- Engineer
- Scientist
- Pilot
- Science writer
- Science fiction writer
- Columnist
- Inventer
- And so much more...
I was invited to sit down with him and chat about whatever I wanted. The first topic we discussed was his pseudonym (Lee Correy) and the fact that, in the pre-Internet age, it took almost three years to conclusively prove that G. Harry Stine (science writer) was also Lee Correy (science fiction writer). He told me that he'd never tried to hide the connection. In the 1950s, while working on rocket propulsion, his boss told him that he needed to use a pen name to separate his science work from his science fiction work. He also mentioned that a short time before our meeting, he'd been sitting on a panel with L. Sprague de Camp and mentioned that Lee Correy needed to write another book. De Camp, a friend for decades, was flabbergasted that Stine had never told him of his alter ego.
During the course of our meeting, I realized that Mr. Stine was interviewing me as much as I was chatting with him. When I asked him about this, he said that his mentor, Robert A. Heinlein, used to say that writers compete for people's beer money. If you like a writer's stories, you spend your beer money on that. When you stop liking a writer's stories, you go back to spending your money on beer!
I also asked him about his writing process. Mr. Stine said that Heinlein taught him to sit down at the keyboard (typewriter at first and, later, a word processor) with a blank sheet of paper in the machine starting at a given time each day and staying there for a certain amount of time. Sometimes you write and sometimes you don't, but you make the time and take the time to try to write.
Before we parted that day, I gave Mr. Stine a money clip attached to a miniature USAF Fire Protection badge. He smiled and showed it proudly to his wife, then said, "You know I'm involved in your career field, don't ya?" I later found out he served on 25 different National Fire Protection Association standards committees on everything from model rocketry to high explosives.
Mr. Stine and I maintained an occasional written correspondence for several years until his passing. I treasure my memories of our meeting and his willingness to share what he learned from his mentor, Robert A. Heinlein, with me.
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As a kid, I used to bang out stories on an old Sears manual typewriter my parents purchased for me. Many of these stories were stuck into folders and have long since been lost to the ages (or the trash can...). Quite a few of the stories were written and sent to DC Comics (home of Superman and Batman among others) and to one editor in particular, Julius Schwartz.
Mr Schwartz had a nickname, B.O. which stood for...Be Original. I could wallpaper a room with the rejection letters I received from Mr. Schwartz over the years but I must say this about the man. In his letters, he ALWAYS took the time to explain why my story idea wouldn't work and he ALWAYS encouraged me to keep trying.
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I became a technical writer at the USAF Fire School (Chanute AFB, IL) back in 1987 and went through an intensive 6-week course on technical writing and editing. This training ruined me for casual reading and writing for several years. I would obsess over even the most minor of errors. During that time, I devised and revised my assigned course documents time and time again.
It's only been in the last few years that I've returned to writing for personal reasons:
- My family and friends have encouraged me to put my stories into written form. (I suspect that they think my out-dated grey matter hard drive with limited storage space might crash!)
- I've watched a number of story ideas that I came up with be autonomously generated and published by other writers. (They didn't steal them. They came up with the ideas after I failed to publish mine!)
- I'd like to see my stories published and e-publishing has given me an avenue to do so.
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As a technical editor for the premiere fire service training materials company, I spend a lot of time researching, writing, reviewing, editing...oh, and conducting photography, too! I have to admit, it's taken me many years to want to come home after work and sit down and write. But the words of Heinlein, as repeated by Stine, ring true. If a writer truly wants to write, they must make the time to sit down and take the time to write.
My introduction to Hubpages helped me break through the barriers and start writing for myself again. In fact, while it is late at night as I write this, I'll probably spend at least an hour working on Chapter One of The Colony on Terra-Bravo before turning in for the night.
Gotta run for now. The colonists of Terra-Bravo beckon...
Stay safe!
Jeff
© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2013
Thursday, August 8, 2013
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