All right ... one last whinge about The Scottish Convention before it begins in earnest! My diary goes like this:
(a) Agree at Eastercon to do a fan programme item. (b) Explain its title to Evening Fan Programme mistress Lilian Edwards, in June. (c) Find it missing from Lilian's draft fan programme posted on Usenet. (d) Complain to Lilian, who says that a time change has removed it from her evening domain unto Steve and Jenny Glover's daytime one. (e) Find it missing from the Glovers' draft fan programme posted on Usenet. Steve says bemusedly that that particular buck never reached him. (f) E-mail from Colin Harris, loftily explaining that unknown to the Fan Programme mob this has become a Fan Programme Item On The Main Programme, and thus under his personal sway. (g) Confirm item title again (as sent to Lilian in June), to Colin; it is now July. (h) Stern e-mail from Colin, datestamped 13:30 on 9 August, saying I must confirm this 'change' of title by 19:00 that day if it is to go into the pocket programme book edited by Ian Sorensen. Find message hours after said deadline. Instantly e-mail both Colin and Ian. (i) Receive Programme Participant letter with wrong title, dated 26 July, on 10 August. Instantly e-mail the sender, Tina Hewitt. (j) 11 August. Find the item missing, under either title, from Colin's finalized Literary Programme posted on Usenet. (k) Silence on all e-mail fronts. Wonder what to do about already drafted preparatory material that refers to and explains the item's title....
Mailing Comment • Benedict asks whether I agree that clues about the mysterious Quetzal in The Book of the Long Sun (fangs, 'lipless' perhaps not merely a metaphor, a hint of ability to fly, etc) suggested the legendary feathered serpent of his name. Yes, I'd suspected that but decided not to spill the beans in my Vector review! Again, Wolfe deceives by openly giving things their right names – the fiend.
[The rest of this issue consisted of a merry listing of L.E. Modesitt's sound effects, subsequently printed elsewhere.]