Monday, May 28, 2018

Farewell, Oh Great One!

I will always be grateful to Gardner Dozois for encouraging me and giving me invaluable writing advice when I was just starting to write spec fic back in 2003 and 2004, and ultimately accepting my first pro sale, "A Rocket for the Republic", which was published in Asimov's Science Fiction in Sept. 2005.

That was the only story of mine he ever accepted, because it was the last he ever accepted before he retired in April 2004. I will always be proud of the fact that mine was the last story he bought before leaving Asimov's after 19 years.

The story of our interaction was documented in "Letters From Gardner" in 2015, which I always thought didn't get a fair break because it was on the Sad Puppy slate for the Hugos and fell under the Anti-Puppy Purge that year - the ramifications of which are still being felt.

I met him in person three times: In 2003 at Philcon in Philadelphia, in 2011 at the Nebula Awards Weekend in Washington. D.C. and in 2013 at the WorldCon in San Antonio. He was easy to approach, friendly, and enthusiastic. It's no wonder he was so well-loved.

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