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Black Gate 12
Black Gate 12 Sneak Peek
On to some good stuff. I am excited about the cover of issue 12. Here it is, from the masterful Bruce Pennington.
John is just about done cramming in the stories, and I'm pretty excited about those as well. We'll have 7000 more words than we had even last issue. Here's what you can expect:
More Morlock from James Enge.
More Giliead and Elias from Martha Wells.
More adventures from Ed Carmien.
We dragged Todd McCaulty out of his cave and got him to finish another story, and you'll find it within as well.
And hey, there I am, with another story John bought from me before I joined the staff.
John Fultz and Constance Cooper haven't appeared in Black Gate before, and we're excited to be introducing you to their work.
We have a classic reprint, as well, the final Tumithak story from Charles R. Tanner, which completes Tumithak's entire run. "Reprint" is a bit of a stretch here, because this one never actually appeared in a magazine before.
As usual, we'll have articles, book reviews, and game reviews. I hope you'll pick up a copy (and read it!) and that when you do so you can spread the word!
Lastly, I've been meaning to point visitors here to James Van Pelt's latest series of posts on writing, if you haven't yet seen them. Really good stuff. My link starts you on the first one. There's three or four, interspersed with other entries that, while NOT about writing, are still worth reading.
I'll get back here in a few days.
Warm Regards,
Howard
Howard
I am looking forward to this issue. Where did the Tanner story come from?
Tumithak -- John found out about the unpubished final story when he contacted the author's son about reprinting the first few. I would have liked to have supplied a story of skullduggery and digging through ancient tomes in dusty library alcoves, but it was pretty straight forward.
That's quite a find.
Is the idea to publish one "classic" story per issue? I think it would be a good idea, personally (though that should hardly come as a surprise).
(Anonymous)
"Tumithak and the Ancient Word"
I first discovered a reference to the story while doing research on Tumithak at the ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE:
"By an amazing coincidence, I had Charles R. Tanner's son as a student in one of the classes I taught, and he gave me a copy of a manuscript of an unpublished 4th story in the Tumithak series. I have, to date, failed to have it published, and an Italian anthology by Editrice Nord which was to have premiered it, after having published the other three stories. This unfortunately fell through."
I tracked down the son, James Tanner, and confirmed that the story existed. [Stephen Haffner also confirmed it, and even had a copy of the story]. But I couldn't get the rights immediately... after Black Gate published the first two stories, there was enough interest in Tumithak that North Star Press decided to issues a collection of all four, and the family decided to sell the rights to them instead. The book came out in 2005.
The book was a fine collection, but had poor distribution (and a horrible cover), and I don't think it did well. James eventually contacted me and offered the rights to the last story, "Tumithak and the Ancient Word." We jumped at the chance.
We received the text from the family, and I was pleased (and relieved) to discover the story is strong enough to stand with the others. I commissioned new artwork, and it will appear in BG 12. It'll be worth the wait. :)
- John
John O'Neill
Black Gate
(Anonymous)
Noo Black Gate me makes incoherent joy with.
--Daniel
Howard - If you need further encouragement, let me just say that your work, stories and reviews at Black Gate are outstanding. Sorry you came down with the prickles, but I actually appreciate sour company. Next time, feel free to vent your spleen here!
In fact, I'd love it if every story in BG had a mandatory "vented spleen minimum." Of course, livers and lungs will do in a pinch. Unless it is a Morlock story - then nothing less than the rolling back, wrenching, rending and eventual restoral of reality itself will do.
Congratulations on the new issue.
And sympathies on not feeling so great lately. March is a rough month for many of us.
Love, C.
It's just -- March.
As for inlaws, I often wonder how my Vaquero ended up as well socialized as he has, considering among whom he grew up.
Love, C.
I picked up a couple of Nathan Long books the other day and put them near the top of my pile. A Clint Werner bird has suggested checking your work out for some time now.
It is beautiful...
Re: It is beautiful...
Re the doldrums: I'm sorry to hear you've been down. Here's hoping things turn themselves around.
I hope things look up for you soon.
-Nik
I'm sorry I missed the joke contest!
(Anonymous)
Yes indeed.
It's elegant, evocative, and really well rendered.
And, not to be a dawg, but it looks more like it should be wrapped around a collection of adventurous fantasy fiction than some we've seen.
This is a vintage work, isn't it?
For some reason I'm equating it with M. John Harrison, but I'm notoriously easy to confuse.
John Hocking
(Anonymous)
Re: Yes indeed.
I stumbled on it about two years ago on eBay, and ordered it just for the cover. Searches for the cover artist proved fruitless, until my wife Alice (who had much better eyes) told me I was reading the artist's tiny corner signature wrong, and it was clearly "Pennington." Google located the various art books of Bruce Pennington immediately.
Tracking down the man himself... that proved harder. He doesn't have email, and isn't online. I ended up having to contact one of his neighbours (!) to get him a message. Eventually I got his phone number, and we have a very friendly chat. I sent him a few issues of the magazine just to prove I wasn't a nut, and eventually he very graciously sold us the rights to two pieces. BG 12 is the first one, and the next will be on BG 14.
- John
John O'Neill
Black Gate
(Anonymous)
Great job!
Scott Oden
And I know the mood you speak of... Not down really... Just not social... We all go through it now and then, just so you know you're not alone in such things. ;-)
Btw, don't know what the weather is like there, but here, the sun is finally making an appearance... Your ol' girl is pleased with her resting place, I'm sure. :-)
(Anonymous)
#12 cover
Man, what a great cover...