago.
With Don Glut, who wrote the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back.
Kerr with Gary Gianni.
A reprint of the first issue of the first appearance of Superman.
