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OtherRealms Issue 21 Part 01
Electronic OtherRealms #21
Summer, 1988
Part 1
Table of Contents
Part 1
Editor's Notebook
Chuq Von Rospach
Part 2
The Agony Column
Rick Kleffel
Part 3
An Interview with Chairman Bruce
Bruce Sterling
Interviewed by Alan Wexelblat
Part 4
Scattered Gold
Charles de Lint
Part 5
Adulthood Rites
Neal Wilgus
Behind Closed Doors at Resurrection, Inc.
Kevin J. Anderson
Part 6
Something Old,
Something New,
Something Borrowed,
Something Blue
Alan Wexelblat
Part 7
Words of Wizdom
Chuq Von Rospach
Part 8
No Prisoners!
Laurie Sefton
Part 9
Much Rejoicing
Dan'l Danehy-Oakes
Part 10
Appreciations: Clifford Simak
Robert A. Heinlein
Part 11
Letters To OtherRealms
Part 12
Hugos and the Other Forms Award
Book Ratings
The Masthead
Subscription Info
Editor's Notebook
Chuq Von Rospach
It had to happen. As I'm writing this, it is three days beyond when
OtherRealms is supposed to be mailed. With any luck, I can be at the
printer in a week, and in the mail the first week of July.
This issue is bringing home a lot of things I've basically avoided
until now with OtherRealms. I've done the zine on a rather tight
schedule, surrounded by other tight schedules. As long as everything
went to plan, it all worked out in the end.
When it all falls apart, it really falls apart.
June was going to be a hassle going in, with a major writing commitment
on the Macintosh side as well as OtherRealms all coming due about the
same time. Then I got word that Clifford Simak died, and material and
schedules need to be juggled to make sure we said goodbye to him properly.
Then I got the phone call telling me about Heinlein, and I sat down and
cried for a while. I'm sitting here at the computer, working on the
rest of the issue, my Heinlein material still unedited, because I find
I can't face looking at it. I can't face looking at it, having to admit
to myself that he's really dead.
I'll have to, if I ever want this issue printed. But, damn it, I'm
going to miss Heinlein.
If it was just juggling of schedules, I would have been okay. But I
woke up one morning with a sore leg, and ended up that night in the
emergency ward. It was "only" a deep muscle spasm, but it earned me a
week off work and either flat on my back or lurching around on
crutches. It's been almost two weeks now, and I'm still limping. I'm
only at about half- speed, both at work and writing -- I simply can't
sit that long without getting uncomfortable. This really impacted
getting OtherRealms out.
New Schedules
It's obvious now that I'm over-committed, and have been surviving
mainly due to the whims of God (I can see Her now, sitting up there
chuqling, saying "hee-hee. Let's let him take on one more project and
THEN zap him!" -- God is not mean, but She does have a strange sense of
humor....). That, and some recent problems and discussions on USENET,
have made me sit down and try to rethink priorities and time
commitments.
I'm frankly somewhat burnt out. Not on any one project or on
OtherRealms, but on things in general. My schedule since the first of
the year has been such that I've been unable to do something as simple
as take a night off for a movie -- six months of non-stop deadline.
When the leg business came up and forced me to miss a couple, it made
me realize just how cramped the schedule was.
So I'm going to try to slow down a bit, and set things up so I can
simply sit and stare at the walls once in a while. I shouldn't have to
choose between mowing the lawn and writing my editorial; it's a
question of who is in control, and right now, it's my schedule.
How will this affect OtherRealms? Not very much. I'm shifting my
publication date from the 15th of the month to the 30th. Article and
lettercol deadlines will be the 15th of the prior month, instead of the
first. This gives me six weeks to tie everything together, instead of
two to four. I've been publishing OtherRealms on a six week schedule,
which will become an eight week schedule -- which should give me a
better shot at catching some of those nasty typos that have been
creeping in during the deadline crunch.
Another thing I'm doing is shifting to offset, and letting a real
printer do the work of printing and collating for me. This is more
expensive, but worth it for a number of reasons. It free's me from late
night Xeroxing and collating, which is the major reason, but it should
also improve the reproduction quality, especially of the art work --
I've never been happy with the way OtherRealms looks, especially the
blacks in the art pieces I publish.
This should help. Expensive, but worth it. I hope you folks agree.
On the electronic side, I've been looking very closely at my options.
The quality of life on USENET continues to degrade, to the point where
it is almost impossible to carry on a reasonable conversation without
the idiots coming in and stomping all over it.
OtherRealms is immune to it to a good degree, being moderated, but it
makes it harder for me to justify putting lots of time into the
network. A major scheduling problem for me, also, is putting together
the electronic edition, which has normally been distributed at the same
time as the electronic version. To do this has required a number of
marathon editing sessions over a period of a week. The result is a high
number of typos and an exhausted editor. Not a good combination.
The electronic edition takes a fair amount of work, since it requires
me to completely reformat the thing and plug in all the titles,
copyright marks, and other small pieces of text, as well as chopping it
up into distributable pieces. I seriously considered dropping it, but I
don't want to disenfranchise a large and appreciative audience.
Instead, I'm putting Electronic OtherRealms on a separate schedule.
Once I get the printed version out, I'll put together the Electronic
one. This looks like it will be a two week delay, although I don't know
for sure yet. This means that the printed version would be mailed in
the last week of June, and the Electronic released in mid to late July.
Folks who can't wait can subscribe to the printed version of course.
Hopefully this will make life a little saner around here, and I can
enjoy OtherRealms more.
In summary, here are the new dates and schedules. These will get merged
into the masthead next issue.
Publication date: the 30th of March, June, September and December.
All material and letters due: 15th of month previous to publication month.
Electronic edition released: 15th of month after publication (tentative).
This should make OtherRealms more of a hobby and less of an obsession,
and allow me to enjoy some of the other things I like to do once in a
while, without markedly affecting the zine. Once I clear out some of my
other, non-SF commitments, it'll be even better.
New Rates
Effective this issue, there's a new cover price and new subscription
rates. OtherRealms now costs $2.85, with a one year (four issue)
subscription running $11.00.
Those numbers would have taken me to break-even with the new postal
rates. With the switch to offset, I'm over the edge again, but I expect
to be using a third class postal permit starting next issue (that was
one of the projects that got lost in the one-legged tango this month)
which should put it back on par.
The way I figure break-even is somewhat different than most magazines,
by the way. My subscription prices are based on the cost of a single
copy of OtherRealms, not on the cost of the printing and mailing
divided by subscriptions. If you subscribe, you are paying for your
copy, not your copy and a percentage of the complimentary copies. All
comps come out of my pocket, which is how I think it should be.
The problem is that postage is insane and printing a magazine with a
large number of pages and a small press-run is labor intensive. I won't
see any economy of scale with printing at smaller than 1000 copy runs,
which I don't expect to see any time soon.
Right now, I'm discussing foreign checks with my bank, so I can't
offer either Canadian overseas subscriptions unless they are funded in
dollars American. If you're interested, write to me about it. And for
clubs, bookstores, or other places interested in multiple copy
subscriptions, I'm setting up a special rate for bulk shipments to a
single address. Bookstore sales, by the way, are fully returnable.
If you're a net reader, and have considered converting to the printed
version, now is a good time to do it. I'm going to offer a one-time
conversion subscription of five issues instead of the normal four. To
qualify, send the check and a note with where you read OtherRealms and
your E-mail account name. If I don't recognize the source, I may get
back with you to verify it. If nothing else, this may help me find some
of the distribution points I don't know about.
This issue
A lot of stuff has been shifted around this month. Because of the
Heinlein and Simak appreciations, both the Pico Reviews and the Stuff
Received are taking well earned vacations. They'll both be back next
issue, and all the reviews pending will be held for then.
I've also had to cut a couple of articles originally scheduled: a
bibliography of Arthurian works and M. Elayn Harvey's article on her
first novel. Both should make it in next issue as well. There are also
a couple of stand-alone reviews for next issue -- which means that next
issue is already rather full, even before I go to press. I always need
some more stand-alone reviews from folks, but any feature material is
going to be shoved back a couple of issues before I can run it.
Horrors!
I've also found a Horror columnist. Rick Kleffel and the Agony Column
joins OtherRealms this issue, and Rick will be dealing exclusively with
the Dark Realms. I'm really happy to have him around, and once you read
him, you'll understand why. I've always felt that OtherRealms should
cover Horror, but never have been able, until now, to do it properly.
Welcome, Rick!
The Special Brad Foster Issue
This is also the first issue featuring a given artist. All of the art
(except the cover) is by Brad Foster, last year's Hugo winner for best
Fan Artist and a finalist again this year. The original cover Brad did
for me is on page three because of the appreciations, and his art (most
of it never published before) is scattered throughout the issue. Brad
was one of the earliest artists to support OtherRealms, and is one of
the best Black&White technicians I've ever seen. His work deserves some
appreciation, and I'm thrilled to be able to focus on him.
More Changes
This issue has a number of technical changes. The layout has been
completely redesigned. The two column format is (in my opinion) more
boring than the three column format I used to use, but it is also a lot
easier to lay out and amazingly flexible when it comes to putting an
issue together. There is a new headline face (Univers) and the whole
look of the headlines has been rethought to try to simply and update
the look of OtherRealms. Bookman Bold, as a friend mentioned to me,
starts looking like it was set with a dirty typewriter ribbon in large
sizes. The new layout uses many fewer faces and sizes, and is (I think)
a lot cleaner and easier to read. If you disagree, let me know!
There will be some more layout changes next month. I'm planning on
switching typefaces on the text -- something that I couldn't do this
issue. The new typeface should be cleaner and easier to read. And I
expect a few tweaks in the new layout, as always.
Worldcon
This is the last issue before Worldcon. Nolacon is in New Orleans this
year, an Laurie and I will be there taking a well deserved vacation. If
you're an OtherRealms reader and plan to be in New Orleans, track us
down and introduce yourself!
The death of mimeo
It looks like it's finally happened. Reports have been circulating that
the paper manufacturers are killing off the production of mimeo paper.
It is, when you think about it, the end of an era.
With the proliferation of inexpensive copiers, quick print shops,
personal computers, laser writers and the relentless onslaught of
Desktop Publishing, mimeo finally seems to be headed for a long
deserved retirement.
This thought, of course, doesn't console those people who have relied
on mimeo for their publishing. While current techniques can create much
cleaner and nicer looking publications, it's at a cost. It's more
expensive, for one thing, and people are going to be less forgiving of
marginal layouts, material and fanzines.
There isn't a lot I can do about the cost. Xerography is more
expensive, although there are things you can do to minimize expenses.
On the layout and technology sides, though, I can help. Having been
playing with the new technologies for a few years (frankly, without
which OtherRealms would not exist, in this or any other form) I've got
an idea of the uses, abuses and pitfalls of these new toys. This is
information I'm willing and happy to share.
So if you're looking at moving towards newer technologies, or want some
ideas on how to make your fanzine look better, or have general computer
oriented questions, drop me a line. I've gotten a lot of help from a
lot of people, and I want to return the favor a little bit.
Publishing Notes
Barbara Hambly autographed at Change of Hobbit on April 16. Joe
Haldeman also signed at Change of Hobbit on April 23. For information
on upcoming autographing sessions, dial 213-Great-SF.
Genre related Young Adult titles from Harpers Junior Books include Road
to the Stars by Robert Vardeman , Alien Child by Pamela Sargent, The
Warriors of Taan by Louse Lawrence, The Dragonbards by Shirley Rousseau
Murphy, The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, The Trouble on Janus by Alfred
Slote, Max and Me and the Time Machine by Gery Greer and Bob Ruddick,
Mutants, an anthology edited by Isaac Asimov, M.H. Greenberg and
Charles G. Waugh, The Secret of the Round Beast by John Forrester and
Star Lord by Louise Lawrence.
Orson Scott Card signed at Change of Hobbit bookstore in Santa Monica,
CA. on May 21. John Shirley also did a signing at Change of Hobbit on
May 14th, celebrating his new book Eclipse Penumbra (Questar). Jack
Vance is signing at Change of Hobbit on June 25. For future scheduled
signings, call 213-GREAT-SF or watch rec.arts.sf-lovers, where I post
the signings I'm sent before they actually happen.
The July lead from Baen Books include War World #1: The Burning Eye, a
Shared World anthology set in the same universe as The Mote in God's
Eye. Other titles for July include The Jerusalem Man by David Gemmell,
The Leaves of October by Don Sakers, The Future at War #2: The Spear of
Mars edited by Reginald Bretnor, Between the Strokes of Night by
Charles Sheffield (reprint) and The Wooden Spaceships by Bob Shaw
(Hardcover original, the sequel to The Ragged Astronauts). Baen Fantasy
lead for July is The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh. Other titles include John
the Balladeer by Manly Wade Wellman and The Devil's Game by Poul
Anderson (reprint).
July titles from Pocket books include Star Trek: The Next Generation
#2, Ghost Ship by Diane Carey, The Troupe, a horror novel from Gordon
Linzner, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Encounter at Farpoint by David
Gerrold (reprint), The Star Trek Interview Book by Allan Asherman.
Simon&Schuster Audio titles include The Hellbound Heart by Clive
Barker, read by the author.
Avon titles for August include Arabesques, More Tales from the Arabian
Nights, edited by Susan Shwartz, Planetfall: In search of Floyd part 1,
by Arthur Byron Cover (based on the Infocom computer game),
Wishbringer, by Craig Shaw Gardner (the latest in the Chronicles of
Ebenezum), Anti-Grav Unlimited by Duncan Long (a first novel),
Wyrldmaker by Terry Bisson and Conquest by Lynn Abbey (the sequel to
Unicorn&Dragon).
Avon titles for September include The Rainbow Sword by Adrienne
Matrine-Barnes; Maelstrom by Paul Preuss (Venue Prime vol 2); Unicorn &
Dragon by Lynn Abbey (rack size reprint of a trade paperback); While
Call them Back from Heaven by Clifford Simak. Lead title for October
is Heaven Cent by Piers Anthony, the latest Xanth novel. Other October
titles include Blood of the Colyn Muir by Paul Edwin Zimmer and Jon
DeCles and a reprint of The Last Defender of Camelot, a collection by
Roger Zelazny.
If you had mail to Science Fiction Eye returned, you weren't alone. the
Post Office screwed up their P.O. Box and returned their mail
throughout the month of February. Issue #3 is happily out, the magazine
is alive and well, and it has a new adress. Send all mail to SF Eye,
Box 43244, Washington, D.C. 20010-9244.
The nominations for the 1988 Hugo Novel category have been announced.
They are: The Forge of God by Greg Bear (Tor); The Uplift War by David
Brin (Phantasia/Bantam); Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card (Tor); When
Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger (Bantam); The Urth of the New Sun
by Gene Wolfe (Tor).
Pat Murphy's second novel, The Falling Woman (Tor) won the 1988 Nebula
for best novel. Long-time readers of OtherRealms will remember that
I've been pushing this book at you as often as possible since it was
published -- and I'm exceptionally happy that in a tough category this
year, it won out. Congratulations, Pat!
Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb (TSR/Windwalker books,
0-880380-455- 7, $2.95) has been awarded an Edgar as best original
paperback mystery of 1987 by the Mystery Writers of America. The story
is about a murder at a Science Fiction convention, and is a real hoot.
OtherRealms #21
Summer, 1988
Copyright 1988
by Chuq Von Rospach
All Rights Reserved
One time rights have been acquired from the contributors. All rights
are hereby assigned to the contributors.
OtherRealms may not be reproduced in any form without written
permission from Chuq Von Rospach. The electronic edition may be
distributed or reproduced in its entirety as long as all copyrights,
author and publication information remain intact.
No article may be reprinted, reproduced or republished in any way
without the express permission of the author.
