Teamwork: Bishop, Crowther, Hutchins et al

PS Publishing have released a new book from author Michael Bishop called A Reverie for Mister Ray, but this isn't one of Bishop's science fiction stories - it's a collection of essays, profiles of colleagues (including Ray Bradbury and Jack McDevitt), autobiographical articles, reviews and even an unpublished short story.

It's not the first non-fiction collection PS Publishing has released - Ramsey Campbell, Probably came out in 2002 - so we asked PS's top man, Pete Crowther, why he decided to publish this particular one…

"Certain great works simply must be published," he enthused. "Thank goodness, there are publishers out there (and PS is only one of them) that are able to take financial chances with a book, and I'm fortunate that Mike came to me first.

"I approached A Reverie for Mister Ray the same way as I do all potential projects: open-minded. Well, okay, maybe that's not completely true. I love Michael's fiction, plus I've read several pieces of his criticism/non-fiction that I've enjoyed and I knew in advance that the title piece was an article on Ray Bradbury - and, as most folks know, Ray Bradbury, in my book, is the Main Man.

"So, I read that piece and then I read the next one, and then the one after that, and pretty soon I realised that the biggest disservice 'publishing-dom' could perpetrate on the reading public would be to prevent this monumental collection being available to those who will undoubtedly enjoy it.

"Now, let's get one thing straight here: there is no way this book is going to be a huge financial success. It would be nice if it were but it won't be. That's just a bald fact and it's one I knew right from the outset. The same was true about Ramsey Campbell, Probably. The book that was so wonderfully received in every review, and it won the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award and the British Fantasy Award. And yet, despite all that, we've still got loads of copies left in both editions. Go figure.
"A Reverie for Mister Ray is well-written (kudos to Mike), it looks nice (take a bow Robert Wexler for the interior layout and design, and Mike's son Jamie for the stunning cover artwork), and (thanks to the nut-numbing patience of Michael Hutchins) it's absolutely marvellously edited. So anyone who has so much as a passing interest in this field, anyone who loves great - not just good - writing, anyone who simply cares: well, they'll just love this book."

As you would expect, Michael Bishop already loves the book, but even he has his favourite articles…

"I still very much like the title piece," said Bishop, "but I'm also partial to others - 'Heretics and Believers,' 'Military Brat,' the parodies - because they attempt altogether different effects. Actually, ask me tomorrow and I'll probably cite three or four completely different favourite pieces."

It takes experience and depth of knowledge to write these kinds of articles - something Bishop seems to have in ample supply. What did he think were the best aspects of gaining all that experience over the years?

"A sense of participating, even at a remove, in an important ongoing enterprise," he said. "Also, occasionally having the chance to meet, talk with, and get to know a number of writers whose work garnered my admiration, influenced my own writing, or set standards that significantly changed the sf and fantasy fields."

And how does his non-fiction writing compare to his experiences of writing fiction?

"First, what I enjoyed about writing non-fiction early on was that it gave me a chance to express my opinions about writing and publishing sf, and the state of the art in our field, just as if my opinions carried authoritative weight. What I'm really saying here, I guess, is that I enjoyed mentally equating myself with my betters, including in particular Damon Knight and James Blish, whose criticism I admired almost as much as I did their fiction. I certainly didn't enjoy the pay, per se, because often there wasn't any.

"Comparing writing essays and book reviews to writing fiction, I can say that I have always taken the former a little less seriously than the latter because I believed that my reputation would rest more firmly on my fiction (and because book reviews are usually pretty ephemeral), and because it often seemed a way to help support the fiction writing (rather than vice versa). I have always tried to write honestly as a reviewer and essayist, though, even if I intend to amuse rather than to uplift or educate."
Did anything surprise him as the book came together?

"Maybe the fact that these disparate essays have a coherence not wholly dependent on my own voice," said Bishop. "Take a look at the index, and notice how many times certain iconic names in sf and fantasy crop up, especially those of Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. LeGuin, J. G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, and Brian W. Aldiss.

"But then," added Bishop, "Michael Hutchins might have a different take on this question."

What else could we do but find out if the book's editor Michael H Hutchins did indeed have a different take on this…

"Well," said Hutchins, "there wasn't so much a surprise as an affirmation of what I'd suspected for a long time: the spirit and soul of Michael Bishop shines through in all of his work, his non-fiction being no exception. Anyone reading this book will come away with a strong sense of who Michael Bishop is - not only of the writer but of the human being as well."

How had Hutchins found the experience of being the editor on this project?

"After the initial decisions about which pieces to include, and arranging them into a cohesive package, I thought most of the work was done," he said.

"Wro-ong! Mike went through each piece, slightly revising most from their original publication. As he revised them, I proofed each piece, suggesting changes concerning any ambiguity in grammar, structure, spelling, and style. Mike, ever the professional and exceedingly tolerant to a fledgling editor, was open to all suggestions.

"Because the book is non-fiction, I had to fact-check most of the pieces. (Not that Mike wasn't scrupulous in his writing of the original pieces.) I also made additions and/or corrections to the bibliographic information. Mike created the book's index (God bless him!) and I proofed it as well. This index turned out to be perhaps the most difficult element in the creation of the book. Just the tediousness of it would have been enough to make a sane man tear his hair out. Happily, the result speaks for itself."

Why did he decide to get involved with the project in the first place?

"The opportunity arose where I could collaborate with my friend, Mike Bishop, on a book that I believed deserved to be published," said Hutchins. "And I wasn't going to let that chance slip away."

A Reverie for Mister Ray also features an introduction from Jeff Vandermeer. For more information, visit the PS Publishing website.

Source: Michael Bishop, Pete Crowther and Michael Hutchins