Novelist | Editor | Essayist | Short Fiction Author
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
New Interview at Comic Book Resources: Philip José Farmer, The Evil in Pemberley House, and Crossovers...
The fine folks at the Comics Should Be Good! blog over at Comic Book Resources have posted an interview with me. We talk about The Evil in Pemberley House, the Wold Newton Universe, Crossovers: A Secret Chronology of the World, and certainly not least, Philip José Farmer.
Check it out, won't you?
Check it out, won't you?
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Bzzzzzzz......
I'm privileged to be one of several contributing to the bible for Moonstone's new series of Green Hornet prose anthologies.
I love the '60s TV series (and the earlier radio and serial incarnations, of course), and have the many comics (the '60s Gold Keys and the '80s-'90s revival; only a few of the Golden Age comics, alas--too pricey), Big Little Books, the '60s tie-in books The Infernal Light and The Case of the Disappearing Doctor, etc.
I'm very, very excited about this. :-)
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
A week wasn't enough. We'll have more of Phil's covers here soon.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
Friday, February 27, 2009
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
pic o' the day - a week of Philip José Farmer
Please post (or repost) your remembrances of Phil to the Philip José Farmer forum, and help celebrate this great writer's--and great man's--life and influence.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Philip José Farmer RIP, 1918--2009
So, it's taken me over twelve hours to sit down for this, because...that's what happens when you lose someone to whom you're close.
I started as a fan, waaay back when I was 8 years old and had my first taste of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Then Tarzan Alive, and The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, and The Grand Adventure, and Peerless Peer. Time's Last Gift— time traveling Jungle Lord, holy cow!
Then, over 10 years ago, the Wold Newton Universe website, and several more years of fandom, followed by a book (thank you, Chris Roberson), and... an invitation to meet the man himself.
I had a sleepover at Phil Farmer's house.
And I set off the burglar alarm at 2 am.
Since then I've visited Phil and Bette once or twice a year. The great thing about Phil is how many friendships he created, by bringing together so many people who otherwise never would have met.
Well, that, and his mind-blowing imagination and captivating prose.
Phil, you are responsible for this overflowing library (my wife also thanks you for that), for my varied reading tastes (hard boiled detective to adventure pulp to sf to...Pride and Prejudice?? Seriously?
Yes, seriously. Because that's the kind of well-rounded guy Phil was. And he passed it on.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Because of you, and that book when I was 8, and your generosity 30 years after that, I am a writer.
I've gotten so many notes today that read something like, "I didn't know him as well as you, but this still hit me hard..." or "I never had the chance to meet Phil in person, but he helped shape me as a writer..."
The thing about a writer like Phil, whose work spoke to so many people in so many different ways, is that you didn't need to know him personally to be hit hard by this. His books have been a part of our lives for so long, his ideas and curiosity have permeated our beings, and his envelope-pushing—or breaking—imagery is seared indelibly into our brains.
That's what counts.
I last saw Phil Farmer one month ago today, on January 25. His 91st birthday fell on a Monday, and we had come in the preceding weekend to celebrate with him and Bette. "The boys" (Bette's affectionate term for us Farmerphiles) were there: Mike Croteau, Chris Carey, Paul Spiteri, and Dennis Power. Phil and Bette's family came in and out at various times. Their close friends were there. Sandwiches and cake and laughter and great conversation ensued.
I showed Phil the Doc Savage Coat of Arms drawn up by Keith Howell for Farmerphile and for the chapbook for The Evil in Pemberley House, from Phil's description and notes. He loved it; he didn't say much, but he got the biggest grin. And although he didn't talk much that weekend, he'd smile and give a little wave to let us know he was listening in and enjoying it all.
When it came time to leave, I said my goodbyes, I waved at Phil and smiled. He waved back, smiled, and thanked us for coming. Him thanking us, our hero, thanking us. Because that's how he was.
We hugged Bette and left, and I knew I wouldn't see Phil again. Just knew it. And at the airport, by myself, I cried.
And again today, more tears.
Exit Phil Farmer, smiling.
I started as a fan, waaay back when I was 8 years old and had my first taste of Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Then Tarzan Alive, and The Other Log of Phileas Fogg, and The Grand Adventure, and Peerless Peer. Time's Last Gift— time traveling Jungle Lord, holy cow!
Then, over 10 years ago, the Wold Newton Universe website, and several more years of fandom, followed by a book (thank you, Chris Roberson), and... an invitation to meet the man himself.
I had a sleepover at Phil Farmer's house.
And I set off the burglar alarm at 2 am.
Since then I've visited Phil and Bette once or twice a year. The great thing about Phil is how many friendships he created, by bringing together so many people who otherwise never would have met.
Well, that, and his mind-blowing imagination and captivating prose.
Phil, you are responsible for this overflowing library (my wife also thanks you for that), for my varied reading tastes (hard boiled detective to adventure pulp to sf to...Pride and Prejudice?? Seriously?
Yes, seriously. Because that's the kind of well-rounded guy Phil was. And he passed it on.
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Because of you, and that book when I was 8, and your generosity 30 years after that, I am a writer.
I've gotten so many notes today that read something like, "I didn't know him as well as you, but this still hit me hard..." or "I never had the chance to meet Phil in person, but he helped shape me as a writer..."
The thing about a writer like Phil, whose work spoke to so many people in so many different ways, is that you didn't need to know him personally to be hit hard by this. His books have been a part of our lives for so long, his ideas and curiosity have permeated our beings, and his envelope-pushing—or breaking—imagery is seared indelibly into our brains.
That's what counts.
I last saw Phil Farmer one month ago today, on January 25. His 91st birthday fell on a Monday, and we had come in the preceding weekend to celebrate with him and Bette. "The boys" (Bette's affectionate term for us Farmerphiles) were there: Mike Croteau, Chris Carey, Paul Spiteri, and Dennis Power. Phil and Bette's family came in and out at various times. Their close friends were there. Sandwiches and cake and laughter and great conversation ensued.
I showed Phil the Doc Savage Coat of Arms drawn up by Keith Howell for Farmerphile and for the chapbook for The Evil in Pemberley House, from Phil's description and notes. He loved it; he didn't say much, but he got the biggest grin. And although he didn't talk much that weekend, he'd smile and give a little wave to let us know he was listening in and enjoying it all.
When it came time to leave, I said my goodbyes, I waved at Phil and smiled. He waved back, smiled, and thanked us for coming. Him thanking us, our hero, thanking us. Because that's how he was.
We hugged Bette and left, and I knew I wouldn't see Phil again. Just knew it. And at the airport, by myself, I cried.
And again today, more tears.
Exit Phil Farmer, smiling.
Philip José Farmer
February 25th:
Philip José Farmer passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
He will be missed greatly by his wife Bette, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and countless fans around the world.
January 26, 1918 - February 25, 2009. R.I.P.
I am not pulled together well enough to say anything else right now, except...
We love you Phil.
Philip José Farmer passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
He will be missed greatly by his wife Bette, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and countless fans around the world.
January 26, 1918 - February 25, 2009. R.I.P.
I am not pulled together well enough to say anything else right now, except...
We love you Phil.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
More Tales of Zorro -- and the company I keep
Moonstone's More Tales of Zorro, edited by Richard Dean Starr, has been announced: here and here.(Note: the cover to the right by the fabulous Douglas Klauba is apparently not the final art.)
I'm thrilled to be contributing to one of the original masked pulp heroes--and humbled to be in the company of these other writers.
And in more Amazon weirdness, the US site lists only one author, while the Canadian site lists everyone. Maybe just get it from B&N? :-)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
P.J. Farmer's THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR: Interview with editor Christopher Paul Carey
Christopher Paul Carey, the editor of Philip José Farmer's forthcoming collection, The Other in the Mirror, has just been interviewed about the book by Rias Nuninga over at the Philip José Farmer--International Bibliography page. Check it out!
This arrived today....
Yes, this novel is collected in Farmer's The Other in the Mirror, which should arrive next month from Subterranean Press. But I wanted a copy of the original, too. :-)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
This arrived today....
Limited edition hardcover with dust jacket by Douglas Klauba. Beautiful! Extra story by Max McCoy and a few other bonus materials.
And the first time I've been featured in a hardcover. :-)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Locus Poll: Philip José Farmer's Venus on the Half-Shell and Others
Wold Newton expert Christopher Paul Carey , the editor of the collection Venus on the Half-Shell and Others (with plenty of Wold-Newtony goodness by Philip José Farmer , including the classic Sherlock Holmes/Tarzan crossover novel, The Adventure of the Peerless Peer), reminds us that the 2009 Locus Poll and Survey is now open:"Rias Nuninga of the Philip José Farmer International Bibliography kindly points out that Venus on the Half-Shell and Others, Philip José Farmer's collection of fictional-author stories which I edited for Subterranean Press, is eligible to be written in under the category of Best Single-Author Collection on the 2009 Locus Poll and Survey. The Locus Poll closes on April 15, 2009. Here's the description of Venus from the publisher's Web site if you haven't yet read it but think you might like to pick up this fun, tongue-in-cheek book:
Venus on the Half-Shell and Others collects for the first time the best of the best from Philip José Farmer's scintillating "fictional-author period."If you enjoyed Venus, Peerless Peer, etc., and if you're so inclined, please take some time 0ut to support Phil Farmer, Chris Carey, and this fantastic collection!
In the mid-1970s a fever-pitched furor was created when an actual novel purported to be by Kilgore Trout -- the sadsack science fiction writer who appears as a character in the works of Kurt Vonnegut -- materialized on the bookracks, complete with a mysterious back cover photo of the author looking like a bearded vagabond sage. Debate raged as to who had truly written Venus on the Half-Shell. Was it Vonnegut himself, or perhaps Theodore Sturgeon, rumored to have been the inspiration for Trout? Or did Kilgore Trout really exist? Just as one respected newspaper published an article "proving" that Vonnegut had written the book, the Hugo Award-winning science fiction author Philip José Farmer announced he was the true author.
The controversial Kilgore Trout episode was neither the first nor the last time Farmer would impishly slip out of his own skin and assume the persona of another author. In Venus on the Half-Shell and Others, Philip José Farmer transforms himself into fictional personalities as compelling as they are diverse: Cordwainer Bird, Paul Chapin, Rod Keen, Harry "Bunny" Manders, Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor, John H. Watson, M.D. and even the real-life author William S. Burroughs (writing his own version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Jungle Lord!). Also included is the original version of Farmer's classic Sherlock Holmes/Lord Greystoke pastiche The Adventure of the Peerless Peer, back in print for the first time in over thirty years.
A unique collection, Venus on the Half-Shell and Others showcases the grand imagination of one of science fiction's most resourceful and creative minds."
Sunday, February 15, 2009
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