In my continuing efforts to sent a short note of thanks to those authors still with us who have encouraged me through their writings and words to keep up my own writing, and who therefore played some part in my selling a story, I posted the following message on a bulletin board that I know Harlan Ellison reads and responds to:
A Brief Thank You
Harlan —I just wanted to say a brief thank you. I recent sold my first story after years and years of trying, and I couldn’t have done it without the encouragement I got from reading your stories, and attending some of your talks. There are a handful of writers that have strongly influenced my own writing over the years: Isaac Asimov, Barry Malzberg and of course, Harlan Ellison.
I met you at Dangerous Visions once or twice back when I lived in Studio City, and I’ve attended a few of your talks. I remember a talk you gave at the Learning Tree in 1995 where you gave a dramatic reading of your story, “Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral” that left me breathless and incredibly impressed.
All of it, your stories, your essays, your talks, kept me motivated through the years, kept me telling myself, “I wanna be like HIM,” and kept me from ever giving up. And I finally did it and I have you, in part, to thank.
So thanks for the encouragement, and thanks for the great stories.
Sincerely,
Jamie Todd Rubin
Riverdale, Maryland
I’ll let you know if I hear back from him…
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