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8/30/2009 8:28:50 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Attended this sumptuous event last night at the Roosevelt Hotel (Hollywood and Orange, deep in the beating heart of Tinseltown) as the guest of fellow forumite Sam Wilson.* Sam was a winner in 1992. His story "Winter Night, with Kittens" appeared in Volume 8 of the series. To commemorate the program's silver anniversary, the organizers asked all of the previous award recipients to return. With guests. All comped.
Not sure when I was last at the Roosevelt. It's one hell of a place. Massive, dark and opulent. Like some ancient dragon of the night perched on the curb of a busy motorway, exhaling the exotic scents of a lost generation, the perfumes of starlets now turned to dust, the stale tang of leading men who crashed in airplanes, careened off mountain roads, died in gun fights. Herds of the beautiful people milling about in pockets of smug languor. Vacant, preening. Grazing blindly on one another. Crisp doormen - mostly hispanic - hair swept back, heads like greased hawks - bustling, assured. Aware of every pulse. Every false step. Every movement. Eccentric film directors in ascots and tails. Women with the eyes of jungle cats, dressed in shimmering black evening gowns, lurking in the beams of rich, velvet darkness that edged the lobby. Watching. Waiting.
You gotta get over to this place. Soon. Maybe for midnight cocktails. Dress formally and bring a note pad. By the time you leave you'll have the entire cast of your next novel. Trust me.
My only real worry about the affair was just how much Scientology I was going to have to stomach. I needn't have worried. Aside from several much deserved Thank Yous to L. Ron Hubbard for endowing the Writers of the Future project, and a huge picture of the guy hanging on the wall, nothing. Nada. No hynopsis. No being hunted down by clones of Tom Cruise and forced to memorize chapters of Dianetics. Nope. Just a ton of decent, courteous men and women whose sole concern was how much you were enjoying the festivities. Classy.
We dined upstairs in the Oscar Room. A Waldorfish micro-salad, and cheese rolls, followed by rolled steak, spun on the bone, with whipped horseradish sauce, all leading - inexorably - to creme brulee. A tuxed-up barber shop quartet roamed the floor while we ate - singing the standards plus a healthy and pleasing number of Irish folk tunes. Sam and I sat with the husband-and-wife SF/horror writing team of Stephen and Kelly Woodworth. Stephen's story "Scary Monsters" appeared alongside Sam's in Vol. 8. Kelly's had a number of stories published in horror anthos. Fun and charming folks.
CONT'D
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 8/30/2009
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8/30/2009 8:29:14 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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CONT'D
The awards ceremony was longish - but moved quickly. 26 trophies. 12 writers from the book, 12 illustrators from the book - plus a grand prize to the top writer, and another to the top illustrator. But before that got rolling, we were entertained by a stylish dance troupe; a flashily garbed sextet who gave us what I took to be an exploration of the passions undergirding the writing process. Things like red-hot desire, delicate love, nobility, arrogance, humility, and compassion. Dazzling. After that, the hostess - an elegant, handsome woman who bore an eerie resemblance to Ingrid Bergman - introduced our two keynote speakers. The first was Dr. Harry Kloor, a scientist and science fiction TV producer. He showed a snippet from a promising new science-fact, science fiction animated film he's working on. The second was a smooth Texan named Don Hartsell, an entrepreneur with a taste for SF and an eye for the grand. A showman. He told us about the 180 day long race-around-the-world for Airships (like, um, dirigibles) he is putting together. I have to say - it was damn cool. The two top prize winners each won a berth on one of the racing dirigibles. I'm serious.
Of course, the real highlight was seeing famous SF folks. Tim Powers, Jerry Pournelle, Dave Wolverton, KD Wentworth, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Robert Sawyer, Rebecca Moesta, Sean Williams and many others, were in attendance - and most handed out trophies. I wanted to stick around afterward and talk to at least some of these folks. But my house lies just two miles from the evacuation line of the Big Fire out here, and I needed to get home in case we had to pack the car and make a run for the freeway. As it was, the police had driven down our street warning the residents - at 11:00 p.m. - by bull horn - of an impending forced evacaution. My wife had packed our important papers in a suitcase and had the dog leashed and ready. So - I had to blast out quickly. (In case you're interested, no evacuation - yet).
The grand prize for writing was awarded to Emery Huang for "Garden of Tian Zi"- a story set in near future China. The top illustrator award went to Oleksandra Barysheva for her contributions to C. L. Holland's story "The Reflection of Memory."
One thing I noticed. Since none of us in the audience had a) read any of the winning stories, or b) heard of any of the winning authors, it was the illustrations which captured our eyes. When each winning illustrator was announced, his or her works were displayed on the Academy Room's huge TV screen. This was unbelievable material. Superb artwork. Evocative, imaginative, compelling.
We were happy for the authors - but didn't have any kind of immediate connection with them - 'cuz we hadn't read the stories.
After the ceremony, Galaxy Press handed out free paperbacks of the 25th Annual collection. The cover - a painting by Stephan Martinere called Homecoming - is quite simply stunning. I'll probably give my thoughts on the stories as I make my way through the anthology - here on this thread.
Overall - a fabulous evening.
*Thanks, buddy. I owe you one!
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 8/31/2009
edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 8/31/2009
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8/30/2009 9:49:32 PM
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Sheila Williams
Posts 57
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Hi John,
I hope your house is okay and that you don't have to evacuate. I can only imagine how traumatic that would be.
I attended the Nebula Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel in 1987. It would have been very elegant if the hotel hadn't messed up all the rooms. All the check-in clerks were model/actresses which was sort of cool, although they pretty much turned out to be incompetent, too (however, I'm sure the problems were actually more the fault of hotel booking then any of the clerks). It was great to be down the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater. Connie Willis's story, "At the Rialto," grew out of our experience there. Over the Nebula weekend this year, Connie, her daughter Cordelia, Cynthia Felice, and I went back there for lunch. It was far less hectic than I remembered it, but quite cool and elegant to be back.
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8/30/2009 10:08:54 PM
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Sheila Williams
Posts 57
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My best memory of that evening in 1987 was the actor, David Rappaport's, impromptu speech. He had met the always charming and debonair Charles Sheffield by the pool during the afternoon. Charles was the current president of SFWA, and he invited the actor to join him for dinner at the banquet. Rappaport was obviously well read and perceptive. He paid close attention to the conversations around him. The resulting speech was hilarious, heartfelt, and entertaining. Truly an evening to savor and remember.
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8/31/2009 2:41:38 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Sheila Williams wrote:
Hi John,
I hope your house is okay and that you don't have to evacuate. I can only imagine how traumatic that would be.
I attended the Nebula Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel in 1987. It would have been very elegant if the hotel hadn't messed up all the rooms. All the check-in clerks were model/actresses which was sort of cool, although they pretty much turned out to be incompetent, too (however, I'm sure the problems were actually more the fault of hotel booking then any of the clerks). It was great to be down the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater. Connie Willis's story, "At the Rialto," grew out of our experience there. Over the Nebula weekend this year, Connie, her daughter Cordelia, Cynthia Felice, and I went back there for lunch. It was far less hectic than I remembered it, but quite cool and elegant to be back.
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for the concern. So far, so good - though the fire has jumped all the way from the Angeles Crest area to the head of the Big Wash here in Sunland - in less than 24 hours. It's frankly a wonder to behold -- in a macabre way. Towering flames. Sheets of black-gray smoke rising then balling and forming enormous cauliflower-shaped clouds. Low hanging. Precarious. Menacing. Helicopters and delivery planes circling, swooping and dumping - right before your eyes, almost right over your head. The thunder of their props like a swarm of hornets on steroids. The sirens of firetrucks always in the background. The bullhorned voices of the police as they move slowly through the evacuated blocks - reminding residents to leave immediately - informing them that their houses will be treated as empty by the fire teams if the lines reach this far. If you look north east, toward the immense hogback of Mt. Lukens, you see a patchwork of intense fire spots - dozens of them - high on the shoulders of the peak. The TV station buildings and microwave relay dishes up there have been completely destroyed - reduced to smoldering, melted slag late this afternoon. To reach us, the fire line would have to reverse course, march against gravity down and across the barren arroyo, then burn through several hundred heavily defended houses. It could happen - but only if the winds kick up. Well - more later - back to watching the local news coverage.
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edited by John E. Rogers, Jr. on 8/31/2009
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8/31/2009 8:20:17 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 3585
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Any word on the Mt Wilson Observatory, John?
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8/31/2009 9:44:58 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Sheila Williams wrote:
My best memory of that evening in 1987 was the actor, David Rappaport's, impromptu speech. He had met the always charming and debonair Charles Sheffield by the pool during the afternoon. Charles was the current president of SFWA, and he invited the actor to join him for dinner at the banquet. Rappaport was obviously well read and perceptive. He paid close attention to the conversations around him. The resulting speech was hilarious, heartfelt, and entertaining. Truly an evening to savor and remember.
I remember at this year's Nebulas, when we were all sipping drinks on that patio overlooking the UCLA campus, you and Scott Edelman discussing just how magical that moment was. I wonder if anyone caught the speech on tape. I'd love to see it.
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8/31/2009 9:52:13 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Sheila Williams wrote:
Hi John,
I hope your house is okay and that you don't have to evacuate. I can only imagine how traumatic that would be.
I attended the Nebula Awards at the Roosevelt Hotel in 1987. It would have been very elegant if the hotel hadn't messed up all the rooms. All the check-in clerks were model/actresses which was sort of cool, although they pretty much turned out to be incompetent, too (however, I'm sure the problems were actually more the fault of hotel booking then any of the clerks). It was great to be down the street from Grauman's Chinese Theater. Connie Willis's story, "At the Rialto," grew out of our experience there. Over the Nebula weekend this year, Connie, her daughter Cordelia, Cynthia Felice, and I went back there for lunch. It was far less hectic than I remembered it, but quite cool and elegant to be back.
It really is right in the heart of it all. I think the hotel has given up on the budding-starlets-as-bellpeople theory of inn management. The bartenders and waitresses, yes. But the folks who have to direct baggage, assign rooms, and keep the place running, no. "At the Rialto," eh? It's now on the list! I'm glad you all made it back this time around - and experienced what the place is supposed to be all about. That is - decadent relaxation: good food, smoke-flavored cocktails, and star spotting.
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8/31/2009 9:53:24 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Bill Moonroe wrote:
Any word on the Mt Wilson Observatory, John?
Hey Bill,
As far as I know, the fire hasn't been able to leapfrog over Brown Mountain, so Wilson and Mt. Harvard are still in the clear.
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8/31/2009 10:03:13 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 3585
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If you need an evacuation cool-off, the Bluewater Grill has put in a sushi bar. Son of Cthulhu on a rice roll!
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8/31/2009 12:44:16 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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Fresh Chtulushi, eh? It may be time for another FORUM WEST luncheon.
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8/31/2009 3:55:23 PM
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turboguppy
Posts 2
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Thank you for sharing your experience of this event. Alas, I was unable to attend, and also unable to watch the event live on the web. Sounds like it was a lot of fun!
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8/31/2009 4:01:31 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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You're welcome, turboguppy. It was indeed a fun time.
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8/31/2009 7:25:28 PM
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Sam Wilson
Posts 727
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RE the evening, John wrote:
Women with the eyes of jungle cats, dressed in shimmering black evening gowns, lurking in the beams of rich, velvet darkness that edged the lobby. Watching. Waiting.
Those times when I may have seemed to disappear, I was hanging out with them...
Glad you could come, John.
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If the rule that you followed brought you to this, of what use was the rule?
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8/31/2009 9:07:48 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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GARDEN OF TIAN ZI by Emery Huang
(illustrated by Douglas Bosley)
First story in the anthology and the top prize winner. First person tale set in the former China of what is apparently a post-state corporate world. Protagonist Tian Zi works for the Movement, a powerful subversive underground that acts as a (primarily) scientific anti-trust mechanism - equaling the playing field for start-ups and late-to-the-gamers by stealing and revealing trade secrets. Plot involves the illegal (inasmuch as that term means anything in a theorectically lawless business-governed environment) dissemination by the Movement, through agent Tian Zi, of the biodesign for a peptide-based computing system. Well written, but decidely mary sue-ish, with a by-the-numbers, tough-guy anti-hero - who comes across as the writer, but with nanofied super powers, "wet work" skills, and - hold on! - a secret reservoir of compassion. Still - an engaging read.
A general observation: have you ever wondered how one of these global corporate regimes would work? I'll tell you how. The governments would somehow fail. Corporations would "step in." To avoid take-over, and to adequately maximize their available and reachable workforce, they would find it necessary to establish physical borders. Regrettably, outsourcing, which worked so very well in a states-based environment, would cease to hold much attraction in the predatory climate of the corporate hegemony. For lack of a better alternative, they would adopt the already-set boundaries of the "states" they replaced. To combat chaos and anarchy, market-driven rules would have to be supplemented. For convenience, the "laws" of the failed states would be adopted. Etc. 
Illustration on p. 31 - of the two Germans - is quite good. Note to publisher: just one illustration per story is unacceptable. A minimum of three is necessary. More would be better.
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9/1/2009 8:36:53 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 3585
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Now I wish I'd gone.
Prize money aside, one of the coolest things for the winners has got to be the enlarged copy of the illustration. And the chance to meet the illustrator. Two extras you probably wouldn't get anywhere else.
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9/2/2009 9:40:30 AM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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THE SHADOW MAN by Donald Mead
(Illustrated by Brianne Hill)
This horror-fantasy tale about the spiritual essences of the vaporized victims of the Hiroshima nuclear detonation captured in their blast-shadows owes a debt to Shyamalan's Sixth Sense. An elegiac story, written with clarity of perspective, and humanity, though not perhaps steel-trap internal cohesion - especially in respect to the final revelation. The Rice King, reminiscent of the deadly but reflective Yakuza kingpin in the film Black Rain, was perhaps the most compelling character.
Brianne Hill's smooth and appropriately "shadowed" drawing of the Rice King's triumphant unveiling - on p. 71 - is evocatively wrought.
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9/2/2009 12:55:50 PM
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John E. Rogers, Jr.
Posts 1589
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LIFE IN STEAM by Gra Linnaea
(Illustrated by Ryan Behrens)
The first truly superb story in the anthology. Answers the age-old question of what would have happened if James Blish had tried his hand at Steam Punk. This would. I hereby dub this sub-sub genre Steam Monk. Religious intolerance, agents of the Inquisition, artificial "Babbage" brains made of wood and brass, chasms full of clanking and hissing machinery, an impossibly alternate world where travel upward into the "heavens" involves spider ships that crawl along the fixed, solid firmament of the sky, crises of intellectual and spiritual "conscience," and some good, old fashioned action. What's not to love?
Illustration by Behrens on p. 97 has a Gahan Wilson feel; a little busy - but still does a good job showing Mendel's turmoil. This is a summary drawing - not depicting a scene, but rather capturing differing elements of the story and the main character - in one panel.
Excellent.
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9/3/2009 10:03:42 AM
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Jordan Lapp
Posts 1
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Hi John,
I'm glad you enjoyed the event. It was a heck of a week from start to finish. All of the judges were absolutely awesome!
Emery's illustration was actually an etching, and I'm afraid a lot of the detail was lost in the shrinking process. It looked awesome blown up.
I certainly agree with you about Gra story being awesome. Gra's got one hell of an imagination!
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9/3/2009 10:57:24 AM
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Bill Moonroe
Posts 3585
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Hey, Jordan, welcome, welcome. Hope you'll stick around. This is a great place for writers to hang out. Now I'm going to track down this year's edition. Never did have any luck with last year's.
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