Gardner Dozois died on Sunday.

I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to write those words.   I probably should have posted something Sunday night, or yesterday for sure, but I just couldn’t.  It almost felt as if writing it would make it real, and there’s a part of me, a BIG part of me, that still does not want to believe it is real.   It can’t be real.   I just spoke to Gardner a few days earlier.   He was in the hospital after a fall that had left him “bruised but not broken” (his words), but he was still Gardner, Gargy, the Great Gargoo, funny, lively, full of plans.   We talked about getting together for a visit when I came east in July, either at Thrillerfest in NYC or down in Philadelphia where he expected to be in rehab.  We talked about his latest anthology, and I tried to convince him to come to San Jose for worldcon, and we joked.  This came on so quick…

I need to write a proper appreciation of Gardner, and I will, I will… but not just now.   The wound is still too raw.  I keep wanting to pick up the phone and call him and hear his voice again.

Gardner and I go back a long way.   He was my second oldest friend in the field (I’ve known Howard Waldrop longer, though I actually MET Gardner earlier, since Howard and I knew each other only by mail for the first decade or so).   Gardner is the reason I am here.   He was the assistant editor at GALAXY in 1970 who fished my story “The Hero” out of the slush pile and recommended it as a buy to editor Ejler Jakobsson (who always took his recommendations).  That was my first professional sale.  And in the spring of 1971, when I walked into Disclave, the first SF con I ever attended, Gardner was the first person I met.   He was working the registration desk.

Lots of people are posting and publishing appreciations of Gardner now, telling you that he was a great writer, and a great editor.  All true.   But right now it is not the editor or the writer I am mourning, it is my friend.  He was the warmest, kindest, gentlest soul you’ll ever met, larger than life, bawdy, funny… so funny.   When I remember Gardner, I remember laughter.   If you were walking through the halls at any con and you heard a group of people laughing, odds are Gargy was in the middle of it, with a jellybean or a cheese doodle up his nose, telling his old Army stories.   I heard those stories a hundred times, and they always made me laugh just as much as the first time.    “Do not piss on the third rail, or YOU WILL DIE.”

It breaks my heart to know that I will never laugh with him again.

And you know what else breaks my heart?   NIGHTFLYERS came out today, in two editions, one from Tor (with extra stories) and one from Bantam (with illustrations).   The book is dedicated to Gardner.   “Manatees!”   I was going to send him copies as a surprise… and now I can’t.

Ah, damn… this is too hard.

A couple of years ago at Capclave, Gardner and I and Howard Waldrop did a panel that was really just the three of us telling stories.   It’s on YouTube now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvdsmhQYTyc&t=657s

Have a look.  Have a laugh.  Stick a jellybean up your nose.

That was Gardner.

God, I loved that man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Mood: sad

Just saw online that SyFy has cancelled THE EXPANSE.   Season three is now running, and after that, they are pulling the plug.

It’s a damn shame, especially for fans of space science fiction… of which I count myself one.

THE EXPANSE was a terrific show in all regards.   It looked magnificent, but that’s true of a lot of big budget space shows these days.   It was also really well written and well directed, with an amazing and talented cast.   That’s not always true for some of the other SF shows out there.

There’s still a lot of great science fiction on TV right now… WESTWORLD comes to mind… but for hardcore SF geeks like me, there’s nothing quite like a space show.   Weird worlds, alien protomolecules, gritty asteroid miners, cool spaceships, that’s the stuff I was weaned on.  (Rocky Jones, anyone?)

THE EXPANSE was the best space show on television, far and away.   Nothing else even comes close.

I hope its producers can find another home for it.

If not, then this is a sad day for science fiction.

 

Current Mood: melancholy

THIS MESSAGE IS BEING BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER:

Our buddies over at Locus Magazine have organized a special one night event being held the Tuesday before this years World Con. Our dear overlord (AKA GRRM) will grapple in conversation with multiple-award winning artist, John Picacio.  John has worked in the Fevre River world on numerous projects such as Wild Cards, House of the Worm and the SoI&F calendar, as well as being quite the entertainer.

 <http://locusmag.com/grrmevent/>  

http://www.johnpicacio.com

The event will take place at the beautiful and historic Fox Theatre in Redwood City <https://www.foxrwc.com/>, and since seating is assigned, you’ll want to get your tickets as early as possible!

Locus Magazine has a wealth of other invaluable information including news, interviews, event listings, reviews and much more.   

Use the link below to join Locus’s mailing list which is the only way to access tickets to this event a full day before they go on sale to the general public. 

https://locusmag.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=7fb5da0ecc710458fd848a415&id=311743ed1f

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER

 

Current Mood: bouncy

THIS MESSAGE BEING BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER

We are proud to announce the winner of the first annual Miskatonic Scholarship for horror writers. 

The Miskatonic Scholarship was founded to help a horror writer with financial need attend the new Odyssey Writing Workshop; the acclaimed, six-week residential writers training program. 

Awarded to Valerie San Filippo

Here’s a portion of the press release:

 This year’s winner is Valerie San Filippo, a poet and writer from Lindenhurst, NY. She is pursuing her MFA in Fiction from Stony Brook Southampton. Her poetry has appeared in Noble / Gas Qtrly, Typehouse Magazine, The Long Island Literary Journal, and others. She is currently a teaching assistant at Stony Brook University, and an assistant editor for The Southampton Review. 

“The best writing is that which allows its characters to be human, where character is story, ” says San Filippo. “I am very excited to be attending Odyssey and to have the chance to write what I love.” 

The panel of judges included Odyssey Director Jeanne Cavelos, New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn, and Ti Mikkel. 

 Valerie’s winning story, ‘The Glow,’ builds from small, everyday details that are just a little bit off to deeply disturbing horror beyond human understanding, and it carries the reader along every step of the way. The story does a wonderful job of fulfilling the criteria George Martin set for the scholarship: ‘What we want are nightmares new and resonant and profound, cosmic terrors that will haunt our dreams for years to come. 

About Odyssey 

The Odyssey Writing Workshop is widely considered one of the top programs for writers of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. Writers from all across the world apply to the six-week program held each summer in Manchester, New Hampshire. Fifteen are admitted. Top authors, agents, and editors serve as guest lecturers. Intensive instruction in advanced writing techniques, in-depth feedback on manuscripts, and one-on-one guidance help students to make major improvements. Fifty-nine percent of students go on to professional publication. 

To learn more about the Odyssey Writing Workshop visit www.odysseyworkshop.org. The Odyssey site also offers many programs and resources for writers, including online classes, webinars, a critique service, consultations, coaching, free podcasts, author interviews, writing tips, and a monthly online discussion salon. 

 

CONGRATULATIONS VALERIE!! 

THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MINIONS OF FEVRE RIVER

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