_Arts & Entertainmpnf
Lincoln sci-fi writer to release new novel
* a l_
Photo courtesy of Donald I. Fine Inc.
Reed
By Chris McCubbin
Staff Reporter
According to Robert Reed, trying
to make a living by writing science
fiction is “a stupid thing to do —
people shouldn’t do it.”
But that hasn’t stopped Reed.
Reed is a Lincoln resident and a
graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan Uni
versity. His first novel, “The Lee
shore,” published by Donald I. Fine,
has been out since April. His second
novel, “The Hormone Jungle,” will
be out in a few months.
Reed got his start as a professional
writer when he won the L. Ron Hub
bard Writers of the Future Gold
Award with hisshortstory,“Mudpup
pies.”
‘I'm very stubborn
and obsessive. I
don’t know if I make
a very good human
being, but I think
that's part of the
reason I stuck with
it.’
-Reed
The Writers of the Future contest
was established by Hubbard, the late
pulp science-fiction writer and
founder of the pop philosophy Dia
netics, to encourage young writers.
A panel of top professional sci
ence-fiction writers picks a contest
winner every three months. At the end
of the year the story judged the best
among the quarterly winners receives
the Gold Award.
Reed is the first writer to win a
Gold Award. He received a $1,000
prize tor winning the quarterly con
test, and an additional $4,000 ctime
along with the Gold Award. He was
also paid by the word for his story.
Reed has been writing science
fiction since he was in college, he
said. He never sold anything, but he
got to the point where he was getting
a personal response from some edi
tors. Then those editors moved on,
and Reed says he felt as if he was back
to the beginning.
After graduation he took a full
time job. Then, alter a few years, he
quit and moved to Texas, where he
wrote for a year while living on sav
ings.
“I’m very stubborn and obses
sive,” Reed said. “I don’t know if I
make a very good human being, but I
think that’s part of the reason I stuck
with it.”
Another important step in his suc
cess, Reed said, was acquiring an
agent. “If you ever want to be a writer,
you should probably get yourself an
agent,’’ he said.
After w inning the Hubbard award,
Reed was contacted by popular sci
ence-fiction writer Robert Silver
berg, w ho was then working as acqui
sitions editor for the Donald I. Fine
publishing house.
After that conversation Reed sub
mitted an idea for a novel, then 45
sample pages to Silverberg. Then he
was given a contract for his first
novel, “The Lccshore,” a moody
book about a conflict between gov
ernment and religion on a wet and
gloomy planet that is completely sur
rounded by a free-floating sphere of
organic matter, from which dead and
rotting organic material constantly
falls on those on the surface.
“The Lccshore” has received fa
vorable reviews in The New York
Times, Fantasy and Science Fiction,
l^ULUa uiiu a iiumuti ui iwvui
pers across the country, including the
Omaha World-Herald, Reed said.
He’s also sold short stories to
Fantasy and Science Fiction, Uni
verse 16, Far Frontiers and Aboriginal
Science Fiction.
Reed said he’s beginning to get
some recognition as an author at
home as well. He’s spoken to a non
credit writing class at Wesleyan, and
he’s been invited to be a guest at an
upcoming science-fiction convention
in Omaha.
“The bulk of what I read is not
science fiction,” but in spite of this,
Reed says, “all my stories are science
fiction.”
Reed said scientific plausibility is
important in his books. He said he
takes particular care in the biological
sciences, where his educational back
ground lies. “I try to keep my critters
reasonable,” he said.
In order to keep his stories theo
retically plausible, he said, he tries to
avoid that pseudo-scientific science
fiction staple — faster-than-light
space travel.
In the next few months, Reed said,
“The Leeshorc” will be released in
paperback and his next novel, “The
Hormone Jungle” will be published.
Reed said the new novel will be
longer than “The Leeshorc.” His edi
tor believes “The Hormone Jungle” is
more commercial, an^ Reed himself
is happier with the new book, he said.
“I had reservations about this book
(‘The Leeshorc’) and I’d like to make
up for it by doing a second book,” he
said.
He said that while he was asked to
do extensive revisions on “The Lee
shorc” before it was published, the
only change his editor requested on
“The Hormone Jungle” was a
stronger final sentence.
French cinema brings atmosphere and romance
You don’t need to understand French to enjoy these films
By (Jeoff McMurtry
Staff Reporter
Parlez-vouz le fromage, e’est deux
faux-gras?
You don’t need to understand
French to appreciate the movies pre
sented by the French-American Film
Workshop.
This weekend, the workshop pres
ents the 1987 U.S. Tour of Contempo
rary French Cinema at the Sheldon
Film Theatre.
Film Review'
The eight films being shown, lour
features and four short subjects, are
the French equivalent of American
independent films. They have a fresh,
unique benl not found in American
commercial movies. Also, thanks to
the miracle of subtitles, people who
do not know French can still under
stand and appreciate the movies.
This French film tour of the United
States is a counterpart to the Contem
porary American Film Festival at
Avignon, France, every summer,
which features independent and
underground American films. Some
of the American films shown there in
the past include “Blood Simple,”
which ran at Sheldon last spring, and
John Saylcs’ “Brother From Another
Plnm’1 ”
One of this weekend’s films,
“L’Arhre sous la mcr” (“The Tree
Under the Sea”), is an atmospheric,
romantic film scion the remote Greek
isle of Sedussa.
Mathieu (Christophe Malavoy) is
a young geologist who goes to the
island to study its rock formations. He
is especially attracted to the island's
unusual petrified tree and the legend
surrounding it.
Along the way he becomes espe
cially attracted to Eleni Dragoumi,
the wild, enchanting daughter of the
island’s owner. The three of them are
the island’s only inhabitants. Their
isolation is broken only by the occa
sional visits of the supply boat, whose
driver continually warns Mathieu to
beware of the island, of Elcni and of
various things he can never hope to
understand — and belter off not
knowing about.
The strength of the film rests in its
glimpses into Malhieu’s confusion
and isolation. Also, the film presents
truly beautiful camera work in and
around the picturesque island.
Although it has a bit of a short plot
compared to mainstream films, the
strong atmosphere, the intriguing
mystery of Elcni s character and the
continually unravelling metaphorical
subtexts leave an impact on the
viewer that is much stronger than the
typical entertainment-oriented movie
shown downtown. While it may not
actually lead the viewer to any par
ticular conclusion about anything, it’s
a fascinating journey nonetheless.
rlayin along with L. Arbrc sous
la mcr” is a short film titled “Lc
Mauvais ocil” (The Evil Eye).
Set in the late 1 c>th century, “Lc
Mauvais oeil” starts innocuously
enough with a photographer taking
pictures of a blacksmith at work.
Later, the photographer hears a
woman screaming. He secs several
men at the top of a cliff, lowering a
tied-up girl over the side.
Heads immediately to do the right
thing — rush to his camera. Alter
getting his pictures he goes to investi
gate. He comes to the scene, where
several men hold him back. He can
only watch as the girl’s limp body is
being hoisted back up the side of the
cliff. But alas, she is not dead and spits
in 'he lace of the nearest assailant,
prompting another to shout, “.She’s
alive, I knew she was a witch.”
The photographer later helps her
and offers her a place to hide, but his
own interests eventually get in the
way of his helpful efforts.
The title refers to the camera and
the photographer, who see and record
the event without regard to the conse
quences of their seemingly innocent
actions.
Because twoof the films originally
scheduled to show this weekend were
lost during shipping, there has been a
change in the previously published
schedule. The lost films are the fea
ture-length “Lc Bonhcur a encore
frappe” and the 10-minute short,
“Synthetiquc operate.”
The revised schedule is as follows:
Thursday:
3 p.m. — “Havre” (directed by
Juliet Bcrto, 95 min.) and “Lc Torero
hallucinogcne” (Stephen Clavier, 4
min.)
7 p.m. — “Trop tard Balthazar”
(Phillipc Lopez-Curval, X min.) and
“L’Etoile de sang” (Bcrtrandc Fevre,
21 min.)
9 p.m. — “Rue de depart” (Tony
Gallif, l(X) min.) and “Fin de Serie”
(Phillipc Hard, 10 min.)
Friday:
1 p.m. — “Trop tard Balthazar”
and “L’Etoile de sang”
3 p.m. — “L’Arbrc sous la mcr”
(Phillipe Muyl, 95 min.) and “Le
Mauvais ocil” (Jean-Louis Cros, 15
min.)
7 p.m. — “Havre” and “Le Torero
hallucinogene”
9 p.m. — “Trop tard Balthazar”
and “L’Etoile dc sang”
Saturday:
1 p.m. — “Rucdcdepart”and“Fin
do Seric”
3 p.m. — “Trop tard Balthazar”
and “L’Etoile dc sang”
7 p.m. — “L’Arbrc sous la mcr”
and “Lc Mauvais ocil”
9 p.m. — “Havre” and “Lc Torero
of Culture and Communication
A scene from “L’ Arbre Sous La Mer.”