What's New Archive: Year Eight
What's New archive for October 9, 2008 – September 10, 2009
Please note, some of the links below are broken. This is due to the the transitory nature of the web, where sites change, pages get moved, even whole domains disappear, and so it's beyond our control!
September 10th 2009
The wait is finally over! On September 8th Subterranean Press announced, THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE, by Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert, is in stock and shipping. If you preordered a copy you might get to read it this weekend. If, somehow, you are not familiar with the background of this book, you would be well served by reading this interview with Win Scott Eckert. Conducted by Rias at the International Bibliography website, it is the second interview he has done this year. One final note, if you have not ordered a copy yet, be sure to get the signed limited edition which includes a chapbook of bonus material and has a great cover by Keith Howell featuring Doc Wildman's coat of arms.
On a much less exciting note, Atomic Fez announced that TWISTHORN BELLOW, the new novel by that mad Welshman, Rhys Hughes, which features Philip José Farmer as a character, will not be published in September as previously scheduled. Instead it will be published in March 2010 to coincide with World HorrorCon 2010, plus an official launch at Odyssey 2010 in Heathrow, England the following weekend. The news isn't all bad, however. There is a silver lining as the price of the book has been lowered by $5. If you have never read anything by Rhys, you can check out some his short fiction online.
The list of books available for sale online from Philip José Farmer's estate has nearly doubled since last month. We've added two new sections: Unsigned Books and Association Copies and other Signed Books. The first section contains books written by Phil, and from his collection, that he did not sign. The second section contains books signed by other authors. Many of them inscribed to Phil personally.
Also available for sale from Phil's estate are several pieces of artwork. You can see pictures of them at Comic Art Fans gallery and order them from there or by contacting Douglas Ellis at pulpvault@msn.com.
Last month we let you know about PS Publishing's Midsummer-madness 60% off pre-2008 books sale. The sale was a huge success and as a result, THE CITY BEYOND PLAY, by Philip José Farmer and Danny Adams temporarily sold out. After reacquiring some stock back from several bookstores, there are a few copies once again available. Don't hesitate as this is your last change to get a copy of this book before it goes out of print.
After many requests, we've added a new feature to the books page. Where ever possible we have included a link like this, Buy from, to the publisher if you can purchase a book directly from them. You will find these links to Ramble House, MonkeyBrain Books, Subterranean Press, and PS Publishing (for a while longer anyway). If you can't buy the book from the publisher, but it is still print, there will be a link to amazon.com.
While we don't have anything new to report about the forthcoming Riverworld mini-series, the Syfy Channel showed the 2003 Riverworld pilot again on September 5th during their Labor Day weekend movie marathon. Unless we missed an airing, this is the first time they have shown it since April 11th, 2007.
The hit counter as of September 10th says 249,588 which is 2,357 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on August 9th.
August 9th 2009
We have two unusual, and hopefully, interesting things to tell you about this month. The first is that we are selling some of the books from Philip José Farmer's estate through this website. Right now we have available signed hardcover and paperback copies of Phil's books (in English), as well as many signed anthologies and other books where his work appears. By the September update we hope to have unsigned Farmer books in English and other languages (Czech, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian & Russian) as well as a few dozen books signed by other authors, some of them inscribed to Phil personally. To order any of these books, please send an email to mike (at) pjfarmer.com. We will get back to you with the total shipping costs including insurance. Be sure to note the discounts available if you order multiple books.
The second potentially interesting item, and the reason this update will be rather brief, is that pjfarmer.com webmaster, Mike Croteau and his family, along with MYTHS FOR THE MODERN AGE editor and all-round Wold Newton expert, Win Scott Eckert and his wife, spent half of July on a Farmerian adventure. We started our trip in Surrey, England, staying with PEARLS FROM PEORIA editor Paul Spiteri and his family who acted as hosts and tour guides. While we visited lots of places that have nothing to do with Philip José Farmer, we did specifically: Stay at the Wold Cottage bed and breakfast and see the Wold Newton Monument. Visit Lyme Park, and Chatsworth House which were both used in film adaptations of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, as Pemberley House, which of course is the setting of the forthcoming novel by Phil and Win, THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE. See the tomb of Sir Richard Francis Burton, just as Phil did, some twenty plus years before, and we also discovered a stained glass window depicting Burton inside the church. One snag was arriving at Stonehenge too late in the day to get into the park. Returning to the London area, we checked out the Sherlock Holmes Museum and visited the Natural History Museum where we got a private viewing of the Wold Newton Meteorite (because it is not currently on display). We left behind a copy of TARZAN ALIVE so the museum would know "true" import of the meteorite. As icing on the cake, while in Paris, just a short walk from the Eiffel Tower the Muse Du Quai Branly had an exhibition on Tarzan!
It was the vacation of a lifetime! If you are ever in the area be sure to stay at the Wold Cottage and walk over to the monument. The only better accommodations we had were at the Spiteri's house, but it is unlikely they're ready for another housefull of visitors.
In other news, there are a couple of short videos from the new Riverworld mini-series on youtube. Here actress Laura Vandervoort rehearses a scene and actor Alan Cumming goes through his transformation to play the part of the "Caretaker." Science fiction blog IO9, has an article and pictures about Riverworld online.
We've only been able to do a tiny bit of housekeeping on the site this month. Now that it is available, the new MonkeyBrain Books edition of TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH has been moved from the forthcoming books page. However, on that page you will now find a link to the booklist review of THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE.
Posted earlier today on Rias' International Bibliography site is the news that you can buy a copy of THE CITY BEYOND PLAY, by Philip José Farmer and Danny Adams, directly from PS Publishing for only 4.00 [$6.40]. In fact, you can get almost all of their pre-2008 books for 60% off! Looks like we'll be ordering some Eric Brown, Ed Gorman, Rhys Hughes, Chris Roberson, Steven Utley and maybe a few others.
The hit counter as of August 9th says 247,231 which is 1,264 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on July 10th.
July 10th 2009
It hardly seems possible that it has been a whole month since Bette Farmer passed away. A day hardly goes by where we don't think about her. Naturally not as many people have written about her passing as did about Phil's, but the following list shows that she was remembered. Having been in Peoria, Danny Adams and Win Scott Eckert were among the first to write about it. SF Site and SF Scope took note of it. Notable science fiction reviewer Dave Truesdale, PJF collaborator Christopher Paul Carey and mojo story teller Joe R. Lansdale also commented on the sad news. However, two tributes of note are Gary K. Wolfe's in the July issue of Locus magazine and Paul Spiteri's which you can read on Rias' International Bibliography website. Thank you Paul for sharing this, and thank you Rias for asking him to write it down.
We do have some happy news to report: there are some photographs from Farmercon IV online. Danny Adams has three pages of them, starting here and Win Eckert put some online, but then exceeded his bandwidth so we'll try and get them over to pjfarmer.com soon. We also have some news from Farmercon IV that we didn't mention last month. One of the items removed from the program schedule, out of respect for Bette Farmer being too ill to attend Farmercon, was the Awards Ceremony. So let us take a moment here to congratulate Dennis E. Power for winning the Wold Newton award for his Secret History of the Wold Newton Universe website, Keith Howell for winning the Farmerphile Award for best artwork for the wrap-around cover of Farmerphile #15 and Win Eckert for winning the Farmerphile Award for best article for Creative Mythography: Philip José Farmer in the Wold Newton Family which, as the title implies, proves that Phil himself is a member of the Wold Newton Family!
This month two books graduated from the forthcoming books page to join the ranks of the ever growing list on the books page: IDW's edition of DARE and Subterranean Press' collection THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR. Not surprisingly, the signed limited edition of the latter sold out by the time the book started shipping, and the lettered and trade editions probably aren't far behind. Which seems like a good time to remind you that if you have not ordered one of the signed limited edition copies of THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE, which includes a chapbook of bonus material, now would be the time to do so! The book comes out in September – which will be here in the blink of an eye – and both editions of the book being sold out on publication is a strong possibility. The promise of reading all new Farmer has a lot of people excited, as evidenced by the fact that uncorrected proofs of the book have sold on ebay (and at Farmercon IV) for over $250. Don't wait until the last minute on this one folks, Subterranean Press is not real big on doing second printings.
We've updated the entry on the forthcoming books for TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH, which according to amazon.com is now due out August 25th, and we've added a new entry to the bottom of the list. In a bit of a surprise Tor books will be reprinting the novels in the Riverworld series. And speaking of Riverworld, here are two photos of actor Peter Wingfield portraying a character named "Burton."
While making adjustments to the site, we discovered that last year when we added VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL AND OTHERS to the short story collections page, we forgot to add that title to the entries of the items in the book, such as How and Why I Became Kilgore Trout, The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod, THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEERLESS PEER, etc. That has been taken care of, but we probably need to check and see what else we've missed recently. For example, we've also noticed that the timeline page has not been updated since 2006. But that will have to wait until the next update.
One final bit of news, although it is not yet listed on the Shadow's Sanctum site, DOC SAVAGE Volume 27, containing MURDER MIRAGE, THE OTHER WORLD and a tribute to Phil by Will Murray, is out and can be ordered directly from the publisher or from select online book sellers.
The hit counter as of July 10th says 245,967 which is 1,952 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on June 14th.
June 14th 2009
While members of the small crowd at FarmerCon IV were all happy to get together again, the mood over the weekend of June 6th and 7th was somber. First, because this was our memorial to Philip José Farmer, our chance to both celebrate his life and to say goodbye. Even more so however, because Bette Farmer – in many ways the driving force behind Phil's career and the Farmercons – was too ill to attend any of the weekend's events. In fact, she was home resting comfortably in hospice care and sadly she slipped away a few days later on June 10th. Knowing she would not be able to attend FarmerCon IV, we added this page to the convention program just before it went to press. Bette will be missed dearly by family, friends and all of Phil's fans who were lucky enough to meet her.
Speaking of the program, just like last year, we have some programs and other goodies left over and available for those who could not attend. Be sure to check out the contents of the program, it is not to be missed. We should have some photos from the weekend online by the next update.
While helping Bette's family sort through Phil's files in the basement, we made two astounding discoveries. The first is that Phil's short story, Totem and Taboo which originally appeared in the December 1954 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and had only been reprinted three times (in English), all three times in Farmer collections, had in fact been reprinted elsewhere. Strangely enough in the April 17, 1955, Sunday edition of The New York Post! It makes you wonder just how many more reprints like this are out there waiting to be rediscovered.
However, the second find was even more of a jaw dropper, but in some ways, perhaps not so surprising. The Open Air Crusader was a newsletter published by the Peoria County Tuberculosis Association, a group whose function was to educate children of the importance of good health. Many children wrote letters thanking them for their work, but Phil, only ten years old at the time, sent them a short story! So, while O'Brien and Obrenov is still the first story Phil sold (as far as we know), Christmas Seal's Fight was, eighteen years earlier, his first published fiction.
Last month we reported: ...we're honestly not sure what item by Phil is going to be in the new issue of Dark Discoveries but our best guess is it is a reprint of the article To the Wizard of Sci-Fi. But as it turns out, this magazine actually contains, "Ackerman and Farmer: A Strangeness of Mind," by Henry Covert, an article telling of Phil and Forry's five decade long friendship.
Any day now we hope to hear that Sanctum Books' DOC SAVAGE Volume 27, containing MURDER MIRAGE, THE OTHER WORLD and a tribute to Phil by Will Murray, is ready to order. We should have a full report on this tribute by the July update.
The same goes for Monkeybrain Book's reprint of TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH. Now that the book is finally on their website, we believe it will be shipping very soon now.
While the wait for Rhys Hughes' novel, TWISTHORN BELLOW (which is full of references to Phil), will be substantially longer, here is an announcement from his publisher, Atomic Fez, to hold you over. If you spend a few minutes perusing their website, you will see that publisher Ian Alexander Martin might well be worth keeping an eye on.
The hit counter as of June 14th says 244,015 which is 2,774 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on May 9th.
June 10th 2009
Bette Farmer, Phil Farmer's wife of over 67 years, passed away this morning at her home. She was 86. She will be missed by family and friends, including many of Phil's fans who enjoyed her warmth and hospitality throughout the many decades of Phil's career.
April 5, 1923 - June 10, 2009 R.I.P.
May 9th 2009
It's no surprise to us we keep finding new articles written about Phil since his passing in February. You'll find the newest ones at the bottom of the Remembrances page. Of note this past month are the ones by Piers Anthony, Art Sippo, Allan Moore and Mary Turzillo. We've also noticed that Phil seems to be more in people's consciousnesses than before. You see him being mentioned more in articles as a point of reference. For example this comic book review, and this article about J.G. Ballard. And two different people alerted us to the following item. In the May issue of Esquire magazine someone writes into a book reviewer, Tom Chiarella, asking for another recommendation. He responds: the only book Ive read recently that I liked in the same way as A Fraction of the Whole is a fairly old book called The Image of the Beast, by the great science-fiction writer Philip José Farmer. ...
Most of Phil's fans know he wrote two scripts for Star Trek in the 1960s but Gene Roddenberry considered them to be "too far out," so Phil revised them and published them as The Shadow of Space and Sketches Among the Ruins of My Mind. Many of you also know he wrote another script for the tv show, The Rebels Unthawed, which was eventually revised and published in Farmerphile. Most fans, including us until very recently, were unaware however that Phil was actually a featured guest at one of the first Star Trek conventions in 1975. You may be wondering, why was Phil a guest at a Star Trek convention? Well, the program from this convention (recently purchased on ebay, signed by Gene Roddenberry, nine cast members and four well known science fiction authors!) answers that question. It also confirms something Phil told us years ago but we have never seen. Phil was in fact involved with the show very early on, before it aired. You can read the details here.
It's nice to have found that bit of history preserved in a convention program. It makes you wonder just what bit of history might be preserved in the convention program for Farmercon IV. This year's program just hit 36 pages, as big as the last two combined. And six of those pages are by Phil! These are excerpts from an unfinished novel about Tim Howller set at the University of Shomi, the setting of The Face that Launched a Thousand Eggs.
At last year's Farmercon we held our first silent auction and this year's will be twice as big. Not only that, but you don't even have to come to Peoria to get in on the action. Check out some of the items up for auction right now. Email in your bids and we'll post them online.
If you are thinking about coming to Farmercon IV, and you have not told us yet, please let us know. Don't miss out on the swap meet, dinner Saturday night and other activities.
Besides Farmercon there are some other things to look forward to in the very near future. THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR and DARE are both supposed to be out in May. In June we should see the reprint TWO HAWKS FROM EARTH and two new items we have not reported on before. Many of you are aware Sanctum Books is reprinting all of the Doc Savage and Shadow pulps as double-novels. What you may not know however is that DOC SAVAGE Volume 27, containing MURDER MIRAGE & THE OTHER WORLD, will be a Philip José Farmer tribute edition with a special feature by Will Murray. And we're honestly not sure what item by Phil is going to be in the new issue of Dark Discoveries but our best guess is it is a reprint of the article To the Wizard of Sci-Fi.
With Farmercon happening the weekend of June 6th, and then having to travel back home and recover from the whole thing, you can pretty much expect the June update to be several days late.
The hit counter as of May 9th says 241,241 which is 2,695 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on April 9th.
April 9th 2009
People continue to put their thoughts about Phil's passing online, and we continue to add them to the Remembrances page, including a really nice one at Barnes & Noble just posted in the last few days. So keep checking the page, start at the bottom and work your way up. However, be sure to also check out the April issue of Locus for a long tribute to Phil, with over two dozen photographs and separate pieces by Gary K. Wolfe, Joe Haldeman, Christopher Paul Carey, Mary A. Turzillo and Richard A. Lupoff.
Christopher Paul Carey also recently appeared on Mind Meld discussing the "Forgotten Books" of science fiction/fantasy/horror. Page down to find his comments on authors from Jules Verne to H. Warner Munn to Phil Farmer and others.
Episode 16 of The Book Cave's podcast was a tribute to Phil. Host Ric Croxton chatted with Michael Croteau, Win Scott Eckert, Dennis E. Power and Paul Spiteri for nearly two hours. At the end is a separate interview with Book Cave regular, Art Sippo. If you find listening to this interesting, we've been considering doing podcasts at this site, discussing a wide variety of Farmer related topics. If you have any suggestions for what you would like to hear on these, please let us know.
We have added quite a number of items to the site over the last few months. We learned Phil was the guest of honor at Pulpcon 18, we added links to two online reviews of VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL AND OTHERS, there is now artwork online for the reprint of DARE and Henry Covert wrote his second Wold Newton article for Astonishing Adventures Magazine.
But as you know, nothing makes us as happy as finding something old we didn't know existed. Digging through some of Phil's own files we found tear sheets for When Women Rule by Sam Moskowitz. Two new entries on the articles about page come from professor Steve Connelly of Indiana State University. He was interviewed in an article for The Indiana Statesmen after Phil passed away and since then let us know about two articles he wrote about Phil: So it Goes: The Sad Recapture of Kilgore Trout and an entry about Phil in the mammoth book THE GUIDE TO UNITED STATES POPULAR CULTURE. But the most unusual item, by far, comes to us from long time Farmer fan Dan Getz. Would you have ever imagined a Phil Farmer story reprinted in a Scholastic magazine titled Bananas? Hard to believe but nestled between the cover story on Starsky & Hutch and the fold out poster of Peter Frampton, you will find a reprint of The King of Beasts.
Make sure you keep checking this site for updates about Farmercon IV and watch for emails if you are on the newsletter list. Since the last monthly update, we've mentioned there will be a silent auction. In fact we are going to list the items online several weeks before Farmercon and allow those who aren't coming to place bids on some of them before June 6th.
We have several links of interest regarding the Riverworld miniseries that began filming last week in Vancouver. Here is a blog by Robert Hewitt Wolfe where he talks about his "miniseries adaptation" of the Riverworld books. Here is an article about the casting and here is the latest update from Scifi Wire.
We've gone the entire update without once mentioning Farmerphile, and we can't have that. Since we don't have any news about the magazine, instead here is some big news about a couple of its contributors: The third book in Charles R. Saunders Imaro series, THE TRAIL OF BOHU has finally been reprinted! We've been waiting almost a year for this, and hey, even Spider Robinson is excited about the news. Here is another thing we're really excited about: Rhys Hughes has finished his newest novel, TWISTHORN BELLOW which, he tells us, contains an appearance by Phil in every chapter of the book! We'll be sure to let you know as soon as this book is published.
The hit counter as of April 9th says 238,546 which is 3,832 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on March 9th.
March 15th 2009
A message from Bette Farmer: Dear friends of Phil, My family and I were overwhelmed with the number of cards and flowers that poured in following Phil's passing. It was a great comfort to me reading all those heartfelt messages, many from people we did not personally know but whose lives were touched in some way by Phil. Unfortunately, as much as I would like to, I am not able to reply individually to everyone and sincerely hope that this message will reach all of you. To everyone who sent a card, flowers or just a good thought, thank you. With best wishes to you all and your families. Mrs. Bette Farmer
March 9th 2009
Philip José Farmer passed away on the morning of February 25th, 2009. The impact of Phils passing was felt far and wide and within a few days, major obituaries appeared in leading newspapers, both in the US and abroad. Reviews of Phils life can be found in The New York Times, The LA Times and The London Times. No less important were the obituaries from regional newspapers, most notable among them was the one from the Peoria Journal Star, the paper Phil (and Bette) read daily. Articles on Phils passing appeared over several days in this publication, including an editorial about Phil's many letters to the editor, but the major review can be read here.
As you would expect in this day and age, the news of Phils death spread quickly. The blast wave of shock can be experienced in the number of blogs and twitter snippets that reverberated in the days that followed. Online entries from Neil Gaiman, Fred Pohl, Joe Haldeman Michael Moorcock, Jerry Pournelle, Ed Gorman, John Scalzi, George T. McWhorter and Chris Roberson to name a few, were posted in the hours following the announcement and the sense of sadness is palpable.
There were also many touching tributes from Phils fans and close friends. Primary among them were those from Phils grand nephew Danny Adams and Phil's close and long-standing friend Gary K Wolfe. Many more, including those by the editorial team at Farmerphile can be found in this special section of the PJF Forum.
Above all else, the universal admiration felt for Phil shines through prominently. Phil was a man who touched lives with his presence as well as his writing. A full listing of blogs and web entries that have come to our attention can be found on the Remembrances page. Before going there, make yourself a large pot of coffee as you could easily spend several hours reading them all. And bring a box of tissues.
When you are ready to think of Phil and smile again, pop on over to sfsite.com where they have posted an interview with Phil by Dave Truesdale, Jerry Rauth, and Paul McGuire. Conducted in 1975 and published in Tangent #2 it focuses mainly on whether or not Phil wrote VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL. You can picture the twinkle in Phil's eye as he responds to the questions.
Here in the present, Rias Nuninga recently interviewed Christopher Paul Carey about the new Subterranean Press collection he edited, THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR. And Greg Hatcher at the "Comics Should Be Good!" website conducted an interview with Win Scott Eckert about the novel he co-authored with Phil, THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE.
We had other bits of news to report, fun additions to the website, but we'll save them for next month's report. The final news we will report is that Farmercon IV, will be the Philip José Farmer Memorial Gathering. It will be held at the Lakeview Branch of the Peoria Public Library (the same location as past events) on June 6th. Details about the programming will be added to the site regularly so please check back. We will also be sending out frequent updates through the newsletter.
The hit counter as of March 9th says 234,714 which is 20,704 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on February 12th.
February 25 2009
Philip José Farmer passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.
He will be missed greatly by his wife Bette, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and countless fans around the world.
January 26, 1918 - February 25, 2009. R.I.P.
We love you Phil.
Here are some reactions to the news of Phil's passing, posted across the internet. Many messages have also been left here on the PJF Forum.
February 12 2009:
Yes, we're late with the monthly update again, but we have a good excuse this time, we've been a little busy. Three and a half years and fifteen issues in, we suffered our first major printing problem with the final issue of Farmerphile. It was bad enough to cause us to have to reprint the whole issue, but the good news is, it's our second straight 60 page issue and it is full of material about Phil's most popular series...Riverworld!
However, we start the issue with an excerpt from the soon to be completed novel, Cougar by the Tail by Philip José Farmer and Tracy Knight. Phil began this novel decades ago and as the excerpt shows, it is now in Tracy's very capable hands. This is followed by an interview with Tracy about his process of working with the material Phil started. Next we have The Time Distorter by Paul Spiteri. Many of you will have read a shorter version of this story which appeared in the Farmercon 90 Convention Program but this expanded version goes beyond Phil gaining access to a time machine before he sets off on his first journey. This story features a full page illustration by Charles Berlin. Buddha Contemplates His Novel shows what a treat it is when we get to print one of Phil's speeches. Contrary to the humorous title Phil does tackle an interesting philosophical question about the omnipotence of God. Win Scott Eckert's Creative Mythography column is one of his most ambitious. He searches Phil's family tree for proof that Phil himself is in a fact a member of the Wold Newton Family! First time contributor David Lars Chamberlain takes on the Bibliophile duty this issue with a look at THE UNREASONING MASK. Inspired to read this book by comments made by Gary K. Wolfe, David did a very thorough job of studying one of Phil's deeper novels.
So now you're thinking, ok, that's got to be almost the whole issue and I thought you said this one had articles about Riverworld? Don't worry, we're getting there. First let's start with yet another wonderful cover by Keith Howell. You can't tell for sure here, but yes this is in fact our first wrap-around cover. To see it in all its glory, you'll just have to order a copy.
We decided to mine the two shared-world anthologies, TALES OF RIVERWORLD and QUEST TO RIVERWORLD for writers to contribute to this issue and easily got three (our first three choices, in fact) to pen articles for us. On the River with Philip José Farmer by author and superfan Robert Weinberg tells, not just about his stories, but also the behind-the-scenes story of the genesis of these two anthologies. Ed Gorman's article, My Time on the River is also a history lesson, one that goes back way before any Riverworld stories saw print. Allen Steele gives us a detailed account of his contribution, from invitation to inspiration to the writing of his story in Writing "Graceland." Together, all three articles combine to shine more light on this topic than we dared hope for. Also on the Riverworld theme we have The River Not Taken by Dennis E. Power. This article clarifies and puts into context a long letter by Phil to Fred Pohl (included) outlining a Riverworld storyline that Phil abandoned. Next we have Tom Mix Resurrected by Danny Adams. This article illustrates the lengths that Phil went to while researching a historical figure to include in one his stories. The article includes letters to Daryl Ponicsan (author of the novel, TOM MIX DIED FOR YOUR SINS) and to Phil's good friend Robert Bloch. The highlight of the Riverworld material however is the Unpolished Pearl, Riverworld Dawn by Philip José Farmer. This is an outline (and some notes) for a "sidestream" Riverworld novel Phil wanted to write. He did eventually use part of the idea, but not as originally planned.
The issue finishes up with two more Unpolished Pearls. The first, Myadzian Journal is the oldest material published in Farmerphile and will most likely be considered by many to be the most exciting. It is four handwritten pages of notes (along with a typed transcription) from the late 1930s where Phil first described Kickaha and the World of Tiers. However this Kickaha is very different from the human trickster character we all know and love. And last but not list is a page of typed notes titled Time Has Its Mirages. This is brainstorm of ideas, the last line of which is "Buddha writes his novel?"
But, the final issue of Farmerphile is not the only news this month. Bob Eggleton's terrific cover art for THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR is now online at Subterranean Press. Be sure to preorder your copy of this book before they sell out, as Phil's Sub Press books tend to. Speaking of which, you can now preorder a copy of THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE by Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert. The first all new novel by Phil since THE CITY BEYOND PLAY (by Phil and Danny Adams) back in 2007. When you see a book pop up on the uncorrected proofs page, you know it will be out soon, but September can't get here fast enough! Keep an eye on the forthcoming books page for news updates on these titles and others.
While we certainly feel Phil should have placed higher on this list, is it nice to see that he is not forgotten and is in fact still considered among science fiction's elite writers.
Oh, and just in case you missed this little news story, Robert Halmi is producing a Riverworld mini-series for the scifi channel. Definitely watch this space for updates on this.
The hit counter as of February 12th says 214,010 which is 2,310 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on January 9th.
January 9th 2009
Did you know – assuming you are reading this on January 9th, the day of the update – that Farmercon 91 is only 148 days away? Hard to believe isn't it? It's time to get serious about planning, and the first thing we need to do is get a tentative head count so we can negotiate the best deal with the hotel possible. So, we don't need a guarantee from you, and you don't to book your room yet, but we do need to know if you plan on coming to Peoria the weekend of June 6th or not. So, right now, before you forget, send an email to mike @ pjfarmer.com (without the spaces of course) and let us know if you are coming. For more details about Farmercon 91, and how we hope to make it even better than last summer's gathering, keep watching this space. Or, better yet, instead of sitting passively waiting to see what we come up with, why don't you send us some ideas?
After you've sent in that email, we have one more thing you have to do. Go to Black Coat Press' website and order a copy of TALES OF THE SHADOWMEN: The Vampire of Paris. This fifth installment in the Shadowmen series contains a story, "Iron and Bronze," by Christopher Paul Carey & Win Scott Eckert which is a must read for Farmer fans. Hareton Ironcastle and Doc Ardan cross paths in this adventure tale set among ruins and myths in darkest Africa.
It was only back in November that Subterranean Press announced they had purchased THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE by Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert. In an amazingly quick turn around, the book is already listed (for preorder) at Amazon.com. However, you can only get the trade edition through Amazon. For the signed limited edition, with a chapbook full of extras you know you want, you need to wait a little longer and preorder it from Sub Press directly. Keep an eye on the forthcoming books page and we'll let you know when you can order it. Also check out the newest entry on that page, a reprint of DARE by IDW.
Congratulation to Rias on the ten year anniversary of The International Bibliography. If you haven't checked out his site in a few weeks he has had several very interesting updates recently.
We had another good month for adding items to the website. Rick Beaulieu went on a spending spree trying to fill holes on the Short Stories page. He picked up many of the text books that include stories by Phil: INTRODUCTORY PSYCHOLOGY THROUGH SCIENCE FICTION, AMERICAN GOVERNMENT THROUGH SCIENCE FICTION, APPROACHES TO SCIENCE FICTION, DECADES OF SCIENCE FICTION (Instructor Edition), as well as: SCIENCE FICTION, SCIENCE FACT, AND YOU, THE SF COLLECTION, WORLDS OF MAYBE, THE ARBOR HOUSE OF TREASURY OF SCIENCE FICTION MASTERPIECES, (in hardcover), and in paperback.
And finally, the big news you have all been waiting for. The announcement that Farmerphile #15 will be out in just a couple of short weeks. However, because every now and then we like to surprise people, we're not putting the cover, by Keith Howell, online just yet. And to further annoy, ah make that intrigue you, we're only going to list the titles of the stories and articles in the issue, we're not going to describe them. First we have "An Excerpt from Cougar by the Tail" by Philip José Farmer and Tracy Knight followed by an interview with Tracy (ok, you can pretty much figure out what that is about). Then we have "The Time Distorter" by Paul Spiteri (illustrated by Charles Berlin), "Buddha Contemplates His Novel" by Philip José Farmer, "Creative Mythography" by Win Scott Eckert, "Bibliophile" by David Lars Chamberlain, "On the River with Philip José Farmer" by Robert Weinberg, "My Time on the River" by Ed Gorman, "Writing Graceland" by Allen Steele, "The River Not Taken" by Dennis E. Power, "The Resurrection of Tom Mix" by Danny Adams, "Riverworld Dawn" by Philip José Farmer, and "Myadzian Journal" by Philip José Farmer. Hmmm, the word "river" sure does show up a lot, almost like it might be a theme or something...and right now someone at google is wondering why so many people have googled the strange word "Myadzian."
The hit counter as of January 9th says 211,700 which is 1,892 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on December 10th.
December 10th 2008
We have lots of material to cover this month, so let's hit the ground running with stuff we didn't manage to get to last month. Zacharias, webmaster of The International Bibliography sent us scans of two letters by Phil. One was published in the Australian fanzine SF Commentary 35/36/37 and one was in Science Fiction Review 60 (we didn't even know this one existed). We also added a letter that appeared in Riverside Quarterly #31 in 1990. And completely out of the blue, Drew Morse, a college professor – and more importantly a fanzine collector – sent us scans of letters in Sky Hook #24, Warhoon #26, Outworlds #17, Outworlds #18 and Outworlds #24! The last three letters are part of a long running feud that Phil was involved in for quite a while. We've known of this feud for some time, but not specifically what issues of Outworlds to look for. Now that we do, we can hopefully track down the rest of these letters.
We have a new item on one of our favorite pages; Uncorrected Proofs. There you will find an Advance Uncorrected Proof of THE OTHER IN THE MIRROR, an omnibus we are looking forward to getting our hands on.
Also added this month, to the Photo Album webpage, is a picture Tracy Knight took of Phil speaking at the Peoria Public Library in 1985. Anyone else have photos of Phil you would like to share?
Thanks to Chris Carey for alerting us to the book, My Pryor Year by Phil Doubet: Like Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology, My Pryor Year draws it's substance from the names, personalities, activities, and events of the Central Illinois region now known as the Heart of Illinois. Phil was one of the 333 people quoted in this interesting book.
And finally we added a new entry to the Ralph von Wau Wau series page. Ralph is quoted in the collection OFF THE WALL AT CALLAHAN'S by Spider Robinson. Unfortunately, the only quote by Ralph is a pun. (Spider, if you're reading this, when is the next Callahan book coming out?)
While we are thrilled to have added so many new items to the website in one month, we're way more excited about this BIG NEWS: Subterranean Press has announced they have bought: THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE by Philip José Farmer and Win Scott Eckert a darkly erotic novel that is part of Farmers Wold Newton canon. The limited edition will include a chapbook with a whole host of unpublished background material. This will be the first new novel by Phil since THE CITY BEYOND PLAY by Phil and Danny Adams! No date yet on when to expect this book, but we will keep you posted.
On a less joyful note, Phil's long time friend, and science fiction's number one fan, Forry Ackerman passed away on December 4th. Phil and Bette were very sad when they heard the news.
While this is not exactly PJF related, we hate to end this update on such a sad note, so here is something you can do to cheer yourself up and really get into the holiday spirit; by helping to save a science fiction writer's home (NO, NOT PHIL'S, HE IS FINE). If you follow that link to John Scalzi's blog you will see he has put a story up online, "The State of Super Villainy" that he was going to sell to our favorite publisher, Subterranean Press. Instead he is asking people to read the story – which is hilarious – then donate money to help Vera Nazarian. Subpress is matching the first $1000 donated, and they hit that mark in less than a day. Before you donate, also check John's even funnier story, Denise Jones, Super Booker. Then if you want to donate a few dollars (we sent $10), follow the instructions on John's blog to which address to paypal the money. Then, just for the fun of it, in the subject of the email put "Help Vera: donated in Philip José Farmer's name." I'll let you know next month if I hear anything back about the generosity of Phil's fans.
Oops, we almost forgot to give you an update on Farmercon 91 which is scheduled for June 6, 2009. The only news to report is that we are looking at staying at the really nice hotel we stayed at in 2001, which is now the Ramada Peoria. It has a great atrium, with a pool, hot tub, restaurant and bar we can hang out at all weekend. By the next update we should have a group discount rate set up and we can start booking our rooms. Happy Holidays!
The hit counter as of December 10th says 209,808 which is 1,689 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on November 12th.
November 12th 2008
Apologies for both the lateness and brevity of this update. We start this month's off with a little bit of fun. Some college kids did a version of Celebrity Jeopardy where all the categories had to do with Philip José Farmer! Just like Saturday Night Live's spoofs of Celebrity Jeopardy, the contestants are not shown in the best light, to say the least. As you can see in these youtube videos: part 1 and part 2, "Bono," "Al Gore," and "Sean Connery" don't do all that well. However, seeing these college kids so interested in Phil's work gives us hope for the future. If you know any of the people in these videos, please tell them we'd like to say thank you.
Before you make any summer vacation plans, circle this date: June 6, 2009. That is the tentative date for Farmercon 91! More details as we have them. We're planning this year's event way in advance so we can hopefully get everyone in the same hotel (as opposed to Farmercon 90 when Peoria was overrun by two other conventions the same weekend).
Unlike the flurry of new content last month, the only thing added to the site this month are all the entries from Farmerphile #14 (the forth to be graced with a cover by Charles Berlin). Added to the articles about Philip José Farmer page we have This Played in Peoria? by Art Sippo, A Whale of a Time by Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor, The Voice of Farmer in My Vermiform Appendix by Rhys Hughes, Say, What's the Big Idea? by Michael Carroll, Bibliophile: A discussion on LORD TYGER by Paul Spiteri, Boris the Bear: Wold Newton and Philip José Farmer by Steve Mattsson, and Oh the Humanity by Dennis E. Power. A rare treat is the pastiche The Doc Ravage Presidential Campaign by Rick Lai which can be found on the Shared Worlds page.
Items by Phil in this issue include Tongues of the Moon (illustrated by John Streleckis), Greatheart Silver notes and Doc Wildman's Coat of Arms (drawn in full color by Keith Howell). This final item brings us to the main feature of this issue; items which surround THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE. Win Scott Eckert's Creative Mythography column, an Excerpt from the novel and an Interview with Win about completing the story Phil began over thirty years ago.
Speaking of Win finishing Phil's novel, what would be almost as good as having a signed copy of the book when it comes out? How about a copy of Farmerphile #14, which contains an excerpt from the novel, signed by Win! And you can get that now if you want, no waiting required. Not only that, but you can even buy signed copies of every other issue of Farmerphile he has been in (13 out of 14 so far). He also has
And finally, a couple of notes from the last newsletter which bear repeating. Farmerphile #15, due out in January 2009, will be the final issue. As we are winding things down we thought we'd mention we're running low on most of the issues prior to #10. Many of you bought a few issues now and then, or maybe bought the first five or six then stopped. That is fine, it seemed like Farmerphile would be here forever and you could always catch up eventually... Well, some of them have less than ten copies left and there are no plans to reprint any more. We expect some of them to be completely sold out by the end of the year. So now may be your last chance to get caught up.
Here is some happy news: Baen Books now has STRANGE RELATIONS available as an e-book in three packages. You can purchase it by itself for five dollars or get it as part of a package with other books for fifteen dollars. Remember, this edition incudes the novels, THE LOVERS and FLESH as well as the five short stories: "Mother," "Daughter," "Father," "Son" and "My Sister's Brother" which made up the original version of this collection. They also have a number of free e-books you can download. You know, just in case you don't already spend enough time sitting in front of your computer.
Ok, and this really is the final note this time, Zacharias, webmaster of The International Bibliography sent us a scan of a letter by Phil. This was published in the Australian fanzine SF Commentary in 1973. This will be added to the letters page before the next update, along with another letter by Phil, published in the fanzine Riverside Quarterly in 1990 which we just bought on ebay.
The hit counter as of November 12th says 208,119 which is 2,162 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on October 9th.
October 9th 2008
This has been a banner month for adding new content to the website. First, we added Pulp #5 1/2 to the articles page. We knew almost nothing about this fanzine (in fact, it has been listed on the site for the last ten years or so as "Pulp #5A") except it contains the first appearance of the article Writing the Biography of Doc Savage. The issue was a special issue prepared for Pulpcon in July wedged between the regular issue #5 in the spring and #6 in the fall. Nearly six of the ten pages (including the cover) are taken up by Phil's article.
However, pjfarmer.com owner Rick Beaulieu sent us the prize catch of the month. An uncorrected proof of THE FABULOUS RIVERBOAT. This early proof has the unusual dimensions of 15 inches tall by 5 1/2 inches wide.
Serious Farmer collector Russell Wright opened up to us and sent in a lot of terrific scans from his collection. First is a cover proof (at the bottom of the page) of THE WIND WHALES OF ISHMAEL. Next are four very early promotional items, a Publisher's Letter for TARZAN ALIVE, a review slip for DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE and a Publisher's Note and Publisher's Letter for TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO!!! Believe it or not, those are not the most interesting items he sent us. Russell has the greatest collection of books inscribed by Philip José Farmer we've ever seen. There are humorous inscriptions to friends in: THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEERLESS PEER and NOTHING BURNS IN HELL, about publishers in: TONGUES OF THE MOON, A PRIVATE COSMOS and DOWN IN THE BLACK GANG, and association copies of: THE GREEN ODDYSEY, DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE, THE GRAND ADVENTURE, and ESCAPE FROM LOKI. Can anyone out there top this? If so, prove it, send us the scans!
And Zacharias, webmaster of The International Bibliography sent us scans of the following anthologies which all contain reprints of Phil's stories: SHERLOCK HOLMES THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, SANCTUARY, NEW DIMENSIONS 6, VISIONS OF WONDER and THE SCIENCE FICTION CENTURY.
In Mike's blog, Mike is thinking about books, last week he mentioned he was reading Rudy Rucker's novel WETWARE. Coincidentally, in a recent blog Rudy Rucker talks about sex in science fiction, and mentions reading Phil's story Mother. Also in Mike's blog was an entry that asked what you want to see added to the website. Apparently everyone is happy with the site as it is since no one left any suggestions. Come on now, don't be shy.
We are now just a few weeks away from Farmerphile #14, weighing in at 60 pages it is the biggest issue yet! Charles Berlin offers up his fourth cover, an amusing take on one of his favorite Farmer novels, THE ADVENTURE OF THE PEERLESS PEER. We kick off the issue with "This Played in Peoria?" by Art Sippo. This was the talk he gave at Farmercon 90 during the "First Encounters" part of the convention programming. This is followed by "A Whale of a Time" a convention report of sorts by Phil's old friend and collaborator Leo Queequeg Tincrowdor.
A rare treat in this issue is a long science fiction story by Phil, Tongues of the Moon. The reason we are reprinting this now is because for years it had been assumed this was an abridged version of the novel which came out four years later. In fact it is an excerpt of the beginning of the novel with a completely different ending. Had we realized this sooner, this story would have almost certainly appeared in the collection PEARLS FROM PEORIA. The story is illustrated by long time Farmer fan and first time Farmerphile artist John Streleckis.
The middle of the issue is dedicated to one exciting topic; the novel THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE by Philip José Farmer & Win Scott Eckert. Win's "Creative Mythography" column takes an in depth look at the Wildman family and how Doc Wildman's daughter, Patricia, came to inherit Pemberley House (which once belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy). This article is accompanied by a large family tree. Next we have an interview with Win about the many complexities of completing this unfinished manuscript Phil began over thirty-five years ago. The highlight however is the six-page excerpt from the novel and the steamy illustration by Keith Howell.
As always the issue is full of articles about Phil and his work by fans and pros alike. You may recall the name of first time Farmerphile contributor Rhys Hughes, as we reported here last month he used Phil as a character in his story "Feet of Sciron." In his article he talks about Phil's influence on him and other stories where Phil appears as a character. We recommend you read God in a Basement Flat, a fun story which Rhys says is directly inspired by Farmer. Much to our delight Michael Carroll offered to follow up his first Farmerphile article, "The Lure of the Emergency Bookshelf," (issue #12) which talked about discovering Phil Farmer, with "Say, What's the Big Idea?" an article about Phil's influence on his writing. Rick Lai makes his second appearance in Farmerphile, this time with a very timely story set in the world of Greatheart Silver, "The Doc Ravage Presidential Campaign." Paul Spiteri, in perhaps his final Bibliophile column gives us a fun look at one of Phil's "other Tarzans," LORD TYGER. Steve Mattsson concludes his series of informative articles about Phil's connections to comic books, this time covering the surprising topic of Boris the Bear. The amazing Dennis E. Power once again finds interconnections in more of Phil's seemingly unrelated works.
As we have done for the last two issues, we conclude with Unpolished Pearls from the Magic Filing Cabinet. First we get a glimpse at Phil's notes on his wonderful, but short lived, Greatheart Silver series of stories, including ideas for stories that were never completed. And last, but certainly not least, we have Doc Wildman's Coat of Arms. Win and Lisa Eckert spent months pouring over Phil's notes (from the DOC SAVAGE: HIS APOCALYPTIC LIFE period) and fleshing out the design dreamed up by Phil. Rendered beautifully in color by Farmerphile favorite Keith Howell, you will find Doc Wildman's Coat of Arms on the inside back cover of the issue. One final note, a big THANK YOU to Heidi Ruby Miller and Roger Crombie for their assistance with this monster issue!
And a quick reminder: we have some programs and other items left over from Farmercon 90 that are now available for sale. We have already run out of some of the items listed so be sure to get yours before they're gone. The program book is not to be missed.
The hit counter as of September 9th says 205,957 which is 2,679 visits to this main page (not the entire website) since our last update on September 9th.