All Souls Night (Part 6 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.

 

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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Gaaays in Spaaace in Roxborough

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I had a brief encounter with these two young men at the street fair a block from my house, here in Roxborough. It would have been longer, but I was carrying an abundance of street food for lunch and wanted to get it home while it was still hot. I did chat long enough, however, to learn that the non-profit organization they were representing was Gaaays in Spaaace (they emphasized the triplet-As in each word) and that it existed to encourage diversity and inclusion in both science fiction and actual space travel.

(You can learn more at their rather lavish website. Their mission statement and history can be found at https://www.gaaaysinspaaace.org/about.)

Thinking about them, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Alex Shvartsman at Capclave recently. I said something about how admirable the Chinese science fiction community was--positive, hard-working, anxious to make the world a better place--and he said, "But that's the science fiction community anywhere in the world. We're all like that." Then, a little wryly, "We're certainly not in it for the money."

So, yes, Alex was right. These guys are working on the media side of the street whereas I and so many of my friends are working the literary side. But we're all working for the common good.

This has been my moment of positivism for the week. I'll be my usual grumpy self again by this time tomorrow.

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All Souls Night (Part 5 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.

 

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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All Souls Night (Part 4 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.
 

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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All Souls Night (Part 3 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.

 

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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All Souls Night (Part 2 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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ALL SOULS NIGHT (Part 1 of 31)

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CONTINUED TOMORROW.

Above: Every Autumn, I write a Halloween story, write it out on leaves (one word per leaf), photograph the leaves, and then leave them where.I found them. The story is then serialized, starting on October 1 and concluding on the 31st--All Souls Day.

 

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A Goat for Azazel - On Sale This Saturday!

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Dragonstairs Press has a new chapbook coming out this weekend--and it's a beaut! The proposal, written by Grania Davis based on notes by Avram Davidson, synopsizes the plot of an unwritten Dr. Esterhazy novel--a "ghost novel," as it were. I devoutly wish it existed in full but, in that absence, reading about what might have been was a pleasure.

Did you know that the good doctor had a wife?

Here's what Marianne wrote in her announcement:

When Avram Davidson died, he left behind notes for a Dr. Esterhazy novel. These notes were expanded and formatted by Grania Davis, his one-time wife and several-times collaborator. Unfortunately, the novel did not sell and so was never written.

Recently, Grania's son, Seth Davis, shared the proposal with people he thought would find it interesting. Dragonstairs Press pounced.

The Avram Davidson estate has kindly allowed the one time use of this material.

A Goat for Azazel is essentially a reproduction of the novel proposal, formatting and idiosyncratic spellings preserved, and is offered as a tribute to Avram Davidson, one of the foremost short fiction writers of the 20th century, and to Grania Davis, his collaborator and passionate supporter.  Michael Swanwick, a huge fan and appreciator of Avram, has added a brief, signed afterword to the work. It is produced in an edition of 80, roughly 6” x 7”, numbered and hand-stitched, with wrappers made of Mexican amate bark paper, chosen to commemorate Avram's and Grania's years in Mexico.

It will be offered for sale on Saturday, October 5, 2024, at noon, Philadelphia time (Eastern Daylight Savings) at www.dragonstairs.com.  $15 domestic, $18 international.

--

Marianne Porter (she/her)

editor, publisher

Dragonstairs Press

And, since you wondered . . .

Avram lied to me! We were in correspondence for a time and in one of his letters he agreed with my speculation that, Dr. Esterhazy being an ultra-rationalist--he could not be brought into then-present times by spiritual or even scientific means. And all the while, he had notes specifying that exact same thing!

A writer telling untruths. I can feel the foundations of reality shiver.

Above: Looks nice, dunnit? Periodically, I have to remind people that Dragonstairs is not my nanopress. It's wholly owned and operated by Marianne. I'm just the resident content provider--and for this chapbook, not even that.

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