A Rob Hunter Reader ~ Acknowledgements

What happens to a Sci-Fi or Fantasy story after it has been published—the remainder pile, a sporadic reprint, oblivion? Typically the afterlife of a tale consists of gathering dust until the writer’s heirs and assigns shred it for packing nick-knacks and other writerly impedimenta. Not quite the half-life of linoleum. And what of the loves, lives, hopes and aspirations of its citizens? Must they float forever in a shimmering noösphere playing whist and watching the flights of eidolons? Boring. Hence onetinleg.com. To misquote Walt Kelly’s Pogo: “We have seen the future and it’s not yet...” The call, dear reader, is yours.

Saint Velcro™ and the Swan was first published in the December 2011 Nautilus Engine, Ron Warren editor.

Mark Twain in Milan was first published as serial installments in Bewildering Stories—Don Webb, managing editor, Bill Bowler, coordinating editor.

The Beewolf was first published in Kaleidotrope, Fred Coppersmith, editor.

The Diplodocus Effect was first published online in Resident Aliens, Lyn Perry, editor.

The Tirewoman Gabriel was first published online in Necrology Shorts, John Ferguson, editor.

Cherokee Purple was first published online in Bewildering Stories December 2009, Bill Bowler, coordinating editor.

The Moose in the Noösphere was first published in the November 2009 Nautilus Engine, Ron Warren editor.

The Last Teddy Bear was first published in the July 2009 Noctober—dark speculative fiction with every new moon. Edited by Rebecca Weybright.

Magnetic Betty was first published in the February 2009 issue of Nautilus Engine, Ron Warren editor (buy the book)

The Francher was first published in the March 2009 issue of Aphelion, McCamy Taylor fiction editor

The Year They Invented Frozen Lemonade was first published in the January 2008 issue of The Harrow: Original Works of Fantasy and Horror, Michael Colangelo fiction editor

Scope Virgin was first published in the November/December 2007 Written Word Online Magazine, Ace Masters, editor

McMuckle Makes a Minyan was first published in the December 2007 Ranfurly Review, Colin Galbraith, editor

Platterland was first published in On the Premises, the November 2007 issue, Tarl Roger Kudrick, editor

Daphne Longhandle’s Last Flight was first published in The Aputamkon Review II, Les Simon, editor

The Runaway Bungalow was first published as a selection in SpecFicWorld’s Featured Fiction, Doyle Eldon Wilmoth, Jr., editor

The Song of the Rice Barge Coolie was first published in Aeon Speculative Fiction Eleven, Marti McKenna, editor

E Pluribus Human was first published in Coyote Wild, the Summer 2007 issue, Lori A. Basiewicz, editor

Dead Man in the Yard was first published in Nanobison, Summer 2007: the “Dimensions of Love” issue.

A Pass on the Tabouli was first published in the Hiss Quarterly, Spring 2006: the “Future Imperfect” issue.

Boys’ Night Out was first published in the Summer, 2005 On Spec―The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic.

I Want to Share Your Wheat was first published in the September/October 2002 issue of Demensions―Doorways to Science Fiction and Fantasy where it was voted 2002 Story of the Year. An e-zine, Demensions went silent in 2003. It will be missed.

The Perfect Homburg was first published in the March/April 2003 issue of Demensions―Doorways to Science Fiction and Fantasy and was reprinted in SpecFicWorld.com’s “Dark Tales” anthology November, 2005.

An Unwarmed Fish was first published in the Summer 2003 issue of Demensions―Doorways to Science Fiction and Fantasy and reprinted in SpecFicWorld’s E-macabre #2 [2007].

The Ninepatch Variation was first published in the January 2004 issue of Ideomancer Speculative Fiction.

The Red Sneaker Zones was first published in the Hiss Quarterly, the “Space to Grow” issue, Spring 2007.

Chimaera Constant was first published in the October 2008 issue of Farrago’s Wainscot.

Blue (as in an Early Frost) was first published in the the March 2011 Aphelion, Robert Moriyama, stories editor.

The Death of James A. Garfield was first published in A Fly in Amber, July 2008

Klein, the Clone was first published as The Flags of All Nations Hors D’oeuvres Toothpick Caper in the Winter, 2003 Fables―The Home for Folktale and Speculative Fiction on the Internet.

A Special Providence was first published in the May 2003 issue of Quantum Muse.

The Prophet Harry was first published online and is a conflation of chapters 1 and 5 of of The Return of the Orange Virgin.

Tomcat was first published in the May, 2003 issue of Demensions, Doorways to Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Donna Thiel-Cook, and reprinted in a slightly different version in SpecFicWorld’s Featured Fiction for June, 2006, Doyle Eldon Wilmoth Jr. Editor.

A triumph of reverse Darwinism, Facelift arrived after the fact, and was published (belatedly) in the February 2008 Aphelion thanks to the good graces of Robert Moriyama, Aphelion’s short story editor. It was originally written as a website freebie to accompany the Kenn Brown illustration which now adorns the MP3 link for Song of the Rice Barge Coolie. The illustration is copyright Kenn Brown and Mondolithic Studios and used by permission. No unauthorized duplication or distribution without explicit permission from the copyright holder.

The Return of the Orange Virgin a complete audiobook download (also on iTunes)
A tale of the Fata Morgana, Lady of the Wild Things―first published online as 32 monthly installments over three years, now rewritten and available as a trade paperback (Platterland—Nine Stories and a Novella).

The Artists

The original art for Magnetic Betty is the copyrighted work of Lee Suta and is used by permission. Lee has done scenic work for films, also commercials, Broadway, Off-Broadway, nowhere near Broadway, opera, ballet, display, parades, domestic and hotel interiors. He has painted snow green (Riverside Park New York—Death Wish).

The original photograph for the onetinleg.com logo, “They All Look at Another Side,” is the copyrighted work of the artist María de la Puente Bernardos and is used by permission.

The original photograph for the Lost in Willipaq print version title page, “Tribute―The Perfect Shot,” is copyright Garrit Pieper and is used by permission.

The original painting for the audio gallery and MP3 link of the 5^th Libby the Quilter story Grasshopper Dreams is “Nutty About Lemurs,” copyright Ian D. Seniff and used with permission.

The original painting for the audio gallery and MP3 link of the story The Runaway Bungalow is “Dreamboat,” copyright David Renn and used with permission.

The original painting for the audio gallery and MP3 link of E Pluribus Human, “Coming to Terms,” is copyright Tina Blondell and used with permission.

The original art for the cover and MP3 link of The Queen’s Head, “Deer Woman,” is the copyrighted work of artist and illustrator Desirée Isphording and used by permission.

The original painting for the cover and MP3 link of The Last Teddy Bear, “Teddy” is the work of the shamanistic and pagan artist Ravenari (Pia Van Ravestein) and used by permission.

The original for the download cover and MP3 link of The Walking Lesson, “Yellow Streak” is the work of Boneface and used by permission.

The original for the download cover and MP3 link of Facelift, “Francie’s Song to the Birds” is the work of sculptor Elizabeth Ostrander and used by permission.

“Streets of Manhattan,” The original photograph for the MP3 link and title page of The Year They Invented Frozen Lemonade is the copyrighted work of the artist Demi Papas and is used by permission.

The original art for the cover and MP3 link of Daphne Longhandle’s Last Flight, “Flower Dragon,” is the work of artist and illustrator Kara Fraser and used by permission.

The original painting for the cover and MP3 link of Chimaera Constant, “Fotoplastikon” is the work of the surrealist artist Andrzej Troc and used by permission.

The original painting for the cover and MP3 link of The Moose in the Noösphere, “Moose” is the work of the artist Lora Bananca and used by permission.

The original painting for the cover and MP3 link of The Ninepatch Variation, “The Tower” is the work of the artist Viki Kennedy and used by permission.

The original photograph for the cover and MP3 link of The Tirewoman Gabriel, “Belen2” is the work of photographer and teacher Martin McRostie-Cornfoot and used by permission.

The digital painting, The Venus Furry—cover art for the forthcoming The Quilter Who Went to Hell, a compilation of Elizabeth Profitt Pease tales scheduled for print publication in 2012—is the work of Bobbie Jean Pentecost and used by permission.

The original painting for the cover and MP3 link of Scope Virgin, “Zen Crow” is the work of Canadian artist Sara Jane Sparks and used by permission.

The original digital painting for the cover and MP3 link of The Prophet Harry, “Night Terror” is the work of artist Nicole Cardiff and used by permission.

Alexander “Sasha” Spivak is a professional artist who has been living and working in the USA since 1989. His illustration “Actors,” decorates the MP3 links for my three Prosper tales, and is from the book Misha’s Nutcracker. “Actors” is the copyrighted work of the artist and is used with permission. Read more about Alexander “Sasha” Spivak at www.spivakart.com

“Two of Swords,” is the cover and MP3 link of its eponymous (gotta love that word) tale and the creation of Anna Wilkenfeld, antipodean artist and banjo player. Anna W’s brilliant, sardonic pen and ink characterizations seize the essence of any situation. When I first feasted eyes on “Two of Swords” in her gallery (adoradora.deviantart.com), I figured there had to be a story in the works. There was—Two of Swords. Her “Feathered Hermit” is also the MP3 cover art for “The Red Sneaker Zones.” From her home base of Sydney, NSW, Australia she works “...more or less full time at a cartooning company by day, cobbling together a few works for exhibitions by night, and plying my trade as a party cartoonist on the weekends.”

The cover image for the index page and of theaudiobook revisiting of The Return of the Orange Virgin is the work of Spanish artist Benito Gallego and is used by permission. See more of his work on his website.

The website cover image is Forgotten Places, the work of Bucharest photographer and architect Vlad Eftenie and is used by permission. See more of his work on his website.

The alternate website cover image is a photograph of artist Francis Barraud at work on “Dog looking at and listening to a Phonograph.” Barraud decided to rename the painting “His Master’s Voice” and tried to exhibit it at the Royal Academy but was turned down. He had no more luck trying to offer it for reproduction in magazines. Barraud’s next stop was The Edison Bell Company, a leading manufacturer of cylinder phonographs. “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs,” the company said.

The quote, “Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known,” is the handiwork of Carl Sagan, astronomer (1934-1996). Dr. Sagan is reported to have said: “They laughed at Einstein. They laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.”

Much-deferred thanks to Natasha M. Speer, Ph.D. of the University of Maine at Orono for tutoring the author in the intricacies of the Fourier Transforms as they might apply to the lofting of Saturn-like rings of effluent as demonstrated in the story The Beewolf.

And credit where credit is due: I lifted the idea of posting MP3 downloads of the tales of onetinleg.com from a Jim Kelly column in Asimov’s. James Patrick Kelly is a writer of surpassing skill, and his column On The Net is a must-read.

Music Credits

The author is indebted for the music that ornaments the tales of the Free Reads pages to Charlie Hunter [The Ninepatch Variation, Boys’ Night Out, The Perfect Homburg, Platterland, McMuckle Makes a Minyan, and The Runaway Bungalow]; Logan, Salmonraptor, Ehma, DJ Fab’s “Echoes from the Past,” DJ Rhode , The Serenata Chamber Musicians and Haeresis [Song of the Rice Barge Coolie and Magnetic Betty (Ehma)]; banjo virtuoso Tony Trischka [Scope Virgin]; The Hot Club of San Francisco [A Pass on the Tabouli]; the postclassicists Topology and Topology Music [Klein, the Clone; Facelift; Platterland; McMuckle Makes a Minyan; Daphne Longhandle’s Last Flight; The Year They Invented Frozen Lemonade; The Runaway Bungalow; the symphonic rendition in Magnetic Betty; The Queen’s Head, and Mark Twain in Milan]; Ehma and Celestial Aeon Project’s “Aeon 3” [Mark Twain in Milan]; Logan, Flatlink, Salmonraptor and Haeresis [I Want to Share Your Wheat]; Bilou le Skankerfou, Da Capo, Woodwind and Friends, and Antonio Raffone [Dead Man in the Yard]; Flatlink and Haeresis [Platterland]; Flatlink and Xera [for McMuckle Makes a Minyan]; Grace Valhalla, Salmonraptor and Jampy [The Perfect Homburg]; Azurello, Topology and Topology Music, Celestial Aeon Project [The Francher, Daphne Longhandle’s Last Flight]; Suerte and The Serenata Chamber Musicians [The Runaway Bungalow]; La Mula [The Year They Invented Frozen Lemonade]; and Celestial Aeon Project, DOM The Bear, Raphael Badawi, DJ Rhode, Antonio Raffone and Barocco, for Suite Allegro Largo [Chimaera Constant]. Special thanks to Passamaquoddy flutist Rolfe Richter for the signature pieces of the spirit-priest in Chimaera Constant and The Red Sneaker Zones. The music is from Mr. Richter’s CD Dreamwalk and used by permission. Sergio Naddei’s Chamber Music bookends The Tirewoman Gabriel with incidental cues by Da Capo (Claude’s Music) and Eloy Terrero (Interpolar). Terry Snow’s Theme and Variations for Strings bookends The Diplodocus Effect with incidental cues by Topology. Two of Swords boasts bookending by the Gavotte from Ludwig Thuille’s Piano Sextet in B-flat major (the On Classical compilation), the incidental music is by Topology, and from Butterfly Tea’s “Magical Adventures” album, all licensed under a Creative Commons license. The Moose in the Noösphere features cuts from Nakie Nightfire, Lena Selyanina’s Piano Paintings, Tryad and Juice Connection. The Dolby Jenks theme (Magnetic Betty) is “Lords of the Sky” from Celestial Aeon Project’s “Aeon 3.”

More Music (and sound design) Credits

Thanks to the jolly consortium of audio wranglers at The Freesound Project for helping build the sound clusters for Mark Twain in Milan, The Beewolf, A Special Providence, Saint Velcro™ and the Swan, the blue spark and the werewolf’s howl in Boys’ Night Out. Likewise Haeresis for the signature theme of Lady Ada Lovelace’s cat in the Mark Twain tale.

A Special Providence, re-recorded in 2010, boasts the contributions of Kneel Mason―(Scenes from) The Mid Lands; George Dragon―Time Machine; Jeremie―Manouche Party à Saint Martin, Soporifics, and Mattias Westlund. For The Beewolf, Juice Connection [As Last Year’s Snow, original soundtrack―Brane Driving]; Weightless’s “Filmusik” (Märchenwald, also incidental music for “The Last Teddy Bear”); Speedsound―Psytrance Products Vol.01; esgi [Echoes in Time]―There Is No End. The Last Teddy Bear, in addition to Märchenwald, uses cuts by Olivier Gabriel Humbert (Le Phare), Antonio Gervasoni’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray, and “Footsteps” and “An Empty Stage” from Lena Selyanina’s Piano Paintings. Cherokee Purple, re-recorded in 2012, is a ramble inspired by the author’s days in the Carolina border country, with music from Dance Of The Wind, the “Piano In The Street” album, Soporifics (Sagamore Hill) and Topology; Norma’s tractor is a Ford 4000 diesel by CMU Sound Design . The Missingest Man in America (The Miracles and Death of Judge Joseph Force Crater and His Questionable Resurrection) features gypsy jazz by Latché Swing, a quartet from Rouen, France. Blue (as in an Early Frost) uses music drops by Armolithae, Topology, Zero-project’s “Fairytale” album (Moon Waltz), Butterfly Tea’s “The HEAVENz BUTTERFLIEz” album, Weightless, their “Filmmusik” album, and Terry Snow’s “Theme and Variations for Strings.” The Prophet Harry: Butterfly Tea (A Simple Life), Bilou le Skankerfou (La valse du oni), Da Capo’s Claude’s Music album (Invention #1.), Zeropage’s “Ambiphonic”, and MasqueradE from Celestial Aeon Peoject’s “Aeon 3.” The music cues for The Death of James A. Garfield include Cesar Swing (Jeremie); Limpy Waltz and Sunday in Hell from Juice Connection’s “As Last Year’s Snow;” Butterfly Tea (A Cat’s Life from “The HEAVENz BUTTERFLIEz”); “Germinal Picture” by Germinal Noise; and Jampy’s album “Nghzk!”

The Queen’s Head, produced in October 2010, features the music of Quentin Meurisse (Cairo Zen), MDT Music’s Orchestral Film Music Collection, Topology and Topology Music, Soporifics (Sagamore Hill), Dykzei Eleeot (the album Koridor), Fature (Electric Sheep), Wordless Poem (she is stone, but dances, slowly, in the dark), Ensemble Hathor (the album Music in the Age of the Pyramids), and Antonio Gervasoni (The Portrait of Dorian Gray). Grasshopper Dreams, The 5^th tale of the Libby the Quilter quintet, is bookended by “Meninges” by Nicoco Classicoco; the internal music cues are from Torley on Piano 7 “Improvisations for a New Age.” Saint Velcro™ and the Swan, produced in December 2011, is bookended by the Vortex Ensemble and Nuremberg Tin Soldiers's “La touche finale” with incidental music by Space Galaxy (jeu d’eau dans le matin). Goli’s “Creation Tango” plays out The Walking Lesson, with the introductory cues from LizZarDino’s Psychedelic Diary. Boys’ Night Out, re-recorded in 2012, with a new narration (minus the head cold) and music cues, added pieces by Aufklarung (Contra-punctus quasi tonale), Opus Vertigo (Behind the murderer), Pedro Amoros (Conspirando), and Bo Moonlight, all licensed through the Creative Commons.

Lastly, a grateful nod to Bill McVicar and WQDY 92.7 FM in Calais, Maine (USA) and Chris Gay at Sound Expressions, Lake Utopia, New Brunswick (Canada) for making their audio facilities available.

Podcasting

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With the onset of late middle age Rob Hunter is the sole support of a 1999 Ford Escort and the despair of his young wife. He does dishes, mows the lawn and keeps their Downeast Maine cottage spotless by moving as little as possible. In a former life he was a newspaper copy boy, railroad telegraph operator, recording engineer and film editor. He spent the 70s and 80s as a Top-40 disc jockey.

Rob’s wife, Bonnie, is the secretary at a nearby rural elementary school. She is a gifted quilter who beguiled her new husband with the kaleidoscope of patchwork geometry.

The nearest town to the Hunters that anybody is likely to have ever heard of—because of Stephen King’s The Langoliers—is Bangor, Maine where there are real parking meters and a traffic light. They drive down every six months or so to watch the light change and see the trains come in.

contact Rob Hunter

All content on this website, unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons License