Produced by Robert Jennings, 29 Whiting Rd., Oxford, MA 01540-2035, Email [email protected]
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FADEAWAY #38 is a fanzine devoted to science fiction and related fields of interest, and is produced by Robert Jennings, 29 Whiting Rd., Oxford, MA 01540-2035, email [email protected]. Copies are available for a letter of comment, or a print fanzine in trade, or by subscription at a cost of $20.00 for six issues. Letters of comment are much preferred. Any person who has not previously received a copy of this fanzine may receive a sample copy of the current issue for free by sending me your name and address. Publication is bi-monthly. This is the December-January 2013-2014 issue __________________________________________________________________________________________ THIS HAS BEEN a buzz-saw summer and fall season for me. I feel like the White Rabbit from “Alice In Wonderland”. I’ve been running since June with a thousand and one things to do, trying to catch up, and not coming close to catching up on anything. I was set up at a local indoor flea market for three months, which involved a lot of merchandise stocking, plus having to spend all day Sat and Sun there. Sales were good for a while, then the bottom dropped out in October. Plus the guy running the place wanted me to cut back on my space. The problem was that I had to rent a cargo van to move the eight foot tables along with the boxes of comics, records, science fiction books and the rest of it from my warehouse into the building back in July. He wanted me to cut back the equivalent of two tables worth of space. This meant I would have to rent a cargo van again just to move the two long tables back to my warehouse. I decided that it made just as much sense to break down the entire display and close out the space, especially after the poor October sales. It costs the same to rent a cargo van no matter how much stuff I was moving, so I closed down everything and I will no longer do the flea market. This should, in theory anyway, free up a little more time to at least get caught up somewhat on all the fanac and other stuff I need to do. We shall see. I owe letters to a lot of people and I’ve got a pile of fanzines I haven’t commented on yet. If you fall into one of those categories, please accept my apologies. I am trying to catch up, I just haven’t made a whole lot of progress. Meanwhile, biz wise, I’m spending a lot of time listing the new hoard of merchandise I accumulated earlier this year that made it necessary to rent additional warehouse space. This takes up plenty of time, and I feel I need to devote at least a few hours every day to this task, because it sure isn’t going to sell itself. Then, just to again forcibly demonstrate the principle that nature abhors a vacuum, a friend in the radio club who had been doing a mail order music and video business shifted his career and became a real estate broker; a very successful one. So, guess who wound up with all his merchandise? This acquisition also came with eight wooden shelving units that proved to be very useful. I haven’t even begun sorting out the video and CD material yet. I’m still working on books, comics, and graphic novels, but now that I’m not scrambling to stock the flea market with new displays every week, and spending all my weekends manning the flea market space, I expect I’ll get around to it soon enuf. Yet more reasons why I’ll never be able to retire and “take life easy:” as many of my friends have done. Apparently nature also abhors the idea of me not working hard the rest of my life. SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS and a big shout-out to John. V. Cody, our cover artist for this issue (who also did the header illo for the letter column, and the closing illo there too) on celebrating his 91st birthday this November. John has spent a life time doing cartooning and artwork, and is still producing art. His illos have been part of this fanzine for many issues now and I have a small stack that will show up in future issues as well. There is his cartoon self-portrait over there. Keep on having fun and keep on drawing John! CONTINUEING ANGST & ANGRISH Fanzine editors get it from all quarters. I no longer get sticky quarters taped to the bottom of letters, but I get the equivalent thru emails and letters from readers. I get a lot of advice and editorial suggestions. Cut back on the letters column, no wait, why did you cut the letters column back so much, it should be longer, why did you run such a long article written by yourself, or, how come 2 there was no main feature article written by you in this issue, or why don’t you have more science fiction focused material, hey, you’re too focused on science fiction/fantasy try something else more often; or how about more cartoons, or wait, you’re running too many cartoons, how about more photos, what! why are you running so many photos and on and on. The flow new stops and there is something in every issue that wanna-be editors would have changed if only they had been in charge. It’s good that people are responding to this little publication. Reader response and reaction is the primary reason I keep turning issues of this zine out. God knows its an expensive hobby, and it’s about to become even more expensive come the beginning of January of next year, as the Post Office has decided to kick up the cost of first class postage yet again. This means that since copies of this fanzine go out 1st class that the cost of sending out copies of the zine will go up considerably. This means, realistically, that either I have to cut back the page count to get under the new rate ceiling, or reduce the type size, or cut even more people off the mailing list. In the past the number of people receiving printed copies of this little publication was quite large and growing every single issue. This past year I have taken an axe to the mailing list. Well, maybe not an axe, but certainly a surgical scalpel, pruning away those people who never bother to respond to the material I send them. The mailing list has gone from large, to manageable, and in the immediate future it is going to go down from manageable to quite reasonable as other individuals are dropped. I intend to continue sending out about a dozen sample issues to prospective new readers every issue, but those people who do not respond in the acceptable fashion---letters of comment, a print fanzine in return trade, articles/artwork that can be published here, or cash for subscriptions, are going to be dumped. Every time I do something like this I get plaintive cries from people who have been booted off the list, along with the usual excuses. And I’m sure I am going to receive some anguished emails. ‘Hey pal, I sent you a copy of my four page apazine back in 2011 so why are you not sending me copies of Fadeaway anymore? or, doesn’t that-post card I sent you from Borneo in the winter of 2010 count as a current LOC? Sorry, but I need more. You don’t have to send me a LOC every issue, but regular contact is necessary. Write some comments every now and then. If you publish a fanzine and we are supposed to be trading, then how about sending me a copy when you run off the latest issue. Send in some artwork or an article that I can use in up coming issues. If you can’t do any of this, then subscribe. The subscription rate is $20 for six issues, and subscribing relieves you of the obligation to write LOCs or send fanzines in trade. But if you want to continue receiving copies of this fanzine in the future you are going to have to do one of those things, otherwise your name will be dropped from the list of those receiving copies. Meanwhile, have a happy holiday season! 3 THE TYLER RIFLE; or, How I Built A Prop Replica of Dominic Flandry’s Rifle by Jefferson Swacaffer In 1966, Ace Science Fiction published Poul Anderson;s “Ensign Flandry”. This is the first, in terms of internal chronology of the stories and books about Dominic Flandry, a space-going hero and rogue, who passes thru rollicking adventures in the service of the Terran Empire. It is a very gripping saga, and frankly, some very tough reading. The climax of the series is “A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows”, which is just about the most tragic SF novel you will ever find. Poul Anderson does horrible things to his protagonist. It’s hard to read. “Ensign Flandry” is a lot lighter and more upbeat. It has its tough bits, but fewer, and it has more joys and jollities. The cover art is by Michael Whelan, and, when one can draw one’s eyes away from the tiger-stripped furry lady, one can’t help but notice that Flandry is depicted holding a BFG---A Big Frickin’ Gun! That gun, that rifle, always caught my attention.