Comments on: Martin H. Greenberg and John Helfers (eds); Slipstreams

By: Michael M Jones

Michael M Jones — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:52:26 +0000

Thanks for the feedback. Every little bit helps in the long run. You might be interested to know that Mike Resnick and Eric Flint picked up “Claus of Death” for their reprint anthology of fantasy detective stories, THE DRAGON DONE IT (Baen, March 2008), where I’ll be rubbing shoulders with the likes of Gene Wolfe, Esther Friesner, David Drake, and Neil Gaiman. It’s looking to be a great collection, and I hope you’ll check it out. :>

I’ll have to go back and check what you said against the story. I’m always trying to improve. And yes, the title was intentionally bad. I’m hoping future Nick St. Claus exploits will do even better. :>

By: summervillain

summervillain — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 11:48:05 +0000

Michael, thanks for writing. I’ve passed my copy of Slipstreams on to another reader, so I can’t double-check, but I think my consistency issue with “Claus of Death” was that the climax of the story revolves around the reader being unaware of something — the extent and nature of the narrator’s magical powers — that the narrator is well aware of. (If it helps, the last rejection letter I got took me to task for the very same flaw.) You nailed the hardboiled tone and I love the concept of a P.I. who “knows if you’ve been bad or good”; I enjoyed the story even if I didn’t think it was completely successful.

By: Michael M Jones

Michael M Jones — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:43:39 +0000

Ouch. Sorry “Claus of Death” didn’t work for you so well, in title or in predictability. I’m interested in finding out what you found internally inconsistent about it, though, if just so I can improve on things in the future.

But hey, thanks for picking up, and writing about, Slipstreams. I certainly appreciate the intelligent critique of the anthology, and the commentary on my story.

By: Tim W.

Tim W. — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:13:54 +0000

I always thought of Barthelme as a postmodernist, but now that you mention it The Dead Father is pretty slipstreamy. I should also remember that Carol Emshwiller has been doing it since forever (she was mentioned in one of the Issues At Hand books, which startled me when I read it). Supposedly a biography/retrospective of the Emshwillers is coming out soon. You were kind enough to set me up with a copy of Cold Hand In Mine, for which I hope I’ve been appropriately appreciative. I'd completely forgotten that. In fact, I still don't remember it, but I'll take your word for it!

By: summervillain

summervillain — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 10:26:21 +0000

Hi Tim, I'm planning to write about Feeling Very Strange too, as part of a general stlipstream-y antho kick. Also in the reading queue is Paraspheres (Rusty Morrison & Ken Keegan, eds) which has a little more historical perspective what with the inclusion of Angela Carter and Rikki Ducornet -- but still no Aickman, nor Donald Barthelme. Last night started in on Interfictions (Delia Sherman & Theodora Goss, eds) which starts out with a mildly intimidatingly academic but cogent essay (from Heinz Insu Frenkl) explaining among other things that I completely misconstrue the intended use of interstitial above, and a pair of stories (from Christopher Barzak and Leslie What) that I definitely dug. You were kind enough to set me up with a copy of Cold Hand In Mine, for which I hope I've been appropriately appreciative.

By: Tim W.

Tim W. — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 07:32:23 +0000

Even Feeling Very Strange and The New Wave Fabulists, compiled by experts, were only about half slipstream by my reckoning (although both were of higher quality that your description makes Slipstreams sound). I think that either there aren't really enough slipstream authors to go round, or my strangeness bar is set too high. One thing I don't understand is why none of these anthologies include any stories by Robert Aickman. I would consider him, along with Kelly Link (who I'm virtually certain has read him, although the two have many differences as well as similarities), to be the closest thing slipstream has to a type specimen, and he was doing it thirty to forty years ago. Plus his books are hard to find, so any editor that included him would be doing folks a huge favor. If, like me, you think Magic For Beginners is the best thing to come down the pipe in ages, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy of The Wine-Dark Sea or Cold Hand In Mine.

By: 2fs

2fs — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 03:20:43 +0000

“Jack the Tripper”? Waitaminnit…I think you’re onto something! The real, true identity of Jack the Ripper…and a new way to interpret Three’s Company! I’ll get to work on this immediately.

By: Editrix

Editrix — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:47:57 +0000

I can’t help it: “Slipstream” makes me think of Pavement.

Summervillain’s First Corollary of Crap Historical Fiction: If you’re in late 19th-century London, you can scarcely take a step without tripping over Jack the Ripper.

Damn that Jack the Tripper!

By: Ezra

Ezra — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:09:37 +0000

and speaking of time travel…
http://forums.koalawallop.com/viewtopic.php?t=1719

By: summervillain

summervillain — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:20:08 +0000

A neat trick, isn’t it? The story is creepy as all get out even though (or maybe because) you can’t pin down exactly what does or doesn’t happen. I love “The Specialist’s Hat” too. I’ve heard of both Voyagers and Quantum Leap but have never seen either one, except for maybe ten minutes in a hotel room on a business trip.