Sci-Fi Storm

TheThunderChild writes “I attended the Williamsburg Film Festival from March 7-10, 2007. The emphasis in this festival is on the western star, but all of their guests have so many years in the business that they have plenty of science fiction credits. This year, Richard Anderson of Forbidden Planet, to name just one movie, was there, along with Andrew Prine (various Star Treks) Heather Lowe (Producer of Mega-Con in Aberdeen) and more. And of course, The Solar Guard holds its annual reunion there, and there was plenty of classic SF TV such as Tom Corbett, Space Patrol, Captain Video (4 episodes found!) and Science Fiction Theater.

http://thethunderchild.com/Conventions/Virginia/Wi lliamsburg2007/Thursday07.html

is the URL. However, on the front page you’ll find a button to download a free PDF of the entire article.

Please enjoy.”

Dexter O’Neill writes “Volume One will feature audio interviews with Gareth David-Lloyd (Torchwood), Deborah Watling (Doctor Who), and Phil Willmott (Jupiter Moon). Deborah Watling is best known for her role as Victoria in Doctor Who, alongside the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. However many people aren?t aware of her extensive acting career on stage, film and television; Born into a theatrical family, her first onscreen roles were as a child in “William Tell” and episodes of ?The Invisible Man? (both in 1959). But it was her role as Alice in “The Life of Lewis Carroll” that brought her to the attentions of Doctor Who producer Innes Lloyd. Other television roles have included “The Newcomers”, “Danger UXB”, “Rising Damp” and “Doctor in Charge”, while her film work included “Take Me High” with Cliff Richard and “That’ll Be the Day” with David Essex.” Read More for further details.

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The BBC and Google have struck a deal to feature various content on the YouTube web site – including video diaries from the set of Doctor Who. The official Who news site mentions specifically two clips which are already online, one with David Tennant showing off his new costume, and the other with Freema Agyeman on her first day on set.

TheThunderChild writes “Film journalist Steve Vertlieb has spent more than 40 years writing about film and TV makers – and indeed he’s interviewed a few, like William Shatner, and been friends with many more – from Buster Crabbe to Miklos Rozsa. Last year Steve shared many of his anecdotes with The Thunder Child science fiction ezine, and he’s done it again. Vertlieb is witty, self-deprecating, and entertaining. Best of all, we’ve put together both of his interviews as a FREE 54-page PDF, with some extra stuff about Vincent Price that doesn’t appear in the ezine article. http://thethunderchild.com/Interviews/Vertlieb.html is the URL which will take you to the 2007 interview. Click on the cover top right to download the free PDF. And enjoy.”

I have a planned trip to visit family next week, and an unexpected death in the family elsewhere may have me travelling a lot more than expect, so don’t expect a whole lot this week. I will check in as much a possible. If you come across a story of interest, submit it – it will save me some time.

Steve Jordan writes “Mark your calendars, and prepare to be a part of history, culture, and literature… March 4-10 2007 is Read an E-book Week, and it’s a year not to be missed! This year, I am joining award-winning author Rita Toews in supporting and promoting Read an E-book Week 2007.”
Read More for further details.

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Here is an interesting and humorous article about all the old sci-fi cliches – and why they should – or can’t – stop. I don’t know about some of the accuracy – I don’t remember Event Horizon in quite the same way – but it is a good article.

TheThunderChild writes “In 1963, Carl Sagan was “an astronomer at Harvard,” who sent his paper speculating about life on Jupiter to Isaac Asimov to see what he thought about the idea. Asimov in turn wrote about this theory in one of his essays for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. That’s one of the joys of reading Asimov’s essay collections – they’re full of anecdotes about people we know, history we may have forgotten, and principles of various sciences that remain true to this day. The Thunder Child has just launced a project to analyze all of Asimov’s essay collections in chronological order, starting with Fact and Fancy in 1962. (All these books, while out-of-print, are available via interlibrary loan or through specialty used book stores.) By reading the essays chronologically we see the evolution of Asimov’s essay writing style, what was going on in the world while he was writing, and his attempts to speculate on what the world might be like in the future. A Is For Asimov is the link to the front page of the project that explains it all in more detail, and Fact and Fancy is the link to the first book we cover. You’ll also find links to the Asimov Quotebook and the ongoing index to Asimov’s essays.”

Everything must come to an end. And so passes the final installment of the Harry Potter series (and if rumors are true, the character), with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the UK and US (at least, maybe others) on July 21st, 2007. Amazon is already taking pre-orders with a price guarantee, so if the price drops between now and then, you’ll get the lower price. Click on the link and help us out, and be one of the first to get the book. Read it quickly, too…spoilers will likely be unavoidable…P.S. there is a deluxe edition as well.

Scott writes “At AbeBooks we just opened two new rooms for science fiction and fantasy readers. There?s interviews with authors and experts, book picks, feature articles, a forum, event lists and a preview on Orwell’s new book 1985: Things are looking up. Take a look and tell us what you think.

http://www.abebooks.com/docs/ScienceFiction/

Or on our blog…

http://abebooks.wordpress.com/2007/01/30/check-out -our-new-science-fiction-and-fantasy-rooms/“