MIGDALIN: Was there ever such a thing as the “Terminus, Owlswick, & Ft. Mudge Electrick Street Railway” or was that a fanciful creation of yours?
SCITHERS: Terminus was a planet in Asimov’s Foundation series. Terminus is also the name of one of the ends of the now-abandoned Visalia Electric Railroad in California. “Terminous” is the name of a small settlement near Sacramento; it was the end of one of the branches of the Western Pacific Railroad; the name was obviously bestowed by someone who couldn’t spell. There was a Terminus in Utah, on the Union Pacific Railroad — abandoned when the railroad continued to Los Angeles — and there was one in Ontario (the Province, not the city in Southern California) which may still have an independent existence.
Owlswick is a village of about five farm houses and a pub in England, between Longwick and Clanking (I am not making any of those three name up!). Fort Mudge was one of the military fortifications built to control the Seminole Indians; now it’s just an unhabited place on the map. The comic strip “Pogo” mentioned Ft Mudge now and then.
Owlswick, in the fantasy novel The Worm Ouroborous, was the place from which the troops did not come. In our world, Owlswick was originally “Ulf’s Wick,” that is, Ulf’s cattle ranch. After a few spelling changes over the centuries, the spelling settled down to the more familiar-looking Owlswick. It’s about a mile west of Princes Riseboro, on the edge of the London commuter area, and a few miles west of the western-most end of the London Underground. Some ancient Roman roads are near-by.
I have visited Ft. Mudge and the California Terminus but not Owlswick. A friend did visit, though, and sent me photos of the pub “The Leg of Mutton,” the mailbox labeled “Owlswick,” and the very small chapel.
MIGDALIN: I know Owlswick became the name of your publishing company, but did either of the other locations figure in one way or another?
SCITHERS: J.B. Post suggested “Terminus” as a name associated with used or remaindered books, but nothing ever came of it. “Owlswick” is also the name of Darrell and my lit’ry agency.
MIGDALIN: In the July 1961 Amra, you wrote, “I’d be grateful if they’d drop Fantastic a line to that effect. It’s a good idea that we boost the sword-and-sorcery story with them—since it really is something of a minor miracle that there is a current prozine that will publish such stuff.” All I have is this one quote from that issue, and I was hoping you could clarify where the quote appeared (as a response to a letter to the editor, the issue editorial?), and who “they” refers to.
SCITHERS: I have no idea. A researcher from the Oxford University Press, updating The Oxford Dictionary (the long, 17-volume version) wrote asking about the origin of the phrase “sword-and-sorcery” and I wrote back, citing a letter from Fritz Leiber suggesting the term which I published in Amra.
MIGDALIN: Do you have any advice for writers, when it comes to turning an idea or a premise into a story?
SCITHERS: Re-read Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style frequently. Buy and read the Scithers, Schweitzer, & Ford book, Re-read Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style frequently. Buy and read the Scithers, Schweitzer, & Ford book, On Writing Science Fiction: The Editors Strike Back!
MIGDALIN: Who do you see as the two best editors (excluding yourself!), one past, one present?
SCITHERS: John W Campbell, Jr.; David Hartwell.
MIGDALIN: What led you to resurrect Weird Magazine?
SCITHERS: Seemed like a good idea at the time. Darrell Schweitzer and John Betancourt liked the idea. We all had some money and spare time, so . . .
