（外文电子版资料）Charles L. Grant - Glow of Candles, Unicorns eye.pdf

file:///G|/rah/Glow%20of%20Candles,%20a%20Unicorns%20Eye.txt Version 0.5 dtd 033100 A GLOW OF CANDLES, A UNICORNS EYE* Charles L. Grant I mentioned the fact that writers need to serve an apprenticeship in order to master their craft. Charles Grant surely did, In one of the hardest and most thankless jobs any writer has ever taken on. His exalted title was Executive Secretary of the Science Fiction Writers of America; but the reality behind-the hyperbole was that he was the person who did everything the volunteer committee people and officers of SFWA were supposed to do, but didnt. And he learned-as Is proven by stories like A Glow of Candles, A Unicorns Eye. There are no gods but those that are muses. You may quote me on that if you are in need of an argument. Its original. One of the few truly original things I have done with my life, in my life, throughout my life, which has been spent in mostly running. Bad grammar that, I suppose. But nevertheless true for the adverb poorly placed. And how poorly placed have I been. Not that I am complaining, you understand. I could have, and with cause, some thirty years ago, and for the first thirty-seven I did-though the causes were much more nebulous. But the complaints I have now are of the softer kind, the kind that grows out of loving, and are meant-in loving-not to be heard, not to be taken seriously. For example, consider my beard. Helena loved it, once she became accustomed to its prickly assaults. But I do not need it anymore. There is no need for the hiding because I have been forgiven my sins-or so it says here on this elegant paper I must carry with me in case the message has been lost-forgiven my *Winner, Nebula, for Best Novelette of 1978. trespasses. But I like the stupid beard now. Its lacing of gray lends a certain dignity to a face that is never the same twice in one week. And it helps me to forget what I am beneath the costumes and the makeup and the words th