Tag Archives: Erin Cairns

Pixel Scroll 1/12/25 Make Sure There’s No Pixelite Nearby

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(1) GENESIS OF SF ANTHOLOGIES. A Deep Look by Dave Hook turns its attention to “The First SF Reprint Anthology – ‘The Pocket Book of Science-Fiction’, Donald A. Wollheim editor, 1943 Pocket Books”.

…The Pocket Book of Science-Fiction was the first anthology of reprinted science fiction. Another important aspect of this anthology is that it was the first one with “science fiction” in the title.

Finally, it was probably the first paperback of science fiction. After first publication in hardback in 1933, Lost Horizon by James Hilton was published in paperback in 1939 by Pocket Books. I have not read it, but what I found suggested that it is probably more fantasy than SF. I could be wrong.

R. D. Mullen makes a great case for the importance of paperbacks to science fiction in Science Fiction Studies Volume 1, No. 3, Spring 1974 in essay “AN INDEX TO AMERICAN MASS-MARKET PAPERBACKS”…

… On this basis, I believe that The Pocket Book of Science-Fiction was important both for what it was and as a harbinger of easier access to SF by more people….

(2) HOW MICHAEL WHELAN GOT HIS START. [Item by Bruce D. Arthurs.] Michael Whelan writes interestingly about how he broke into professional illustration, along with pics of some of his early book covers. “1975: Year in Review”.

Ever since I can remember, it seemed natural to draw things that interested me. I just did it. I wasn’t aware of wanting to be an artist until the concept of a career impinged on my mind, but in any case I never thought of it as a serious option until my third year in college.

I had grown to think that I had to be something professional, and since I’d always had an interest in human anatomy, I was intending to become a doctor. In college I was able to separate what I wanted to do from what I thought was expected of me, and in the latter half of my junior year I changed my major to art.

After graduating from San Jose State University, I attended The Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. I enrolled hoping to acquire some mysterious quality of refinement I felt was lacking in my work.

I knew it would be a big mistake to attempt to find my first commission with anything less than professional-level work in my portfolio…

The rest of Whelan’s article tells why he was more surprised than anyone when sf publishers said his work made the grade.

(3) NOT HIS BEST VINTAGE. Jason Sanford’s latest Genre Grapevine devotes a long passage to justifying Erin Cairns’ disproven complaints against Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, in the process shading File 770’s post “Two Accusations Against Ekpeki Disproved”. Sanford refuses to account for the critical fact that Cairns made up two of the worst accusations in her “ODE Ethics Report”.

First, when Erin Cairns claimed that Ekpeki had left her name off the byline when submitting their co-authored story, she merely assumed that must have happened because it was a way she could make sense of how Ekpeki was responding to her, and how she was being ignored by the magazine’s editors. She didn’t know whether that had actually occurred when she made the claim. It wasn’t true. Her name was on the byline of the cover letter and the manuscript. I’ve seen the magazine’s archived copies.

Second, Cairns, a white woman, was distressed because she was under the impression the publication their story was submitted to was a “Black voices magazine”. Cairns emailed the magazine about her concerns and received no answer from them. Therefore, in her report she represented her belief about the magazine’s policy as a fact. It wasn’t a fact. Through contact with an editor of the magazine involved File 770 learned that it was not inappropriate for Cairns’ co-authored story to be submitted to the magazine, which has published a white author in the past.

Jason Sanford had exactly the same opportunity as File 770 to fact-check Cairns’ story. He did not choose to do it, instead devoting the Genre Grapevine for September/October 2024 to a Queeg-like exercise of geometric logic denying Ekpeki’s self-defense:

…In Ekpeki’s response, he essentially says the story was co-written by both of them and he submitted it without her name due to “miscommunication and misunderstandings and assumptions on both sides from two people in not great situations.” Ekpeki also says all the claims Cairns made were incorrect.

However, his argument doesn’t hold up for me. I see it as semantics and legalese, trying to rationalize away what happened. For example, Ekpeki said in his report that “As for her name not being on the bi-line, even if that were true (which it isn’t), it would not be theft, or even an attempt at theft, just an oversight, unless there was an intention to eventually publish it without her name on the bi-line.” And he then says that the magazine he submitted the story to wasn’t a Black voices publication because the magazine “caters to Africans and African diasporans. So there was no malfeasance there. She was eligible to be on the mag.”

That claim is absolutely wrong. As a white person born in South Africa, Cairns specifically said she wasn’t eligible to submit works to the magazine….

Sanford rejected Ekpeki’s statement that her name was on the byline. Yet it was. And about the magazine not being a “Black voices publication”, how did Sanford establish that claim was “absolutely wrong”? By the circular process of referring back to Cairns’ report. Not by pursuing third-party verification, through which he could have learned that it is Cairns’ claim that was wrong.

(4) MOONFALL. Slashfilm discovers there’s a new record-holder for “The Least Scientifically-Accurate Sci-Fi Movie, According To Neil deGrasse Tyson”.

Know that when celebrated astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson nitpicks the bad science commonly encountered in mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, he’s not trying to spoil anyone’s fun. He’s just being a nerd, and I think we can all respect that. There’s nothing shameful about possessing a lot of scientific knowledge, and pointing out the physics and astronomical errors in a movie can only, one might hope, encourage filmmakers to be more accurate next time….

… There are a few movies, however, that would strain the credulity of anyone. Michael Bay’s 1998 thriller “Armageddon,” for instance, is about a team of oil drillers and astronauts who fly to an oncoming comet to blow it up. On a 2024 episode of “The Jess Cagle Show,” Tyson pointed out several reasons why blowing up a potentially lethal comet is a bad idea. In fact, he once felt that “Armageddon” was the most brazenly unscientific sci-fi film ever made.

But “Armageddon” was recently supplanted by an even stupider movie. Tyson has some harsh words for Roland Emmerich’s 2022 mega-dud “Moonfall.”…

“It was a pandemic film […] — you know, Halle Berry — and the moon is approaching Earth, and they learned that it’s hollow. And there’s a moon being made out of rocks living inside of it. And the Apollo missions were to visit and feed the moon being.* And I … And I just couldn’t … I thought ‘Armageddon’ had a secure hold on this crown. But apparently not.”…

(5) TEDDY HARVIA CARTOON.

(6) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

Batman movie (1966)

By Paul Weimer: Batman 1966 film, or some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.

The Batman movie was, for me, just a long two-part episode of the Batman 1960’s TV series. I didn’t even know for years that it was meant to be a movie, I just thought it was a long episode of the second superhero show I remember watching. (The first is another story entirely).

Come back me to the days of the 1970’s and endless reruns. Among the reruns on Channel 5 (I swear, by the time I finish doing these anniversaries, you filers will know every nuance of TV in NYC in the 70’s and 80’s) was the 1960’s Batman TV show.  I’ll save my thoughts about the entire show for another day.

Today we’re talking about the movie. It’s the classic set up, have several supervillains (Catwoman, Penguin, Joker, and Riddler) team up for their greatest plot yet, which Batman and Robin must foil.  Sadly, Julie Newmar was unable to play Catwoman for the movie, and instead fell on Lee Meriweather.  I’m sorry, but Lee is a distant third behind Newmar and the last Catwoman, Eartha Kitt, in my book.  She’s not bad, but she doesn’t quite inhabit the role as the other two actresses do.   

The plot is silly but the movie has a lot of the extra tropes and gadgets that people associate with the entire series but were only in this movie or were much more prominent in this movie. The Batboat. Bat Shark repellent. Batcycle. Batcopter. Catwoman with a secret identity. Someone figures out a way into the Batcave! Lots of silly fights and chases.

And of course, the bomb. In trying to save some civilians, we are treated with Batman carrying a preposterous large bomb with a fuse, unable to dispose of it safely.  He becomes so exasperated by this that he utters the memorable line “some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.”

The movie itself is not a bomb. Sure, Batman is a very different character these days. But the movie is pure fun, and it never takes itself too seriously, not even in the denouement.  

(7) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

January 12, 1980 — Kameron Hurley, 45.

So I’ve been re-listening to Kameron Hurley’s space opera The Stars are Legion as I write this Birthday essay. A most excellent story indeed. 

Her time travel novel which I listened to recently, The Light Brigade, is one the best works in that sub-genre I’ve encountered. It was nominated for a Hugo at CoNZealand. 

Her first novel which I need someday to listen to (if it’s in audiobook format) is the start of her matriarchal Islam culture Bel Dame Apocrypha biopunk trilogy. Her term, not mine. 

The Worldbreaker trilogy which begins with The Mirror Empire I find delightful with its merging of hard SF underpinned by magic in a space opera setting. Now that shouldn’t work, should it? Really. But it magnificently does.

And let’s talk about her non-fiction. The Geek Feminist Revolution which garnered a BFA is a collection of previously published blog posts and none news essays written for here. One of the first, “We Have Always Fought’: Challenging the ‘Women, Cattle and Slaves’ Narrative” got a Hugo for Best Related Work at Loncon 3, and she also won a Hugo for Best Fan Writer.

Her exemplary short stories have been collected so far in Meet in The Future and Future Artifacts. Meet in The Future was nominated for an Otherwise Award. 

Of course, everything she’s written is available from the usual suspects. 

Mur Lafferty, Ursula Vernon, and Kameron Hurley at 2017 Hugo Award reception.

(8) COMICS SECTION.

  • Lio tries to be a good neighbor.
  • Off the Mark shows what cats are doing with Zoom.
  • Speed Bump reveals a surprising thing about a dog’s space suit that you probably don’t want to know.
  • Tom Gauld hypothesizes about why she’s a Sleeping Beauty.

The Sleeping Beauty- my latest cartoon for @theguardian.com

— Tom Gauld (@tomgauld.bsky.social) 2025-01-11T09:56:46.883Z
  • Tom Gauld wonders how to tell the difference between this trio.

My latest cartoon for @newscientist.bsky.social

— Tom Gauld (@tomgauld.bsky.social) 2025-01-12T12:29:45.769Z

(9) WARWICK DAVIS TO BE HONORED BY BAFTA. “Warwick Davis to Receive BAFTA Fellowship” – Variety has the story.

Warwick Davis, the British star best known for his appearances in the “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” franchises, is to be awarded the British Academy’s highest honor, the BAFTA Fellowship.

Recognizing those who have made an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television, the honor will be presented at the BAFTA film awards on Feb. 16….

(10) TODAY’S THING TO WORRY ABOUT. The Week has learned “Florida condos sinking at ‘unexpected’ rates”.

For as long as humans have endeavored to build upwards toward the sky, they have also been forced to contend with inexorable laws of nature — ones that are not always so accommodating to our species’ vertical endeavors. In the modern era, that tension is perhaps best exemplified in Florida, where coastal erosion, sinkholes, and other environmental factors have become a constant challenge in the march toward upward construction.

Nearly three dozen structures along Florida’s southern coast sank an “unexpected” amount between 2016 and 2023, according to a report released this month by researchers at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. All told, “35 buildings along the Miami Beach to Sunny Isles Beach coastline are experiencing subsidence, a process where the ground sinks or settles,” the school said in a press release announcing the results of its research. Although it’s generally understood that buildings can experience subsidence “up to several tens of centimeters during and immediately after construction,” this latest study shows that the process can “persist for many years.” What do these new findings mean for Miami-area residents, and our understanding of how to build bigger, safer buildings in general?…

(11) THE BULGE FINALLY CAPTURED. Live Science posted “Space photo of the week: The tilted spiral galaxy that took Hubble 23 years to capture”. See the image at the link.

Why it’s so special: This image of a spiral galaxy taken by the Hubble Space Telescope is a portrait more than two decades in the making.

Like most full-color images of space objects, it’s a composite of images taken in different wavelengths of light. What sets this image apart, however, is that the data used to create it was collected during observation sessions in 2000 and 2023 — 23 years apart. That’s one advantage of having a space telescope in orbit for so long: Hubble was launched from the space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990, and its long service has enabled it to capture a huge amount of data about every corner of the cosmos.

But besides the prolonged methods used to create it, it’s also an unusual image on its face. Spiral galaxies — which account for about 60% of all galaxies in the universe, according to the European Space Agency — are, by chance, typically seen face-on when viewed from the solar system. That’s why spiral galaxies are typically associated with vivid spiral arms, which can only be seen from a face-on vantage. However, UGC 10043 is viewed edge-on, with its rings seemingly flattened into a line. This unique angle gives astronomers the chance to see how spiral galaxies are structured in 3D.

(12) HI-TECH PERCH. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Ars Technica finds“Three bizarre home devices and a couple good things at CES 2025”. See the cat tower/air purifier at the end of this article. Gloriously free of AI. 

This cat tower is also an air purifier; it is also good

There are a lot of phones out there that need charging and a bunch of gamers who, for some reason, need even more controllers and screens to play on. But there is another, eternally underserved market getting some attention at CES: cats wanting to sit.

LG, which primarily concerned itself with stuffing generative AI interfaces into every other device at CES 2025, crafted something that feels like a real old-time trade show gimmick. There is no guarantee that your cat will use the AeroCat Tower; some cats may just sit inside the cardboard box it came in out of spite. But should they deign to luxuriate on it, the AeroCat will provide gentle heat beneath them, weigh them, and give you a record of their sleep habits. Also, it purifies the air in that room….

[Thanks to Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, Paul Weimer, Bruce D. Arthurs, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, and Kathy Sullivan for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Mark Roth-Whitworth.]

Two Accusations Against Ekpeki Disproved

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Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki didn’t do the things author Erin Cairns accused in the opening line of her report published October 25:  

I am reporting Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for unethical practices. He submitted a story entirely written by me into a Black voices magazine without my name on the byline….

In fact, Cairns’ name was on the byline. File 770 has identified the publication. An anonymous source in a position to have direct knowledge has verified that when Ekpeki submitted the story (1) his cover letter identified Erin Cairns as the co-author, and (2) the manuscript had both authors’ named on the title page. File 770 has seen archived copies of the documents.

Furthermore, while the publication’s mission is “supporting Black, African, and African Diaspora creatives globally”, File 770 learned from the source that the magazine has published material by a white author before, and that a submission having a white co-author would not have been a barrier to publication there. 

The characterization of the story as “entirely written” by Cairns is disputed by Ekpeki in his rebuttal “ODE Response to Accusations By Erin” for the following reasons.

Cairns and Ekpeki came to work together on her story “The Face of Our Demon” in 2020 as detailed in her report. File 770’s post “Author Erin Cairns Charges Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with ‘Unethical Practices’” outlined that history:

…Ekpeki, telling her there was by now more demand for his work than he could satisfy, asked if Cairns was interested in co-authoring, which in this case would mean jointly revising a story she had already drafted: “[He] would change the story to reflect a more own-voice context, and give it more Nigerian spiritualism and culture, but distance it from the real world inspiration I’d had for the story (a Makonde mask I’d seen in the Dallas Museum of Art).”

But when [Editor S] solicited the story they had co-authored for [Market 2], a “Black voices magazine”, Cairns disagreed with Ekpeki about the ethics of allowing that to happen, and following some tense correspondence (reproduced in the report) she got Ekpeki to withdraw the story….

In Ekpeki’s rebuttal posted on October 31, he calls the story a collaboration:

I submitted a story, written entirely by her, that’s not true. It was a collaborative piece. She consented to it being collaborative, before and after. She was satisfied with my contributions and okay with me sending it out. I gave her updates, before, during and after.

Asked for specific examples of his contributions, Ekpeki told File 770: “I helped ground the story. Things like settings, location, world, cultural leaning, character names. Basically world building.” Here are screencaps of texts where he recommended changes to her. [Click for larger images.]

His rebuttal continues:

“Erin was fine with my contributions, name change, settings, grounding the story regionally. These things are valid contributions which she consented to, accepted and was happy with. That constitutes a collaboration.

“These are from Erin Cairns own screenshots on her document which show us deliberating on the story. The grounding and changes I suggested which were made. Which she was fine with. So it wasn’t solely written by her. It had contributions from me, which we agreed on. That it was solely written by her, is just not true. After we dropped the story, she reached out to ask me for permission to send out her version without my contributions.”

Whether or not the quantity of writing Ekpeki had done would satisfy everyone that it should be termed a collaboration, the screencapped correspondence between them in Cairns’ report shows they intended to treat this story as being co-authored. 

THE BACKGROUND TO CAIRNS’ CHARGES. Reading the messages between Cairns and Ekpeki shows that she was frustrated by their communications, and suspicious about why she wasn’t in the loop with the submission process for the story.  Cairns explained in her report:

…He sent me a screenshot of him telling the magazine that I was attached (after the story had been accepted), but they had never responded. To me, this meant it was likely he had removed my name from the byline of the manuscript.

He reiterated that [Editor S] knew who I was and had still solicited the story. But still refused to give me contact with them…

Nevertheless, her name was on the byline of the manuscript. Was he unable to document that at the time? Because Ekpeki seems to have created more doubt by trying to allay Cairns’ concerns. That was the reason why, on the day the submission was accepted, he wrote to remind the editors about the co-authorship, and Cairns’ background, then copied that message to her.

Then there still remained her second concern, whether her story should have been submitted to this market at all. After the story was submitted, other editors — not [Editor S] — were assigned to review it. Cairns became worried whether it was ethical for her, as a white South African, to have submitted a story to [Market 2]. She was aware of their mission statement about “supporting Black, African, and African Diaspora creatives globally”.

I didn’t know how to even answer all of that, so the conversation became about whether or not [Market 2] was a Black voices only magazine. I said it seemed like it was black voices only from everything I could see. He insisted it wasn’t explicitly stated.

…I tried to be non-accusatory, but after realizing that [Editor S] wasn’t involved in the story’s selection, and this was a black voices magazine, I was panicking.

Even File 770 required the input of an anonymous source to verify that a white author could potentially be published by the magazine. Whereas Cairns got no reply from the editors of [Market 2] when she contacted them about her concerns directly:

Dear [Market 2] editors, My name is Erin Cairns, your magazine is publishing a story I co-wrote with Oghenechovwe Ekpeki called “The Face of Our Demon”. I only learned about this recently, and I’m feeling a little out of the loop. Oghenechovwe has been understandably busy these past few months, and while he’s passed on some of your communications in recent days, I can’t help but feel that some lines of communication have been crossed for a while. I did not understand that [Market 2] was a primarily, if not entirely, black voice magazine. I am a white South African, and if I had known, I would first have asked through this portal if a contribution from me would have been welcome. From what I understand, the story was accepted mid-December, but you did not know I was attached until early February. This leaves me a little unsure about whether my name will make it to the byline, or even if you still want to publish this story. If not, I completely understand, and I would immediately withdraw the story with sincere apologies. If there is to be more communication about ‘The Face of Our Demon’, could you please cc me in on the emails with Oghenechovwe so that we both have the information? He’s cc’d me in on his last email, the one with the revisions, but it was in response to a [S]ubmittable reply that I cannot see or follow

(Note: As discussed above, Cairns was unaware the editors knew she was a co-author from the beginning.)

The editors did not reply to Cairns. Instead, she learned from Ekpeki that they had informed him about the message. 

I asked him outright why they weren’t willing to talk to me. In response, he abandoned the pretense of the market being open to a submission from me and told me ‘It’s an African exclusive space’ and the ‘politics of white Africans is complicated’. But he’d just spent months obfuscating this issue between me and the magazine. He said he was ‘trying to make sure things went smoothly till publication’ though what me or the magazine were supposed to do in the rough waters after publication would then likely be up to me and the magazine, with me looking like I was a part of hiding my own involvement in a story I’d written in its entirety.

Cairns soon asked Ekpeki to withdraw the story from [Market 2] and he did.

Ekpeki’s Response characterizes the problems between them as miscommunication, misunderstanding, and mismatched expectations:

…Could I have communicated better? Of course. You always can. But you must remember that we are both disabled, chronically ill people. And one of them, me, lives in way worse conditions, in the poverty capital of the world, with little to no access to health care. If anything there’s a human being who is less than perfect, doing the best he can, which could yet be better. Not malfeasance or lack of ethics, or malice or an attempt at theft. There was a lot of miscommunication and misunderstandings and assumptions on both sides from two people in not great situations…

At one point he says, “I apologize for the pain that caused”, however, the statement comes in the middle of a paragraph focused on his extenuating circumstances.

OTHER ISSUES IN CAIRNS REPORT. Cairns also objected to not having received the credit she deserved for the work she did on Ekpeki’s behalf. For example:

We interacted on twitter for a while, exchanging stories for critique which I had done many times before. But this gradually shifted into me editing stories, which at the time I did not know was for his co-edited anthology: [Anthology D]. When he told me a story I’d worked on was going to be in the anthology, I questioned him about what I’d been doing. He told me that for my help and work, my name would be in the acknowledgments of the book.

When the book was released, I bought a copy, and my name was nowhere to be found….

…He hadn’t been transparent with me about his involvement with [Anthology D] when it was being put together, even while I was editing for it. And when I asked about the other stories I was critiquing or editing for him, he would give me vague answers like he wanted it to be a pleasant surprise…

Ekpeki’s response is that the only story she edited for [Anthology D] was his:

…She did not edit stories, not the plural which were for the anthology. She edited one story, mine, which appeared on it. How can I acknowledge you in a book that’s not mine, for one story I have in it? Do people give credits for one story being copy edited, in the whole book? I do not recall promising this….

People’s reaction in social media has ranged from expressions of empathy for Cairns to contending that she should have been given credit as a co-editor of the book.

We now know that Anthology D was Dominion, which on the cover says it was edited by Zelda Knight and Ekpeki, with Joshua Omenga also named as an editor in the Amazon listing. Silvia Moreno-Garcia has weighed in on Bluesky (relevant portion of the thread begins here). Her updated views are excerpted below. Knight and Ekpeki have posted counter arguments to the thread.  

ADDITIONAL REACTION IN SOCIAL MEDIA. Cairns’ report prompted several people to comment publicly about issues involving Ekpeki that until now were known to a limited number, or to come forward with their own complaints.

Ekpeki has responded to several of these criticisms and allegations in a Bluesky thread that starts here.

CONCLUSION. Erin Cairns led her report with the most volatile charges – that Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki had submitted a story “entirely written” by her solely under his own byline, and with the added deception that the market was a “Black voices magazine” whereas she is a white South African (living in the U.S.) But it has now been established that both her and Ekpeki’s names were on the byline of the manuscript, that the editor who solicited the submission knew her background, and that it was not inappropriate for her co-authored story to be submitted to the magazine, which has published a white author in the past.

The result is a more accurate set of facts to discuss. That does not put all controversy to rest. Other issues in Cairns’ report still remain open and are the subject of debate. And its publication has created ripples of criticism against Ekpeki in social media from those with complaints of their own.   

Pixel Scroll 10/27/24 I Do Want To Pixel It, Just To Ride With Mr. Mxyxptlk

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(1) EKPEKI ALLEGATIONS. Yesterday File 770 published Erin Cairns’ allegations in the news post “Author Erin Cairns Charges Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with ‘Unethical Practices’”.

Erin Cairns, a South African-born white woman who moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was young, has published a 78-page memo charging Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with unethical practices, among them submitting her work under his name to a “Black voices magazine”.

“I am reporting Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for unethical practices. He submitted a story entirely written by me into a Black voices magazine without my name on the byline. He lied about who he knew and how well he knew them. He obfuscated information about publications and editors and manipulated me to such an extent that I still struggle to trust myself and others.”…

The 770 post also quotes and links to more information about Ekpeki and the status of his projects which has been broadcast in social media in response.

Jason Sanford has also written a summary of “Allegations raised against Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki” which is available as an unlocked post on his Patreon. It includes his personal reaction:

… As someone who helped Ekpeki fundraise to both attend the Chicago Worldcon and to deal with his visa issues, and who also donated my own money to support him, these revelations have left me pissed and gutted. I spent a lot of time helping Ekpeki. I’m glad Cairns went public with her report, but I also wish I’d pressed her for the name of that author when she’d originally approached me. At the time I felt, based on her email, that she was fearful to reveal the name and that it wasn’t appropriate for me to even ask. Now I wish I had done so…

Finally, Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories says they are delaying the release of The Martian Trilogy – a project reported in yesterday’s Scroll which includes a contribution by Ekpeki — owing to the current controversy.

(2) BEWARE OF GARDEN GNOME. Deadline’s Pete Hammond offers praise in “’Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ Review: Return Of ‘Toon Duo”.

It has been 19 long years between the first Wallace & Gromit feature in 2005 and now the second in 2024, but it is an understatement to say it was well worth the wait. Nick Park‘s and Aardman‘s delightful buddy movie, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is an animated film noir merged with the dangers of technology running rampant….

(3) LIS CAREY MEDICAL UPDATE. Yesterday Filer Lis Carey was admitted to the hospital. Today she reports feeling a bit better, and reports more tests are being done to diagnose the problem.

(4) GABINO IGLESIAS REVIEWS. In the New York Times,  Gabino Iglesias assesses Laird Barron’s latest collection, Not A Speck Of Light: Stories, Hildur Knutsdottir’s new novella, The Night Guest (translated from the Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal), Richard Thomas’ novel Incarnate, and Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, translated and edited by Xueting C. Ni: “4 New Horror Books Filled With Eldritch Terrors and Other Frights” (behind a paywall.)

(5) MEAT LOAF RECIPE? Well, yes, there is one in The Rocky Horror Cookbook by Kim Laidlaw.

From the depths of Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s laboratory comes 50 culinary concoctions to titillate the taste buds of Rocky Horror fans, in this lip-smacking officially licensed cookbook based on the cult classic stage musical.

Never worry about the likes of Brad and Janet crashing your party; there will be plenty of food for everyone with this delightful and delectable cookbook beamed directly from the galaxy Transylvania to your kitchen. Give your guests a little tease with appetizers like Magenta Mash(ed) Potato Cakes and Thrill Me Chill Me Spicy Gazpacho. The main courses—which can be served in either the dining room or bedroom—offer scintillating options like Rocky’s Mussels, Riff Raff Ramen, and Slow-Cooked Thigh Ragu that will have you shivering in antici…

…pation. Wash it all down with a Make You a Man-hattan before biting into Midnight Double Chocolate Feature Brownies for dessert. With a foreword by Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien, The Rocky Horror Cookbook will have long-time fans and newly discovered creatures of the night singing in unison, “Don’t dream it. Eat it.”

(6) WAIT – THERE’S MOORE! Sam Thielman reviews two Alan Moore books in the New York Times (link bypasses paywall): “Book Review: ‘The Great When,’ by Alan Moore, and ‘The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic’”.

“Have you got a name or should I just keep thinking of you as ‘the liability?’” a beautiful young woman named Grace asks the protagonist of Alan Moore’s THE GREAT WHEN (Bloomsbury, 315 pp., $29.99).

He does indeed: Our hero rejoices in the name of Dennis Knuckleyard, and that’s the least of his problems. Dennis, a miserable teenager who works in a bookshop for a phlegmy old crone named Coffin Ada, has been sold a dangerous book — “A London Walk,” which ought not to exist outside the fiction of horror writer Arthur Machen, but has somehow left the world of ideas and entered his possession. He must properly dispose of it or be drawn into a magical world called Long London that exists parallel to the Shoreditch of 1949 where Dennis usually resides. Also, at least some of Long London’s inhabitants possess the ability and possibly the inclination to turn Dennis inside out…

(7) MARC WELLS HAS DIED.  Portland fan Marc Wells passed away October 25 after several months of illness. OryCon’s Bluesky account posted a statement provided by Linda Pilcher:

I am sending this on the behalf of Marc’s family:

With sadness, we share that Marc Wells, a long-time Portland fan, passed away on October 25 after several months of illness. Throughout his life, Marc was an active techie at conventions, served as president of the Portland Science Fiction Society, and President of the Board of Directors of OSFCI fo many years.

Above all, he was a cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend.

Marc didn’t believe in funerals. Instead, his ashes will be scattered in the Columbia River Gorge. We will hold a wake at a future date, likely at the Rose City Book Pub, with a general invitation to follow.

As many of you know, Marc was a talented musician himself who loved supporting young musicians and all sorts of music, especially Friends of Noise, a non-profit dedicated to helping to support diversity among young musicians. If you wish to make a donation in Marc’s name, you can find the donation link as well as more details about Friends of Noise and their upcoming shows on their website: Friends Of Noise | All Ages. Always. 

The family extends deep gratitude to everyone who supported Marc during his illness.

(8) JERI TAYLOR (1938-2024). Jeri Taylor, the showrunner behind Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (which she co-created), died October 24 at the age of 86. The Deadline tribute

…In 1990, she began writing for Next Generation Season 4, eventually working her way up to co-executive producer in Season 6. She was the showrunner of the Patrick Stewart vehicle in its seventh and final installment, for which she garnered an Emmy nom for Outstanding Drama Series.

Afterward, Taylor co-created Voyager alongside Next Generation co-EPs Rick Berman and Michael Pillar, serving as showrunner from 1995 through 1998 and later creative consultant for its final three seasons. She pioneered the idea of a female lead captain in the franchise with actress Kate Mulgrew. In a tribute post on X, Mulgrew wrote that Taylor was “responsible, in large part, for changing my life. She was elegant, erudite, and fiercely opinionated. She wanted Kathryn Janeway to be a significant part of her legacy and I think there is no doubt that in that endeavor she succeeded.”…

(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

Born October 27, 1939 — John Cleese, 85.

By Paul Weimer: My first introduction to John Cleese was not, as it turns out, Monty Python.  My older brother was to blame. He was in fact a Python fan, although in those times before we had a VCR I had never gotten to see any of it, and it had not circulated back around to being syndicated again, But he loved it, and loved Cleese’s work in it. And so, in 1986, he and I went to the movies to see…Clockwise.

Clockwise is an absurdist film that defies description and easy plotting. Let us say that a punctual school headmaster played by Cleese, someone bound to schedules and timing and order winds up making a single mistake, and his entire schedule and life go off the deep end. The absurdity and unbelievable vignettes and adventures Cleese gets up to as he tries to get back to normalcy are not just Pythonesque in their comedy, they are sui generis.  It’s a movie you have to be in the mood for, but I was in the mood then, and have often been in the mood since to see a man’s life just go so off kilter, hilariously.

After seeing Clockwise, I finally was able to see Monty Python films…and later, the series itself (I realize just how weird it was to go in that order, but that was the hazards of life before having a VCR or streaming).  I then enjoyed Cleese in other films and works like A Fish Called Wanda (a favorite) and the sometimes frustratingly fun, frustratingly terrible Rat Race (I am also an It’s a Mad Mad Mad World fan, you see). I found some of his later work disappointing (looking at you Fierce Creatures) and some of it surprisingly delightful.  When I played Jade Empire, I was surprised to hear what I thought might be his voice playing an outlander wandering in the Empire. When I found out later that Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard was indeed voiced by Cleese, I was *delighted*

Cleese’s rants against “Cancel Culture” are disheartening, and make me sad that an actor and comedian whose work I’ve enjoyed for years could go so very wrong headed.  Alas.

John Cleese

(10) COMICS SECTION.

  • The Argyle Sweater has ideas about restroom signs for monsters.
  • Carpe Diem knows they better look impressed.
  • Wumo overhears complaints about a different infestation.

(11) TIM BURTON EXHIBIT. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Halloween may not be as big a deal in the UK as in North America, but fans in the London area will now have a chance to celebrate it with one of the modern Patron Saints of the day: Tim Burton.

Continuing a world tour that started in 2014 (albeit with a hiatus in 2019–21), The World of Tim Burton exhibition will opened October 25 and will be open until April 21, 2025 at the Design Museum in London. 

In fact, Burton fans around the world may want to take note since this is said to be the very last time the exhibition will be displayed. “Tim Burton Says He’s ‘Technophobic’ And Jack Skellington Came From Subconsciousness” at Bored Panda.

(12) SUPERCHEAP PC. [Item by Steven French.] Here is “an edited extract from the book Curious Video Game Machines by Lewis Packwood, which explores the stories behind rare and unusual consoles, computers and coin-ops” and which describes how engineer Voja Antonic got around import restrictions in Yugoslavia to build his own computer, which had a major impact on the gaming and computer enthusiast community (I loved the description of an early form of ‘wireless’ tech when software was recorded in tape and transmitted over the radio!). “How one engineer beat restrictions on home computers in socialist Yugoslavia” in the Guardian.

…Antonić was pondering this while on holiday with his wife in Risan in Montenegro in 1983. “I was thinking how would it be possible to make the simplest and cheapest possible computer,” says Antonić. “As a way to amuse myself in my free time. That’s it. Everyone thinks it is an interesting story, but really I was just bored!” He wondered whether it would be possible to make a computer without a graphics chip – or a “video controller” as they were commonly known at the time.Typically, computers and consoles have a CPU – which forms the “brain” of the machine and performs all of the calculations – in addition to a video controller/graphics chip that generates the images you see on the screen. In the Atari 2600 console, for example, the CPU is the MOS Technology 6507 chip, while the video controller is the TIA (Television Interface Adaptor) chip.

Instead of having a separate graphics chip, Antonić thought he could use part of the CPU to generate a video signal, and then replicate some of the other video functions using software. It would mean sacrificing processing power, but in principle it was possible, and it would make the computer much cheaper….

(13) ALL’S WELL. “NASA astronaut is released from the hospital after returning from space” reports WAFF.

A NASA astronaut who was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical issue after returning from a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton has been released from the hospital.

A SpaceX capsule carrying three Americans and one Russian parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. The capsule was hoisted onto the recovery ship where the four astronauts had routine medical checks.

Soon after splashdown, a NASA astronaut had a “medical issue” and the crew was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, for additional evaluation “out of an abundance of caution” the space agency said in a statement….

(14) THE ORVILLE GUIDEBOOK PUBLISHED. “’The Orville’ executive producer delivers deluxe guidebook to the cult sci-fi series” – Space.com has the details.

… “Dark Horse presents ‘The Guide to The Orville,’ a jam-packed lore book collecting everything a new crew member needs to know about the Planetary Union’s most remarkable ship!”…

…Written by seasoned “The Orville” writer and co-executive producer Andre Bormanis, it’s a beautifully bound 192-page volume immersing followers into every aspect of the show’s world. It features dozens of illustrations, diary entries, and detailed cutaways that serve as an exacting manual for newbie spacefarers familiarizing themselves with the huge vessel and the vast universe it explores….

(15) SATURDAY AND OTHER MORNINGS. CBR.com surprises with these forgotten series: “15 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies You Didn’t Know Had Cartoons”.

Sci-fi and fantasy movies often challenge viewers to imagine infinite possibilities, but many forget just how many cartoon spinoffs exist in their wake….

Cinema has long captivated children with its fantastic worlds, and over the years, it became increasingly common for movies to spin off into animated TV series… Today, that tradition continues with titles like Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Gremlins: The Wild Batch, and an upcoming Ghostbusters project. For pop culture archivists, these animated adaptations often offer a glimpse into how beloved franchises evolve and reimagine themselves for new generations….

Here’s an example:

A Forgotten Cartoon Featured an American Werewolf in High School

Teen Wolf (1986-1987)

The teenage years come with plenty of changes, but for most high school students, those experiences don’t include fangs, claws, or the awkward discovery that they’re a werewolf. Starring Michael J. Fox of Back to the Future fame, this hair-raising comedy takes the term “fantasy sports” to a new level as protagonist Scott Howard becomes a basketball-playing lycanthrope.

The Cartoon Adventures of Teen Wolf, as it was known in the UK, followed the chaotic life of the “all-American werewolf” and his family. Navigating the ups and downs of high school, Scott’s life is less The Wonder Years and more “The Werewolf Years” as he tries to protect his family’s secret while dealing with a world that still sees them as monsters. While overshadowed by the 2011 live-action TV series, hopes were high in 2017 when Shout! Factory announced the release of the Teen Wolf cartoon in its entirety. However, due to legal issues, audiences are still left wondering where this werewolf series will resurface next.

(16) HORROR CLASSIC IN PUBLIC DOMAIN. [Item by Cat Eldridge.] The film is legitimately in the public domain due to some really stupid legal mistakes by the producers. “House on Haunted Hill, 1959 with Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart” – see it at Public Domain Movies.

House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American horror film directed by William Castle. The film was written by Robb White and stars Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart as eccentric millionaires Frederick Loren and Annabelle Loren, who have invited five people to the house for a “haunted house” party.

Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors….

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Steve Davidson, Michael J. Walsh, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]

Author Erin Cairns Charges Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with “Unethical Practices”

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Erin Cairns, a South African-born white woman who moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was young, has published a 78-page memo charging Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with unethical practices, among them submitting her work under his name to a “Black voices magazine”.

I am reporting Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for unethical practices. He submitted a story entirely written by me into a Black voices magazine without my name on the byline. He lied about who he knew and how well he knew them. He obfuscated information about publications and editors and manipulated me to such an extent that I still struggle to trust myself and others.

Cairns has had work appear in Writers of the Future Vol. 34, the Silent Screams anthology, and The Dark Magazine. 

Her memo about Ekpeki begins with a nine-page summary, and is supported by 69 pages of screencaps of text messages. It is available to download from Google Drive: ODE_Ethics Report_Compressed.pdf. Cairns has redacted the names of the anthology projects, and other professionals and sources.

The PDF shows her discussions with Ekpeki as she edited several of his stories and co-authored another, all of which was work done without credit and with his initially telling her he was just looking for a critique.

…We have never met or spoken outside of emails or twitter DMs. My first interaction with Ekpeki was in late 2018 when I posted on twitter that I had won a writing award. We interacted on twitter for a while, exchanging stories for critique which I had done many times before. But this gradually shifted into me editing stories, which at the time I did not know was for his co-edited anthology: [Anthology D]. When he told me a story I’d worked on was going to be in the anthology, I questioned him about what I’d been doing. He told me that for my help and work, my name would be in the acknowledgments of the book.

When the book was released, I bought a copy, and my name was nowhere to be found….

… None of the work I did for Ekpeki has ever been publicly acknowledged. The extent has been that he included my name in a ‘writer’s boost’ once or twice (a tweet with a list of writers usernames). This was fine-ish. It was a lot of work, it was hard work, and sometimes it was work I did not believe in, but there were no contracts. I knew I should say no when it became clear I wasn’t going to get credit, but I didn’t. I tried once, but he sent me a story anyway, and I did it. By that point it felt like a firmer ‘no’ was going to cost me a connection in the writing world I had already poured a ton of time and work into.

Much later, in 2021 he said: “I really wish you hadn’t gone off the radar around when I was doing [Anthology D],” as a way to say he would have published my work in that anthology. But I was on the radar, editing a story for [Anthology D]. I did not submit to the call (though I had been sent the submissions link by a friend, and did not know I was at that time editing a story in said anthology) because the submissions guidelines said “white South Africans need not apply,” and I am a white South African.

He hadn’t been transparent with me about his involvement with [Anthology D] when it was being put together, even while I was editing for it….

Ekpeki, telling her there was by now more demand for his work than he could satisfy, asked if Cairns was interested in co-authoring, which in this case would mean jointly revising a story she had already drafted: “[He] would change the story to reflect a more own-voice context, and give it more Nigerian spiritualism and culture, but distance it from the real world inspiration I’d had for the story (a Makonde mask I’d seen in the Dallas Museum of Art).”

But when [Editor S] solicited the story they had co-authored for [Market 2], a “Black voices magazine”, Cairns disagreed with Ekpeki about the ethics of allowing that to happen, and following some tense correspondence (reproduced in the report) she got Ekpeki to withdraw the story.

On the other hand, Cairns makes clear that it was her choice not to receive compensation for any work she did:

…I would like to note that as time went on, he started to offer payment, especially as he started to rise in popularity, but I always refused…. Money never exchanged hands. Whenever he offered it, it was always far past the time I’d done the work and that always felt odd to me. So I insisted he also worked hard on the stories he sent me and declined the sudden offers of payment again and again….

Cairns’ report prompted several people to comment publicly about issues involving Ekpeki that until now were known to a limited number.

Cairns posted the link to her report on Bluesky here, where it has received comments from several dozen writers. R.S.A. Garcia said there that Ekpeki’s behavior has already resulted in his being removed from two shared writer spaces:

L. D. Lewis said specifically that Ekpeki was removed from the FIYAHCON 2022 project. And gave added insights about that situation in a thread that starts here.

Elsewhere, some are now distancing their projects and themselves from Ekpeki.

Michael Bailey has announced that Ekpeki is no longer his co-editor on the You, Human anthology.

Two authors have announced they are leaving one of Ekpeki’s projects:

Gautam Bhatia has written a thoughtful interpretation of the meaning of the popular and financial support Ekpeki has received up til now within the overall power dynamics of the sff field. The thread starts here. Some excerpts follow below. (OED = Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.)

Jason Sanford, who has pitched in again and again to help Ekpeki solve problems with his Amazon royalties and other international payment tangles, told File 770: “I’m pissed and gutted to learn all this. I’m also worried about how these revelations might close off opportunities for new writers from around the world who are trying to break into the SF/F genre.”

And Chris Barkley, who worked on a fundraiser to bring Ekpeki to Glasgow 2024, commented:

The last thirty six hours have been quite an eye opener for myself and my partner Juli. We have been supporters of Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for the past few years and we were both shocked and deeply saddened at the recent allegations that have been against him over this past weekend.

We have heard from friends and acquaintances who, in some instances, have confirmed the allegations of ethical misbehavior. They involve malfeasance of funds that were raised or given to him, personal transgressions against individuals at conventions, questionable submissions to magazines and anthologies and theft of literary property that did not originate directly from him.

In light of these revelations, we are both angered, shocked and most of all disappointed that he took advantage of the goodwill of others to further his own writing career and social status at the expense of the people who earnestly tried to help him.

File 770 contacted Ekpeki for his comment on the Cairns report. He is preparing a response which will be reported in a follow-up post.