Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing

I Did Another Podcast

June 13, 2019 /

A Second One When I Was At Writers of the Future...

John Goodwin, the President of Galaxy Press did the interview. It was great fun. This one was about old pulp writers, rewriting, and clean first drafts, among other things.

I think this is about 15 minutes, so worth the time to listen to me and John talk about the old writers. And I got a detail wrong in my old mind. Lester Dent was a real name who wrote 159 Doc Savage novels under the name Kenneth Robeson. Lester Dent was not a pen name. Max Brand was a pen name of Frederick Faust. Names, I am not allowed to speak them in public and that is an example of why. (grin)

By the way, if you are still eligible for Writers of the Future, don’t miss a deadline. It’s free and if you win, you get more knowledge and meet wonderful writers. The workshop for the winners this last year was taught by Tim Powers, Orson Scott Card, and David Farland.

And a whole bunch more of us were there and giving shorter sessions to the winners. Great fun.

And I had a story in the very first volume, and I got lucky this last year to be able to write a story around the cover done by the great Bob Eggleton. So grab a copy of Volume #35, see if I got better in 35 years. (grin)

9 Comments

  • Alexandra

    June 13, 2019 at 6:11 am

    Dean… I‘m kinda shocked right now…. do you realise that Galaxy Press is a Scientology outlet, and that Writers of the Future is heavily affiliated with scientology? Do you condone Scientology???

    • dwsmith

      June 13, 2019 at 9:53 am

      LOL, Alex. Galaxy press is Hubbards fiction press. Nothing to do with the Church and hasn’t. Did you know David Farland was a Morman who runs the contest? I’ve been around the Galaxy Press people for 35 years, never once, not once, did they ever mention Scientology or the church. They are not allowed to, actually. That is all to help young writers. But they do talk about what Hubbard did as a writer, which is pretty amazing.

    • dwsmith

      June 13, 2019 at 10:54 am

      Alex, normally I would never let a comment like yours through, since it is so misinformed, but figured I would take a couple of responses to clear up some of the crap out there about Writers of the Future, especially at this point in SFWA. When I walked into the banquet room at Chasen’s Restaurant in Hollywood as a young writer 35 years ago, the first thing I saw was a round table full of Gods. Harlan Ellison, Robert Silverberg, Fred Pohl, Jack Williamson, among others. I had not met or become friends with any of them yet. (I would over time.) I was just a young writer. And all of those giants were there for one reason, because another writer, L.Ron Hubbard, had set up a contest with the help of Algis Budrys, to promote and help young writers like me. Without that night, without the workshop they offered me two years later, I would not be here, I would not have met Kris, and none of these workshops we do would be happening. I try to help young writers, including you, because all of those people, including Hubbard, tried to help me. I never got the chance to meet Hubbard and thank him.

      It never occurs to me to ask what anyone’s religion is. I never talk politics or religion and honestly don’t care about religion. Galaxy Press uses the money set aside in a trust by Hubbard to help young writers. And that is what really matters.

      • BL

        June 14, 2019 at 7:03 pm

        In the podcast, you and the interviewer cite the upturn at the end of the story where the good guys win. I’ve gotten two honorable mentions in the contest during the past couple of years. Also a number of stories that did not place. For the life of me, I’ve been unable to see why one story was more successful than others. But the two successes definitely had a protagonist overcoming problems and conflicts, plus a happy ending. The others, not so much. So thanks. Good info.

  • Joseph Bradshire

    June 13, 2019 at 3:34 pm

    My religious and political beliefs are way less relevant than my interest in professional wrestling. I can go on for hours about wrestling. Or Conan. Or GI Joe. Religion? Politics? I’m zoning out in about 30 seconds.

    Some would say I’m just not invested enough in the health of society or something. To which I say, “Yawn”.

    (it’s okay if you don’t let this comment through, it might set off a storm. You know how people get!) 🙂

  • Philip

    June 13, 2019 at 9:20 pm

    This is the first I’ve heard you use the “polished rock” analogy. I love that. Makes perfect sense. Great interview.