[QUOTE]Originally posted by philnic:
To be honest, I don't think any publisher will be impressed by a home-made mock-up of the imagined book.


I thought as much. I'm told this can be part of the procedure with children's picture books, but of course, this is a different thing. Anyway, I would at least suggest some cover art: perhaps the inspiration for 'The Gift'?

'Tis the season to bump this up.

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
'Tis the season to bump this up.

Thanks, dandelion. Re-reading these posts has re-ignited my interest in this idea.

After reading A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas again, I think the imagery and metaphor employed gives some promise of what Ray could have done with Christmas had he been so inclined.

I had always wondered why Bradbury's story "Christmas on Mars" was never published (despite supposedly being sold to Esquire in the early 1950s). The answer is in a 1954 letter that Bradbury wrote to editor Fred Pohl which appears in Jon Eller's new book REMEMBRANCE: SELECTED CORRESPONDENCE OF RAY BRADBURY. In this letter, Bradbury says "Dear Fred, thanks for yours[letter] of the 1st of November and the horrible manuscript "Christmas on Mars" which I burnt immediately. I am dismayed that you ever thought well enough of it to use it; my faith in you is shaken, believe me. I have sent a new story "The Strawberry Window" to Ian. I'll pay you blackmail for the next 20 years never to mention the Christmas tale." It appears that Ray truly hated the story and that's why he never allowed it to be published, even in the so-called "Complete Edition" of THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES published by Subterranean Press. This new book of letters adds some information that I haven't seen in any other biographical book about Bradbury. I know that some version of the "Christmas on Mars" manuscript still exists and I would be curious to read it to see if it's as bad as he thought it was, but I doubt it will ever be published.

Yes, JRES100, Ray Bradbury had definite ideas about the merit of his work and whether it was worthy of publication. For another example: several years ago I acquired a Bradbury manuscript of a story written by Ray in 1950 called "Noon Country." Apparently, Ray had gifted the manuscript to a friend, and it eventually found its way to a different person who wanted to publish it in his fanzine. In 1966, that person wrote to Ray asking for permission to do so. Ray wrote back, saying he did not recall a story with that name and asking for the manuscript to be sent to him so he could "decide whether it is good enough to publish, even in a fanzine." Ray received the manuscript, and later returned it to the fan, with a cover letter dated May 23, 1966 that stated, in part: "Yes, now I know NOON COUNTRY. I have a copy in my files under another title...NOON COUNTRY is a nice bit of material as a curiosity, but not good enough to submit or be published by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, amateur or professional...This is a very very young young story, written when I was 29 years old. It deserves to remain unread and unnoticed by the world."

(And by the way, the emoji is mine, not Ray's!)

"This is a very very young young story, written when I was 29 years old. It deserves to remain unread and unnoticed by the world."

Richard, that is an interesting quote. Ray makes it sound as if most of what he wrote at age 29 was crap. Did he forget that he had basically completed THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES by age 29? Not to mention a ton of other classic stories? I'm sure he did have his share of lower-quality stories in his unpublished files, but most writers would have felt incredibly fortunate and proud to have written so many great stories by age 29! However, writers often have a different view of their career compared to readers and critics.

In the case of "Christmas on Mars," he must have initially liked the story or he wouldn't have sent it out to be marketed. He must have changed his mind about the story's quality later on. From that letter I quoted from it appears that Fred Pohl liked "Christmas on Mars" enough to publish it until Bradbury nixed the idea. I wonder if he did literally burn it when he got it back? That would be ironic considering the theme of FAHRENHEIT 451. But I guess writers have the right to perform self-censorship, even if readers might prefer a chance to judge the quality for themselves.