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Fanomena, March 1948

Page 7

Now, with three adults writing Science Fiction stories it was no longer possible to carry the manuscripts to the RFD mail box and the rejected manuscripts back to the house. Kelly brought a wheelbarrow and daily filled it with beautiful Weird-Science-Space stories. When the snow was deep he used a sled.
Warpage Kelly grew to be a beautiful woman but had neither time nor inclination for masculine society. She was blissfully married to her typewriter. Beautiful stories of space and time were the issue of that union. On rare occasions John and Nancy read a story their child had written and were amazed at the beauty of style, the marvelous plot, the perfect continuity and development. But each parent realized that they could write far better stories than their daughter would ever be able to produce.
Everyone who lives long enough grows old.
John Kelly finally reached his ninety-first birthday. On that occasion he ceased to write and his faithful wife, with mingled fear and relief, felt that the end was near. She sat by his side while Warpage, a woman of sixty-three, loaded the daily stories on the wheelbarrow and took them to the RFD letter box. She returned with the usual load of rejections.
But this time there was a letter!
Space Tales had accepted a Kelly story!!
To be paid for on publication!!!
The old man listened as his wife read the letter. The blood flowed into his wasted cheeks; the fire returned to his shrunken eyes. With a cry of joy he sprang from the bed and tottered to the wobbly table. He sat down on a rickety chair and stuck a carrot in his mouth.
With trembling fingers he inserted the carbon between the first and second sheets of paper and then rolled them into the typewriter. At the top of the page he wrote, "SPACEHOUNDS OF HELL!"
The old man knew that this would be his masterpiece. It would be a super-story, a magnificent creation with an absolutely unique plot. As he started to write it, he cried in exultation,
"If I can sell one story, I can sell two! This is the ultimate victory!!!"

"THE WORM" RE-TURNS

I am using Dr. Keller's fine story, "The Worm" in my anthology, "STRANGE PORTS OF CALL: TWENTY MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE-FICTION because it seems to me a little masterpiece in its own right. It is one of the best examples I know of the man vs. nature gambit, involving mutation as a theme also, and Dr. Keller has handled it with singular skill, having held to the pattern of simple, straightforward narrative throughout, and thus making for the maximum in effectiveness. There are some stories which demand expanded and stylistic treatment; there are others which demand starkness and simplicity. "The Worm" is one of the later; it could have been spoiled so easily in less competent hands, but it has not been spoiled, for Dr. Keller has set it in just the right length, just the right frame, without unnecessary verbiage or needless sentimentality. In my search for stories with distinct literary value as well as story worth, I was delighted to come upon "The Worm" for my collection.

Cordially,
August Derleth
August Derleth, fantasy writer, anthologist and Director of Arkham House at Sauk City informs me that STRANGE PORTS OF CALL: TWENTY MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE-FICTION is coming in the Spring from Pellegrini & Cudahy. Included in the volume with the Keller story will be tales by Bradbury, Heinlein, Simak, Kuttner, Sturgeon, Bond, Lovecraft, Lieber, Wandrei and other famous authors. &3
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Now, with three adults writing Science Fiction stories it was no longer possible to carry the manuscripts to the RFD mail box and the rejected manuscripts back to the house. Kelly brought a wheelbarrow and daily filled it with beautiful Weird-Science-Space stories. When the snow was deep he used a sled. Warpage Kelly grew to be a beautiful woman but had neither time nor inclination for masculine society. She was blissfully married to her typewriter. Beautiful stories of space and time were the issue of that union. On rare occasions John and Nancy read a story their child had written and were amazed at the beauty of style, the marvelous plot, the perfect continuity and development. But each parent realized that they could write far better stories than their daughter would ever be able to produce. Everyone who lives long enough grows old. John Kelly finally reached his ninety-first birthday. On that occasion he ceased to write and his faithful wife, with mingled fear and relief, felt that the end was near. She sat by his side while Warpage, a woman of sixty-three, loaded the daily stories on the wheelbarrow and took them to the RFD letter box. She returned with the usual load of rejections. But this time there was a letter! Space Tales had accepted a Kelly story!! To be paid for on publication!!! The old man listened as his wife read the letter. The blood flowed into his wasted cheeks; the fire returned to his shrunken eyes. With a cry of joy he sprang from the bed and tottered to the wobbly table. He sat down on a rickety chair and stuck a carrot in his mouth. With trembling fingers he inserted the carbon between the first and second sheets of paper and then rolled them into the typewriter. At the top of the page he wrote, "SPACEHOUNDS OF HELL!" The old man knew that this would be his masterpiece. It would be a super-story, a magnificent creation with an absolutely unique plot. As he started to write it, he cried in exultation, "If I can sell one story, I can sell two! This is the ultimate victory!!!" "THE WORM" RE-TURNS I am using Dr. Keller's fine story, "The Worm" in my anthology, "STRANGE PORTS OF CALL: TWENTY MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE-FICTION because it seems to me a little masterpiece in its own right. It is one of the best examples I know of the man vs. nature gambit, involving mutation as a theme also, and Dr. Keller has handled it with singular skill, having held to the pattern of simple, straightforward narrative throughout, and thus making for the maximum in effectiveness. There are some stories which demand expanded and stylistic treatment; there are others which demand starkness and simplicity. "The Worm" is one of the later; it could have been spoiled so easily in less competent hands, but it has not been spoiled, for Dr. Keller has set it in just the right length, just the right frame, without unnecessary verbiage or needless sentimentality. In my search for stories with distinct literary value as well as story worth, I was delighted to come upon "The Worm" for my collection. Cordially, August Derleth August Derleth, fantasy writer, anthologist and Director of Arkham House at Sauk City informs me that STRANGE PORTS OF CALL: TWENTY MASTERPIECES OF SCIENCE-FICTION is coming in the Spring from Pellegrini & Cudahy. Included in the volume with the Keller story will be tales by Bradbury, Heinlein, Simak, Kuttner, Sturgeon, Bond, Lovecraft, Lieber, Wandrei and other famous authors. &3 7