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The SHUTTLE August 2003

The Next NASFA Meeting will be 16 August 2003 at the Regular Time and Location

The Next Con Stellation XXII ConCom Meeting is Sunday 17 August 2003 at Mike KennedyÕs House

Future ConComs 7 & 21 September and 5 October; plus 9 October at the Hotel

{ Oyez, Oyez { ConCom Meetings

The next NASFA meeting will be 16 August 2003 at the The next Con Stellation XXII con committee meeting regular time (6P) and the regular location. Call BookMark at will be held 2P Sunday 17 August at Mike KennedyÕs house Ñ 256-881-3910 if you need directions. 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL. An email with The August program is to be determined at press time. additional information will be sent out closer to the day. The August after-the-meeting meeting will be a pool Future concom meetings are scheduled for 7 September, party at Russell McNuttÕs house. 21 September, and 5 October at MikeÕs house. There will also We need volunteers for future After-The-Meeting Meet- be the usual last-minute concom meeting on Thursday 9 ings October at the hotel.

Inside this issueÉ NASFA Calendar...... 2 Other Awards News ...... 4 Minutes of the July Meeting ...... 2 No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 7 ...... 5 Review of DeepSouthCon 41/LibertyCon 16 ...... 3 No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 8 ...... 6 World Awards Nominations...... 4 Letters of Comment ...... 6 Deadline for the September 2003 issue of The NASFA Shuttle is Friday, 5 Septembr 2003. 1 NASFA Calendar 30 BD: Richard Gilliam. OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO AUGUST The North Alabama Association meets on 03 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large KennedyÕs house. nearby convention being held that weekend Ñ in which case 08 BD: Jim Woosley. we usually hold the meeting on the second or fourth weekend.) 08Ð10 Conglomeration Ñ Louisville KY. The regular meeting location is the upstairs meeting room at 14 BD: Edward Kenny. BookMark on South Memorial Parkway. The Executive 16* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Committee meeting (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business BookMark. ATMM at Russell McNuttÕs house. meeting is at 6P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to 17 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike attend any of the meetings. There is usually an after-the- KennedyÕs house. meeting meeting with directions available at the program. 21 BD: Deborah Denton. 28Ð01 Torcon 3/ 61 Ñ Toronto ONT Canada. 29Ð01 DragonCon Ñ Atlanta GA. July Minutes SEPTEMBER by Samuel A. Smith, I Was Wrong 01 Labor Day. 07 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike The July meeting of the North Alabama Science Fiction KennedyÕs house. Association was called to order on Saturday, July 19, 2003 in 07 GrandparentÕs Day. the upstairs meeting room at BookMark at 6:13:56P by Presi- 09 BD: Mike Cothran. dent Mary Ortwerth (and Crickets). 11 BD: Ray Pietruszka. Karen is polluted. And Tracey Kennedy is pregnant. 17 Citizenship Day. OLD BUSINESS 20* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at Con chair elections for the 2004 Con Stellation: BookMark. ATMM TBD. Mary Ortwerth withdrew her name from consideration. 21 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike Nominations were reopened and subsequently closed with KennedyÕs house. no new names being put forth. 23 Autumn begins. There were speeches. 26 BD: Jenna Victoria Stone. Mike Kennedy was elected the 2004 Con Stellation con 27 Rosh Hashanah. chair over Doug Lampert by a vote of Òpretty manyÓ to 2. Mary Ortwerth gave a report on the status of the Von OCTOBER Braun Astronomical Society/Mitzi Adams proposed talk by 02Ð05 Archon 27 Ñ Collinsville IN. Larry Nemecek and Dr. Chip Meegan: Things are proceeding. 05 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ Mike The Chan Auditorium (in the Administrative Science Build- KennedyÕs house. ing) costs $75. We will need to make and provide convention 09 Con Stellation Con Committee Meeting Ñ at the and club flyers to hand out. Mitzi is putting up announcement hotel. flyers and also trying to get announcements on the radio. 10Ð12 Con Stellation XXII Ñ Huntsville AL. NEW BUSINESS 12 Columbus Day (Traditional). Jim Woosley: Huntsville has a new local S.F. writer: 13 Columbus Day (Observed). Travis Taylor, who has sold a book to Baen. [Dr. Taylor is 15 BD: Robert Buelow. planning to be at Con Stellation. -ED] 18* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business, 7P Program, at We have received an e-mail from a fellow named Al BookMark. ATMM TBD. Hoffman who is seeking help to locate a Space: 1999 fan 24 United Nations Day. named Chuck Raue. None of us had any clues, but if anybody 24Ð26 Hallowcon Õ03 Ñ Chattanooga TN. out there does, let us know and weÕll pass the word along to Al. 24Ð26 Necronomicon Ñ Tampa FL. CONVENTION BUSINESS 25 BD: Marie McCormack. Mike Kennedy: There is nothing particular to report right 30Ð02 2003 Ñ Washington DC. now. Con committee meetings move to two a month starting 31 Halloween. next month (August). Sam Smith reported that the Con Stellation web site NOVEMBER received 657 visitors in June, and the NASFA web site re- 04 Election Day. ceived 90 visitors in the same time period. 11 VeteransÕ Day. Mike Cothran noted that he needs the stuff for this yearÕs 11 Remembrance Day (Canada). Mass Mailing now! (And by the time you read this, it will be 15* NASFA Meeting Ñ 6P Business Meeting at Book- too late.) [It hit the mail Mark. ATMM TBD. 4 August. -ED] 20 BD: Geoffrey Hintze. The meeting was 22 BD: Nancy Renee Peters. adjourned at 6:47:46P. 23 BD: Mike Kennedy. The program and 23 BD: Wilson ÒBobÓ Tucker. After-The-Meeting 27 Thanksgiving Day. Meeting were a 29 BD: Howard Camp. Huntsville Stars baseball 30 BD: Joshua Kennedy. game. art by Sheryl Birkhead 2 manage to go to a few pro- DSC 41/LibertyCon 16 grams here and there and rviewed by Mike Kennedy participate in the killer-cut- throat spades tournament. As has been true about half the time in recent memory, this In that latter I did fairly yearÕs DeepSouthCon was combined with an existing conven- miserably, failing to ad- tion. DSC 41/LibertyCon 16 was held vance to the second round. 25Ð27 June 2003 at the Best Value Inn in East Ridge (Chat- (While he didnÕt make the tanooga) TN. Invited guests included Literary Guest of Honor finals, David Weber was S. M. Stirling, Artist GoH Darrell K. Sweet, Very Special really on his game most of Guest John Ringo, and MC Darryl Elliot. A large number of the weekend and pretty other professionals were expected to attend Ñ far too many to much blew me out of the list here. water in the first round.) When DSC changed to a two-year-in-advance selection WellÉ I almost made it schedule the better part of two decades ago, the events leading into the very last second up to this yearÕs con were hardly anticipated, but it turned out round game as a substitute, to be fortuitous in an odd way. Shortly before the originally- but gave up my seat at the scheduled date of LibertyCon 16, their hotel was partially last moment when another destroyed in a major fire. Of course, that was last year, when player showed up. In fact, I LC was not scheduled to host DSC. The fire occurred too close donÕt think I won a single to the conÕs dates to allow for an alternate location to be found, spades game that weekend, so LibertyCon 16 slipped a full year. I wonÕt even try to go into tournament or not. the various issues they ran into with guests being forced by The major programming item that I wanted to get to but various unforeseen circumstances to drop out, or the details of didnÕt was the masquerade. The main programming room at the hotel changing hands twice in the last year. Through it all, that hotel is really too small for that event. The con did show the committee persevered and in the end put on a very good it on the hotel TV system, but I chose not to go find a place to con. watch (the TV in my room only got one channel, ESPN). If Which is not to say there were no problems. When the someone has a video tape or even good stills IÕd love to have hotel was rebuilt they didnÕt include as many sleeping rooms. a look sometime. Besides, the con was going to give out Between that and the extra attendance because it was a Deep- various awards during the judging interval and I always like to SouthCon, LC needed to use several overflow hotels, some of be around for the DSC Awards. As it turned out I had good which were across a very busy multilane highway. (One reason to do so this year, even though it meant standing through Huntsvillian staying in one of those remote hotels made a the presentations. number of trips across the road by foot. I donÕt think I would DSC itself gives out two awards (though often to multiple have had the nerve.) For myself, the biggest problem with the people) every year and provides a venue for one other annual hotel was the lack of an elevator and the fact that the party tradition, the Rubble. The Rebel and Phoenix Awards are for rooms (including mine) were on the second floor Ñ up a service to Southern Fandom by fans and sf professionals curving staircase of about 20 steps. Fat old men with bad knees respectively. The Rubble Award, rather than being for fans shouldnÕt have to climb that many stairs as often as I did that who have done things for Southern Fandom, is for those who weekend. have done things to it. (I should note, for those not familiar with All that said, most aspects of the con went very smoothly. the tradition, that the award is normally given out in good- I barely got my head inside the dealers room the whole natured fun.) Two Phoenix Awards were announced this year weekend so I canÕt say much about it. The art show was very Ñ for Rick Shelley (posthumously) and Larry Elmore. The nice. I understand that they sold a lot of art, and the often announcement of RickÕs win got perhaps the biggest round of spirited bidding at the art auction Saturday evening seemed to applause of the night; I know I joined in vigorously. The confirm that. I cast my eye on a piece or two but I donÕt even Rubble Award went to Gerald W. (Jerry) Page, making him have all the art I own on the walls, and the bidding quickly only the second to score all three awards, after Toni (T. K. F.) outstripped my pocketbook. Weisskopf. The Rebel Award went to, well, me. The function space at the Best Value Inn is somewhat OK, here IÕm going to be more honest that perhaps is wise. oddly arranged. As a consequence, the con suite (which occu- It was not a complete surprise. A very good friend, who had pies part of what used to be a bar) serves as the entryway to both apparently been recruited to try to make sure I was at the the dealers room and the art show. (When a false wall is masquerade, was, well, less than completely subtle in the collapsed, one can also get from the con suite into the main attempt Ñ enough so that I was rather suspicious. Then, right programming room.) This arrangement makes the con suite before the presentations, both he and another old friend prac- more of a central meeting place than might otherwise be the tically dragged me into the room on a flimsy excuse. But case Ñ a good thing in my opinion. There is a corresponding surprise or no, I was very touched by the whole thing; quite on drawback, that the doors to the patio outside got opened a lot the verge of tears during my short acceptance speech. If you into the late-July heat. Fortunately, the hotelÕs air conditioning want to know more about how I felt youÕll have to join the seemed to cope a bit better with this than it has in times past. Southern Fandom Confederation so you can get hold of a copy A large tarp used by the con as a canopy over a big chunk of the of their upcoming zine (SFC Bulletin) Ñ Randy Cleary talked patio probably helped, reducing the solar heat load through the me into writing an article. glass front of the room. Next year DSC 42 will be held in conjunction with While a lot of my weekend was taken up with ÒbusinessÓ MidSouthCon 22 in Memphis TN, (for instance, wrapping up work on the DSC Rules Committee 26Ð28 March 2004. Guests include Writer GoH David Brin, that IÕd served on since last yearÕs DSC in Huntsville), I did Artist GoH Todd Lockwood, Fan GoH Cullen Johnson, and 3 TM Michael Sheard. Waifs and Strays, Charles de Lint (Viking) DSC 43 (selected this year) will be held in conjunction Water: Tales of Elemental Spirits, Robin McKinley and Peter with Xanadu 8 in Nashville TN. Xanadu was an annual con Dickinson (Putnam) some years ago and is being revived next year with Xanadu 7. ARTIST One guest, GoH Mike Resnick, was announced for 2005. Kinuko Y. Craft Tom Kidd Gary Lippincott Dave McKean John Jude Palencar Charles Vess SPECIAL AWARD, PROFESSIONAL World Fantasy Awards Paul Barnett (for Paper Tiger art books) (for editing) Nominations William K. Schafer (for Subterranean Press) Gary Turner and Marty Halpern (for Golden Gryphon World Fantasy Awards nominations (for works published Press) in 2002) have been announced. The juried awards will be (for F&SF) presented at this yearÕs World Fantasy Convention (for editing) to be held 30 OctoberÐ2 November SPECIAL AWARD, NON-PROFESSIONAL 2003 in Washington DC. Judges for this yearÕs awards are (for PS Publishing) Justin Ackroyd, Les Edwards, Laura Anne Gilman, Lawrence and (for Small Beer Press) Watt-Evans, and . Awards administrator is Peter Sean Wallace (for Prime Books) Dennis Pautz. A Life Achievement Award, whose nominees Michael Walsh (for Old Earth Books) are not released in advance, will also be announced at the Jason Williams, Jeremy Lassen, and Benjamin Cossel (for convention. More information about all World Fantasy Con- Night Shade Books) ventions can be found at . The nominees are: NOVEL The Facts of Life, Graham Joyce (Gollancz) Other Awards News FitcherÕs Brides, Gregory Frost (Tor) Ombria in Shadow, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace) ENDEAVOUR AWARD NOMS The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow) The Endeavour Award is The Scar, China MiŽville (Macmillan; Del Rey) presented annually at OryCon (Portland OR) for the best NOVELLA science fiction or fantasy book written by a Pacific Northwest Coraline, Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins) author or authors and published in the previous year. This ÒThe Least Trumps,Ó Elizabeth Hand (Conjunctions 39: The yearÕs award will be presented at OryCon 25 (14Ð16 Novem- New Wave Fabulists) ber 2003) for a book published during 2002. Judges for this ÒThe Library,Ó Zoran Zivkovic (Leviathan 3) year are Martin H. Greenberg, Joe Haldeman, and Douglas Seven Wild Sisters, Charles de Lint (Subterranean Press) Smith. The award includes a grant of $1,000. The nominees A Year in the Linear City, Paul Di Filippo (PS Publishing) are: SHORT STORY The Disappeared, ÒCreation,Ó Jeffrey Ford (F&SF May 2002) LionÕs Blood, Steven Barnes ÒThe Essayist in the Wilderness,Ó William Browning Spencer The Maquisarde, Louise Marley (F&SF May 2002) Solitaire, Kelley Eskridge ÒLittle Dead Girl Singing,Ó Stephen Gallagher (Weird Tales Technogenisis, Syne Mitchell Spring 2002) GAYLACTIC SPECTRUM AWARDS ÒOctober in the Chair,Ó Neil Gaiman (Conjunctions 39: The Nominations for the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards New Wave Fabulists) have been announced. ÒThe Weight of Words,Ó Jeffrey Ford (Leviathan 3) The awards are given by the Gaylactic Network to honor sf/ ANTHOLOGY fantasy/horror works (published in 2002) with significant The American Fantasy Tradition, Brian M. Thomsen, ed. positive , , bisexual, or content. Win- (Tor) ners will be announced at Torcon, this yearÕs Worldcon, to be Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists, Peter Straub, ed. held 28 AugustÐ1 September in Toronto ONT. Works are (Bard College) nominated in several categories for this yearÕs awards, plus The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest, Ellen Datlow Hall of Fame inductees (to honor works originally released in and Terri Windling, eds. (Viking) North America prior to 1998 in any format) may be selected. Leviathan 3, Jeff VanderMeer and Forrest Aguirre, eds. BEST NOVEL (Ministry of Whimsy Press) Dance for the Ivory Madonna, Don Sakers (Speed-of-C) The YearÕs Best Fantasy and Horror: Fifteenth Annual The Fall of the Kings, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman Collection, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling, eds. (St. (Bantam Spectra) MartinÕs) Fire Logic, Laurie Marks (Tor) COLLECTION Hominids, Robert Sawyer (Tor) City of Saints and Madmen, Jeff VanderMeer (Prime Books) LorimalÕs Chalice, Jane Fletcher (Fortitude Press) The Fantasy WriterÕs Assistant and Other Stories, Jeffrey Nightmare: A Novel of the Silent Empire, Steven Harper Ford (Golden Gryphon Press) (Roc) Figures in Rain, Chet Williamson (Ash-Tree Press) Solitaire, Kelley Eskridge (Harper Eos) The OgreÕs Wife, Richard Parks (Obscura Press) BEST SHORT FICTION 4 ÒBugcrush,Ó Scott Treleaven (Queer Fear 2, Arsenal Pulp) will I answer now, unless you would pay with your own hearts. ÒFor the Mortals Among Us,Ó Robert Knippenberg (Mind & No? Then begone!Ó Grua climbed back into her barrow, and Body, Circlet Press) the Frost Giants leave. ÒNight of the Werepuss,Ó Michael Thomas Ford (Queer Fear The druid reported all this to his lord, who thought for 2, Arsenal Pulp) three days before replying. Then, the Frost-King raised his ÒPolyphemusÕ Cave,Ó David Nickle (Queer Fear 2, Arsenal hands and began the slow summoning of the coldest winds. He Pulp) raises a powerful winter storm of the kind seen less than once ÒThree Letters from the Queen of Elfland,Ó Sarah Monette every thousand years. A strike team of seven trolls is formed, (Lady ChurchillÕs Rosebud Wristlet, Small Beer Press) armed with ice bombs. Though Òloaded for bearÓ it was no bear ÒTill Human Voices Wake Us,Ó Stephen Dedman (Queer they were after. The king reluctantly opened the treasury and Fear 2, Arsenal Pulp) allowed his druid to borrow the great Stace-Ice rod; with ÒUnspeakable,Ó M. C. A. Hogarth (Strange Horizons) horrible warnings should it become damaged. BEST COMIC/GRAPHIC NOVEL The weather had been getting colder than normal. The The Authority (issues 28 and 29), various (Wildstorm/DC) fairys had all gone to Alfheim to visit their relatives; after being Buffy the Vampire Slayer Ñ Willow and Tara: Wilderness, separated for so long. PED kept shrinking, to reduce his surface Amber Benson and Christopher Golden (Dark Horse) area. As the low sun finally set for the long Arctic night, he Green Lantern: Hate Crime (issues 154 and 155), Judd decided to stay down in the water until Spring. ÒTime to head Winnick (DC) for the deep water, or IÕll become a frost-breathing dragon!Ó he Murder Mysteries, Neil Gaiman and Craig Russell (Dark chuckled. Horse) As he slowly approached the edge, seven trolls leapt out Uncanny X-Men (414), various (Marvel) of the water and threw freezing bombs at him. Then, three X-Statix (1Ð5), various (Marvel) giants rose up behind them, out of the water, and a great blue BEST OTHER WORK flash froze the dragon solid! Buffy the Vampire Slayer (ÒSeeing RedÓ), Joss Whedon, et al. Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ (FoxTV) The giant-druid next chill-blasted the base of a tall tree, Eyes of the God: The Weird Fiction and Poetry of R. H. and snapped it off. The other giants made quick work of Barlow, S. T. Joshi, Douglas Anderson, and David Schultz, stripping the branches, and began tying the dragon to the tree eds (academic collection, Hippocampus Press) for transport. (The druidÕs scrying instruments kept pointing to Mind & Body, Cecilia Tan ed. (Circlet Press) the dragonÕs mid-section all this time.) The trolls were caper- Queer Fear II, Michael Rowe, ed. (Arsenal Pulp) ing around, getting thoroughly angry at the absence of any Wired Hard 3, Cecilia Tan, ed. (Circlet Press) obvious treasure hoard. ÒWhereÕs the treasure? ThereÕs not so much as a wooden haÕpenny here!Ó With great effort, and shaking legs, two giants hoisted the tree trunk with the bound dragon, and splashed back into the No Need For Necromancy! lagoon. The druid reopened the elemental nexus and giants, No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 7 trolls, and dragon all disappeared through the water-gate. Hard by PieEyedDragon snow, blown by bitterly cold winds, begins covering their footprints; and all the torn-up branches. After the initial chaos of finger-pointing, fights, and foul Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ language; the Frost Giants set out to discover who wrecked Officer Kiyone cuts their patrol short when she finds her their terror weapon. Their King, Jarl Utgard-Loki, sent his partner Mihoshi Ñ very blue and shivering Ñ on the floor of chief druid with a pair of guards down to the cold gate of the shipÕs galley. She puts her partner into the isolation Niflheim, or Hell. chamber, broadcasts a contagion warning, and makes all speed Wearing an iron thumb ring and flint, the druid spoke the back to the Galaxy Police orbital Headquarters. almost-unpronounceable spell to summon Grua, the spae-wife Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ giantess buried at the gate of Hell. For a bag of blood, she would ÒAnd did you find the power mineral?Ó answer such questions as the dead are privy to. A cloaked ÒIt is inside the dragon, oh King. But; how to get it out figure shambles over to the druid: stopping beside the blood. without risking a thawing? Naglfar must have this power Fleshless hands and feet extend beyond the garmentÕs edges. source!Ó ÒI hear your summons. What do you want?Ó ÒThereÕs more than one way to skin a dragon...IÕll eat ÒWho wrecked out terror weapon, Coldbringer, which him!Ó now lies in ruins?Ó The flash-frozen dragon is consigned to a very cold ÒOne! The Pie-Eyed Dragon of Iceland unmade your dungeon. The giants begin preparations for a great feast. Banshee, which indirectly destroyed your great work; though Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ he knew not of it.Ó Wotan, aware of much of this from his ravens, and the ÒWhere now is this dragon?Ó motions of the game pieces on his chessboard; which had ÒTwo! All must come here,Ó the dry voice whispered, Òso reflected the ÒPriest captures DragonÓ gambit. He addresses did he. Unlike the rest, he left again. Niord the dragon-guardian the others present in Asgard: ÒWe have struck a mighty blow, did not block him: Professional Courtesy. He rests now beside and might do more if someone clever enough could suggest the a fairy-lake, on the frozen land of northern Alaska.Ó proper plan. We dare not release Loki, for he would be unlikely ÒHow can he be caught?Ó to aid us.Ó ÒThree! He is quick, but freezing weather can slow down The smith, Weland (who was visiting Asgard) speaks up: any serpent. When the sun next sets for the long Arctic night, ÒLord Wotan, I can recommend someone: a very clever fellow, the fairies will be away; leaving him alone. No more questions with a little gift of prophesy.Ó 5 pushing c. No Need For A Castaway! Mihoshi: Mister Goodfellow (is that really your name?), No Need for a Dragon with a Migraine Chapter 8 there donÕt seem to be any instruments here. Is this an AI ship? by PieEyedDragon Robin: (cocks his head to one side with a grin, while keeping one hand on a certain spot) You know what they say In the end, Weland himself goes to fetch his old friend, about ÒAny sufficiently advanced technology being indistin- returning to Asgard. guishable from magic?Ó Puck: Well, to paraphrase Cupid upon seeing Pluto in the Mihoshi: I saw magic once: a man pulled a cabbit out of upper world: ÒAn audience like this, I may never see again!Ó a hat. (She looks ahead, toward their direction of flight.) ThatÕs What can an old trickster possibly do for the lords of the ®sir? the prettiest starbow I ever saw! (Puck is quickly briefed on the situation.) Robin: Quite so! (as he wrapped the starbow around the ÒIÕll do anything to help. HeÕs the most decent worm that wooden ship, and ÒpushedÓ them over into jumpspace; headed ever lit up the sky. I first met him in Ireland. He was east-bound, toward Asgard, Bifrost, and the StarbowÕs End.) so I asked him to please avoid England. He promised, and hasnÕt crossed the English coastline now in over three thousand years. IÕve visited him in Japan a few times, this past millen- nium. Also, IÕll gladly seize the chance to pay the Jotuns an old Letters of Comment debt.Ó A look of ancient sorrow settles upon his face. ÒNaglfar was a heavy cruiser, colony ship. The Jotuns mutinied, and EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC spaced every one of the officers; including a certain psycho- therapist who was also the morale officer. Being one of the ÔBrownies of the High Air,Õ I survived and made landfall under Lloyd Penney 31 July 2003 my own power. With engines failing, the giants over-drove my kindred ship-pushers to get here, too. That treatment rendered 1706-24 Eva Road many of the Brownies insane. I visit all of them regularly, and Etobicoke ON do what I can for their conditions. Psychic healing is a very Canada M9C 2B2 slow process for us.Ó Wotan: I never met any of the officers. The giants stranded I have the July Shuttle here, Vol. 23, No. 7 to be exact, and us here, not caring. IÕve got some time to get a quick loc done. Puck: (decisively) Other friends of the dragon must be I may have already asked, but seeing itÕs not far off, less invited. Lend me Skipbladnir! As a lifeboat of Naglfar, it will than 30 days as I write, who is going to Torcon? fly higher and faster for my hand than ever for any of you. Found some unhappy news in other places Ñ this is taken Wotan: Go then, and speed well! from the Australian SF Bullsheet: Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ DEATHS Puck goes first to the nearby lords of Ireland, and gives the Walter ÒMattÓ Jeffries, designer of the original Starship news. Enterprise, and after whom the ÒJeffries TubesÓ Ñ access Next, Puck crosses over the pole to visit Honshu. ÒShe tunnels between the decks of the starship Ñ were named, Who Shines In The Heavens,Ó Amaterasu, thanked the fairy, passed away on 22 July aged 82. The cause of death was and offered a helpful piece of information; and the present not mentioned, but Jeffries had recently been treated for location of a certain person. cancer. Puck goes to a few sites around the Mediterranean, and Anthony Caruso, the actor who played gangster Bela Oxmyx thence to Mexico; to complete his local visits. These being in the original Trek episode ÒA Piece of the ActionÓ died completed, he ÒtalksÓ to the ship. recently. He was aged 86. ÒOkay, Skippy old girl; now for it. Can you still sail the Kathie Browne McGavin, wife of actor Darren McGavin High Air?Ó (who played Kolchek in the Night Stalker series) also passed In reply, Skipbladnir tilts her dragon-prow upward, and away recently. Kathie played Deela in the original Trek epi- rapidly rises until all the atmosphere is left behind. The ÒoarsÓ sode ÒWink of an Eye.Ó are now withdrawn, and the little ship; guided by Puck, truly The review of the newest Harry Potter book makes it begins accelerating until they start actually pushing c. Puck is sound promising, but I have been lurking on the Usenet area overjoyed to finally see a starbow, again. alt.fan.harry-potter, and the teeming masses there are largely Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ unhappy with it. I havenÕt bought it yet, but I think IÕll wait until Officer Mihoshi had mostly recovered from the chills, and the softcover version comes out. been cleared from any possibility of active contagion. She was Lots of awards Ñ thank you for running the complete list on light administrative duty (to keep her out of trouble) when of nominees for the Aurora Awards. WeÕre hoping and opti- a diplomatic request from a small brown alien, Robin Goodfel- mistic. The Auroras will be given out on the Friday of Torcon low, sent her off to assist with a kidnapping investigation. in the Concert Hall of the Royal York Hotel. In the Mark Time Goodfellow was apparently a Juraian offshoot since his small and Ogle Awards list, I was a voice actor on the horror CD that ship, Skipbladnir, was made of wood. It was also the third ship tied for the Gold Ogle, Fears For Ears. visiting this month to have a dragonhead prow, though it I hope thereÕll be lots of you at Torcon; weÕre staying at the looked very old. Such ornamentation was seemingly coming good old Royal York. Sure, we could commute from home, but into style with shipfitters. weÕre involved with a 2006 Worldcon bid (LA), and weÕre Ñ O Ñ O Ñ O Ñ helping others with another party. Other than that, we have few Skipbladnir begins accelerating away from the GP HQ; commitments, and do not intend to take any more. We worked 6 hard to bring the convention about while we were on the bid you require at least 24-hour stay. committee, and we are hoping the con will be a success. I see that Carlo (DeShouten) says Furmeet needs more games Ñ I hope that doesnÕt mean it ÒshouldÓ be games alone. [As far as I know, IÕm the only NASFAn going to Torcon, I saw the AFI Heroes and Villains special Ñ a lot of fun. though probably not the only Huntsvillian (IÕd expect Patrick July Ñ Ah, the old font is back. Molloy and Naomi Fisher to be there, for instance Ñ though I am waiting for the library to get the books-on-tape I donÕt know that for sure) and certainly not the only recipient version of the Harry Potter book, but I know there will be a of the Shuttle. IÕm staying at the Cowne Plaza myself, a major huge waiting listÉ maybe I ought to just readÉ naw, listening concession on my part. When given a choice, IÕve always gone to it while I drive is so much more Òfun.Ó with the party/evening-event hotel before when attending a Congratulators to the Penneys on their 20th anniversary Ñ Worldcon. I decided this year that IÕd rather have the ability to and nominations! go easily back and forth to my room during the day. I still plan Agh Ñ almost two years of movies I have yet to see Ñ to make the trek down to the Royal York each evening for keep hoping the older ones will show up at the bargain VHS various events and the parties, but thatÕs once a day. I hope my [bin] Ñ yeah RSN. decision will reduce my total walking to spare my knees some wear and tear. I have never managed to get into the Potter [Well, of my own knowledge I cannot say with any certainty books, though a number of my close friends have done so and whether you sent a prior response to the June issue or not Ñ I none of them have mentioned any disappointment with the have been known to lose letters and postcards in my house and most recent book. -ED] the last couple of months has seen things stacking up more than usual. As I type this (on my laptop) I donÕt yet know if my desktop computer will have eaten another monitor or not. The POC-POC-POC-POC-POC-POC-POC-POC-POC-POC lack of a working monitor for that older computer (two died at essentially the same time) was what forced me to do the layout of the June issue on my laptop and led to itÕs odd look. I have Sheryl Birkhead 1 August 2003 been using a very small (but cheap!) monitor the last month 25509 Jonnie Court plus, which made the layout work for the July issue more Gaithersburg MD 20882 troublesome and will do so again this month Ñ assuming that the tiny thing is still functional. Sooner or later IÕll have to Hi Ñ Nothing if not consistently inconsistent. I would either get a bigger monitor or just give in and upgrade to a more have sworn I responded to the June ish Ñ but, right here I have modern computer (and software). CarloÕs opinion on the both June and July. SoÉ Furmeet is, of course, his own. A number of people wondered June Ñ I like the ÒotherÓ font better Ñ just personal aloud in my presence, with some bemusement, why he would choice. have expected much in the way of gaming at that type of con. I havenÕt been to a con for a long time, and even longer if -ED]

7 P. O. Box 4857 Huntsville AL 35815-4857

***************************************************************************************************************** The NASFA Shuttle is the newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, Inc. This is the August 2003 edition (Volume 23, Number 8). NASFA Officers for 2003: President Mary Ortwerth; Vice President Mike Kennedy; Secretary Sam Smith; Treasurer Ray Pietruszka; Program Director Karen Hopkins; Publicity Director Doug Lampert. Shuttle Editor Mike Kennedy. Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by email to: [email protected] Ñ EDITORIAL ADDRESS (EMAIL) Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by snailmail to: Mike Kennedy, 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL 35802-2841 Ñ EDITORIAL ADDRESS (SNAILMAIL) Dues ($), subscriptions ($), and Official Mail to: NASFA, Inc., P. O. Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857 Ñ OFFICIAL ADDRESS Contents Copyright, © 2003. All rights revert to contributors. All opinions are those of the individual authors and do not reflect club policies other than by coincidence. LoCs subject to edited printing. NASFA Dues = $15/year (Family rates available) Subscription only = $10/year Single copy = $1.50 each. *****************************************************************************************************************

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