Ansible 424 -- November 2022

[Ansible Newsletter]

ANSIBLE(R) 424
NOVEMBER 2022

From DAVID LANGFORD, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Available for SAE, Eyes of Rhynn, Hands of Kwll or conjunctions of the million spheres.

[NET NOTE. See https://news.ansible.uk/a424.html for the nice HTML version; https://news.ansible.uk/pdf/a424.pdf for a printable PDF. Mailing list subscribe/unsubscribe information appears below -- please don't send such requests to my own e-mail address. DRL]


### THE RITUALS OF INFINITY ###

THE INKLINGS GROUP's plan to save the Lamb and Flag in Oxford -- one of the original Inklings' regular pubs, closed by coronavirus in 2021 (see _Ansible_ 412) -- has succeeded. It reopened on 7 October. (BBC, October)

BRIAN STABLEFORD dismayed me with a news release: 'Following an illness Brian Stableford spent two months in hospital with kidney failure. Since release is unable to read, write or walk (or type). Not yet dead but might as well be. RIP.' (Email, 19 October) A later and more cheery message notes that he has very good carers. Hoping for better news....

BORYS SYDIUK of Kyiv expressed his dismay that 'Wordcon-2023's GoH Sergei Lukianenko celebrates the Russian missile attack on Ukraine and hails the murder of Ukrainian civilians. / The Russian young-adult SF author Sergei Lukianenko says in his post that all Ukrainians are fascists and should be murdered. After the mass attack of Russian terrorists on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure on October 10, he made a post hailing the destruction of power plants, heat suppliers, and other civilian infrastructure: "Finally, I wish it would be so in February, deliberately and ruthlessly, fascist scum should go to hell," meaning all Ukrainians.' (Facebook, 12 October) Even Western members of the Chengdu Worldcon committee prefer not to comment on their guest's fulminations. Of the remaining guests, Liu Cixin of China has publicly supported Chinese mass internment of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang while Canada's Robert Sawyer seems blithely unconcerned about sharing a platform with the other two.

CECILIA TAN was sceptical about email from 'E C Publishing LLC' offering to 'introduce your book to literary agents, booksellers, and major traditional publishing companies' (false assumptions being that Tan has no agent and is self-published), and announced this scepticism on Twitter. A mere eight months later came a stroppy text message, from the EC Legal Team: 'You have between 24 and 48 hours to delete your post; otherwise legal action will be taken.' Tan's query 'Is it normal for a "legal team" to threaten via text?' was met with a chorus of negatives (Twitter, 28 October). Writer Beware looked at EC in a post on 'Junk Book Marketing' (April 2022). For $499 they'll put two books on a shelf: exposure!


### CONGERIES ###

4-6 Nov [] ARMADACON 2022, Future Inns, Plymouth. GBP35 reg; GBP30 concessions. More at www.armadacon.org.

11-14 Nov [] CAMP SFW, Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth. Tickets GBP120. See www.scifiweekender.com.

11-13 Nov [] NOVACON 51, Palace Hotel, Buxton. GBP51 reg; couples (wait for it) GBP102; under-17s GBP12; under-13s free. Day rates GBP15 Friday; GBP25 Saturday; GBP20 Sunday. No sales at the door. See novacon.uk.

12-13 Nov [] COMIC CON, Harrogate Convention Centre. Part of the 7-13 November Thought Bubble comics festival. GBP30 weekend; GBP19/day; under-12s, over-65s and carers free. See thoughtbubblefestival.com.

19-20 Nov [] STEAMPUNKS IN SPACE, National Space Centre, Leicester. GBP16.95; child/concessions GBP13.95. See tinyurl.com/bdffvs3d.

27 Nov [] STARS OF TIME (media), Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare. 10am-4:30pm. GBP9; under-12s, OAP and disabled GBP5; under-4s free. Family of 2+2 children GBP22; 2+3 GBP24. See www.starsoftime.co.uk.

3 Dec [] DRAGONMEET (gaming), Novotel Hammersmith, London. 9am-11pm. Ticket prices awaited at www.dragonmeet.co.uk.

3-4 Dec [] FOR THE LOVE OF SCI-FI (media), BEC Arena, Stretford, Manchester. GBP41.25; under-10s GBP13.20. More at fortheloveofsci-fi.com.

3-4 Dec [] WHEN IT CHANGED: WOMEN IN SF/F SINCE 1972 (online conference). GBP45 reg; GBP30 concessions; day rates GBP30 and GBP20. See the 2 September post at sf-foundation.org/fresh-about.

25-26 Feb 2023 [] SURREY STEAMPUNK CONVIVIAL, Stoneleigh, Epsom. See bumpandthumper.wixsite.com/steampunkconvivials.

7-10 Apr 2023 [] CONVERSATION (Eastercon), Hilton Metropole, Birmingham NEC. _Now GBP80 reg; GBP45 concessions; GBP40 supp/online only_. Under-18s still GBP20 and under-13s GBP5. See conversation2023.org.uk.

22-23 Apr 2023 [] SCI-FI SCARBOROUGH (multimedia), The Spa, Scarborough. Details are awaited at scifiscarborough.co.uk.

10-12 May 2023 [] GIFCON 2022 (Glasgow University online conference), 'Boundaries and Margins'. See tinyurl.com/472fpk3c.

26-28 May 2023 [] SATELLITE 8, Crowne Plaza, Glasgow. GBP70 reg; under-25s GBP60; under-18s GBP20; under-12s GBP5; under-5s GBP2. _These rates may rise on 1 December._ See eight.satellitex.org.uk.

2 Jul 2023 [] TOLKIEN SOCIETY SEMINAR, Leeds Hilton and online. Free. See www.tolkiensociety.org/events/seminar-2023/.

31 Aug - 2 Sep 2023 [] OXONMOOT (Tolkien Society), St Anne's, Oxford. This is the fiftieth Oxonmoot. Membership rates and online booking awaited at www.tolkiensociety.org/events/oxonmoot-2023/.

15-17 Sep 2023 [] FANTASYCON 2023, Jury's Inn Hotel, Broad St, Birmingham. _Now GBP81.50 reg; students GBP66; under-16s GBP41_ (BFS members GBP10 less); under-4s free. See www.hwsevents.co.uk/shop-2.

23-24 Sep 2023 [] NOR-CON (media), Norfolk Showground Arena. Ticket sales awaited at www.nor-con.co.uk.

31 May - 2 Jun 2024 [] FUNCON ONE, Palace Hotel, Buxton. Still GBP55 for early-bird membership, _rising to GBP60 on 1 December_. See funcon.lol.

RUMBLINGS. _London First Thursdays._ The Bishop's Finger pub is now booked to the end of 2023; the extra Christmas 2022 meeting is on 15 December. [RR]
     _The 32nd UK Filk Con_, planned for February 2023, will not be held: hotel lost and no replacement found, while costs seem likely to become prohibitive.
     _Octocon 2023_ is taking memberships -- adults Euro60 -- at octocon.com; dates and venue (presumably Dublin) are awaited.


### INFINITELY IMPROBABLE ###

AS OTHERS CITE HARRY POTTER. 'Being Tory Leader is like being Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: every idiot fancies a go, nobody lasts long, and there's a good chance you'll bump into Voldemort's soul.' (Russ Jones, Twitter, 20 October)

AWARDS. _Arthur C. Clarke:_ _Deep Wheel Orcadia_ by Harry Josephine Giles.
     _Booker Prize: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida_ by Shehan Karunatilaka, a supernatural novel.
     _Ditmar_ (Australia) best novel: _The Bridge_ by J.S. Breukelaar.
     _Kitschies:_ NOVEL _The Galaxy, and the Ground Within_ by Becky Chambers. DEBUT _Temporary_ by Hilary Leichter. COVER ART Julia Lloyd for _The Seep_ by Chana Porter. SPECIAL Comma Press for anthology series.
     _Shirley Jackson:_ NOVEL _My Heart Is a Chainsaw_ by Stephen Graham Jones. NOVELLA _Flowers for the Sea_ by Zin E. Rocklyn. NOVELETTE 'We, the Girls Who Did Not Make It' by E.A. Petricone (_Nightmare_ 2/21). SHORT 'You'll Understand When You're a Mom Someday' by Isabel J. Kim (_khoreo_ 8/21). COLLECTION _Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons_ by Keith Rosson. ANTHOLOGY (tie) _Professor Charlatan Bardot's Travel Anthology_ ed. Eric J. Guignard; _Unfettered Hexes_ ed. dave ring. SPECIAL Ellen Datlow for _When Things Get Dark_. [TM]
     _Ursula K. Le Guin Prize_ (inaugural): _The House of Rust_ by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber.

THE CLARKE AWARD's Twitter feed enjoyed a power gloat next day: 'How it started: Yesterday _Deep Wheel Orcadia_ was somewhere like 281,000 in Amazon book rankings. / How it's going: Right now it's in the Top 500 and crushing it in the poetry bestsellers!' (27 October)

PUBLISHERS AND SINNERS. Penguin Random House's merger with Simon & Schuster has been blocked by a US federal court as likely 'substantially to lessen competition'. (_Publishers Weekly_, 31 October) [AIP]

AS OTHERS SEE US. 'Stories of the supernatural have been supplanted by "science fiction." Though the talent of H.G. Wells did in that genre nearly everything worth undertaking, a flood of "scientific" and "futuristic" fantasies continues to deluge America. With few exceptions, these writings are banal and meaningless.' (Russell Kirk, 'A Cautionary Note on the Ghostly Tale' in _The Surly Sullen Bell_, 1962) [LP]

R.I.P. _Jeff Barnaby_, Candian film-maker who wrote and directed the zombier movie _Blood Quantum_ (2019), died on 13 October aged 46. [SJ]
     _Jules Bass_ (1935-2022), US producer, director and composer with many genre credits from _The New Adventures of Pinocchio_ (1960) via _The Hobbit_ (1977) and _The Last Unicorn_ (1982) to _Thundercats_ (1985, 2011, 2020), died on 25 October aged 87. [PDF]
     _Robert Brown_ (1926-2022), US actor in _The Flame Barrier_ (1958), _Tower of London_ (1962) and _Primus_ (1971-1972), died on 19 September aged 95. [LP]
     _Michael Callan_ (1935-2022), US actor in _Frasier, the Sensuous Lion_ (1973), _Dark Dreams_ (1993), _Leprechaun 3_ (1995) and genre tv series including _Superboy_ (1989-1992), died on 10 October aged 86. [LP/O]
     _Robbie Coltrane_ (1950--2022), popular Scots comedian and actor known for much more than playing Hagrid in all the Harry Potter films (2001-2011), died on 14 October aged 72. Further genre credits include _Krull_ (1983), _Blackadder's Christmas Carol_ (1988), _Slipstream_ (1989), _GoldenEye_ (1995), _Gooby_ (2009), and _The Gruffalo_ (2009).
     _Albert E. Cowdrey_ (1933-2022), US author active since 1968 whose 2001 story 'Queen for a Day' won a World Fantasy Award and whose sf novel is _Crux_ (2004), died on 21 August aged 88. [GVG]
     _Ned Dameron_ (1943-2022), US sf/fantasy artist active from the 1970s who created many covers for Donald M. Grant and Underwood-Miller plus other publishers, died on 20 October aged 79. [SJ]
     _Mike Davis_ (1946-2022), US urban theorist and author whose books for children include _Land of the Lost Mammoths: A Science Adventure_ (2004), died on 25 October aged 76. [AIP]
     _Drew Ford_, writer of the graphic novel _Steam_ (2020) and founder of It's Alive Press -- devoted to republishing out-of-print comics -- died on 1 October. [LP]
     _Leslie Jordan_ (1955-2022), US actor in _Undead or Alive_ (2007), _American Horror Story_ (2013-2019) and _The Last Sharknado_ (2018), died on 24 October aged 67. [AIP]
     _Kim Jung-gi_ (1975--2022), South Korean illustrator and comics artist, died on 3 October aged 47. [PDF]
     _Douglas Kirkland_ (1934-2022), Canadian still photographer who worked on many genre films from _Fahrenheit 451_ (1966) and _2001_ (1968) to _Fantastic Four_ (2005), died on 2 October aged 88. [SJ]
     _Wolfgang Kohlhaase_ (1931-2022), German film director and screenwriter with a script co-credit for the Stanislaw Lem-based _Der schweigende Stern_ (_The Silent Star_ aka _First Spaceship on Venus_, 1960), died on 5 October aged 91. [AM]
     _Michael Kopsa_ (1956-2022), Canadian actor in _Mobile Suit Gundam_ (1979 English dub plus spinoffs), _Fantastic Four_ (2005), _Watchmen_ (2009), _Rise of the Planet of the Apes_ (2011) and others, died on 23 October aged 66. [PDF/LP]
     _Feliks W. Kres_ (Witold Chmielecki, 1966-2022), award-winning Polish fantasy writer active since 1991, whose novels include the 'Book of the Whole' sequence, died on 13 October aged 56. [AM]
     _Gunter Lamprecht_ (1930-2022), German actor with a genre credit for _Welt am Draht_ (_World on a Wire_, 1973), died on 4 October aged 92. [AIP]
     _Angela Lansbury_ (1925-2022), UK-born actress best known for _Murder, She Wrote_, whose genre credits include _The Manchurian Candidate_ (1962), _Bedknobs and Broomsticks_ (1971), _The Company of Wolves_ (1984), _Beauty and the Beast_ (1991) and _The Grinch_ (2018), died on 11 October aged 96. [LP]
     _Gene Levy_, US producer of _Hysterical_ (1982) and _Waterworld_ (1995), died on 15 October. [SJ]
     _Loretta Lynn_ (1932-2022), noted US country music singer with soundtrack credits for genre tv series, games, and films including _The New Mutants_ (2020) and _Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin_ (2021), died on 4 October aged 90. [PDF/LP]
     _Tom Maddox_ (1945-2022), US cyberpunk author with a 1985 debut in _Omni_, whose sf novel was _Halo_ (1991), died on 18 October. [PDF]
     _Robert (Bob) Madle_ (1920-2022), US fan and book dealer active since the mid-1930s -- the last surviving member of First Fandom -- died on 8 October aged 102. [CP] He was at the first Worldcon in 1939, won TAFF in 1957 (publishing his trip report as _A Fake Fan in London_) and was fan guest of honour at the 1977 Worldcon.
     _Andrey Martyanov_ (1973-2022), Russian sf/fantasy writer whose 60 novels include 32 (pseudonymous) about Conan the Barbarian, died on 30 October aged 49. [AM]
     _Ron Masak_ (1936-2022), US actor in _Laserblast_ (1978), _The Aliens Are Coming_ (1980), _Angels on Tap_ (2018) and others, died on 20 October aged 86. [SJ]
     _Jill Pinkwater_ (1941-2022), US author and illustrator whose drawings appeared in many children's chapbooks and picture books by her husband Daniel Pinkwater, died on 4 October aged 81. [PDF]
     _Jan Rabson_ (1954-2022), US voice actor in _Akira_ (1988), _Toy Story_ (1995 plus sequels) and many more, died on 14 October aged 68. [SJ]
     _Larry Rew_ (1947-2022), UK actor whose films include _The Fellowship of the Ring_ (2001) and _Underworld: Rise of the Lycans_ (2009), died on 5 August aged 75. [AIP]
     _Delia Rossi_ (1980-2022), Russian author of 20 romantic fantasy novels, died on 14 October. [AM]
     _Eileen Ryan_ (1927-2022), US actress in _Eight Legged Freaks_ (2002) and _Feast_ (2005), died on 9 October aged 94. [LP]
     _Peter Siragusa_ (1955-2022), US voice actor in _Dinosaur_ (2000) and _Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs_ (2009), died on 11 October aged 67.
     _Austin Stoker_ (1930-2022), Trinidad-born actor in _Horror High_ (1973), _Battle for the Planet of the Apes_ (1973), _Time Walker_ (1982) and genre tv series, died on 7 October aged 92. [PDF]
     _Judy Tenuta_ (1949-2022), US actress in _Monsters on Main Street_ (2014), _Scales: Mermaids are Rea[l]_ (2017) and _There's No Such Thing as Vampires_ (2020), died on 6 October aged 72. [LP]
     _Dennis Virkler_ (1941-2022), US film editor with many genre credits from _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ (1973) via _Independence Day_ (1983) and _The Chronicles of Riddick_ (2004) to _The Wolfman_ (2010), died on 15 September aged 80. [SJ]
     _Jeff Weiss_ (1940-2022), US actor in _Mr Destiny_ (1990), died on 18 September aged 82. [PDF]
     _Ted White_ (1926-2022), US actor and stuntman (_not_ the fan, author and editor) behind Jason's mask in _Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter_ (1984), died on 14 October aged 96. Other films include _Escape from New York_ (1981) and _Starman_ (1984). [SJ]
     _Ian Whittaker_ (1928-2022), UK actor in _Revenge of Frankenstein_ (1958) and _Frankenstein Unbound_ (1990) -- also a set decorator for _Alien_ (1979) -- died on 16 October aged 94.
     _Jay Wilburn_, US horror and YA fantasy author whose first book was _The Dragonfly and the Siren_ (2013) with T. Fox Dunham, was reported in October as having died. [PDF]
     _Ralf Wolter_ (1926-2022), German actor with genre credits for _Dracula Blows His Cool_ (1979) and the tasteful _Killer Condom_ (1996), died on 14 October aged 95. [SJ]

THE WEAKEST LINK. _Q:_ 'Which children's author was named after the explorer Roald Amundsen?' _A:_ 'Enid Blyton.' (ITV, _The Chase_)
     _Q:_ 'In the films _Frankenstein_ and _Bride of Frankenstein_, which Boris played Frankenstein's monster?' _A:_ 'Boris Johnson.' (BBC1, _The Tournament_) [PE]

RANDOM FANDOM. _Corflu 39 Awards:_ Geri Sullivan for life achievement and Claire Brialey as past president of fwa (now, echoing the recent SFWA name change, 'fan writers association' rather than 'fan writers of America'). Corflu also published _Jiant Shoulders_, a fanthology of FAAn life achievement award winners downloadable from corflu.org/Corflu39/.
     _Maureen Kincaid Speller_'s funeral ceremony on 20 October had a surprise visitor, a local cat that for some while sat near the coffin surveying the audience. The consensus was that Maureen would have liked that. [PK]

AS OTHERS PONDER US. 'It's not hyperbole to say that sci-fi, fantasy, and horror remain chained in the dungeon of the literary meritocracy. But why? Why is speculative fiction considered inferior or unequal?' (Kurt Fawver, 'The Inevitability and Impossibility of Escapism in Speculative Fiction', _Academia Letters_, April 2021) [IN]

DARK NET. Study of _SF Encyclopedia_ web traffic reveals that somewhere out there is a bot that visits Adam Roberts's entry for The Grateful Dead every five minutes, day and night, world without end. Why?

THE DEAD PAST. _70 Years Ago_, Roger Dard hailed Australia's new Minister for Customs: _'Operation Fantast_ [Ken Slater's fanzine] has been banned, and as O.F.'s Australian representative I was raided by the police, on Customs orders, and subjected to a thorough interrogation. Genial, lovable Senator O'Sullivan meanwhile is joyously banning books which were never banned before in our history [...]. _Alice in Wonderland_, Campbell's _Who Goes There?_, and all of A. Merritt's books have already had the axe fall on them. We expect _Grimm's Fairy Tales_ to go at any time. / So you see, if any of you oppressed fans over there in the UK wanna know the joys of living in a really free country, why, just come to Australia.' (_Post War_: _Science Fantasy News_ letters supplement, Winter 1952)
     _40 Years Ago_, the magazine climate was happier: '_Interzone_ is now being guaranteed against loss, to the tune of GBP2000 promised by the Arts Council (in this present financial year)....' (_Ansible_ 30, November 1982)

AS OTHERS SEE OTHERS. Hilary Mantel's recent death led to a reminder that sf isn't the only genre regarded as needing uplift: 'Mantel's trilogy, which earned her two Booker Prizes, reimagined historical fiction as high literature.' (_New York Times_ news quiz, 30 September) [RM]

FANFUNDERY. _TAFF._ Nominations are open (closing on 4 December) for a westbound race from Europe to Pemmi-con, the NASFiC or North American SF Convention in Winnipeg, Canada, July 2023. Voting runs from 9 December to 11 April. Official release at taff.org.uk.
     _Free Ebooks._ Current projects include _TAWF Times Two_, a joint volume of Walt and Madeleine Willis's reports on their Tenth Anniversary Willis Fund trip to the 1962 Worldcon. Coming soon at taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?all.

THOG'S MASTERCLASS. _Erotica Dept, or All Thumbs._ '"Christian Grey put his thumb in my mouth. And then the other one. And then two more. "Wider," he said as he put in one more. "I bet you've never had this many thumbs in your mouth." I hadn't.' (E.L. James, _Fifty Shades of Grey_, 2011)
     _Something to Watch Over Me._ 'Under this sneeringly vigilant sky, Clements and Robertson stood bewildered.' (Russell Kirk, 'Skyberia', _Queen's Quarterly_, 1952) [LP]
     _The Art of Understatement, or Cheese at Suppertime._ 'Shrieking, slithering, torrential shadows of red viscous madness chasing one another through endless, ensanguined corridors of purple fulgurous sky ... formless phantasms and kaleidoscopic mutations of a ghoulish, remembered scene; forests of monstrous overnourished oaks with serpent roots twisting and sucking unnameable juices from an earth verminous with millions of cannibal devils; mound-like tentacles groping from underground nuclei of polypous perversion ... insane lightning over malignant ivied walls and demon arcades choked with fungous vegetation ...' (H.P. Lovecraft, 'The Lurking Fear', 1923)


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### ENDNOTES ###

PAYPAL TIP JAR THINGY. Donate to support _Ansible_, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ae.ansible.uk/ebooks.php
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html

VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
     17 November 2022, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. 'Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop's Finger, but aren't on Facebook.'
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f

BACK FROM THE GRAVE. As indicated by new posts since 31 October, Patrick Nielsen Hayden is working to restore his and Teresa's long-dysfunctional blog Making Light from its limbo of broken links and failed CSS:
https://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/index.html

EDITORIAL. Madeleine Willis's TAWF trip report (see 'Fanfundery' above) was serialized in Bruce Pelz's APAzine _The SpeleoBem_, 1963-1966. It's just possible that a last instalment appeared in _SpeleoBem_ 35 in 1967 -- an issue missing from the Fanac.org archive. If anyone has access to this and can check the contents, Rob Hansen and I would be very grateful.

ALL CHANGE. The Fantasycon website at www.fantasycon.org, which never got around to linking to Fantasycon 2023 (see 'Congeries' events list above), is apparently being abandoned; its home page now tells visitors to go to www.britishfantasysociety.org. Where we learn, even on the site's Fantasycon page, that 'There are no upcoming events at this time.'

SOME LINKS from the _Ansible_ home page.
     2023 TAFF race announced
https://taff.org.uk/news/ann2210-StandForTAFF.pdf
     BSFA Awards longlist nomination (members only)
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeukjVj_SdFQFMAagPhMMqf4Km-ZZavv_B9ItUXCG_wcm4_Ew/viewform
     Paul Kincaid on Maureen Kincaid Speller
https://ttdlabyrinth.wordpress.com/2022/10/21/eulogy/

THOG'S GOLDEN OLDIES from _Ansible_ 184, November 2002. _Eyeballs in the Sky._ '"Seigneur, I have invented forty new dishes for to-night's banquet," Francois said pathetically, his eyes creeping out until they hung on the rims of their sockets like desperate people wavering on the edges of precipices.' (George Viereck & Paul Eldridge, _Salome the Wandering Jewess_, 1930)
     _Neat Tricks Dept._ 'They don't kill any of them but the women are -- how you say -- mutilated. Same way. And beheaded.' (Charlee Jacob, 'Bonerider', in _Decadence_ ed. Monica J. O'Rourke, 2002) • 'Mark pulled Anna's blue bikini top off her shoulders and slid them down to her waist.' (Nicholas Kaufmann, 'V.I.P. Room', _ibid_)


_Ansible_(R) 424 (C) David Langford, 2022. Thanks to Paul Di Filippo, _File 770_, Steve Jones, Paul Kincaid, Richard Mason, Todd Mason, Andrey Meshavkin, Ian Nichols, Omega, Lawrence Person, Curt Phillips, Andrew I. Porter, _Private Eye_, Roger Robinson, Karen Schaffer, Gordon van Gelder, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy, and Alan Stewart (Australia).

1 November 2022