Liz Hand interview

Fri 18 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Liz Hand interview | Posted by: Gavin

Yesterday Liz Hand was in town for a reading (more about that later) and she went down into the root cellar to be interviewed by Jedediah Berry about art, photography, music, and more.

She was very composed for someone who was trapped down there revising Generation Loss for 3 weeks late last year.


A. DeNiro in a pod

Thu 17 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on A. DeNiro in a pod | Posted by: Gavin

Don’t miss the Bat Segundo / Pinky’s Paperhaus interview with Lit Blog Coop spring Read This! pick A. “Space Poetry” DeNiro.

LBC Podcast #3: A. DeNiro

Lbcdeniro Nominator: Carolyn Kellogg

Nominee: Alan DeNiro

(A co-production of the LBC, Pinky’s Paperhaus and The Bat Segundo Show.)

 

 

 


2 x John Crowley

Wed 16 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on 2 x John Crowley | Posted by: Gavin

Tonight: KGB Bar in New York City.

Tomorrow: Artifacts, Florence (Northampton), Mass.—with Liz Hand, Paul Park, 2/4 of the Winterpills, & Others.

In other Crowley news (from John’s blog) he reports that the 25th Anniversary edition of Little, Big banneris moving along and may be out by September.


Mon 14 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Birnbaum on Generation Loss (where he notes our antecedents and gets a plug in for AVH Books). GL was also mentioned in Sarah Weinman’s Dark Passages column on the LA Times:

Cass is a marvel, someone with whom we take the difficult journey toward delayed adulthood, wishing her encouragement despite grave odds.

Very much enjoying the friction in the reviews that comes from the book being a page turner about a superficially unlikable character. Must gather the quotes on Cass at some point.

We have good news about an ’08* title which we will spill (the news, not the title) at some point soon. (In other words: we have a new book coming, yay! 1 of 3 we’re planning so far. Hello future.)

Mr. William Smith, writer of an occasional film column for our august journal, has a bookity bloggity thing here where much pro-zombie writing will no doubt be posted.

LCRW, that journal, that zine, is in progress: we have a cover and it can be ordered (although there is no page for the zine yet). The final contents will not be known until WisCon or so. We are far behind in our LCRW reading, sorry writers. 3 months reply? Nope. Not any more. Not for a while.

* Updated to say: stupid WordPress. Putting an apostrophe before 08 (as: ’08) gives the wrong apostrophe. A quick look at a fave reference (Thanks Webmonkey!) gives the correct character (’) for it. Pah. We defeats the internet.


Mon 14 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , , | 1 Comment | Posted by: Gavin

Birnbaum on Generation Loss (where he notes our antecedents and gets a plug in for AVH Books). GL was also mentioned in Sarah Weinman’s Dark Passages column on the LA Times:

Cass is a marvel, someone with whom we take the difficult journey toward delayed adulthood, wishing her encouragement despite grave odds.

Very much enjoying the friction in the reviews that comes from the book being a page turner about a superficially unlikable character. Must gather the quotes on Cass at some point.

We have good news about an ’08* title which we will spill (the news, not the title) at some point soon. (In other words: we have a new book coming, yay! 1 of 3 we’re planning so far. Hello future.)

Mr. William Smith, writer of an occasional film column for our august journal, has a bookity bloggity thing here where much pro-zombie writing will no doubt be posted.

LCRW, that journal, that zine, is in progress: we have a cover and it can be ordered (although there is no page for the zine yet). The final contents will not be known until WisCon or so. We are far behind in our LCRW reading, sorry writers. 3 months reply? Nope. Not any more. Not for a while.

* Updated to say: stupid WordPress. Putting an apostrophe before 08 (as: ’08) gives the wrong apostrophe. A quick look at a fave reference (Thanks Webmonkey!) gives the correct character (’) for it. Pah. We defeats the internet.


LCRW newsletter

Thu 10 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on LCRW newsletter | Posted by: Gavin

Table of Contents

1. Oh, Happy Day: Awards News
2. Exquisite Memoir: And Now We Are Going to Have a Party by Nicola Griffith
3. More New Releases: A t-shirt and two prints
3. Meet Us: P&S at Wiscon 31
4. Last Copies: Mecca|Mettle by Thomas M. Disch and BlöödHag; “Postcards of Doom” by 30 illustrators
5. Upcoming Projects: Matthew Hughes and Thomas M. Disch

***

Yes, that Table of Contents is actually from the Payseur & Schmidt newsletter, which you can subscribe to here and is full of interesting books that you should snap up because they are 1) beautiful 2) wow 3) unique 4) not usually reprinted 5) must be encouraged so that they keep this crazy stuff up long enough for us to finish our Epic poem on the Post Industrial Age titled Wooden Wheel Types, A Spoken History.

This week is a biggie for Small Beer, too. It’s Alan DeNiro week at the Lit Blog Coop, Monday was the publication day for Endless Things, yellow tulips came up then were eaten by bunnies in the backyard, and Generation Loss received a stunner of a review in the Washington Post (and a starred review in Booklist: buy, librarians, buy!). And we are trying to remember the recipe for LCRW. More on this stuff (and more) below. More. Losing the meaning now. More.

Hot! We are planting fruit trees. How about you?

Another TOC

Liz Hand
John Crowley
LCRW
Interfictions
Laurie J. Marks
Kelly Link

++++++

Generation Loss is the first book we’ve published by Elizabeth Hand. Yay! It is dark, unremitting, looks at art and says What the Hell? and pops a few pills on the way. Is Maine weird? Sometimes.

Liz is about to go out on tour. Hear her here. Read.
 Interview on Bookslut.
Washington Post
Largehearted Boy
EW

Tonight: Thursday May 10 7 PM
Olsson’s, 7th Street NW, Washington DC 20004, 202.638.7610

Thursday May 17 7 PM
Artifacts, 28 North Maple Street, Florence, MA 01062, 413-320-9480
—reading with John Crowley, Paul Park,& others, & music from Flora Reed & Philip Price (of the Winterpills).

Friday May 18 Time TBA
Hiram Halle Memorial Library, 271 Westchester Avenue, Pound Ridge, NY 10576, (914) 764-5085

Saturday May 19 2 PM
Borders, 162 E Main St., Mt Kisco, NY 10549, (914) 241-8387

Wednesday May 23 7 PM
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, (800) 542-READ

Megan Sullivan of Harvard Book Store recommends Generation Loss in the Boston Globe:
“This smart, dark, literary thriller will keep you up at night. A photographer who has been drinking, doing drugs, and alienating everyone around her since the ’70s goes to Maine to interview a legendary photographer and gets caught up in the case of a missing girl.”

Sunday May 27 7 PM
Sherman’s Books, 8 Bay View Street, Camden, ME 04843, 1-207-236-2223

BookExpo America
Jacob Javits Center, New York City
Signing: Sat. June 2, 12-12.30 PM
Reading: Sun. June 3 10.30 AM (Foreword Second Stage)

June 23+24
Maine Festival of the Book, Portland, ME (Reading and panel participant)

+++++++

John Crowley’s 4-part novel Aegypt is completed in Endless Things, a beautiful book that manages to end many strands of story without being elegiac or closing down the narratives — a feat few authors could handle and few readers of the series might have believed. It is a deep, sometimes hilarious, and hopeful novel that readers will be able to dig into and enjoy for long stretches of the summer.

The cover is an irresistibly attractive photograph by Rosamond Purcell from Bookworms.

John reads (with Sarah Langan) at KGB Bar in New York City on May 16 and on the 17th at Artifacts in Florence (Northampton), MA.

The first three books in the Aegpyt series are being reprinted in trade paperback by the Overlook Press beginning in autumn.

Reviews of Endless Things:
Book Forum
Green Man Review

+++++++

Want to see some neat art coming out of the Vermont Center for Cartoon Studies? Here’s a neat site from Colleen Frakes and Jon-Mikel Gates: Cowboy Orange.
We went up for a visit (in a snow storm, hard to believe now) and were blown away by the concentration of good art and artists. We’ll post more links as time goes by.

+++++++

Alan DeNiro’s collection Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead is the Spring Read This! Pick (thanks, Pinky!) this week at the Lit Blog Coop.

If you loved the book or hated it, go tell them, link to it, post about it and then post about your post and call your local radio and tell them. These Lit Bloggers are the book reviewers of today and tomorrow and they are looking to talk to the whole interewebs — and get the internet talking. Their combined voices (and individually on their blogs) are an interesting strand in the cross-all-genres conversation of the moment.

One part of our contribution is an interview with Alan recorded while he was in town for the UMass Amherst Juniper Festival (he’s a good reader and a great panelist, please consider adding him to you festival!). We waited until Alan was hungry, tired, and looked like a greyhound, then got out the difficult questions. (Alan’s signature drink it…?)
Here.

+++++++

LCRW links

The new one is in the pot and getting ready to boil. Or something. The latest store to add LCRW to its backroom stores:

Magers and Quinn Booksellers
3038 Hennepin Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Which is a great and groovy store.

The Best of LCRW is on track for a September release from Del Rey. Wacky, no? It should be called The Best of LCRW (So Far), but that didn’t fit on the jacket. So please write that on the cover (or title page) when you get your copy.
It is an excellent book, or at least the parts not written by us are brilliant. Will the world be shaken when it comes out? It will shake with joy at Dan Chaon’s introduction. Then it will be assigned to classes and become part of the Harold Bloom-approved Western Canon. Then kids will start writing haiku as protest and we will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes. We will escape on our jetpacks. We don’t know what future you’re living in, but in ours: we have jetpacks.

+++++++

Huge local event!

A Speculatively Spectacular Evening with:

Elizabeth Hand (Generation Loss)
John Crowley (Endless Things)
Paul Park (The White Tyger)
Flora Reed & Philip Price (of the Winterpills)
& a selection of interstitial material (i.e. in the breaks) from Michael DeLuca, Jedediah Berry, Diana Gordon, &c.

Celebrate spring with Small Beer Press’s Speculatively Spectacular evening of art, readings, music, and perhaps a little more. Beginning at 7 p.m. on May 17, the event will be held at Artifacts, a new gallery at 28 North Maple Street in Florence, MA. Artifacts is housed in a converted warehouse, where guests will be able to meet the authors, listen, dance if they are so inclined, and mingle as three bestselling authors showcase their latest offerings.
John Crowley, Elizabeth Hand, and Paul Park will headline the event. Crowley, who lives in Conway and teaches at Yale, and Hand, who lives on the Maine coast, will be reading from their recently published novels. Park, who teaches at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, will read from his latest novel, The White Tyger.
A variety of other local authors will read their work, including a number of contributors to Small Beer Press’s tiny lit zine, LCRW.
The evening will be topped off by Flora Reed and Philip Price (of the critically-acclaimed Winterpills), who will provide musical entertainment.
Guests will be expected to peruse the art, be polite to the authors, provide good conversation, and, on leaving, remember where they parked their jetpacks.

————————————————————————————————————————

When: Thursday, May 17, 7 PM

Where: Artifacts
28 North Maple Street
Florence, MA 01062
413-320-9480

Art: Appropriately for Maine author Elizabeth Hand’s post-punk lit thriller Generation Loss, Artifacts will hold over the photographs from Susie J. Horgan’s Punk Love.

Music: Flora Reed & Philip Price (of the critically-acclaimed Winterpills).

Refreshments: Will be provided. As will seats, walls, windows, and doors.

Tickets: This is not a ticketed event and entrance is free.

Books: The authors’ books will be available on the night at a table manned by stalwart booksellers from Amherst Books.

+++++++

Interfictions

Ther first Interstitial Arts Foundation anthology, Interfictions, is out online and in the real world. 19 new stories at a buck a piece plus a freebie—you read it and tell us here which story is the the bonus one! The authors include newer writers as well as a few who are more well known. Adding to the depth of the book are three translations — one each from Spanish, French, and Hungarian — which goes a tiny way to filling the translation gap.

The authors involved are: Anna Tambour, Catherynne M. Valente, Christopher Barzak, Colin Greenland, Csilla Kleinheincz, Holly Phillips, Jon Singer, Joy Marchand, K. Tempest Bradford, Lea Silhol, Leslie What, Matthew Cheney, Michael J. DeLuca, Mikal Trimm, Rachel Pollack, Vandana Singh, and Veronica Schanoes.

We recently did a giveaway for copies of Interfictions. Copies went to the following readers who will paint or sing their reviews on subways near you:

Hannah Wolf Bowen
Bob Scheffel
Hyowon Kim
Nin Harris
Steph Burgis

Look out for (or instigate) interstitial events in the summer months.

+++++++

It’s Mother’s Day in the USA on May 13th. Isn’t that nice? Aren’t you going to send her chocolates? Or books? Especially as the US postal rates rise the next day. Seems like a great opportunity. Here’s one idea:

The mother of all Mother’s Day gifts–Mothers & Other Monsters.
Anyone can send Mother’s Day flowers. Mother has always said you aren’t just anyone.
A book for everyone who has ever had a mother.
Celebrate the little monster in every mom.
Mother’s Day flowers wither and candy melts. But with proper storage, Mothers & Other Monsters will last forever.

+++++++

Laurie J. Mark’s third Elemental Logic novel, Water Logic, is the first novel we’ve published in a fantasy series. So, they must be good, right? Yes. They’re right up your street. They’re smart, sexy, and political. These books use some of the familiar tropes of pastoral fantasies, but they don’t rely on them. It’s not a standard military fantasy series, it’s subversive and electric. Good things happen. Bad things happen, too. The costs of magic are high.
If you haven’t been reading and want to dive in, start with Fire Logic then Earth Logic. Water Logic, coming in June, is a knockout.

Laurie J. Marks is a Guest of Honor (with Kelly) at WisCon 31. We will have a launch party with special Things to go to those who buy the book — pre-orders will receive the one that is easier to mail. (More on these secret things later.)

Laurie has recorded a podcast (ahem) of the first chapter: Part 1, 2 — or read it here.

Laurie is reading in Albany, June 16, 2007, at Flights of Fantasy Bookstore, 488 Albany-Shaker Rd, Loudonville, NY 1221.

If you work at a bookshop and are interested in a reading copy of this, send us an email!

+++++++

Are you playing this game?

+++++++

Secret giveaway for the readers who go this far. How about you tell us which book you want? We will say no and come back to you with an offer of a Peapod Threesome for a review of at least one? A couple of these sets (tied up in a pretty ribbon) are available. Love to hear from you sweetie.

+++++++

Live in Australia? Or somewhere else? Or, nowhere, you ghost, you? How about this:

Independent Publishers – The Brave New World
Join Gavin Grant (Publisher of the US-based Small Beer Press) at 12 noon AEST on Tuesday 15 May to discuss the dynamics of US, international, and independent publishing.

+++++++

Ah, respite.

+++++++

Link links

Missed Kelly on her tour last September? Catch up with her now-not-so-super secret Authors@Google visit with Karen Joy Fowler.

This week Nancy Pearl included Magic for Beginners in one of her NPR lists (online, not on the radio): Under the Radar: Books Not to Miss, saying, “It’s intricate, wildly imaginative and totally wonderful.”

Kelly sold a young adult collection to Sharyn November at Viking. It will contain many of the stories she has been publishing in young adult anthologies as well as one new story and, since this is her first young adult collection, a couple of stories from her other books. (This last because her previous collections contain stories like Catskin which make it hard for some adults to give to young adults.) Should come out next year and will be followed by a tour (with support from the reformed Guns’n’Roses (shhh, it’s a secret) and the usual Today Show for Kids, Young Letterman!, and other age-appropriate media.

Kelly is a Guest of Honor (with Laurie J. Marks) at WisCon 31. (Hope to see you there!)

Kelly will also be at BookExpo America, Readercon, Worldcon in Japan, a Best of LCRW reading at KGB, World Fantasy in Saratogo Springs in November. Und so weiter.

This is the best way to keep up.

+++++++

We alphabetized our Shopping page which might make it easier to use. Do tell if and when you are unhappy with our website.

+++++++

Exeunt.


Laurie Marks

Thu 10 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on Laurie Marks | Posted by: Gavin

Marks, Water LogicPodcast Thusday. Which we will keep to when we have stuff. Mostly.

This week: not Alan DeNiro! (Although he will have an interview posted on the LBC sometime this week.)

Laurie J. Marks has recorded the first chapter of her fabby new novel Water Logic. You can go ahead and read it or listen to it in 2 parts: one, two.

We love this book. It’s the first fantasy series we’ve ever been a part of publishing and we’re very happy to say that the first and second books are available as mass market paperbacks. Haven’t read them? Read or listen to the start of each:

  1. Fire Logic: read · listen one, two.
  2. Earth Logic: read · listen.

Paisley & McGuinness

Wed 9 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Paisley & McGuinness | Posted by: Gavin

Ian Paisley laughing—did you ever think you’d see the day? The ongoing peace process is an amazing piece of work and everyone who has ever worked on it deserves a pint. On us, if we ever see you. Gives us hope for many other messed up places.

Northern Ireland's first minister, Ian Paisley, and the deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, smile after being sworn in at Stormont. Photograph: Paul Faith/AP

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Ian Paisley, and the deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, smile after being sworn in at Stormont. Photograph: Paul Faith/AP

Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist party leader who spent decades denouncing republicans, and Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander, joined together yesterday to assume office as first and deputy first ministers at the head of a new power-sharing government.


A.

Tue 8 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on A. | Posted by: Gavin

A. DeNiro paid us a lot of money to publish their book. Unknown to us their family was one of the earliest to make millions from salting maps. When their people flew us to Arctangent City we weren’t quite sure what to make of it.

This wasn’t our experience in publishing (which was more along the lines of breaking into adjunct English teacher lounges and leaving copies of our books around in the hope that they would be adopted and taught).

But A.’s people were, as Locus said of their stories, “deeply weird.” But also persuasive. So we went for it, took their money (a lie), printed 100,000 hardcovers (also a lie), sold foreign rights to Rabitton, Utopia, and so on, and tried to get A. to stop going on Oprah (all lies) so that we could work on other books rather than reprinting theirs.

It’s been a wild ride. Something akin to reading their collection, Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead.

  • Read a couple of the stories in a funsize PDF edition.
  • Get A.’s unique reading guide/drinking game guide for the book: here.

Nancy says:

Tue 8 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Nancy says: | Posted by: Gavin

Speculative fiction is where it’s at.

Also, see you at the Nebs.


Sun 6 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Scotland moves one more step toward self-Balkanization. Can’t wait until the Free Port of Clydeside is finally independent. No idea whether independence is a good idea or not, but neither does the country and is moving toward it in tiny careful steps—not giving anyone the obvious lead yet.
Being that they used electronic ballots there are of course questions and the Labour Party (counting down until Thursday when Blair skips town) are ready to:

Labour to challenge poll result

THE Labour party is planning to snatch electoral victory from the Nationalists by preparing a legal challenge over a Holyrood seat which the SNP won by a handful of votes.

Someone get these guys jobs before they kill themselves. (Thanks Greg.)

Good news for John Crowley readers: the first three books of Aegypt are being reprinted by the Overlook Press. Aegypt, now titled The Solitudes has appeared (sans cover) on the interweeb.

Jeff VanderMeer interviewed Liz Hand on the Amazon blog.

In what seems a particularly genius bit of book assigning, Graham Joyce reviews Generation Loss in the Washington Post Book World.


Sun 6 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Scotland moves one more step toward self-Balkanization. Can’t wait until the Free Port of Clydeside is finally independent. No idea whether independence is a good idea or not, but neither does the country and is moving toward it in tiny careful steps—not giving anyone the obvious lead yet.
Being that they used electronic ballots there are of course questions and the Labour Party (counting down until Thursday when Blair skips town) are ready to:

Labour to challenge poll result

THE Labour party is planning to snatch electoral victory from the Nationalists by preparing a legal challenge over a Holyrood seat which the SNP won by a handful of votes.

Someone get these guys jobs before they kill themselves. (Thanks Greg.)

Good news for John Crowley readers: the first three books of Aegypt are being reprinted by the Overlook Press. Aegypt, now titled The Solitudes has appeared (sans cover) on the interweeb.

Jeff VanderMeer interviewed Liz Hand on the Amazon blog.

In what seems a particularly genius bit of book assigning, Graham Joyce reviews Generation Loss in the Washington Post Book World.


Romantic Times Winner

Fri 4 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Romantic Times Winner | Posted by: Gavin

Did we mention that The Privilege of the Sword won

BEST EPIC FANTASY NOVEL at the Romantic Times 2006 Reviewers’ Choice Award Winner. 

Yay fun!


Mother, Day

Thu 3 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Mother, Day | Posted by: Gavin

Mothers & Other Monsters CoverOne day a year say Hello to your m0ther. If the screws will let you. If the warden’s in a good mood.

Everyone whose site we ever as much as peeked at (MyPrettyPonies.com is a betting site, honest!) is hitting us up to buy mother a present. As if she needs a box of dead flowers to remind her of how much she is loved.

A book, though. That’d different. That shows not just how smart she is but how smart we are!

Here are a few ideas about Maureen McHugh’s Mothers & Other Monsters from one of our genius interns:

The mother of all Mother’s Day gifts—Mothers & Other Monsters.
Anyone can send Mother’s Day flowers. You’re not anyone.
A book for everyone who has ever had a mother.
Celebrate the little monster in every mom.
Mother’s Day flowers wither; candy melts. But, with proper storage, Mothers & Other Monsters will last forever.

Catch up with Maureen here or here. Or if you can (and it’s worth clearing your schedule) sign up for Maureen’s hilariously titled workshop, THINGS GET WORSE: Plotting in Fiction, at Write-By-the-Lake, Mon, June 18 – Fri, June 22, in beautiful Madison, WI.


Alan DeNiro Week

Wed 2 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on Alan DeNiro Week | Posted by: Gavin

is coming up on the Lit Blog Coop and all over der interweb. The Deplorable Kingdom of Litblaugistan will never the same be.

What’s it got to do with you? Free books! How?

  • Alan DeNiroKnit an Alan DeNiro.
  • Post pictures of the Lake of the Dead. (No skinny dipping!) [Unless you insist.]
  • Send us Your Byzantium.
  • Walk from the Eerie of the past to the Eerie of the future.
  • Interview Alan on your local radio.
  • Review the book on YouTube.
  • Tell us which Wal-Mart you will work in.
  • Take a picture of all your friends lying on the ground spelling out Alan’s name with their bodies.
  • Wear Versace glasses.
  • Get crafty and surprise us.
  • Mail us your review of the book baked in the form of chocolate chocolate brownies.

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the DeadHere are some stories:

If I Leap
The Excavation
A Keeper
Salting the Map
Read more in a funsize PDF edition.

We’ll look at all the artists’ impressions of the book and do a giveaway at the end of the week for those we enjoyed the most. Have fun with it. Spread it wide.


How to Sell Your Book to Small Beer Press

Wed 2 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on How to Sell Your Book to Small Beer Press | Posted by: Gavin

Or, Not.

First: Start off by reading the guidelines of the publisher you are interested in.

Second: Send publisher a query letter. (Google will help, or here’s SFWA’s model.) Something along the lines of this might work (although a one page synopsis has more chance):

I am an internationally published —- and —-, a nationally acclaimed —-/—-, and an award winning —-. I would like to submit my latest novel to you for publication. It is called —-.

There is no easy way to describe my novel to you. The notable —- University writer and professor of —- Dr. —- -. —-, calls it “a cross between —- and —-.”

The novel has found an unanticipated level of nation-wide demand due to the fact that it shares many characters and settings with my latest album —-, which has fortuitously found its way into the Top 30 on several different national charts for XM Satellite Radio.

Due mostly to XM Radio, I have found a fervent and rapidly growing fan following coast to coast. I was #– in the entire state of —- on the —- Radio Airplay Chart, ranking higher than —- and even the —- in February. At the other end of the country, by March, I had become the Top Artist on www.myspace.com for the entire state of —- in several different categories.

There is, of course, an enormous demand for my latest novel within my musical following, because the fans are interested in the stories behind the characters from the album. I have found an interest among more literary and philosophical circles as well, due to the allegorical nature of the novel. In disguised symbols, this novel tackles questions I have also explored through my philosophical publication in the UK with —- , —-, which will soon be distributed in the USA.

I want you to publish my novel —-. May I send it to you for consideration?

—- —-

So, our thoughts: Interesting. Nothing about the novel. Hmm. Marketing plan is there, very nice. makes the “ask” very strongly at the end. But, nothing about the novel. So, our usual short reply:

From: Small Beer Press / LCRW <info@lcrw.net>
Date: April 8, 2007 9:21:51 PM EDT
To: —-
Subject: Re: novel: —-

Dear Mr. —-,
Sorry, not for us, thanks. Best of luck with it elsewhere.
Cheers,
Gavin Grant
—
Small Beer Press
150 Pleasant St., #306
Easthampton, MA 01027
smallbeerpress.com

Next!

But, yesterday we received this:

Gavin,

I am an internationally published —- and —-, an internationally touring —-/—-, and an award winning —-. I would like to submit my latest novel to you for publication. It is called —-.
—- writer and professor of —- —-, Dr. —- -. —-, calls it “a cross between the —- and —-.” He obtained a copy of the book after it was recommended to him by one of his students. From what I understand, the novel has become somewhat popular at —-.

My name has been floating around several academic circles due to the buzz over my forthcoming philosophy publication, —-, with —- in the United Kingdom, for distribution soon in the USA as well.

I have also gained an extensive coast-to-coast American fan following due to seven years of musical endeavors. My latest album, —-, has ranked in the Top 30 on several national charts for XM Satellite Radio. I have toured coast to coast in America, and I have made appearances in Italy, France, Spain, and Mexico also. In addition to selling CD’s, I have also recently been selling copies of my novel in manuscript form at all my American performances due to increasing domestic requests for the work.

Furthermore, I have found demand for the novel from the fans of my various plays. After a few prize winning performances across —- last fall and winter, my latest play, —-, was performed at the official state theater of —- in March. Responding to unrelenting requests, I finally began to sell copies of the novel in the lobby of the theater, and I sold out of every copy I could produce.

I have been able to sell the novel to fans in California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, New York, Connecticut, Massachusets, New Jersey, Maine, and Florida. Some people find me at my plays or concerts and ask to buy it. Other people have just mailed me an order. These are dedicated fans, buying copies I make with a copy machine!

I need to print and distribute this work on a much larger scale. To fully accommodate my nation-wide audience, I want you to publish the book.

Thanks,

—- —-

Wait, didn’t I reply to this already? Darn! Waste of time! (Still nothing about the novel there.)

From: Gavin Grant <gavin@lcrw.net>
To: —-
Subject: Fwd: novel: —-
Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 13:25:20 -0400

Dear Mr. Miller,
You sent us this query twice. See below for our answer.
Cheers,
Gavin Grant

Quick reply:

On May 2, 2007, at 3:07 PM, —- wrote:

I sent you the querry twice because it was obvious that you made a mistake in your first response. Now you have repeated it

Huh. Stops sending out review copies for a second. Yes, I’ve made—and will continue to make—many mistakes but I’m not sure I made one here. This novel—whatever it’s about—probably isn’t for us.

Always looking for a learning opportunity, I asked:

From: Gavin Grant <gavin@lcrw.net>
To: —-
Subject: Re: novel: —-
Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 15:22:18 -0400

I’m sorry, not sure I understand. My mistake was . . . ?
Cheers,
Gavin Grant

And was taught:

On May 2, 2007, at 3:31 PM, —- wrote:

Your mistake is turning down the novel without even reading it

If only this was today’s single mistake.


Wed 2 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Can’t remember where the link came from (big place, bboing? Bookslut?, but A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge is a great comic. Anything New Orleans from Katrina (and the ongoing huge government failure) is car-crash addictive reading. This comic has many angles and is worth following. Nice web set up, too, for easy reading.

Gasoline prices are back up near $3. Wonder if truck sales will plummet again? Where’s the damn hybrid van? Haven’t explored it yet but World Without Oil looks interesting.

(Yes, someone sent something that continues to crash the email, therefore: blogging. Dum de dum.)

Jeff VanderMeer explains that Liz Hand is actually a saint. This may have come as a surprise to Liz, but not to the citizens (subjects? artifices?) of Smagardine.

Smagardine history has some parallels to that of Hav and readers of one country’s news might be interested in Jan Morris’s update (from last year) of her notes from that country simply titled Hav. Morris’s novel (which has a beautiful image on the cover) is quite simply wonderful. It has a slow-building complexity that draws the reader in and insists on the truths underlying the fictions. There are characters we recognize from our own travels (and our own towns), relationships touched on (like nerves), and always there is a growing tension that the writer can never quite get a hold of.

Alt TextThe second part of the novel (the new section), “Hav of the Myrmidons,” is a fantastic addition that changes everything we were told. Where Hav before was part of the past, the Great Game, Le Carre and Greene novels, Patrick Leigh Fermor’s autobiography, Hav has now moved into the present. It is clean, simple, unknowable. What is obvious is the money and the beliefs behind it of the unnamed—but known—financiers. Morris tracks down some of her acquaintances and sources from her previous visit and some of them are happier than others. Post-revolution (here: the Intervention), we would be the same.

And: The Buffalo News bookclub, perhaps getting ready for the upcoming movie, is reading The Jane Austen Book Club:

As always, the books selected by The News can be found at branches of the public library. Talking Leaves, Barnes & Noble and the Book Corner in Niagara Falls offer special displays and discounts. Free bookmarks that match each month’s selection are offered in stores and at library branches.
Also, we want to hear your thoughts — on Fowler’s book, yes, but also on Jane Austen, and on ideas for future Book Club choices. Send an e-mail to bookclub@buffnews.com, or write to Buffalo News Book Club, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14203.

Found this (posted during the Interfictions giveaway) quite striking—thanks Yileen.


Wed 2 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Can’t remember where the link came from (big place, bboing? Bookslut?, but A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge is a great comic. Anything New Orleans from Katrina (and the ongoing huge government failure) is car-crash addictive reading. This comic has many angles and is worth following. Nice web set up, too, for easy reading.

Gasoline prices are back up near $3. Wonder if truck sales will plummet again? Where’s the damn hybrid van? Haven’t explored it yet but World Without Oil looks interesting.

(Yes, someone sent something that continues to crash the email, therefore: blogging. Dum de dum.)

Jeff VanderMeer explains that Liz Hand is actually a saint. This may have come as a surprise to Liz, but not to the citizens (subjects? artifices?) of Smagardine.

Smagardine history has some parallels to that of Hav and readers of one country’s news might be interested in Jan Morris’s update (from last year) of her notes from that country simply titled Hav. Morris’s novel (which has a beautiful image on the cover) is quite simply wonderful. It has a slow-building complexity that draws the reader in and insists on the truths underlying the fictions. There are characters we recognize from our own travels (and our own towns), relationships touched on (like nerves), and always there is a growing tension that the writer can never quite get a hold of.

Alt TextThe second part of the novel (the new section), “Hav of the Myrmidons,” is a fantastic addition that changes everything we were told. Where Hav before was part of the past, the Great Game, Le Carre and Greene novels, Patrick Leigh Fermor’s autobiography, Hav has now moved into the present. It is clean, simple, unknowable. What is obvious is the money and the beliefs behind it of the unnamed—but known—financiers. Morris tracks down some of her acquaintances and sources from her previous visit and some of them are happier than others. Post-revolution (here: the Intervention), we would be the same.

And: The Buffalo News bookclub, perhaps getting ready for the upcoming movie, is reading The Jane Austen Book Club:

As always, the books selected by The News can be found at branches of the public library. Talking Leaves, Barnes & Noble and the Book Corner in Niagara Falls offer special displays and discounts. Free bookmarks that match each month’s selection are offered in stores and at library branches.
Also, we want to hear your thoughts — on Fowler’s book, yes, but also on Jane Austen, and on ideas for future Book Club choices. Send an e-mail to bookclub@buffnews.com, or write to Buffalo News Book Club, P.O. Box 100, Buffalo, NY 14203.

Found this (posted during the Interfictions giveaway) quite striking—thanks Yileen.


InterHipsterFictionBookClub

Tue 1 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on InterHipsterFictionBookClub | Posted by: Gavin

The Interfictions giveaway yesterday was phenomenally fast and the copies will go out (to the UK, USA, Malaysia, and the Netherlands!) soonest.

In the meantime there’s a review of the book by Marie Mundaca up at the Hipster Book Club.


Interfictions Giveaway

Mon 30 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 21 Comments | Posted by: Gavin

InterfictionsToday is Publication Day for the Interstitial Arts Foundation’s first anthology Interfictions.

It’s out there in stores (even if the final cover hasn’t fully percolated through the digital update filters yet), being reviewed a story at a time by contributor(!) Michael DeLuca, and has its own blog.

To celebrate we have are giving away 2 things:

  • a space in between
  • and, a couple of copies of the anthology

5 individual copies of the anthology will be sent to readers anywhere in the world (some may be sent slower than others) who will do at least one of the following things:

  • Reply quite fast to this post
  • Review the book online or in print
  • Interview any of the contributors
  • Point us (in the comments) towards art they find interstitial.

Best of luck!

Flashback: here are a couple of pieces that the editors wrote before they put the antho together—

An Introduction to Interstitial Arts: Life on the Border
by Delia Sherman

Book01 by Mark WagnerBorders are interesting places. As debatable land, sometimes wasteland or wilderness, they can be dangerous places to visit or live in, but they are never boring. Even when a long period of peace and stability removes some of their dangerous glamour, they’re still (literally) edgy, different in essential ways from the countries they mediate.

Crossing Borders, by Night
Theodora Goss

When I was a child, I traveled with my grandmother across the border between Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In those days, all the borders behind the Iron Curtain were closed. As we approached the border, a guard came into our train compartment to check our travel papers and search our luggage. He also searched my grandmother’s purse, spilling its contents into her lap, feeling the lining.


O.King’s “The Cure”

Sat 28 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on O.King’s “The Cure” | Posted by: Gavin

The new issue of One Story came in the mail which reminded us of how much we had enjoyed the previous one:

Issue #85, December 20, 2006 “The Cure” by Owen King

Don’t go read the interview if you haven’t read the story. But, go read the story if you haven’t read the interview.

Who will like this? Barb, I think.


A. DeNiro in the house

Sat 28 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on A. DeNiro in the house | Posted by: Gavin

Literally. If you have any questions for A. (for an interview we’re going to do), email us! A’s on a panel this afternoon and then reading tonight at the UMass Amherst Juniper Literary Festival:

2:15-3:15 PM Roundtable Discussion: Weird War: Politics & the Politics of Whimsy (at Emily Dickinson Homestead): investigating the relationship between world events and various literary responses to them, from the overt championing of a particular cause to the less explicit approaches of lyric, personal history, and invented parallel worlds; with Chris Bachelder, A. DeNiro, Paul Fattaruso, Sabrina Orah Mark, Eugene Ostashevsky, & Matthew Zapruder

7:30 PM Poetry & Fiction Reading with Eric Baus, Lucy Corin, A. DeNiro, Julia Johnson, Sabrina Orah Mark, Eugene Ostashevsky, Imad Rahman, Michael Robins & Shauna Seliy at University of Massachusetts’ Memorial Hall

We went to the opening reading last night where Rachel Sherman read a hilarious story (that A. says was published in n+1) that occasionally required her to read in the voice of “The Reaper”—not the reaper you’re thinking of. 6 good readers (none of whom went too far over time!), beer + cookies = fun night.


Sat 28 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale CoverHolly Black has brought us screaming into 2002 by creating a live journal feed for this thing. We tried to name it lcrw but it declared autonomy, packed up all its old cassettes and vinyl, moved out, and hung its own shingle under the name

smallbeer_rss

At some point (soonish?) that may be added to the feed syndicate (because we are all always hungry and we believe in the syndicate and that they are good. Good). Livejournal seems to require posts to have titles in a way that other blog syndicates don’t. A tithe we pay to the syndicate in good grace.

Thanks Holly!

Holly is about to take a landyacht (or maybe she will valiantly brave the Friendly Skies and take the Aeriobehometh) for the west coast where she (and Cassandra Clare) will visit (and share vast quantities of Arabian Wine with) purveyors of bookth.


Sat 28 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale CoverHolly Black has brought us screaming into 2002 by creating a live journal feed for this thing. We tried to name it lcrw but it declared autonomy, packed up all its old cassettes and vinyl, moved out, and hung its own shingle under the name

smallbeer_rss

At some point (soonish?) that may be added to the feed syndicate (because we are all always hungry and we believe in the syndicate and that they are good. Good). Livejournal seems to require posts to have titles in a way that other blog syndicates don’t. A tithe we pay to the syndicate in good grace.

Thanks Holly!

Holly is about to take a landyacht (or maybe she will valiantly brave the Friendly Skies and take the Aeriobehometh) for the west coast where she (and Cassandra Clare) will visit (and share vast quantities of Arabian Wine with) purveyors of bookth.


Thu 26 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

John Crowley’s novel, Endless Things, is out soon. We’ve received some office copies and mailed them out (signed, because John was nice enough to come by and sign some) to everyone (tons and tons!) who pre-ordered it. We’ve heard from people who have bought it from stores but we’d be grateful to anyone who sends a pic of one out there in der wild.

John had some news from his recent trip to Kyiv (as we learn we are now to spell the city previously known as Kiev):

I suppose I should first announce that I am the recipient of the first ever Bulgakov Award of PORTAL, the Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy convention/conference. Bulgakov (raise your hand if you didn’t know this) is Ukrainian, born and died in Kyiv, where a museum about him now occupies the house that was his childhood home and the place he died.  Though he wrote in Russian, and though his masterpiece The Master and Maragarita is set in a lovingly detailed Moscow, the Ukrainians consider him their own.  So do I, now.

John hasn’t posted all his pics yet, but he did post these:

The Bulgakov Award, in addition to being an honor, also consisted of an object — a huge sculpture of a black cat (Behemoth, as readers of Bulgakov will remember), weighing at least ten pounds.  Great jokesters, these Ukrainians, as they have had to be, and funny certainly but bad to let their Visiting Author believe (even briefly) that he would have to wrestle this monstrous beast onto three different flights home.  Picture of self with Behemoth laughing hysterically (self; cat remains as always calm) will soon be posted.


Thu 26 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

John Crowley’s novel, Endless Things, is out soon. We’ve received some office copies and mailed them out (signed, because John was nice enough to come by and sign some) to everyone (tons and tons!) who pre-ordered it. We’ve heard from people who have bought it from stores but we’d be grateful to anyone who sends a pic of one out there in der wild.

John had some news from his recent trip to Kyiv (as we learn we are now to spell the city previously known as Kiev):

I suppose I should first announce that I am the recipient of the first ever Bulgakov Award of PORTAL, the Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy convention/conference. Bulgakov (raise your hand if you didn’t know this) is Ukrainian, born and died in Kyiv, where a museum about him now occupies the house that was his childhood home and the place he died.  Though he wrote in Russian, and though his masterpiece The Master and Maragarita is set in a lovingly detailed Moscow, the Ukrainians consider him their own.  So do I, now.

John hasn’t posted all his pics yet, but he did post these:

The Bulgakov Award, in addition to being an honor, also consisted of an object — a huge sculpture of a black cat (Behemoth, as readers of Bulgakov will remember), weighing at least ten pounds.  Great jokesters, these Ukrainians, as they have had to be, and funny certainly but bad to let their Visiting Author believe (even briefly) that he would have to wrestle this monstrous beast onto three different flights home.  Picture of self with Behemoth laughing hysterically (self; cat remains as always calm) will soon be posted.


Thu 26 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Lit-Cast, an audio journal of literature, has posted Kelly’s part of a panel from an AWP panel on Fairy Tales, moderated by Kate Bernheimer. Listen here.


Thu 26 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Comments Off on | Posted by: Gavin

Lit-Cast, an audio journal of literature, has posted Kelly’s part of a panel from an AWP panel on Fairy Tales, moderated by Kate Bernheimer. Listen here.


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