still coughing in san diego

World Fantasy was fantastic - seems like a million years ago! I was pretty low-energy because of my cold, so I missed all the parties, but at least I got to have quiet quality time with lots of old friends from all over who came together at WFC, including Sharon Shinn (St Louis), Guy Kay (Toronto), Caroline Stevermer (Mpls), Lisa Tuttle (Scotland), and a host of other notables I hope I didn't infect with anything other than banter. It's amazing to me that these are now names to conjure with; we were all puppies together not so long ago. I must say I do like the folks who are puppies now. Good people all around; a fine family to belong to.

I was blown away by a panel featuring Betty Ballantine, founder - with late husband Ian - of Bantam Books and then of Ballantine, the original publishers of LOTR and the Ballantine Adult Fantasy line. When the moderator was taking questions, I stood up and thanked her for creating my entire generation of fantasists. There's no question but that we would not exist without the inspiration those books provided, both aesthetically and practically. I mean, there we were, young and impressionable - first they give us Tolkien & James Branch Cabell & E.R. Eddison et al . . . and then Peter S. Beagle & Joy Chant, so we know this stuff isn't just written by Dead Guys . . . . Tom Doherty, who had been her sales manager, was also very impressive about the biz. It was an amazing slice of history; I hope someone else has written the panel up somewhere more thoroughly than I ever will.

I hated to leave on Saturday afternoon, but needs must. ( Lots more after this )

See ya in Kalamazoo.

Titilayo Ngwenya

Fans of Sound & Spirit old and new have thrilled to the credits ending with, "Our production secretary is Titilayo (tee-tee-LAH-yo) Ngwenya (n'-GWEN-ya)" - Titi also wrote several of our shows, including Women Without Virtue and this week's broadcast, The Spirit Confined!

A talented musician, she left the show to seek her fortune in NYC, and she'll be performing at a competition in Williamsburg (Brooklyn) this week - I'll be in K'zoo, so if you're around please head out there and cheer for our Titi!

You can hear a couple of her sweet songs on her MySpace page.

( Note from Titi with details: )

My life has considerably improved owing to the realization that I can take 4 Mucinex/day instead of 2. Thanks for your posts & good wishes!