I don't get it. Hiring you ought to be a no-brainer.... they're thinking too hard.

Foundation was the series that really opened my eyes to the connection between my SF upbringing and my history vocation. Ever read Asimov's short stories? He wrote hundreds, I think.

I have 40-50 Asimov books so while I don't claim to have all of his SF stuff, I'm willing to bet I have most of it that's been collected into book form. I was a huge fan of his writing when I was younger. (Well, and now too, of course.)

And, yes, you're right that it's the "history" aspect of the Foundation/Empire series that's really fascinating. As sketchy and simplistic as his worlds and cultures are, there's a scope to it--a fascination with watching the (selected) cultures evolve through hundreds and thousands of years.

Thanks for the kind words about the job hunt. I can't really figure out what it is employers today are looking for that I'm not able to provide. In my youth (i.e., any time five or more years ago) it wasn't unusual for me to be offered almost every single position I interviewed for. Clearly something has changed, but there's no way in today's litigation-happy society that I'd be able to sweet-talk any of the interviewers into telling me the truth about why I wasn't selected.

After talking to the R.C., I've decided to send a "feeler" email back to that company and mention that I know they're hiring for several positions and that I'd be very interested in talking with them about one of them. We'll see what happens....

(For what it's worth, I think you should find it very easy to get hired yourself. Your qualifications are obvious.)

I'm actually feeling better about this year's job hunt than last year's (I put a few applications in, and had some first-round interviews, but nothing more) because some long-delayed publications have finally come through. I have a publishing record now, so my research agenda doesn't look like fantasy (social science fiction).

It's tough to get straight answers out of HR people. The way I was taught to ask the question is "is there anything I could do to strengthen my application" (for other jobs, of course; you're not asking them to reconsider you.) and I've gotten some decent results with that. Though I admit that I haven't tried in a while: usually the answer is "publish."

I should know better than to ask the "have you read" question, because you're generally much better read than I am, except in history. Thiotimoline!

Heh. I actually loved that "paper"--well, story. A nice spoof of the "academic" writing style, but there's something about internally consistent gibberish that amuses me. It was like Asimov channeling Lewis Carroll. :)

I'm not that well-read, outside of SF/F and mysteries of the Victorian and Golden ages. Aside from those, I dabble in mythology, politics (recently), history, and philosophy. Some day, I'd like to be really well-read, but I'd have to lay aside fiction for a number of years to achieve that.

I like your HR question. I'd use it except that once a company has decided to reject you these days, they're so afraid of a lawsuit that you can never get them to say anything except, "we found a candidate who better suited our needs" which is useless. And generally you get rejected via email because no one has the courage (or the time?) to call interviewees and reject them personally.

I'm glad you feel good about this year's job-hunt. With freshly published papers under your belt, you should have everything anyone could ask for in a candidate!