{"id":2472,"date":"2013-08-07T08:30:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T08:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2013-08-06T23:18:06","modified_gmt":"2013-08-06T23:18:06","slug":"rayguns-over-texas-preview-scott-a-cupp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/08\/07\/rayguns-over-texas-preview-scott-a-cupp\/","title":{"rendered":"Rayguns Over Texas preview: Scott A. Cupp"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cover<\/a>

Cover by Rocky Kelley<\/p><\/div>\n

As we barrel toward the August 29 premiere of\u00a0Rayguns Over Texas\u00a0<\/em><\/a>at\u00a0LoneStarCon 3<\/a>\u00a0(aka the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention) in San Antonio, I am presenting book excerpts, one contributor per day.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s selection comes from Scott A. Cupp<\/a>‘s memoir “Books Are My Thing: Adventures in Texas Science Fiction.”<\/p>\n

My plans for\u00a0Rayguns<\/em> always included essays centering around the rich history of Texas science fiction. Along those lines, I tapped writer and bookseller Scott A. Cupp for a very personal account on much of the\u00a0past 40 years. He also produced the volume’s appendices on Texas science fiction writers and artists.<\/p>\n

AggieCon remained the regional convention. At AggieCon 6, I\u00a0met Tom Reamy. Reamy was there promoting his short story \u201cTwilla\u201d\u00a0in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction<\/em> as well as selling\u00a0memberships to the World Science Fiction Convention to be held\u00a0in Kansas City in 1976. I bought my membership for (if I remember\u00a0correctly) $5. The AggieCons were great in those days. The student run Cepheid Variable club managed the convention. They put together\u00a0a film program that, in the days before VCRs made it easy to own or see a film, was amazing. I remember watching The Wizard of Oz<\/em>,\u00a0Jason and the Argonauts<\/em>, and Flesh Gordon<\/em> (a film Reamy had worked\u00a0on) on their huge screen.<\/p>\n

In 1977 I was there when they screened The Rocky Horror Picture\u00a0Show<\/em> for the first time. This was a major deal since the week before\u00a0the University had kicked the Gay Liberation organization off the\u00a0campus. TAMU, at this time, was still heavily influenced by the\u00a0Corps of Cadets, which produced many military leaders. The Rudder\u00a0Tower auditorium had around 800 or so attendees, with maybe 30%\u00a0members of the Corps. When Frankenfurter came down in the\u00a0elevator and began singing \u201cSweet Transvestite\u201d, you could hear the\u00a0collective gasp of the Corps and the rapid exit of a large portion of the\u00a0audience.<\/p>\n

AggieCon was also great because the Memorial Student Center\u00a0there had a large serpentine lounge known as Phred. I spent many\u00a0fine evenings on the sofas there discussing books, films, and life in\u00a0general with writers I had met there, like Joe R. Lansdale, Bill Crider,\u00a0James Reasoner, and Neal Barrett, Jr. At first we were left alone to\u00a0our discussions but over the years other fans came to hang out, listen\u00a0to our conversations, and contribute. Few who were there will ever\u00a0forget the \u201cMars Needs Chickens\u201d discussion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Excerpt from \u201cBooks Are My Thing: Adventures in Texas Science Fiction\u201d \u00a9 2013 by Scott A. Cupp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we barrel toward the August 29 premiere of\u00a0Rayguns Over Texas\u00a0at\u00a0LoneStarCon 3\u00a0(aka the 71st Annual World Science Fiction Convention) in San Antonio, I am presenting book excerpts, one contributor per day. Today\u2019s selection comes from Scott A. Cupp‘s memoir “Books … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-rayguns-over-texas"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n