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Creating a Permanent Science Fiction Library -- Ac

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Zeki Huysman

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May 3, 2011, 7:20:08 PM5/3/11
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Original Post: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/6d668a6ac00b77ad?hl=en#
Previous Post: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/2b11769abe9e00aa?hl=en#

Thanks so much, guys, for your help so far...

I have a single entry for Ac, which is fine, because I missed quite a
few under Aa and Ab.

Who would make your cut?

1) Peter Ackroyd

Peter flippin' Ackroyd? I promise there's always a reason--even if
it's a famous biographer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksmoor_%28novel%29

AUTHORS I MISSED ON PREVIOUS POSTS

2) Raymond Abrashkin
3) Lynn Abbey
4) Ben Aaronovitch
5) Dan Abnett
6) Rachel Aaron
7) Dan Ableman
8) Greg Abraham

Thanks for playing,
Zeki

Butch Malahide

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May 3, 2011, 8:09:39 PM5/3/11
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On May 3, 6:20 pm, Zeki Huysman <zhuys...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Original Post:http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thre...
> Previous Post:http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thre...

>
> Thanks so much, guys, for your help so far...
>
> I have a single entry for Ac, which is fine, because I missed quite a
> few under Aa and Ab.
>
> Who would make your cut?
>
> 1) Peter Ackroyd
>
> Peter flippin' Ackroyd? I promise there's always a reason--even if
> it's a famous biographer.

Never heard of him. But you missed Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who
coined "sci-fi"!

"The Muties have a proverb: Two heads are better than none."

Ahasuerus

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May 4, 2011, 12:08:22 AM5/4/11
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On May 3, 7:20 pm, Zeki Huysman <zhuys...@gmail.com> wrote:
[snip]

> I have a single entry for Ac, which is fine, because I missed quite a
> few under Aa and Ab.

BTW, are you using the ISFDB Author Directory (http://www.isfdb.org/
cgi-bin/directory.cgi)?

David DeLaney

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May 4, 2011, 12:37:40 AM5/4/11
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Zeki Huysman <zhuy...@gmail.com> wrote:
>Thanks so much, guys, for your help so far...
>
>I have a single entry for Ac, which is fine, because I missed quite a
>few under Aa and Ab.
>
>Who would make your cut?
>
>1) Peter Ackroyd
>
>Peter flippin' Ackroyd? I promise there's always a reason--even if
>it's a famous biographer.

I don't have much for Ac, but I'm fairly sure Forrest Ackerman ought to go
there.

Dave
--
\/David DeLaney posting from d...@vic.com "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://www.vic.com/~dbd/ - net.legends FAQ & Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

Robert A. Woodward

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May 4, 2011, 1:49:43 AM5/4/11
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In article
<10c5201c-0aa6-48c5...@34g2000pru.googlegroups.com>,
Zeki Huysman <zhuy...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Original Post:
> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/6d668a
> 6ac00b77ad?hl=en#
> Previous Post:
> http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/2b1176


> 9abe9e00aa?hl=en#
>
> Thanks so much, guys, for your help so far...
>
> I have a single entry for Ac, which is fine, because I missed quite a
> few under Aa and Ab.
>
> Who would make your cut?
>
> 1) Peter Ackroyd
>
> Peter flippin' Ackroyd? I promise there's always a reason--even if
> it's a famous biographer.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawksmoor_%28novel%29
>
> AUTHORS I MISSED ON PREVIOUS POSTS
>
> 2) Raymond Abrashkin
> 3) Lynn Abbey
> 4) Ben Aaronovitch
> 5) Dan Abnett
> 6) Rachel Aaron
> 7) Dan Ableman
> 8) Greg Abraham
>

I have 2 books by one Donald Aamodt.

--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw>

Zeki Huysman

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May 4, 2011, 1:56:10 AM5/4/11
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[please forgive the sloppy attribution, Butch and Dave...]

> I don't have much for Ac, but I'm fairly sure Forrest Ackerman ought to go
> there.

>Never heard of him. But you missed Forrest J. Ackerman, the man who
> coined "sci-fi"!

Thanks, guys. I was aware of Ackerman as a collector and fan, his
Bradbury connection, &c. I am not at all versed in his stories. Do you
recommend any?

Zeki

Zeki Huysman

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May 4, 2011, 2:10:57 AM5/4/11
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On May 3, 9:08 pm, Ahasuerus <ahasue...@email.com> wrote:

> BTW, are you using the ISFDB Author Directory (http://www.isfdb.org/
> cgi-bin/directory.cgi)?

I haven't been, but I certainly should be. The list I'm using is the
compilation of many sources--not just lists of prize winners but names
coming up on discussion forums, lists of underappreciated writers,
stories that became Twilight Zone episodes, writers in foreign
languages, best of the pulps, &c.

Having looked at the ISFDB briefly, I wouldn't want to simply info-
dump the names in order. Do you have any suggestions for how I might
use the ISFDB to get names that are both likely to have been missed by
my method and meet a reasonable threshold of notability?

To use a made-up example, a writer who once wrote a 100-page vaguely
Viking role-playing tie-in for a choose-your-own-adventure series
before returning to advertising full-time might not be worth our time.
Maybe the ISFDB has already culled the writers like this?

Thanks,
Zeki

Ahasuerus

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May 4, 2011, 2:59:03 AM5/4/11
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On May 4, 2:10 am, Zeki Huysman <zhuys...@gmail.com> wrote: [snip]

> To use a made-up example, a writer who once wrote a 100-page vaguely
> Viking role-playing tie-in for a choose-your-own-adventure series
> before returning to advertising full-time might not be worth our time.
> Maybe the ISFDB has already culled the writers like this?

Hm, no, I am afraid not. There is no "major author" flag in the
database and any attempt to create one would be inherently subjective.
The only thing that comes to mind is that low record numbers indicate
that the record has been there for a long time and may be significant,
e.g. Ackerman's number is 119.

Re: his fiction, "The Mute Question", which Butch quoted from, is his
best known story, which is probably appropriate since Ackerman was
very fond of puns. Overall, his fiction output was not particularly
significant.

Zeki Huysman

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May 4, 2011, 6:59:59 PM5/4/11
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On May 3, 11:59 pm, Ahasuerus <ahasue...@email.com> wrote:

> The only thing that comes to mind is that low record numbers indicate
> that the record has been there for a long time and may be significant,
> e.g. Ackerman's number is 119.

Thanks for this. I would never have thought of it.

Zeki

Zeki Huysman

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May 5, 2011, 2:36:57 AM5/5/11
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On May 3, 10:49 pm, "Robert A. Woodward" <rober...@drizzle.com> wrote:

> I have 2 books by one Donald Aamodt.

Thanks for the new entry, Robert. Any good?

Thanks,
Zeki

lal_truckee

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May 5, 2011, 4:18:22 PM5/5/11
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On 5/3/11 11:59 PM, Ahasuerus wrote:

> Overall, his fiction output was not particularly
> significant.

His SF/F/H anthologies are fun, and there's a fair number of them...

Zeki Huysman

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May 5, 2011, 7:23:57 PM5/5/11
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In case you missed it, the Next Post is here:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.arts.sf.written/browse_thread/thread/f5205b22cbd91d39?hl=en#

(By the way, these "Next Post" links I'm adding aren't meant to
declare an end to discussion. Obviously, I don't have the right to do
that and wouldn't want to if I did. Just trying to be helpful.)

Thanks,
Zeki

Zeki Huysman

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May 6, 2011, 7:48:50 PM5/6/11
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On May 3, 10:49 pm, "Robert A. Woodward" <rober...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>
> I have 2 books by one Donald Aamodt.


Sorry, Robert, my eyes seemed to have skipped over this. I'll add the
name to the next (Am) installment.

Thanks,
Zeki

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