Conference noted::sf

    'The Rainbow Cadenza' by J. Neil Schuman (I think)
    
    strange, but.....>:-)
    

    Let us not forget Anne McCaffrey.
    
    --- jerry

    
    	Harlan Ellison made some interesting comments in the afterword to
    "Catman" (I think) in the "Final Stage" collection of shorts.
    	As a description of "the act", RAH's "the slippery friction of
    mucous membranes" is going to take some beating!
    
    		Ian G

<    	Harlan Ellison made some interesting comments in the afterword to
<    "Catman" (I think) in the "Final Stage" collection of shorts.
<    	As a description of "the act", RAH's "the slippery friction of
<    mucous membranes" is going to take some beating!
<    
<    		Ian G


	Hmm, well, yes...but it's not very romantic. I don't, in
       general, much care for RAH's male/female interactions. The women
       especially don't seem real to me. I can suspend a lot of
       disbelief regarding the science/magic but I find myself wanting
       the characters to act like real human beings. RAH's women just
       don't ring true for some reason. Of course the last book of his I
       read was NOTB which I disliked intensely, in part for how he had
       the females acting. I don't much remember any of his other female
       characters very well. liesl

    Re subject:
    
    Sex and love aren't necessarily synonymous (nor exclusive).  Thus,
    "erotic" might or might not equate to romantic.
    
    Theodore Sturgeon was romantic.
    
    Philip Jose Farmer frequently is erotic.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

re: .0

Hmmmn, you've got me thinking hard!  I thought a lot more SF books
with semi-realistic romantic or erotic relationships would spring to 
mind--but i'm having a tough time coming up with any.

I guess i could give a limited vote to _The Masters of Solitude_,
by Kaye and Godwin, although unhappiness is never very distant from
all of the relationships described.  What else?  _Davy_?  The series
that has _Cruiser Dreams_ (or whatever it's called) in it?
							paul

    
    	Re the RAH quote I put in .3; I think it was Arthur C Clarke who
    wrote that in "The View From Serendip". Sorry!
    
    		Ian G.

    Someone (Brian Aldiss?) once described science fiction as "the
    literature of alienation."  I think the description a pretty good
    one, though certain not complete (nor intended as complete).  So maybe
    it isn't surprising that few romances spring to mind in SF.  But here
    are a few I recall:
    
    It certainly isn't center-stage, but the romance between Dr. Conway and
    and Nurse (later Dr.) Murchison is a constant leitmotif in James
    White's "Sector General" series.
    
    In Smith's series, the Gray and Red Lensmen are a husband-wife team
    whose love is described at some length.
    
    In Herbert's first two "Dune" novels, the romance of Paul and Chani is
    executed along traditionally tragic heroic lines.
    
    In LeGuin's "The Lathe of Heaven," the hero, George Orr, keeps meeting 
    and losing his sweetheart (whose name I forget) as history gets revised
    over and over by the "lathe" of his dreams.
    
    Brin describes a tinglingly Platonic romance between a man and a semi-
    humanoid, semi-shapeshifting alien "girl" in "The Uplift War."
    
    In James Schmidt's "Witches of Karres," a space trader's charity and
    paternal love toward some wayward psychic children is answered by a
    very determined little witch who sets her cap for the captain in a way
    that it would be bodily dangerous to call a "crush."
    
    "God Stalk," by P.C. Hodgell (sp?), stars a teenage girl or young woman
    (even she isn't sure which) of a semi-magical race, whose career in an
    ancient Byzantine city is complicated by the people who keep falling in
    love with her.  The most complicating of all is the love from a young
    man of her own race.  Unfortunately, he's a ruthless killer; and MOST
    unfortunately, she finds this bloodlust stimulating other kinds of
    lust, so that she is deeply disturbed by the conflicts within herself.
    
    In Stallman's trilogy of "The Book of the Beast," the Beast in question
    has a fine old time experimenting with sex in assumed human forms,
    until one of his forms (and therefore the Beast indirectly) falls
    deeply in love with a woman with an abusive husband.  Their romance
    dominates the middle book of the trilogy.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Then there's the short story, "Helen O'Loy," about a decidedly romantic
    robot.  But I can't recall the author.  Sturgeon?  Leinster?
    
    Earl Wajenberg

       I'm going to make some mondo generalizations here, be prepared.

       I've wondered if the reason romance/love (/erotica??) are so
       sparse in SF (as opposed to fantasy or general fiction) is that
       SF, especially the hard science type, is geared more towards men
       and fantasy more towards women? It sounds so sexist when I say it
       but I do believe women (often) read more for the relationships in
       a story rather than the technical whiz-bang. I know I start to
       skim as soon as long winded nuts and bolts descriptions appear. I
       wouldn't have bought the book if I wasn't willing to believe in
       the pretended science, I accept it as a given for the story.

       Lord, this almost sounds like the true confessions note of SF.
       Next thing you know I'll be buying the National Equirer to read
       about aliens abducting humans. liesl

    re:.9
    
    "Helen O'Loy" was by Lester del Rey.
    
    --- jerry

    Re .10 (leisl):
    
       >I've wondered if the reason romance/love (/erotica??) are so
       >sparse in SF (as opposed to fantasy or general fiction) is that
       >SF, especially the hard science type, is geared more towards men
       >and fantasy more towards women? 
        
    I think it's in part more the nature of the way SF evolved.  If
    you go back to the initial pulps, they were primarily geared towards
    the gadgeteer-type young person, who, in the culture of the time,
    was primarily male.  A good case in point are the majority of the
    borderland-to-SF Doc Savage stories, where a good rousing adventure,
    oftern involving one or more effective Gadgets was the norm.  In
    fact, when F. Orlin Tremaine began the Nova "thought variant" tales
    in the slowly evolving (i.e., pre-Campbell) _Astounding_, the idea
    was to come up on a novel philosophical concept (e.g., the consequences
    of time travel or the ability to manipulate things in 4-space) and
    buil;d a story around it.
    
    This perspective, regardless of the writer or audience, made it
    difficult to write a story with a strong romantic element in it.
    
    Later SF, though, has opened up somewhat.  Sturgeon's _The Dreaming
    Jewels_ or _More than Human_, the running romance in the Lensman
    saga, absolute gems like "No Woman Born" by C. L. Moore (or "Judgement
    Night" for that matter), show the meduim can take a love element.
    
    As for fantasy -- well, there's fantasy and fantasy.  Fantasy like
    the Conan sagas has little romance, love, _or_ eroticism in it (that
    Conan smothered the girl of choice with hot barbarian kisses until
    she lay panting in his arms is of little consequence -- this might
    take up a paragraph, after which he gets bacxk to the "serious"
    business of nailing someone's hide to a bramble).  The Northwest
    Smith science fantasies by Moore had some marvelous eroticism in
    them; some odf the Zothique tales of Clark Ashton Smith take the
    thoughts to their final extremes (e.g., "The Black Eidolon" or that
    one where both lovers became liches).   In short, there's such a
    gamut in the fantasy fielsd that it's hard to pin down.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    I liked the romance between Ivo Archer and Afra Glynn Summerfield
    in "Macroscope".  Ivo's interest in her was the motivating force
    for much of his action including the ultimate conquest of the "Shone"
    portion of his split personality. 
    
    RAH's sex isn't erotic, its embarassing! The fantasies of an old,
    old man wishing for immortality and willing sexpartners. By "beyond
    the sunset", or whatever, it had grown into a nauseaus obsession.
    
    

    Norman Spinrad ("Bug Jack Baron", "The Void Captain's Tale", "Child
    of Fortune") is often quite explicitly erotic, although seldom
    romantic.
    
    -dave

<    RAH's sex isn't erotic, its embarassing! The fantasies of an old,
<    old man wishing for immortality and willing sexpartners. By "beyond
<    the sunset", or whatever, it had grown into a nauseaus obsession.

       I hadn't been thinking in terms of embarassment but now that you
       mention it I have to agree. It's like being in someone's desparate
       fantasy and feeling you really shouldn't be watching.

       Steve, I hadn't thought about the beginings of SF and suppose you
       are right about the original audience. I also don't remember many
       women at all in the early space flight stories I'd read.

       That just reminded me of a newspaper article I read a few months
       back about women astronauts. Apparently there are some at NASA
       that are worried about mixed sex missions. It seems they are
       afraid of sexual/emotional liaisons causing crew problems on long
       flights. While I know human beings well enough to know it's
       certainly possible I hope this doesn't turn into an excuse to
       keep women from the longer missions. liesl

    
    Samuel R. Delaney (sp?) appears to have a thing for three-party
    relationships.  They are important parts of the setting in Babel-17,
    and they also show up in the much-maligned Dhalgren.
    
    The stuff in Dhalgren is just erotic, but there's more than a little
    romance in the triples of Babel-17.
    
    DFW

    Re .15 (leisl):
    
       >That just reminded me of a newspaper article I read a few months
       >back about women astronauts. Apparently there are some at NASA
       >that are worried about mixed sex missions.
        
    They should stick to worrying about space flight and leave the mixed
    sex missions to hedonists. :-D
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.

<    They should stick to worrying about space flight and leave the mixed
<    sex missions to hedonists. :-D
<    
<    Steve Kallis, Jr.


	What can I say Steve, I like the way you think ;*)

Can't forget ERB's John Carter, Warlord of Mars and his Princess, Dejah 
Thoris (sp?)! Poor guy would save her from one horrible death and by the
end of the next chapture (or even page!) she'd be in hot water again.
The whole series is one long girl gets stolen with her hero chasing
after her! Of course, none of his women were wimps either, most of them
could take care of themselves pretty well...

I remember reading the series while in late elementary school, maybe 5 or
6th grade, and wondering what the big deal was. So, I ignored the "romance"
and concentrated on the action/swordplay.

Ray

    Piers Anthony always has some romance in his (?) books.  My favorites
    are the Blue Adept series -- most of the others aren't very appealing
    to me, so I haven't read very many.
    
    I like the idea of a technical vs. magical world, and the Blue Adept
    has a lady friend in both worlds.  It's romance rather than eroticism.
    
    Jen
    

>    Piers Anthony always has some romance in his (?) books.  My favorites
>    are the Blue Adept series -- most of the others aren't very appealing
>    to me, so I haven't read very many.
    
>    I like the idea of a technical vs. magical world, and the Blue Adept
>    has a lady friend in both worlds.  It's romance rather than eroticism.
    
The lastest one in the series has just been released in paperback.  The
title is ROBOT ADEPT.  According to my wife who is reading it right now,
it's almost on the point of being *too* mushy.

Mike_L

I tend to read more fantasy than SF.  That being said I can get on with it.

I've noticed that a lot of Piers Anthony's work has a romantic element.  His
Xanth novels often had some pretty complex romantic relationships (if you could
look past the offal [pun intended] puns.)  I like Crewel Lye for its romantic
content and his latest Xanth novel (Skeleton Key?) has his main character
getting into a rather complicated romantic tangle.

I guess the thing I like about Piers Anthony is that while he can get pretty 
mushy at times, he always has a healthy dose of realism in his relationships
that makes them believeable.

His Cluster series explored the possibilities of alien sex and love.  I thought
it was interesting.

For romance, I have to put the _Fionavar Tapestry_ by Guy Gavriel Kay high on
my list.  There is a romantic subplot that will tear your guts out.

Well, enough said for now.  I'm reading parts of _Burning Chrome_ right now and
can't be bothered with anything mushy (just desperate and augmented by wetware).

Wook

    
    
    I realize this is reply is late but I have to agree with .-1, that
    Piers Anthony's Blue Adept series is romantic SF/F.  I, too, read
    more fantasy than science fiction but I must admit that my favorite
    author is Anne McCaffery.
    
    I was fortunate enough to discover her before the ongoing Dragonriders
    series became one. I was able to read the stories as they came out.
    They can be read as standalones but I think it's better to read
    them as a series.
    
    	Dragonflight  \
    	Dragonquest    - Dragonriders of Pern trilogy
    	White Dragon  /
    
    	Dragonsong   \
    	Dragonsinger  -  Harper Hall trilogy
    	Dragon Drums /
    
    	Moreta		\
    	Nerilka's Story  - Additional Pern reading
    	Dragonsdawn     /
    
    Anne McCaffery also has other SF stories: The Ship Who Sang, Restoree,
    Crystal Singer/Killashandra.  I find that she handles the romance with
    a believable tone (not too mushy, not too erotic, you could fall
    for some of the characters yourself). I must admit, I have the complete
    collection of Anne McCaffery's books.
    
    The other SF stories that I found rather interesting was an older
    SF story by Cary Neeper entitled A Place Beyond Man.  It involves
    a woman who is _kidnapped_ by aliens (two different species that
    have joined together to study but not get involved with, the
    _primative_ Earthlings) and brought back to their world. I got this
    book a long time ago in a used bookstore and am not sure if it is
    still in print.  A library may have a copy of it.
    
    About a year and half ago, I found a new novel by Chris Claremont,
    author of Marvel Comics X-Men.  It's called First Flight. The main
    character is Lt. Nicole Shea and I found I really liked it and am
    hoping for more from this author.  It's not wishy-washy, has enough
    science in it, there's romance and the women are strong but not
    Amazonian. You get to laugh, cry, be scared, rejoice, etc. with the
    characters and that's one of the main things I like when I'm reading
    for entertainment.
    
    Roslyn

    If you like your SF with romance, try reading the Keltiad novels
    by Patricia Kaneally (sp?).  Good story, interesting characters,
    and more than a little romance.  These two books are an interesting
    mix of SF and fantasy, all rolled into one story.
    
    ... Bob
    

    Stardance, by Jean and Spider Robinson (doesn't quite have the "hit
    you over the head" feeling that SR has had of late).  0-440-17367-7
    
    Also, I was impressed by the "Tales Of The Velvet Comet" series,
    Eros {Ascending,At Zenith,Descending,At Nadir} by Mike Resnick.
    
    [Durn it's a pain to search the paper list by hand, I don't have
    the list on-line at work and the home machines are down for a couple
    of days....] :+)
    
    Willie

    I agree that early sf seemed to be directed to the techie of times
    who was more interested in gadgets than girls.  I think that the
    accurate portrayl of women, romance, and sex in sf was a kind of
    chicken and egg thing.  Techies were about the only ones reading
    sf but techies were about the only ones writing sf.  I don't think
    stories for and about women really caught on until women started
    writing the stories.  Later on there were some male writers who
    could write a good story with a female protagonist but quite a few
    couldn't describe a believable female character if they had to.
    
    Mike

<    stories for and about women really caught on until women started
<    writing the stories.  Later on there were some male writers who
<    could write a good story with a female protagonist but quite a few
<    couldn't describe a believable female character if they had to.
    

      Amen to that! I particularly cringe when I read about a character
      and find myself muttering "that's not how a woman would react". It
      takes me out of the story when I feel that way. Now one may
      logically ask how do I know what a woman in one of these imaginary
      worlds would act like - to steal a phrase from a supreme court judge,
      "I can't describe it, but I know it when I see it". liesl

  How about "The Forever War" and "Mindbridge" by Joe Haldeman. The stories 
are very Hi-Tech/Military but in both there are a lot of interplay between the 
sexes and in both a good "man and woman become lovers and best friends through
shared stressful situations" scenario. What do you-all think??


					Joe

    

    
    	Anyone else ever read "The H.A.B. Theory" by (?) ? As our hero
    is trying to save the world, he is also involved in an affair. It's
    been a long time since I read it but, I thought it was a great story.
    Interesting too that the author (darn, I wish I could remember his
    name), usually writes historical fiction with this being hs only
    (?) SF book.
    
    Pete

    THE H.A.B. THEORY is by Allen W. Eckert, and is thought of by people
    whose opinions I respect (I haven't read it, myself) as a thoroughly
    gawdoffal piece of dreck.
    
    I mean really, the essential plot is the same as Asimov's "Nightfall",
    only in this case the recurring fall of civilization on Earth is
    due to a build-up of ice at the South Pole, causing the Earth to
    tip over on its axis, which in turn causes natural catastrophes
    all over the Earth. Wasn't this done already as a Rocky & Bullwinkle
    cartoon?
    
    I and some friends were regaled with descriptions of this book from
    a friend who was the book designer at Little, Brown that had to
    work on it.
    
    --- jerry

    FOREVER WAR thumbs up  Read better broken down by the original
    publications, but the compiliation is O.K., I found it better
    to take in small doses.  Reads like Heinlein.
    
    MINDBRIDGE  thumbs down  Didn't work for me; at this time I can't
    even recall what it was about.  It's the Haldeman (either or) story
    I didn't like.
    
    						Don

Re: Jerry on "The HAB Theory"

	Ummm, gee, I musta been on drugs when I read it. :^) Actually, I had 
been out of SF for awhile and I read it all on the bus up to Montpelier. I
remember thinking the flipping of the Earth explained some of the worlds 
mysteries allot better than Eric Von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods". I got 
caught up on that angle and enjoyed reading the 'proof'.

Pete

    re:.31
    
    THE FOREVER WAR certainly doesn't read at all like Heinlein. If
    it did, I couldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did.
    
    --- jerry

    
    Re:.31,.33
    
    I would agree that Haldeman doesn't read much like Heinlein, but
    THE FOREVER WAR and STARSHIP TROOPERS two different treatments
    of a 'same' topic. I find the difference very entertaining, given
    the different out-look of the two authors... They could hardly
    be further apart! ;-)
    
    Regards.
    
    Reggie.
    -------
    

    
    Re: .28,.31,.33
    
    I thought the romance in THE FOREVER WAR and MINDBRIDGE worked
    wonderfully.  Better in THE FOREVER WAR than the other, though. (Heck,
    I *hated* it when he and MaryGay were split, put on different ships,
    knowing that-- <insert-spoiler-here>.
    
    And...though I may not win all too many allies with this...I thought
    MINDBRIDGE was a brilliant book.  The romance was durned familiar
    after reading THE FOREVER WAR, but there were some viciously
    *painful* moments...like when they needed to select someone to Jump
    solo to the alien's location and they picked-- <insert-spoiler-here>.

    In both books, the main characters' love for each other was present
    and tangible.  Liked that a lot.
    
    
    Tom
    

    I heard that Heinlein enjoyed FOREVER WAR.  Now back on the subject
    of the portrayal of women in sf.  The situation in films was even worse
    until recently.  It used to be that the only role women had in sf films
    was to scream when the alien monster showed up.  Nowadays things are
    a little better.  We have women like Ripley in Alien and Aliens who
    are strong and competent.  Another one that comes to mind was the lead
    in The Blob.  One place where women still have a ways to go is the
    Dr Who tv show.  It seems like the main purpose of the female assistant
    is to say "What is it Doctor?".

    Mike

    RE: -1
    
    I thought the main role of *all* the assistants in Dr. Who was to
    say "What is it, Doctor?"  :-)
    
    Merryl
    

    Re: .-1
    
>    One place where women still have a ways to go is the
>    Dr Who tv show.  It seems like the main purpose of the female assistant
>    is to say "What is it Doctor?".
    
    Waitaminute. This is the function of the Doctor's companion, whether
    they are male, female or what-have-you. While I will agree that the
    majority of the Doctor's companions _are_ female, I disagree that this
    is stereotypical of females on this show.
    					- hbm
    
    

    Re: .-1 

>    Waitaminute. This is the function of the Doctor's companion, whether
>    they are male, female or what-have-you. While I will agree that the
>    majority of the Doctor's companions _are_ female, I disagree that this
>    is stereotypical of females on this show.
    
     I'll grant you that.  The other women characters on the series seem    
     to have better lines regardless of whether they are heroes or villains.

     Mike

    re: .34
    
    Interesting you mentioned STARSHIP TROOPERS.  That's what *I* thought
    about also when I read THE FOREVER WAR.  I didn't say it was written
    in the style of Heinlein, I said it read like Heinlien.  Haldeman
    was able to get me quiclky interested in the characters )like Heinlien,
    Laumer, Niven, etc.)  FW was more like a grownup version of TROOPERS.
        
    And of course the books were different.  There are laws against that!
    
    						Don

    This is REALLY late, but the most romantic SF book I've ever read is
    "Stars in my Pocket like Grains of Sand" by "Macho Man" Chip Delany. 
    Admittedly, the romance is incredibly out-of-the-closet gay porn stuff,
    but it got to me (and to my SO).  "Triton" is also basically a love
    story, although in the oblique tradition of Henry James.
    
    Most of my favorite SF writers are influenced enough by "mundane" lit
    that they have a hard time imagining love without tragedy.  (SimPlGoS
    ends in a heartbreaking cliffhanger, for example.)  It's too bad -
    you'd think that coming up with an interesting healthy romance would be
    at least as much of a challenge to an SF writer as constructing an
    alien civilization.  
    
    Those faves who don't write mopey books don't seem to notice romantic
    love at all, or just see it as mockworthy foolishness.
    
    Hmmm, hope there's not a lesson here.
    
    Ray

    
    	I don't know if you can call it 'romance', but Dhalgren by Delany
    was chock full of a healthy variety of 'sexual encounters'; male-male
    female-female, male-tree (?dream state at beginning), male-male-female,
    and maybe a few others I don't remember. Some of the 'scenes' were
    rather...um...titillating to say the least.
    
    Charlie

    
    re: .42:
    
    Come now laddie,
    
    How do you know its imagination??
    
    The possibilities boggle the mind....
    
    Grins,
    
    clark.

    
>        How do you know its imagination??

    
    	I hesitated wording my note as I did because of your exact
    reaction, basically by imagination I was referring to his his writing
    in general, not specifically his sex scenes.
    
    Charlie
    
    ps Grins well taken :)

                
                Re: .42
                
                What a  STRANGE book.  I never even came close to
                understanding it and  it  left  me  wondering for
                days afterward, unable to  begin  reading another
                book.
                
                - Rob -
                

    	A romantic SF short story I like is "For a Breath I Tarry", written
    by Zelazny in 1966. 
    
    	Larry
    

    Many of Zelazny's stories have a nice romantic element to
    them, including "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth"
    and "A Rose for Ecclesiastes."
    

    The "Nine Princes" series have their romantic moments (fast switch
    to cynical though :-)
    
    Piers Anthony - Split Infinity Series - highly recommended.  Likewise
    if you like your romance intriguing "Cthon".
    
    Kate

    
    re .45
    
    	Well Rob, I've read it three times now, needless to say I get
    something new every time I read it...and I still have a had time
    understanding it.
    
    Charlie

                
                It WAS worth reading, even though it was strange.
                It gets your  mind working again if you have that
                lazy-brain  syndrome.   My  chess  game  improved
                quite a bit for the  next week after reading that
                book!
                
                Cheers, ROb
                

    
    	I think I'll move this to note 133...
    
    Charlie

    
    
    	I'll probably bungle this, but my opinion is that in Science
    fiction, Romance and Eroticism seldom meet. In most stories involving
    romance, the romance is usually a ploy to provide plot twists and
    action. Star crossed lovers, the tragedy of caring, etc.  I can't, at
    the moment, think of a single story where a mature and loving
    relationship was presented as a natural sidebar to a central story
    without doom and catastrophe befalling the unfortunate couple.
    Eroticism, on the other hand, is in the eye (or something) of the
    beholder. An Ursala Le Guin might present us with a silhouetted curve
    of back and hip, somehow vulnerable in its simplicity (At least I seem
    to remember something of the sort from old Urse); whereas a Jack
    Chalker's idea of the erotic would be to clone himself 50 times, turn
    each clone into a different animal, and sell tickets to the Sexual
    Extravaganza of the Century. I think much of what we perceive as erotic
    depends on our mood of the moment. If there are enough pheromones in
    the air (and there usually are), I could probably accelerate the old
    heartbeat pretty well with a perusal of the phone book.
    
    Mike

    re .52
    
    Lois McMaster Bujold's _Shards_of_Honor_ has just the kind
    of thing you couldn't think of: a love story as a side story
    to the plot, with a happy ending.
    
    		-John Bishop

    ***SHARON GREEN***  I THINK SHE IS A GREAT AUTHOR, AND YES SHE DOES
    WRITE THE ROMANTIC/EROTIC SF, BUT I PERSONALLY FIND IT AN ENJOYABLE
    ESCAPE READING ANYONE ELSE EVER HEARD OF HER.????? AND IF SO WHAT
    ARE YOUR OPINIONS ?????? 
    SOME OF HER MOST FAMOUS ARE:
    CRYSTALS OF MIDA  (SERIES)
    TERRILIAN SERIES, 
    THERE IS ONLY ONE OF HER BOOKS THAT I KNOW OF THAT I HAVE NOT READ
    AND OFF HAND CAN'T THINK OF THE NAME. AND CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE.
    RK
    
    

    
    	Why are you YELLING AT US. We can hear your typing very well
    ALL around the world.
    
    	Please keep the capitals only for YELLING, and the rest of us
    can read without plugging our ears. :-)
    
    Charlie

    
    RE: .23  
     
         I also recommend First Flight by Claremont.  If any of you
    read his comic the X-Men, you'll find the dedication amusing!
    I certainly hope that wasn't a one shot deal for him.  It has
    been quite a while with no word of further novels.
    
    RE: .52
    
         I'm intrigued by a man with enough imagination for a phone
    book to be erotic.  We aren't talking 976 numbers are we?
    
    RE:  .54
    
        Sharon Green is great!  There is more on this author in 290.
    She also has tons more books out now.
    
    
                                          L.J.

    re:.56
    
    I've had it from a good source that Claremont wants to bow out of
    comics altogether and write novels, but for the nonce, he's kind
    of trapped writing X-MEN for a good long while.
    
    Anyway, he's doing some writing for the Wild Cards series -- I
    *think* for the ninth volume.
    
    --- jerry

    Emma Bull's _War for the Oaks_ is *very* romantic.  _Falcon_ (her
    second novel) had some romance but she didn't focus on it as much as in
    WftO.
    
    Scarlet

    
                                 Grounded