Hello to everyone on the PJF Mailing list. If you haven't visited the site lately, it was updated a week ago on May 9th.

With FarmerCon IV only 22 short days away, this is the last newsletter I will be sending to this list about it. This is your last chance to tell me you're coming. Your last chance to get on the list to go out to dinner with us Saturday night. Your last chance to speak at the library if you want. Your last chance to not miss out on any of the goodies we have planned for the weekend.

But, if you insist on not coming to FarmerCon IV, you don't have to miss out entirely. Last year we had our first silent auction and it was a huge hit. This year we have more than twice as many items and we are making some of them available to you. You can bid on these items right now.

The last time an Advance Uncorrected Proof of THE EVIL IN PEMBERLEY HOUSE showed up on ebay, it sold for $225! And Win Scott Eckert will be at FarmerCon IV to sign this one! There are three brand new copies of VENUS ON THE HALF-SHELL AND OTHERS, which sell new for $38 and our opening bid is only $25. And Christopher Paul Carey will be at FarmerCon IV to sign them! And as I've said in these newsletters in the past, while not advertised on the site because these went to collectors before the first issue was ever printed, there are 25 limited edition copies of every issue of Farmerphile, signed by Philip José Farmer. These signed copies of issues 11 - 15 are available starting at their normal price of $40 each.

To place a bid on any of these items, just send me an email and I will post the amount online with your first name and last initial.

As it says on the webpage, bidding will close on these May 25th, but then those at FarmerCon IV will get a chance to outbid you on Saturday June 6th, so bid well. But, as an added bonus, if you are the high bidder on any of these items, I will throw in a copy of the convention program, which is sure to be a collector's item itself.

In last month's newsletter I said, "After fulfilling several orders this week, I am now officially out of stock on issues #6, #7 and #9 of Farmerphile. However, I already have more orders for these issues so I am going to, probably for the last time, have a small batch of each printed up." I will be getting these from the printer this week. I can tell you that we're already back down to about 20 copies of the first nine issues, so if you've been thinking about ordering a set but keep putting it off...you probably don't want to do that any longer.

Hope to see you soon,

Mike Croteau
The Official Philip José Farmer Home Page
www.pjfarmer.com

I've been informed that the folks at Moonstone Books and the license holder have approved my proposal and synopsis for a short story to appear in volume one of Moonstone's Green Hornet anthologies.

My idea was inspired, at least in part, by this fantastic promo illo by Masked Avenger Studios' Ruben Procopio.

We start the issue with an excerpt from the soon to be completed Western novel, Cougar by the Tail by Philip José Farmer and Tracy Knight. This is followed by an interview with Tracy about his process of working with the material Phil started. Next we have "The Time Distorter" by Paul Spiteri. A shorter version of this story appeared in the Farmercon 90 Convention Program but this expanded version goes beyond Phil gaining access to a time
machine before he sets off on his first journey. This story features a full page illustration by Charles Berlin. Buddha Contemplates His Novel shows what a treat it is when we get to print one of Phil's speeches. Contrary to the humorous title Phil does tackle an interesting philosophical question about the omnipotence of God. Win Scott Eckert's Creative Mythography column is one of his most ambitious. He searches Phil's family tree for proof that Phil himself is in a fact a member of the Wold Newton Family! First time contributor David Lars Chamberlain takes on the Bibliophile duty this issue with a look at The Unreasoning Mask.
Inspired to read this book by comments made by Gary K. Wolfe, David did
a very thorough job of studying one of Phil's deeper novels.

In terms of Riverworld, we have yet another wonderful cover by Keith Howell; this is in fact our first wrap-around cover. We decided to mine the two shared-world anthologies, TALES OF RIVERWORLD and QUEST TO RIVERWORLD for writers to contribute to this issue and easily got three (our first three choices, in fact) to pen articles for us. On the River with Philip José Farmer by author and superfan Robert Weinberg tells, not just about his stories, but also the behind-the-scenes story of the genesis of these two anthologies. Ed Gorman's article, My Time on the River is also a history lesson, one that goes back way before any Riverworld stories saw print. Allen Steele gives us a detailed account of his contribution, from invitation to inspiration to the writing of his story in Writing "Graceland." Together, all three articles combine to shine more light on this topic than we dared hope for.

Also on the Riverworld theme we have The River not Taken by Dennis E. Power. This article clarifies and puts into context a long letter by Phil to
Fred Pohl (included) outlining a Riverworld storyline that Phil abandoned. Next we have Tom Mix Resurected by Danny Adams. This article illustrates the lengths that Phil went to while researching a historical figure to include in one his stories. The article includes letters to Daryl Ponicsan (author of the novel, TOM MIX DIED FOR YOUR SINS) and to Phil's good friend Robert Bloch. The highlight of the Riverworld material however is the Unpolished Pearl, Riverworld Dawn by Philip José Farmer. This is an outline (and some notes) for a "sidestream" Riverworld novel Phil wanted to write. He did eventually use part of the idea, but not as originally planned.

The issue finishes up with two more Unpolished Pearls. The first, Myadzian Journal is the oldest material published in Farmerphile and will most likely be considered by many to be the most exciting. It is four handwritten pages of notes (along with a typed transcription) from the late 1930s where Phil first described Kickaha and the World of Tiers. However this Kickaha is very different from the human trickster character we all know and love. And last but not least is a page of typed notes titled Time has its Mirages. This is brainstorm of ideas, the last line of which is "Buddha writes his novel."

Copies can be ordered direct from Philip José Farmer's website.