Editing William Ashbless (section)

==As a character==
Ashbless is, however, best known in his incarnation as a 19th-century poet, in which guise he appears in Powers' ''[[The Anubis Gates]]'' (1983) and as a lesser character in Blaylock's ''[[The Digging Leviathan]]'' (1984). Neither author was aware that the other's novel contained a William Ashbless until the coincidence was noticed by the editor responsible for both books, who suggested that the two consult one another so that their references would be consistent. Ashbless also features (as Sir William Ashbless) in Powers' 1979 novel ''[[The Drawing of the Dark]]'', credited with a brief quote before the book's prologue:

{{Quote|text=If but we Christians have our beer,
 Nothing's to fear.}}

In his 1992 novel ''[[Last Call (novel)|Last Call]]'' ({{ISBN|0-688-10732-X}}), Tim Powers includes a poem attributed to William Ashbless in the introduction to Book One. The poem is "from" a later time period, as it mentions airplanes, cars, and blue jeans.

Powers' novel ''[[On Stranger Tides]]'' opens with an excerpt from a poem by William Ashbless, implying that the novel's name is in reference to the poem:

{{Quote|text=...And unmoor'd souls may drift on stranger tides 
Than those men know of, and be overthrown
By winds that would not even stir a hair...}}