Timewaster's Guide Archive

Bill Katz, the guy who runs the site, was at Writers of the Future with me.  I'll email him and see.

I was talking to a comic book artist recently, and he mentioned that the richest artists in the world are Japanes manga artists, some of whom are billionaires.  Apparently weekly manga sales in Japan are higher than annual comic book sales in the U.S., and the Japanese artists get a much higher royalty rate.

You can try sending a message through the contact form on his website:
http://www.jamesdashner.com/contact_author.html

My room reservation runs Thursday-Sunday.

I plan to drive down, leaving either Wednesday after work or Thursday morning.  (If I leave Wednesday, I'd stop in Vegas overnight, then hit Star Trek: The Experience in the morning before continuing to L.A.)

I plan to drive back starting Sunday morning.

I should have room for up to three passengers both ways.

My story "Loophole" was published last week in UVSC's SF&F magazine, Warp & Weave.  Today, it was published on Popcorn Popping, so you can read it here.

Each year, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA [The second F is silent and invisible]) gather to present the Nebula Awards, which are kind of like the Oscars of the speculative fiction world.

The 2006 awards ceremony was held in Tempe, Arizona, and since I have a sister who lives in the area and likes me enough to let me stay in her guest room, I decided to drive down for Nebula Weekend.

On arriving, I met up with Rick Novy, a fellow new author I know from another online forum. As we were looking for a place to have lunch, Rick spotted Harlan Ellison, so we walked over to meet him.

For those unfamiliar with Harlan Ellison, I'll explain that he's been a famous science fiction author since before I was born. (He also wrote the original teleplay for the Star Trek episode "The City on the Edge of Forever.") I'll also explain that he is notorious in the science fiction community for his abrasive personality, and that most people who are actively involved in the SF community have "Harlan stories" about their encounters with him. I didn't really expect to ever have a Harlan story, because I wasn't planning on going to a workshop taught by him, and I doubted I would ever come to his attention otherwise.

Shows what I know.

Rick and I walked over to where Harlan was talking with some other people, and just kind of hung around the edge. Harlan noticed us, and said, "I hate lurkers. If you want to meet me, come meet me." (Note: All the quotes are based on my almost certainly inaccurate recollections, and are merely approximations of what was said.)

So we shook his hand. Rick introduced himself and mentioned that they had a mutual friend, David Gerrold.

When I introduced myself as Eric Stone, Harlan said, "That's a great name."

Later, in the course of conversation, Harlan called me "Harry." Something along the following lines ensued:

I said, "My name's actually Eric."

"What?"

"My name's not Harry, it's Eric."

"Eric? That's a terrible name. Hemingway never wrote about an Eric."

So he continued calling me Harry during the rest of the conversation.

And I was rather pleased to have a Harlan story to tell. It made me feel like a real SF writer.

That evening, I met up with a couple of other new authors I know. We were talking about something or other when someone directed my attention toward Harlan, who was standing behind his autograph table about ten feet away.

Harlan was looking at me and yelling, "Harry! Harry!"

When I looked at him, he said, "What's the matter? You don't even answer to your name?"

"Sorry."

"You weren't even going to say hello to me?"

So I walked over and shook his hand.

"Harry's a better name," he said.

"Maybe I'll have to make it my pseudonym," I said.

Then Harlan went off to have dinner.

Thus concludes my Harlan story.

A few other highlights from the Nebula weekend:

* Meeting Stan Schmidt (editor of Analog) and Sheila Williams (editor of Asimov's)
* Getting a bunch of autographs from authors I like, including David Weber, author of my favorite science fiction series, the Honor Harrington series
* Chatting with Connie Willis about Three Men in a Boat
* The Analog/Asimov's breakfast, at which I got to talk with various people
* Sitting in the hospitality suite listening to David Weber talk about the Clarence Thomas hearings, among other things
* Talking with David Weddle, a writer for Battlestar Galactica
* Winning the charity auction for 9 autographed Battlestar Galactica shooting scripts

I didn't know Popcorn Popping had gone live, so thanks for mentioning it.  They're going to be publishing a story of mine; I'm not sure when.

Hmmm.  I suspect this is a warning sign regarding the fate of LTUE.