Dennis Danvers’ Web Site

One of my favorite homeless stories, “The Broken Dream Factory,” which was something of a breakthrough story for me, has finally found the perfect home. I just got word that marvelous zine Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet will be publishing it. Edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, LCRW is definitely worth checking out, and I’ll be honored and pleased to appear in its pages.

Where have I been? I had surgery on Monday, a radical prostatectomy for cancer diagnosed in April. Yeah, I’ve had a lot on my mind. The surgery, performed by Dr. William R. Morgan, went textbook perfect, and I’m recovering nicely at home after spending two nights at St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond. I’m sure some character in a future novel will get to sport a catheter for a while, a most interesting device… The nurses were absolutely fantastic—Sue, Vernon, Rhonda, Kamari, and Shawnta—angels all. I can’t say enough about the excellent, compassionate care I received. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

No that’s not Kelly Link’s latest short story. It’s a place on Mars friends Tim and Sherry sent me a photo of from Boulder. Boulder, I understand, is quite close to Mars. Here ’tis:

With a four-kilometer drop, this high cliff surrounding Echus Chasma, near an impressive impact crater, was carved by either water or lava. A leading hypothesis is that Echus Chasma, at 100-kilometers long and 10-kilometers wide, was once one of the largest water sources on Mars. If true, water once held in Echus Chasma likely ran over the Martian surface to carve the impressive Kasei Valles, which extends over 3,000 kilometers to the north. Even if initially carved by water, lava appears to have later flowed in the valley, leaving an extraordinarily smooth floor. The above image was taken by the robotic Mars Express spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

As part of our continuing coverage of God’s bid for president, God in 2008, we bring you the following: In a bold policy speech, God scoffed at McCain surrogate Senator Isakson of Georgia who, in a call for offshore drilling, claimed that America’s like a “starving man sitting on a ham sandwich.” God proclaimed, “America’s more like a morbidly obese diabetic competitive eater who’s certain there’s a Twinkie buried somewhere in the cushions of his over-stuffed couch along with his missing remote controls. Who’s starving when they consume 25% of the world’s oil? Drilling offshore is like running down to the 7-11 to buy a carton of Marlboros when you’ve resolved to quit smoking. But who am I to deny my beloved creatures, made in my image?”

God proposed to do what no other human candidate can do: Not drill for oil but create it! “If oil’s what you want, if elected I’ll make so much oil, you can have a third tap in your house—hot water, cold water, and gasoline. Burn it all! Burn some more! Forget solar! Forget wind! Never give conservation a thought! (Not that you do anyway).”

There was only one provision of his plan that met with a chilly reception: “But don’t come asking me for more atmosphere, oceans, forests. Don’t ask me to bring back the extinct species or melted glaciers. Who needs them, right? You got places to go, things to do! Just remember: It’s the Pottery Barn planet—you break it; you own it. So fire up those leaf blowers while there are still trees! Get an RV and tow an SUV and a couple of ATV’s and Jet Ski behind it! Enjoy life while it lasts! Real hope for your future, not for some whiny brats who aren’t even born yet!”

We limped through Murakami today. This class, more than classes past, consistently had trouble getting the work done, and several hadn’t finished. Many liked Kafka on the Shore, though some liked it strictly for the Nakata narrative. I need to find a shorter Murakami, I suspect. Voted off the syllabus in a lopsided vote was the wonderful Magic for Beginners. The sort of narrative play Kelly Link is so good at annoyed some of these guys no end, and several felt that two short story collections was one too many, and Jeff Ford was a more user-friendly weird. The favorite, of course, was Anansi Boys, though once again Perfect Circle had its share of fans. Many like the pairing of Sixth Sense and Perfect Circle. My copy of the novel is falling apart, however. Maybe Small Beer Press should send me a freebie. As for Anansi Boys, I’m probably ready for a different Gaiman. Or maybe it’s time for all new courses. I’m open to suggestions.

Having viewed the last film, the class took a critical look at the film line-up, and none was voted off the syllabus. Sixth Sense perhaps came the closest because so many had seen it before, but they agreed it was worth re-watching and was a perfect fit with the novel Perfect Circle. Pan’s Labyrinth, the newcomer to the course, was very well-received. After reading their papers on films of their own choosing in which the bleakness of the class films comes up often, I’ll likely make one change to the syllabus and include at least one comedy. The current lineup is just too depressing. I’m thinking Harvey or Groundhog Day might brighten things up between the grim and the dark. We start Kafka on the Shore today, and I’ve heard early grumblings. We’ll see how it goes.

I just had another story accepted at Realms of Fantasy. I don’t know what issue yet. I’m quite delighted. It’s such a handsome magazine. The story, “Healing Benjamin,” concerns an extraordinarily long-lived cat. It begins, “I got the healing touch when I was 16 years old kneeling over my dying cat Benjamin in my bedroom.”

After some early casualties, there are a dozen students in the class, though at least one blinks in and out of view like the words in Jeffrey Ford’s “The Weight of Words.” A most congenial group. We meet in a ginormous classroom with seating for a hundred. It’s like an AA group meeting in the corner of a church basement. The fluorescents could brown toast. The AV equipment is state-of-the-art and temperamental as hell. All part of the adventure. Today, the power was out completely in the building for a scheduled electrical overhaul. Nobody told me. Fortunately the film, Donnie Darko, is one most have seen before. The ending of that film is one of my all-time favorite endings. I was sad to hear there’s a sequel coming out that Richard Kelly has nothing to do with, called S Darko, about Samantha, the younger sister some years later. The same actress, of Sparkle Motion fame, reprises her role. She couldn’t say no? Some sequels just shouldn’t be made. Take Terminator 3, for example.

At the conclusion of every course, I take a poll to determine what students liked and didn’t. Eleven students remain standing, and they were all present to vote. Interestingly enough this time, each book on the reading list was someone’s favorite, though Le Guin’s Lathe of Heaven got only one vote as favorite and four least favorite. Like last year Murakami split favorite/unfavorite down the middle with three votes for each. Dick and Bester also got 3 each as favorites and no least favorite. The Road was the least favorite of three and the favorite of one. Part of the problem with Le Guin may have been my lackluster teaching. The book is getting stale to me, and I need to give it a rest anyway. Hard-Boiled Wonderland etc. may also need to sit on the sidelines for different reasons. I’ve read it a half-dozen times now, but my students come to it fresh and confused. It’s hard to get on the same page. As for the films, the voting was lopsided in both categories. Starman was trounced with eight negative votes. Alien was the clear winner with six favorite votes. Children of Men did well also with four favorite votes. So once again, the books and films from the 80’s are problematic. Maybe I should just skip that decade… Actually, I’m considering reinventing the course as a topical survey, with a book and movie for each of five sf tropes—aliens, time travel, end of the world, etc. Any suggestions for topics and books and films are always welcome. There are anthologies out there I could use, but I dearly hate lugging the damn things and prefer teaching novels or single-author collections.

Friend, neighbor, and fellow Texan, Martha Erwin recently returned to the homeland for her nephew’s wedding and snapped this photo. Kinda says it all, don’t it?