1999 - 04/1999 Meeting

Page Created: 09/03/10. Last Update: 09/03/10. Last Google Group Update: 05/15/08.

GORDON LINZNER

Novels:

The Oni

The Spy Who Drank Blood

The Troupe

Hell Hounds from Hell (with Ron Fortier)

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: April 10, 1999.

Meeting Site: Saddle River Valley Cultural Center, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 39.

Meeting Program: Talk by Editor / Publisher.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

The April 10, 1999 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Science fiction editor/publisher Gordon Linzner was the featured speaker.

The meeting opened with a short update on the S. E. T. I. League by League founder Richard Factor making a rare appearance ("you were do for a sighting"). The spotlight was then turned over to Mr Linzner.

SPACE & TIME got its start in 1966 when Gordon and a few fellow high school friends got their hands on a mimeograph manchine. They had intended to use it to do comic books, but soon learned the limitations of that particular printing process. The others dropped out over time and Gordon made it over into a science fiction fan magazine which eventually became a semi-prozine.

The magazine is a labor of love with an unpaid editorial staff. The publication has gone through a number of size and format changes over the years. It is currently a sem-annual with a print run of 2500 and a cover price of $ 5.00. Mr Linzner hopes to reach the break-even point in the not-too-distant future. In any event, he is losing smaller amounts of money with recent issues.

Mr Linzner got the idea of moving into the book publishing business in the 1970s. He has published novels like VANITAS by Jeffrey Ford, anthologies like GOING POSTAL, edited by Gerard Houarner, and a collection by Linda Addison, ANIMATED OBJECTS. He is most interested in short books that blur or merge genres: horror/western (DEAD IN THE WEST by Joe R Lansdale), supernatural mystery (THE WALL by Ardath Mayhar), science fiction/private eye (THE STEEL EYE by Chet Gottfried), and horror/espionage (THE SPY WHO DRANK BLOOD by Gordon Linzner). He would like to do one book a year, but they are a lot of work to produce and he has only been able to average one every other year.

Our guest is the author of three published novels, the afore-mentioned THE SPY WHO DRANK BLOOD (Space & Time), THE TROUPE (Pocket Books), and THE ONI (Leisure Books). SPY is a vampire/cloak and dagger romp about an agent who had a rather unusual encounter while on assignment in Transylvania. It was the first book published by Space & Time so that the publisher would not have to deal with an irate author in case things went wrong in the debut of Space & Time in a new marketplace.

THE TROUPE is a vampire novel of a different sort. The Troupe in question are a group of performance artists who are psychic vampires. The author read a passage in which a mime uses the "man in the invisible box" to mesmerize a claustrophobic man.

Mr Linzner seemed most proud of THE ONI. This is a tale of a Japanese ogre-like being who was mutated by his sorcerous attempts to achieve immortality. Half the book is set in ancient Japan, the other half in present day New York.

One interesting sidelight about our guest had nothing to do with science fiction. Mr Linzner is an Urban Park Ranger who gives tours of parks and other areas of New York City. He talked about some of the offbeat sights and people you can encounter on these excursions.

While by no means the biggest name to appear before the Association, Gordon Linzner proved to be a charming and informative speaker. We were glad that he joined the group at Matthew's Diner after the meeting.

Our thanks to William Wagner for driving Mr Linzner home, Charles Garofalo for the refreshments, Pamela Webber for running home to get the spare VCR, Roy Greenberg for the tea, and everyone who helped in the set up and clean up of the meeting.