Philip Klass, who wrote under the pseudonym William Tenn, was never one of the leading lights in science fiction world, but he penned a few dozen shorter tales in the 50s and 60s plus one novel. He was a keen observer of the zeitgeist and tended to extrapolate current trends into his satirical fiction. Sometimes … Continue reading Winthrop Was Stubborn
Science Fiction
The Science Fiction Society of Penn State
I knew a lot of people during my years at Penn State and State College, far too many to remember all their names, alas. Those were the days long before cell phones and texting, so there was no easy way to keep in touch with folks, and for the great mass of those I knew … Continue reading The Science Fiction Society of Penn State
Judgment Day
Yesterday I mentioned that L. Sprague de Camp was one of the trio of science fiction writers who worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during World War II. While he was important in the field, I never read much of his work. But in 1963 I did get a collection of his short stories from … Continue reading Judgment Day
A Memorable Physical
I keep telling myself that I’m going to relate the tales of my autobiography in chronological sequence, but I never seem to get around to it. Meanwhile, I feel like mentioning a particularly memorable physical. It was shortly after I had moved to Philadelphia in August of 1980 and went to work at what was … Continue reading A Memorable Physical
The Foundation Timeline
In the Winter 1955 issue of Thrilling Wonder Stories, Isaac Asimov published a timeline for his Foundation stories and tied together a bunch of his other stories as well, some of which were set in the timeline of the Galactic Empire and some of which had been written with no thought of being in the … Continue reading The Foundation Timeline
Christopher Nolan and Murder in Boston
Christopher Nolan is the guest this week on the Scriptnotes podcast, as John August talks to him about experimentation, subjectivity and adaptation as they take an in-depth look at his screenplay, Oppenheimer. They explore Chris’ writing process, how to make non-linear structures work, finding the story in real-life events, being kinetic on the page, the … Continue reading Christopher Nolan and Murder in Boston
Heinlein Quote
“You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.” — Robert A. Heinlein, “If This Goes On—”
Kent Wayne, Man of Mystery
The first thing one can’t help but notice about author Kent Wayne is that his name has to be a pseudonym, and of course, it is. Other than that he served for ten years in the military, he hasn’t revealed too much about himself. Oh, yes, he has released this photo: A striking looking dude, … Continue reading Kent Wayne, Man of Mystery
The One with Neil Gaiman
In this week’s Scriptnotes episode, The One with Neil Gaiman, John and Craig welcome Neil Gaiman (The Sandman, Good Omens) to discuss the serialized storytelling of comics and screenwriting. Using Neil’s script for issue 24 of The Sandman, they look at how comics are written, communicating with other artists, using the medium to your advantage, … Continue reading The One with Neil Gaiman
By Whose Bootstraps?
I’ve written about going back and giving my younger self advice, and the question was put to me, would my younger self take that advice? I can’t really say, of course. It might depend on so many things. So I'll use the advice about enrolling in a comp sci course with my roommate Dave in … Continue reading By Whose Bootstraps?