X-Message-Number: 1960 Date: 14 Mar 93 20:48:28 EST From: Charles Platt <> Subject: CRYONICS "Chiller"/Sterling Blake To: Cryonet Nick Szabo has told us that CHILLER, the upcoming novel by "Sterling Blake," is actually written by Gregory Benford. Benford has asked me to post the following message. ------------------------------------------------------------- Gregory Benford was hoping that he would not be identified as the author of CHILLER (at least, not yet). CHILLER will be marketed as a suspense novel; his name is associated with science fiction. It will be easier to market the book if distributors and retailers do not think of the author as a science-fiction writer. ------------------------------------------------------------- Gregory Benford showed me the manuscript of CHILLER some time ago. He also showed it to several people in Alcor. I'm afraid it isn't the kind of book that Nick Szabo is hoping for. It's a suspense novel in which cryonicists just happen to be the good guys, and cryonics just happens to be the field of special interest. My personal feeling is that the book may function as a Trojan horse, taking cryonics into the minds of unsuspecting readers who buy it expecting something like, say, a police procedural. Advance copies of CHILLER were sent to most book stores earlier this year. The book should be on general sale in June. So far as I know, there is no truth to the rumor that in addition to using the name Sterling Blake, Gregory Benford may write under the name Clarissa Wells from time to time. --Charles Platt Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=1960