Tag Archives: birthday

In the Room with A. M. Burrage

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A. M. Burrage (1889-1956) was born on this date, July 1. Burrage was a prolific author of ghost stories, including tales of the occult detective Francis Chard.

Ash-Tree Press published Burrage’s complete (I think) ghost stories in the late 1990’s. Getting  your hands on any of them today will cost you a pretty farthing. Much of Ash-Tree’s catalogue was reissued in electronic format. Sadly the Burrage volumes weren’t.  Or rather they were, but Ash-Tree appears to have lost the rights. Burrage’s work is available in electronic, print, and audio editions from another publisher, but I not sure all of his stories are. One of the ones I read for this post, “The Oak Saplings”, doesn’t appear to be, although there are some listed in the ISFDB but the contents are listed. A tale of two murdered lovers, it’s a chilling story. I read it and “Someone in the Room” in the Ash-Tree ebook Someone in the Room and Other Stories.

“Someone in the Room” is in print and is the story of a professional poor relation, meaning the central character is a woman who takes advantage of wealthier relatives and makes the most of their hospitality. Where I come from we call these people bums.  Continue reading →

Haggard and Quatermain

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Sir H. Rider Haggard

Today, June 22, marks the birth of Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925). Haggard was one of the premier adventure writers of the 19th Century. Best known for his character Allan Quatermain, H. Rider Haggard wrote many other novels.

His work has has a major influence on many writers, from his friend and contemporary Rudyard Kipling to such fantasy giants as Robert E. Howard.

These days he’s fallen out of favor because he wasn’t woke enough. I don’t care.  I’m smart enough to not judge people from previous centuries by today’s shifting standards. Continue reading →

Retro Hugos: “Trog” by Murray Leinster

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Today, June 16, is the birthday of Murray Leinster (1896-1975).  I was going to cover the novellas on the Retro Hugo ballot after I read the short stories, but with Leinster’s birthday today, I’m going to cover this one.

Leinster was a prolific author in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. He won the Hugo Award in 1956 for “Exploration Team”. At his best, Leinster had few peers. He was the author of such classics as “First Contact” and “Sidewise in Time”, for which the Sidewise Award is named. He anticipated the internet in “A Logic Named Joe”. I wonder if Al Gore read that one before he invented the internet.

“Trog” appeared in the June 1944 issue of Astounding. It has never been reprinted. Continue reading →

Lin Carter’s Legacy: The Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series

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Lin Carter was born on June 9, 1930.  He passed away in 1988. I’m not going to review any of his fiction for this birthday post.  It’s been one of those days. I’m going to try to read something by Keith Laumer for Futures Past and Present.

Lin Carter

Today I want to discuss what was arguably his greatest contribution to the field of fantasy. No, I’m not talking about his involvement with L. Sprague de Camp and the Conan revival of the 1960s. I mean, of course, the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series.

BENE NOTE: If you want to do a web search, type “Ballantine Fantasy” in your search engine.  Don’t say “Ballantine Adult Fantasy” unless you want to set off all kinds of bells and whistles. Especially at work. Continue reading →

Campbell and Wilhelm

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Today I want to look at two writers who did much to advance the field of science fiction. John W. Campbell, Jr. (1910-1971) is best remembered as an editor, but before he became an editor, he was first a writer.  Kate Wilhelm was one of the strongest female voices in science fiction. Her work should not be forgotten. Continue reading →

Three Women Short Story Writers

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Today, June 7, marks the birth of three women who wrote in the field of the fantastic and are primarily known for their short stories, at least among fans of the weird tale. This post will be a little different than the usual birthday post in that I won’t be reviewing any of their stories. I spent the afternoon trying to video myself doing labs for this week’s classes.

First is Amelia B. Edwards. (1831-1892)  Best known for “The Phantom Coach”, Mrs. Edwards wrote enough stories of the supernatural to fill a collection.

Irish writer Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973) wrote a number of what would be called mainstream or literary novels today, but she was also a note author of ghost stories. You would expect that, with her being Irish. Robert Aickman thought highly of her work.

Kit Reed‘s (1932-2017) work was primarily science fiction, with much of it published in F&SF. Although it’s been enough years that details have faded from memory, I read her collection Other Stories and…The Attack of the Giant Baby either in high school or as an undergrad and enjoyed it quite a bit.

I apologize for not presenting an example of each lady’s work, but I did want to post something today if for no other reason than to counter the nonsense that women didn’t write science fiction and fantasy before the 21st Century.  All three of these women were highly regarded when they were actively writing. Check their work out if you get a chance.

Happy Birthday, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

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Kristine Kathryn Rusch Photo stolen from the ISFDB, who got it from Amazon

Today is Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s birthday.  Where I come from, it isn’t polite to ask a lady her age, so I’m not going to say what year she was born. And, yes, she’s very much alive and still writing, so this is another exception to my informal policy of birthday posts for writers who are no longer with us.

I’m hoping Kris is with us for a long time. She writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery, and she’s outstanding at all of them. She also writes romance, but I’ve not read much of her work in that field because it’s genre I’ve never really been able to get into. I have enjoyed the few romance stories she’s written that have been in some of the Fiction River volumes, so if you like romance, by all means check out her work.

Kris is a consummate pro who writes consistently. I met her and her husband Dean Wesley Smith at (I think) a Galaxy Fair in Dallas back in 19[redacted]. She asked the audience at a panel if they had written. When most of the audience raised their hands, she added “today”. Most of the hands went down. That’s the kind of professionalism I’m talking about.

Kris has been writing a business blog for several years now, with new posts appearing every Thursday.  Here’s today’s post on book promotions. If you’re a writer, you’ll want to check it out. All of her business posts are on her site for free, or if you want to read them in book form, they are available, just check the sidebar on her website.

Normally, I would review a story by the author who is the subject of a birthday post, but my son is graduating tomorrow morning (outside, at the football stadium). I have to get the house cleaned for incoming family and go to work this afternoon. So I’m going to leave you with an encouragement to read something of Kris’s and an anecdote.

Kris was editing F&SF when I met her, and I started submitting stories.  (I stopped when my advisor suggested I change the genre in which I was writing to “dissertation”.)  Although she never bought one(and looking back, I can’t blame her), I do have several personal rejection letters from her, not simply form rejections.

Happy birthday, Kris! May there be many more.

Lester del Rey, Fantasist

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Judy Lynn and Lester Del Rey at Minicon 8 (1974)

Today, June 2, is the birthday of Lester del Rey (1915-1993). He and his wife Judy-Lynn founded the Del Rey imprint at Ballantine. I never had the privilege of meeting Lester, and I wish I had.

Del Rey wrote both science fiction and fantasy (my science fiction birthday post is here), but I think fantasy was more his first love. I was at a convention years ago when I heard someone (I didn’t know the man, and I have no idea who he was at this late date) say he’d seen a list of things that would result in a successful fantasy line. The gentleman said these things would lead to a successful fantasy line, and that he disagreed with everyone one of them.  If anyone knows what this list is and where I can find it, I would appreciate your letting me know. Continue reading →

Three by Wellman

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Manly Wade Wellman

Today, May 21, marks the birth of Manly Wade Wellman (1903-1986). Wellman is best remembered for his stories of the John the Balladeer, set in the Appalachian mountains. But he wrote a lot of other things, as well.

I first discovered Wellman’s short stories in the pages of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.  He had a number of  stories published there in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Someone who had had a subscription had sold an almost complete run to the local second hand bookstore when I was in high school. Wellman’s stories were among the first I read when I picked up an issue with his name on the cover.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Wellman is a favorite around these here parts, so in honor of his birth, in addition to raising a glass in his honor later this evening, I’m going to look at three of his stories that feature the same  character, Sergeant Jaeger. Continue reading →