In Print and Available to You: CAT's Contribution to Thrilling Wonder Stories Hits the Stands

So many days it feels like you are beating your head against a brick wall or jumping at an impenetrable glass ceiling. So when something you do actually sees the light of day, it's cause for celebration.

Today I got an exciting package in the mail -- my author copies for the article I wrote in THRILLING WONDER STORIES, volume 2. I was commissioned to write a behind the scenes history of the making of the "World Enough and Time" Internet Star Trek episode we made for Star Trek: New Voyages, which is now called Star Trek: Phase II.

On this blog, you have seen some of my writings about our filming of this episode with a crew of half Hollywood professionals and half Star Trek fans from around the world. This book's article is based on different interviews than the ones I put up on the Net when I was doing publicity for the Premiere of the streaming event. Those were individual interviews which you can find at This Writer Wrote, since the TVGuide.com pages where many of them were originally printed is no more. In this book is a perspective of the entire creation of the episode, so I interviewed a variety of participants, including GEORGE TAKEI.

It was great fun to do these interviews and great fun to write the article and I think you'll have great fun reading it if you choose to go on the journey with me.

And to make it even better, I'm here in the company of accomplished and prestigious Science Fiction and Star Trek writers -- many of whom I've read when I was younger. You can see me listed among them here on the back page, with a description of what I've written. For instance, Diane Duane... I loved reading her first original novel, Door into Fire, an entertaining book I've never forgotten -- how neat is it to be in the company of someone who gave me hours of pleasure many years ago.

This is not the first thing I've had published, but it is a milestone for me anyway, because this is the first time, I've had something like this published. And how cool is it that it is available on Amazon where I buy so many of my own books and DVDs. Hmm, I wonder if I could do a search on my name there and come up with this book -- probably not, since I'm just a contributor, not the editor, who is WINSTON ENGLE.

Restoring the fifties pulp fiction magazine to its former glory was Winston's dream and he has succeeded admirably. This is his second volume and they are both books to be proud of. He did a great job with them and we should all applaud him for it.

If you want to take the journey behind the scenes of making this award-winning, Hugo-and-Nebula-nominated Star Trek episode with me, you can find it here at Amazon or here at Barnes and Noble. You can even find my name mentioned in the product descriptions at both sites. You can also visit the Official Website Winston has set up for his book. I haven't had the opportunity to read the other contributions yet, but considering the heavy-hitters of science fiction that they are, I'm sure their stories are well worth reading. I know I look forward to delving into them.

If you do read my article, please come back and share your thoughts about it as well.

Another Star in the Sky

That was the message on a sympathy card I looked at for a friend who had very recently died. And I could see her becoming a bright light in our firmament. Lily definitely loved the stars. She was a teacher and a science fiction fan. She and her husband traveled the world and went to plays and concerts. When I first moved to LA, she was the only one I knew whom I could drag to the big rock concerts and we did that until her health made it impossible for her to climb stairs and walk distances in those big stadiums. She collected unicorns and fancy masks.

She had thousands of books and hundreds of fanzines. When you say someone has a library room in their house, you picture floor-to-ceiling bookshelves built into the walls. Her room looked like a library -- rows upon rows of bookcases, with narrow paths in between, filled up one room -- just as you would see in a library. And still the books would spill out into the other rooms.

She went to science fiction conventions and held parties in her house -- nowhere else have I gone to Guy Fawkes parties. She wrote stories that people around the world read and read theirs in return. She had friends around the world. She was generous with her friends and made friendships easily.

We shared a love of cats and every Christmas, she would give me a little book on cats. Her house was littered with paintings she bought at science fiction conventions.

LILY FULFORD was far from perfect -- she didn't take good care of herself and rarely listened to constructive criticism about her writing. She had a quirk of only calling people after 11pm when the rates were cheapest, and keeping her phone off the hook when she was too busy to talk so that people wouldn't leave messages that would mean she'd have to return a call. But she was a loving, good-intentioned person and well-loved in return.

We had our first party since her passing and her husband, now widower, JOHN FULFORD came. He talked about writing a book about their adventures in South America where they took buses all over and slept outside when they ran out of money. John also talked about setting up a memorial fund to send a deserving fan who doesn't have the lolly to a con once a year. Lily would love that idea -- did I say she loved science fiction and going to cons herself? It will be a great tribute and will allow a lot of people who loved her to contribute.

She had many many friends, here, abroad, everywhere. I often wonder, when the time comes, whether there will be anyone who will care to write my epitaph, or see me off, but Lily doesn't have to worry about that. She had more friends than she could count.

And yes, I do believe she is a new star in the heavens, shining down her warmth on us. May she rest in peace.