Day: December 1, 2010

Our Super Secret Guest is…
Patrick Nielsen Hayden!

Patrick Nielsen Hayden is a World Fantasy and Hugo Award-winning fiction editor at TOR Books. He’s brought to our shelves amazing books by Emma Bull, John Scalzi, Charles de Lint, Ben Bova, George Alec Effinger, Cory Doctorow, Jo Walton, Susanna Clarke, Christopher Priest, Adam Stemple, Glen Cook, David Weber, David Langford, John Barnes, Robert Holdstock, George R. R. Martin, and Arthur C. Clarke. He’s also an essayist and reviewer who teaches workshops in places like Viable Paradise and both Clarions.

And…he’s also a very talented musician. Patrick plays two guitars. A Taylor acoustic (“I’m much more of a lifelong acoustic guitar player than electric.”) and a year-2000 Fender-made reproduction of a classic 1952 Telecaster. (“Faithful to a fault, it’s a commemorative edition that I bought used. The varnish on the body is nitro-cellulose, not acetylene; it’s all 1952 ingredients. The pickups are wrapped in waxed string. The biggest downside to this is the authentic 1952 sucky tuning mechanism. Otherwise it’s a gorgeous guitar, and it has that great authentic American twangy sound that all Telecasters have — in spades. The first time I played that guitar it had opinions about what kind of music it should be playing.”) He plays the electric with the Americana rock quartet, Whisperado. If we’re lucky he’ll be playing both of them here at GAFilk, and singing along with his wife, the talented editor Teresa Nielsen Hayden.

When considering GAFilk’s criteria of characteristics that make for a good Super Secret Guest, Patrick really stands out. He’s genial, personable, and musical. He has interesting opinions about the stories we read and the world we share, and he loves to talk about them. Plus, he’s contributed to the sf and fantasy community in ways that some people may never appreciate…but we all should. We think GAFilk will be an eye- (and ear) opener for all of us.