James P. Blaylock
(September 20, 1950 – )
James Paul Blaylock, an sf writer, has also written as William Ashbless and William Hasting (with Tim Powers). His first SF publication was "The Red Planet" in Unearth #3 (Summer, 1977); First SF book: The Elfin Ship (Del Rey, 1982); First Collection: Thirteen Phantasms and Other Stories (Edgewood Press, 2000).
Described as a spiritual heir of Philip K. Dick (he participated in "an affinity group" around PKD in Dick's last years), Blaylock appropriately has been a winner of the Philip K. Dick Award. He is credited as being one of the creators of the sub-genre of "steampunk" (along with his friends, and sometime collaborators, K. W. Jeter and Tim Powers).
Some of his SF/fantasy novels are set in California: The Digging Leviathan (1984), Land of Dreams (1987), The Last Coin (1988), The Paper Grail (1991), Night Relics: A Ghost Story (1994), All the Bells on Earth (1995), and a dark fantasy, The Rainy Season (1999).
An interview with Blaylock appeared in the May, 1986, issue (#59) of Science Fiction Review, he was interviewed for the May, 1987, issue of Locus, and a Blaylock interview and bibliography appeared in the Winter, 1988, issue (Vol. 2, No. 2) of Nova Express.
A children's book, The Magic Spectacles, appeared in 1991. Other works include The Stone Giant (1989), Doughnuts (1994) [an original short story by Blaylock in a limited edition that includes a frontispiece portrait of Blaylock by his wife], and The Old Curiosity Shop (1999, with Tim Powers as artist]).
A limited edition chapbook was Home Before Dark from Subterranean Press with two-color printing throughout. Described by at least one critic as "our postmodern Ray Bradbury," Blaylock currently teaches creative writing at Chapman University. In 2001, he and Powers published the chapbook On Pirates (as by William Ashbless), and they published The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook in 2002. More recent work includes The Knights of the Cornerstone (2008), The Shadow on the Doorstep (2009), and Home Sweet Home and Postscript to Home Sweet Home (2012).
Sladek was born in Long Beach, CA, and educated at California State University, Fullerton (MA in English, 1974). He married Viki Lynn Martin in 1972, and they have two sons.
Entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.
Awards, Honors and GoHships:
- Philip K. Dick Award for Homunculus, 1987; World Fantasy Award (Best Short Fiction) for "Paper Dragons" in 1986 and for "Thirteen Phantasms" in 1997; other awards, including his story, "Unidentified Objects," selected for the 1990 O. Henry Award volume.
- 1996 -- ConDiablo
- 2002 -- VCON 27
- 2009 -- WindyCon 36
- 2010 -- Rustycon 27
| Person | 1950— |
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