IONISPHERE 28 April 2021 Official Publication of the National Fantasy Fan Federation Fan-Pro Coordinating Bureau IONISPHERE’S editor is bureau head JOHN THIEL, 30 N. 19th Street, Lafayette, Indiana 47904, [email protected] Ionisphere is a bi-monthly fanzine distributed by the N3F. Published for the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F). To join or renew, use the membership form at http://n3f.org/join/membership-form/ to provide your name and whichever address you use to receive zines. Membership with The National Fantasy Fan (TNFF) via paper mail are $18; memberships with TNFF via email are $6. Zines other than TNFF are email only. Additional memberships at the address of a current dues-paying member are $4. Public memberships are free. Send payments to Kevin Trainor, PO Box 143, Tonopah, Nevada 89049. Pay online at N3F.org. Our PayPal contact is [email protected]. STAFF JEFFERSON SWYCAFFER, PO Box 15373, San Diego, CA 92175-5373, [email protected] JEFFREY REDMOND, 1335 Beechwood NE, Grand Rapids, MI 49505-3830, [email protected] JON SWARTZ, 12115 Missel Thrush Court, Austin, TX 78750, [email protected] HEATH ROW, 4367 Globe Avenue, Culver City, CA 90230, [email protected] JOHN POLSELLI, 264 Chestnut Hill Road, Chepachet, RI 02814. CONTENTS Cover by Nathan Warner, “Firebird” Editorial by John Thiel, “Must Man Fight Wars? Why Not Advance?”, page 3. Pro Viewpoint, “Fan-Pro Relations” by Jefferson Swycaffer, page 6. Fans and Pros, “Chad Oliver: His Life and Some Personal Reflections” by Jon Swartz, page 9. Behind the Scenes, “Women and Science Fiction” by Jeffrey Redmond, page 12. Letters, page 18. EDITORIAL Must Man Fight Wars? Why Not Advance? When you think of it, a war makes the whole human race look bad. It starts taking up most of the time of those fighting it, who put aside everything else for warfare’s sake, and it enlarges to include everybody, or so it seems. If such and such nations are not fighting full warfare at such and such a time, they have been fighting or will start fighting a war at another time, is the general picture. It seems like if somebody does something, somebody else is going to object. And on closer inspection, the objections are valid, but even if they aren’t, someone is liable to strike, and there go good intentions. What we live in is a warfare world. But there is no sense in adjusting to it. Any adjustments we make should be away from warfare. There is little good to be found in it, and it shows life at its worst. Adapting yourself to warfare is a loss—a loss found in the self. War is not the Truth simply because it is found everywhere and all the time. It tends to be a successful lie. How do all these wars start? Are people simply unable to get along with one another for extended periods of time? Is it part of the lot of mankind to be drawn into warfare at intervals? (For some, these aren’t intervals; that’s places where a warfare condition lasts the length of a lifetime, or where one war rapidly follows another, whereby there are people for which a lifetime consists of warfare. One might check Jefferson Swycaffer’s novel REVOLT AND REBIRTH for a look at what that does to people’s lives.) It might be that if we look at the kinds of things we’re doing now, we’ll run across what starts wars in some of our projects and doings which are unpopular, even unendurable to other people…such as assisting in the transportation of slaves, which is what underlay the Civil War in America. We may be assisting in that when we are part of the system which includes such practices. Slavery isn’t a good thing, and it results in uprisings and warfare. What about the “wage slaves” of today? Or present practices like indenturing? People who lead such miserable existences, though, are all ready for drafting, or they might even option for military service to get away from the lives they have been leading. Much of the energy which might be spent in correcting these conditions is, as some have said, expended in warfare. We would be better off as individuals if we looked for betterment in our activities, rather than competition and argumentation. The counter-culture is not a very good option. It progresses into strife. Why not keep our culture where it belongs, with ourselves and the people we know and who know us? This is where the N3F comes in. There is feuding going on far and wide, and some of it is getting into the NFFF. The new proposal of keeping people out of the NFFF who are only joining to fight is a good one; why foster what might be infiltration? If they have a “cause” behind them, one which runs contrary to the NFFF, the best and easiest thing to do is just keep them out, with possible reviewing of the matter if we have not been correct in our evaluations. They will say that they are being misunderstood if that is a fact, and what caused our misunderstanding of their intentions would be a matter for discussion before they are allowed to enter. If it can be proven that their intentions are not actually negative or bad ones (and they will have the energy to discuss it if their desire to join the organization is real), and these things are discussed with them, they can be brought in. Meanwhile let us have our own attitudes be positive and well-oriented ones, looking toward improvement and progress in our goals which are appropriate to the organization. Let’s not condemn other fan activity even if it is in disagreement with our own. Live and let live. Science fiction mostly isn’t very inspiring, but it is still legitimate reading matter, and we are not being sinners when we read it (I refer here to some of the attitudes toward science fiction I have seen expressed); perhaps those who object to it are less literate than we are—but there’s no need to rub it in when speaking to them; what is best is to avoid their argumentation and keep to what we like. It should be our desire to defend science fiction against such talk, and keep our distance from those talking that way, so that we aren’t talking the same way about them. If we get into a flurry about what they are saying, that detracts from our own discussions, which may be what we are in the NFFF to have. Let’s keep it clean, and get some order around here—the better we make the organization, the more we will be respected…and fandom in general might want to consider this concept as well. Ionosphere during eclipse. NASA photo effect. “I knew I’d forget something. It’s refilling the fuel generator complex.” FAN-PRO RELATIONS by Jefferson Swycaffer Our pro writer contact discusses meeting with fans of science fiction As a professionally published author, I have had only a relatively few interactions with fans. I have, over the years, had a great many pen-pals, some of whom first wrote to me to send me fan-mail regarding my books and stories. I’m pleased to say that many of these people are still pen-pals, although much more on a peer-to-peer basis than on a fan-pro basis. At least one of them has gone on to become a professionally published author himself. I have been fortunate enough to have received positive and supportive fan mail only, and never any hate mail, threats, or even harsh literary criticism. I have, alas, received a few letters that were totally incoherent, such as the one from someone who wanted to re-do the number system to get rid of the number nine. I will go to my grave wondering what he was imagining. I’ve received a handful of phone calls, also all positive, upbeat, supportive, and friendly. Most of my encounters have been at conventions, and the restrictions due to the pandemic have certainly put the kibosh on convention fandom. I miss such gatherings terribly! At conventions, there are two major forms of interaction: the formal discussion panel, and the informal chit-chat. I have spoken on a great many panel discussions, on all sorts of topics. The most popular topics have to do with the art and craft of writing, and, while audiences are eager to learn, the sad truth is that there is no way to teach writing. Writing has to be done, usually by solitary individuals. Teaching writing is a little like teaching exercise: no amount of coaching can substitute for an actual page written or an actual push-up performed. Everyone needs to discover the basics for themselves, because no two of us write in exactly the same way. Sometimes, it seems as if audience members want to receive a deep, dark secret, hidden lore, or arcane wisdom, and there is a mild sense of disappointment when the only secret that can be imparted is: “Just write”. I critique a lot, reading stories and chapters and offering technical criticism. Here, teaching and learning are completely practical, because we’re going into details of grammar, of construction, of pacing, of dialogue, and the like. These are technical matters that can be taught. I have always tried to avoid charging money for critiquing, although one author did offer me payment for final pre-publication spelling and grammar checking.