Not long ago, a speculative fiction magazine called Apex Digest needed help. Some writers banded together and held a successful auction to save the zine. I participated in the auction and won two prizes. One was an autographed copy of a book by Steven Savile. The other prize was a copy-edited manuscript of the U.K. version of Ben Bova's novel Titan. Dr. Bova used to be the editor of Analog magazine, and is a popular science and hard science fiction author.
Because Dr. Bova was going to be in Phoenix this month, he offered to meet with me and deliver the manuscript in person. Today was the day.
I met with Dr. Bova at The Poison Pen in central Phoenix, and arrived about ten minutes before his signing. He signed the manuscript for me without personalizing because I told him I would eventually auction it again at a SFWA charity auction. He also signed my copy of his pamphlet '10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Writing,' and also signed my copy of 'How to Write Science Fiction That Sells,' personalized for this one.
We had a pleasant discussion for about five minutes before he went back into the bookstore for his signing and I got back into the car for my drive back to work.
Ben Bova is a very pleasant man. I hope I have the chance to speak with him again.
1 comment:
How very cool, Rick. Thanks for your comment on my blog. I am apparently the most widely read and uncommented blogger out there.
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