Charles Platt (Author)

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Charles Platt (born April 26, 1945 in London ) is an American science fiction writer of British origin.

Life

Charles Platt studied for a year at Cambridge University in 1962 , after which he attended the London College of Printing , where he graduated with a diploma. He tried his hand at various professions, including being the organist of a pop group and working as a photographer and graphic designer .

In addition, Platt was an active member of the science fiction fandom . He founded the Cambridge University SF Society in 1963 and published a number of fanzines in the 1960s , including Point of View (later Beyond , 1963-1965, 8 issues), Gormless (1963, one-shot), Insomnia (1964, One -shot), Garbistan (1965, one-shot) and Tomorrowscope (1965, 4 issues). In the 1980s, Platt was still the fanzines Patchin Review (1981–1985, 7 issues) and Rem (1985–1986, 5 issues).

As an SF short story writer, Platt began with the short story One of Those Days , which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1964 . In 1966, the debut novel Garbage World appeared in two parts in New Worlds . It is about an asteroid called copra , which serves as an interplanetary dump and on which a new form of life has developed.

When Michael Moorcock was now editor of the SF magazine New Worlds , gave the magazine a new direction and made it the “central organ” of the New Wave in science fiction, Platt was initially responsible for design and layout in 1967 and was in the years 1969-1979 multiply two of the editors of the magazine and associate editor 1973/1974 volumes of the New Worlds Quarterly - anthology series . His full-time work ended in 1970 when he went to the USA to work as editor of SF book series for the publishers Avon Books (1972–1974), Condor Publishing (1977–1978) and Franklin Watts (1986–1988) work.

As a writer, Platt did not limit himself to the SF genre. In addition to his science fiction, he also wrote a pornographic trilogy consisting of The Gas (1970, German as Uninhibited or Gas ), The Power and the Pain (1971) and Sweet Evil (1977). The first volume was even confiscated as pornography in the UK . Then he wrote non-fiction and advice, starting in 1976 with a guide for survival in the wilderness, followed by a book on the Commodore 64 home computer and from 2009 on with maker literature, including a three-volume encyclopedia on electronic components .

In connection with science fiction, however, his Dream Maker interview volumes should be mentioned above all : In 1980 and 1983, two volumes with interviews with important and well-known science fiction authors appeared. They were each nominated for the Hugo Award , Volume II received the Locus Award in 1984. In 1987 a revised selection of the interviews appeared under the title Dream Makers: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at Work . In 2001 the collection of essays Loose Canon appeared , in which Platt takes a very critical look at the condition and goals of the SF. He has not published any SFs himself since 1997.

Platt lives in the US, where he was naturalized. In the 1970s he was married to Jemima Gerrold, with whom he has two sons (born in 1972 and 1973).

bibliography

Christina Van Bell (series of novels, as Blakely St. James)
  • 3 A Song for Christina (1976)
  • 9 Christina Enchanted (1980)
  • Christina's Touch (1981)
Novels
  • Garbage World (1966, 1967)
    • English: Asteroid of the Outcasts. Pabel-Moewig (Terra Astra # 139), 1974.
  • The Gas (1970)
    • German: Uninhibited. Translated by Michael Glaser. Olympia-Press-Taschenbücher # 43, 1972. Also as: Gas. Translated by Joachim Körber. Edition Phantasia, 1986, ISBN 3-924959-05-6 .
  • The City Dwellers (1970, also as Twilight of the City , 1977)
    • English: Twilight over the city: a novel of the near future. Translated by Hans Maeter. Heyne SF&F # 3880, 1982, ISBN 3-453-30767-4 .
  • The Image Job (1971)
  • The Power and the Pain (1971)
  • Planet of the Voles (1971)
  • Sweet Evil (1977)
  • Love's Savage Embrace (1981, as Charlotte Prentiss)
  • Double Delight (1983, as Aston Cantwell)
  • Tease for Two (1983, as Aston Cantwell)
  • Less Than Human (1986, as Robert Clarke)
  • How to be a happy cat (1986, with drawings by Gray Jolliffe)
    • German: Cats like it hot. Translated by Wolfgang E. Hohlbein. Goldmann TB # 8891, 1987, ISBN 3-442-08891-7 .
  • Plasm ( Worlds of Chthon # 3, 1987)
  • Soma ( Worlds of Chthon # 4, 1989)
  • Free Zone (1989)
  • The Silicon Man (1991)
  • Children of the Ice (1993, as Charlotte Prentiss)
  • Protector (1996)
Short stories
  • One of Those Days (1964)
  • Lone Zone (1965)
  • Cultural Invasion (1965)
  • The Failures (1966)
  • The Disaster Story (1966)
    • German: The end of the world. In: Frank Rainer Scheck (Ed.): Koitus 80. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 1970.
  • The Rodent Laboratory (1966)
  • A Taste of the Afterlife (1966, with Barrington J. Bayley)
    • German: foretaste of afterlife. In: HJ Alpers (Hrsg.): Kopernikus 3. Moewig (Moewig Science Fiction # 3523), 1981, ISBN 3-8118-3523-8 .
  • The Total Experience Kick (1966)
  • The City Dwellers (1967)
  • Direction (1969)
  • ID (1969)
  • Norman Vs. America (1971)
  • A Cleansing of the System (1972)
  • New York Times (1972)
  • Jo (1972)
  • The Coldness (1973)
  • Starhaven (1982, with Shawna McCarthy)
  • Skiffygram: Fifty Science-Fictional Concepts in 100 Words (1988)
  • Dark Desires (1992)
  • The Ides of Lust (1997)
  • The Gnirut Test (2008)
  • The Red Dream (not published)
Non-fiction
  • Outdoor Survival (1976)
  • Dream Makers: The Uncommon People Who Write Science Fiction (1980, also as Who Writes Science Fiction?, 1980)
    • German: Shaper of the future: Science fiction and who makes it. Edition SF in Hohenheim Verlag, 1982, ISBN 3-8147-0021-X .
  • Dream Makers, Volume II: The Uncommon Men & Women Who Write Science Fiction (1983)
  • The Whole-Truth Home Computer Handbook (1984, UK edition with David Langford as Micromania: The Whole Truth About Home Computers )
    • German: Computer fever! : The art of getting fully involved with the microcomputer and still keeping a cool head. Translated by Tony Westermayr. Heyne Computer Books # 15, 1984, ISBN 3-453-47051-6 .
  • Graphics guide to the Commodore 64 (1984)
    • German: Commodore 64, graphics and design. Translated by Wolfgang Dederichs. Sybex, Berkeley & Düsseldorf 1984, ISBN 3-88745-073-6 .
  • Dream Makers: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers at Work (1987)
  • When You Can Live Twice as Long, What Will You Do and 99 Other Questions You May Have to Answer… Sooner Than You Think (1989)
  • Anarchy Online (1997)
  • Loose Canon (2001, essays)
  • Make: Electronics: Learn by Discovery (2009)
    • German: Make: Electronics: test, tinker, try - learn disrespectfully! : An introduction for hobbyists, geeks, and artists. Translated by Philip Steffan. O'Reilly, 2010, ISBN 978-3-89721-601-3 . 2nd edition 2016 as: Make: Electronics: An entertaining introduction for makers, kids and hobbyists.
  • Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 1: Power Sources & Conversion: Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors, Switches, Encoders, Relays, Transistors (2012)
  • Make: More Electronics: 36 Illustrated Experiments That Explain Logic Chips, Amplifiers, Sensors, And More (2013)
  • Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 2: Signal Processing: Diodes, Transistors, Chips, Light, Heat, and Sound Emitters (2014, with Fredrik Jansson, also as Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 2: Signal Processing: LEDs, LCDs, Audio, Thyristors, Digital logic, amplification )
  • Make: More Electronics Learning Through Discovery (2014)
  • Make: More Electronics: Journey Deep Into The World Of Logic Chips, Amplifiers, Sensors, And Randomicity (2014)
  • Make: Tools: A Beginner's Guide to How They Work and How to Use Them (2016)
    • German: Tools for makers and hobbyists: hammer, saw & Co. - build your own projects with simple tools. Translated by Frank Langenau. Dpunkt, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86490-460-8 .
  • Encyclopedia of Electronic Components Volume 3: Sensors: Location, Presence, Proximity, Orientation, Oscillation, Force, Load, Human Input, Liquid and Gas Properties, Light, Heat, Sound, Electricity (2016, with Fredrik Jansson)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to the Science Fiction Encyclopedia , Platt is said to have given up his middle name Michael when he was naturalized in the USA . According to Robert Reginald, the middle name is Nathaniel.
  2. ^ Reginald in Contemporary Science Fiction Authors and D. Douglas Fratz in Twentieth-Century Science-Fiction Writers , according to Platt was born in Hertfordshire , a county north of London. London as the place of birth is mentioned by the Science Fiction Encyclopedia and taken over by the ISFDB . Until August 2015, the SFE also had Letchworth in Hertfordshire as its birthplace.
  3. ↑ Cf. ancient Greek κόπρος kópros for “excrement”, “dung”, “dung”.
  4. ↑ Except for an article in a webzine published by Rudy Rucker in 2008.
personal data
SURNAME Platt, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cantwell, Aston (pseudonym); Clara, cousin (pseudonym); Clarke, Robert (pen name); Prentiss, Charlotte (pseudonym); Purcell, Helen (pen name); Snitch, Gabby (pseudonym); St. James, Blakely (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British-American science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH London