05.16.03

Ian Watson's account of working with Stanley Kubrick on the script of AI appeared in print a while ago, but it was nice to find it available on the web -- complete with embarrassing mentions of that shady go-between so rightly distrusted by Kubrick, 'Ansible Dave'.

Alan Moore is changing careers again: 'What I'm trying to do at the moment is finish off all of the mainstream comics work around the end of this year, at which point having retired effectively from mainstream comics, I want to play around with things I've been neglecting.' These include artwork, sculpture, performance work and 'becoming a full-time magician.' (Ninth Art interview, April 2003, quoted in The Alien Online)

Jane Johnson of Voyager (HarperCollins UK) finds editorial work pretty numinous, according to her Bookseller interview: 'Words such as "profound" and "awe-inspiring" drop readily from her lips as she talks of authors such as David Eddings, Raymond E. Feist and David Zindell.'

Bryan Talbot is madly thrilled that KouKou Productions (Melbourne) intends to make his graphic novel The Adventures of Luther Arkwright into a feature-length film. Production, it's hoped, will begin in 2004.

Robert Holdstock writes: 'May I add my voice to those saddened by the untimely death of Jacques Chambon? He was a true "bon viveur". And my editor for many years. Four years ago Sarah and I visited him and Annike in their house in the Correze. He took us on a long descent of a wooded and rocky gorge, following the flow of a waterfall. As we laboured in the humidity and with the wildwood, he leapt from rock to broken branch, a grey-bearded human gazelle in blue shorts and sleeveless vest. It took an hour to get down. Halfway, we passed ruins. What had they been? Gallic shrug. "No-one knows. Maybe best not to ask, eh?" By the river at the bottom we looked for the easy path out of the gorge. "Path? What path? No path. We 'ave to go back. UP!" Throaty Gallic laugh. Marvellous man.'

Adam Roberts, author of the on-line review that's cheered me more than any other so far in 2003, is ... er ... is not news this issue.

Thog's Masterclass. Dept of Striking Features. 'The headshot was of a fair-haired man with a dazzling smile and dark, piercing eyes above thick, dark eyebrows.' (Selma Eichler, Murder Can Rain on Your Shower, 2003)

David Langford is an author and a gentleman. His newsletter, Ansible, is the essential SF-insider sourcebook of wit and incongruity. He lives in Reading, England with his wife Hazel, 25,000 books, and a few dozen Hugo awards. He continues to add books and Hugos.