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

This is awesome.  Go get a free, cheap, expensive (you choose) Radiohead album. (Album because it’s not really a CD or record—unless you want to pop for the $80 edition).

Meanwhile, Apple keep locking away their phone and mp3 players (and no doubt every other device they have planned) while Nokia are pulling a Radiohead and saying Go ahead, do what you want. Really hope Nokia do well with this because for all their great design and easy use (this post being written on a Mac), Apple’s corporate ethos is crap. Sorry, Apple, we have many of your products, but the love, well…. Defending your bad behavior? It’s getting old and so are we. Who has time for crap relationships? So maybe we will buy the machines, but sign out of the religion.

On Wednesday, go listen to Maureen talk about Alt. Reality Games.

A nice Best of LCRW review at SF Site.

The stories Link and Grant have selected over the past ten years are deserving of a broader readership and, with The Best of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet now in bookstores, they will, it is hoped, achieve that readership.

Interfictions podcasts.


Fri 10 Aug 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Needed from the UK for taste testing: Hobsons choice as Britain’s best beer Hobsons Mild, made in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, was chosen as the winner from more than 50 finalists at the Campaign for Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival in London.

Cases, pints (don’t spill it!), barrels, etc., to the usual address, thank you.


Fri 10 Aug 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Needed from the UK for taste testing: Hobsons choice as Britain’s best beer Hobsons Mild, made in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, was chosen as the winner from more than 50 finalists at the Campaign for Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival in London.

Cases, pints (don’t spill it!), barrels, etc., to the usual address, thank you.


ebookery

Tue 7 Aug 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Last week Jed was busy tearing lots of our books apart, taking very careful pictures of each of the pages (just as he did with that Harry Potter book*), and mailing the photos to Fictionwise. Over there they have carefully assembled the photos into facsimiles of the books (complicated!) which can be ordered in up to eight formats (none of which are technically edible). Hereaways are the books you can now get:

Endless Things by John Crowley

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

Water Logic by Laurie J. Marks

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead by Alan DeNiro

Also these (more to come soon):

Trash Sex Magic by Jennifer Stevenson

Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller

Mothers & Other Monsters by Maureen F. McHugh

Storyteller by Kate Wilhelm—this ebook is only available from our web site.

* No. He didn’t.


Storyteller 2

Wed 11 Jul 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

After a couple of months of being hard to find (and just in time for Clarion Diego—nice new site—and Clarion West) the second printing of Kate Wilhelm‘s Storyteller shipped from the printer today.

So this new printing (with a slightly redesigned cover) will be trucking down from trusty employee-owned Thomson-Shore in Dexter, MI (never been there, although a lot of our books have) to the Perseus (they own our distro, Consortium) distribution center in Jackson, TN (another place to visit!) and then off to you fave book shop, Powell’s,—&c.


Free?

Mon 2 Jul 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Lew Shiner, author of some great fun novels including Say Goodbye and Glimpses, is the latest author to post along with a ton of fiction online—the difference here is that Shiner has also posted a manifesto a. His new site, the Fiction Liberation Front (can we join?) has a stack of free reading — all under Creative Commons licenses.

I’ll also be adding new short fiction, music reviews, and articles from time to time, though I won’t guarantee that I won’t also publish short pieces elsewhere. I’m launching the site with three previously unpublished stories (“Straws,” “Fear Itself,” and “Golfing Vietnam”) plus a major story from 2004 (“Perfidia”) that’s had only limited circulation, and as a special bonus, my previously unpublished “vampire lawyer” screenplay, THE NEXT.

Strange Horizons is consistently one of the best short speculative fiction sites on the web. Every year (until this year) they used to tie a writer to the top of a pole and sell the right to shoot arrows at said writer.

After seeing how scarily accurate the average spec fic fan was with a bow and arrow (we’re not even talking compound bows here), the SH crew have decided that a fund drive is more appropriate.

The personal injury law firm champion legal causes for the greater good of society and help those in need of legal assistance who might not otherwise be able to afford a lawyer.

The fund drive started July 2nd and they’re hoping to raise $6,000—all of which, since they’re still n all-volunteer operation—goes to the writers (and maybe the web host!). So: Donate what you can and you’ll be entered into a prize drawing.

The drawing includes a bunch of our book, so if you’ve been meaning to order them and like an element of chance in your book purchases, check out the whole prize list and do that thing.


Tue 5 Jun 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Catching up again (before disappearing, again):

  • Jack’s posts from a trip to China are excellent
  • Generation Loss gets a good review in the Boston Globe:

“Highly recommended for the reader who yearns for something more complex and literary with a touch of goth.”

Liz and Ron Hogan of Galleycat pictured to the right. Tons of his pics here. We did not take so many, er, any, pics. Liz signed a ton of books, did a reading in a spot with terrible acoustics (but she sounded [and looked] great doing it), and generally charmed booksellers and everyone else she met.

  • Bill Sheehan wrote a wonderful review of Endless Things for the Washington Post Book World. The cover, blown up to 2′ x 3′ stopped people dead in their tracks (so messy, all those corpses) at BEA and there were more than a few people wailing with happiness about the publication of the last Aegypt book.

“Endless Things is the fourth and last installment in a vast, intricate series of novels collectively entitled “Aegypt.” The series (which is really one long novel) began in 1987 with the publication of Aegypt (soon to be reissued as The Solitudes) and was followed by Love & Sleep (1994) and Daemonomania (2000). It was clear from the start that Crowley was on to something special, and the appearance of this final volume confirms that impression. In its entirety, “Aegypt” stands as one of the most distinctive accomplishments of recent decades. It is a work of great erudition and deep humanity that is as beautifully composed as any novel in my experience.”

Note: Overlook Press begins publishing the series in paperback in autumn with the publication of The Solitudes—and we know this for sure because we picked up a copy at BEA.

Here’s an interview with John from May 2006 about the book—and it’s published just a year later.

  • It’s true, there is a new LCRW and we will get it mailed out this week. Quick, someone send us a couple of cases of chocolate bars!Also, there is a cover for autumn’s The Best of LCRW (not final, so don’t quote it!). Taken from Jacob MacMurray’s journal.

“It draws on standard fantasy and horror ideas – zombies, fairies, etc but, trust me, it’s like nothing you’ve ever read. Blackly funny. Wildly inventive. Utterly insane.”

Best American Fantasy gets a review on NPR: listen to a minute of Kelly reading “Origin Story” or read it.

Stranger Things Happen slips into New York’s “The Best Novels You’ve Never Read”:

“A book that could be shelved under several genres—horror, fantasy, literary fiction—it suffers from the limited ways in which we think about literature.”
—David Orr, Times Book Review

That’s a pretty good book list. If only the stack weren’t quite so high. Lists or pics may follow.

  • Posted a very few WisCon pics.
  • Again with the rec for Hang Fire Books blog — for the writing on buying books and the scans (wistful Ohio girl, Bambi, pizza platter remote control planes).

 

 Have to change the CSS on this thing as it just looks grotesque at the moment. One day soon.


Tue 5 Jun 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Catching up again (before disappearing, again):

  • Jack’s posts from a trip to China are excellent
  • Generation Loss gets a good review in the Boston Globe:

“Highly recommended for the reader who yearns for something more complex and literary with a touch of goth.”

Liz and Ron Hogan of Galleycat pictured to the right. Tons of his pics here. We did not take so many, er, any, pics. Liz signed a ton of books, did a reading in a spot with terrible acoustics (but she sounded [and looked] great doing it), and generally charmed booksellers and everyone else she met.

  • Bill Sheehan wrote a wonderful review of Endless Things for the Washington Post Book World. The cover, blown up to 2′ x 3′ stopped people dead in their tracks (so messy, all those corpses) at BEA and there were more than a few people wailing with happiness about the publication of the last Aegypt book.

“Endless Things is the fourth and last installment in a vast, intricate series of novels collectively entitled “Aegypt.” The series (which is really one long novel) began in 1987 with the publication of Aegypt (soon to be reissued as The Solitudes) and was followed by Love & Sleep (1994) and Daemonomania (2000). It was clear from the start that Crowley was on to something special, and the appearance of this final volume confirms that impression. In its entirety, “Aegypt” stands as one of the most distinctive accomplishments of recent decades. It is a work of great erudition and deep humanity that is as beautifully composed as any novel in my experience.”

Note: Overlook Press begins publishing the series in paperback in autumn with the publication of The Solitudes—and we know this for sure because we picked up a copy at BEA.

Here’s an interview with John from May 2006 about the book—and it’s published just a year later.

  • It’s true, there is a new LCRW and we will get it mailed out this week. Quick, someone send us a couple of cases of chocolate bars!Also, there is a cover for autumn’s The Best of LCRW (not final, so don’t quote it!). Taken from Jacob MacMurray’s journal.

“It draws on standard fantasy and horror ideas – zombies, fairies, etc but, trust me, it’s like nothing you’ve ever read. Blackly funny. Wildly inventive. Utterly insane.”

Best American Fantasy gets a review on NPR: listen to a minute of Kelly reading “Origin Story” or read it.

Stranger Things Happen slips into New York’s “The Best Novels You’ve Never Read”:

“A book that could be shelved under several genres—horror, fantasy, literary fiction—it suffers from the limited ways in which we think about literature.”
—David Orr, Times Book Review

That’s a pretty good book list. If only the stack weren’t quite so high. Lists or pics may follow.

  • Posted a very few WisCon pics.
  • Again with the rec for Hang Fire Books blog — for the writing on buying books and the scans (wistful Ohio girl, Bambi, pizza platter remote control planes).

 

 Have to change the CSS on this thing as it just looks grotesque at the moment. One day soon.


Artifacts

Sun 20 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Last Thursday we threw an tiny local shindig (ouch?) at Artifacts gallery in the Florencian part of Northampton. We had lined up the readers, gotten in the chairs, talked to the weather god and cursed* the Sox for playing that night … all the usual set up thingies. (Need flyers put up fast: call Flyer Girl!)

Liz Hand drove down from Maine, showed us her new tattoo (a work in progress), signed books like she may have done it before, and still managed to finish a book review by her deadline. Paul Park arrived and eventually we headed over to the space: which is huge, beautiful and fills us with longing. (We could do such things in such a space! We could put the letterpress here, the silkscreening could be done over there, the tandoori over over there.)

The Artifacts people, Ann, Julia, and Bob, had done tons of set up and the place was organized. We just needed peeps. And peeps, they arrived. They parked their jetpacks carefully (only one small brush fire) flocked to the refreshments, and admired Susie Horgan’s Punk Love photos—Liz knew some of the people and places!

Happily for us, Erik wrote the evening up for the MassLive Sound Check blog with links to all the readings:

Click here for an advice column on the topic of confronting an electric toothbrush that seems vaguely malevolent.

Click here to listen to Elizabeth Hand reading from Generation Loss.

Click here to listen to John Crowley reading from Endless Things.

Click here to listen to Michael DeLuca’s reading of “The Utter Proximity of God” from Interfictions.

Click here to listen to Diana Gordon reading “Sliding” from LCRW 19.

There’s no recording of the hilarious Paul Park story (“A Short History of Science Fiction”) as he is still working on it.

After all the readings Philip Price and Flora Reed of the Winterpills played a short set. It was mind-blowingly gorgeous music and a great cap for the evening. Then there was still a chance to buy books and CDs (and beautiful silk-screened Winterpills tour posters, ahem), and much swapping of “When I first read John Crowley…” tales.

We videod parts of each of the readings but if those go up here it will be in a while. Here’s Diane on the night and Friday’s (weekly) parasite.

* Just kidding. Who is brave or stupid enough to curse the Sox? Not us!


Sun 6 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 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., | 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.


Alan DeNiro Week

Wed 2 May 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | 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., | 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.


Mon 23 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day?

Arr, we lives this way, we does.

Generation Loss
Elizabeth Hand

There’s always a moment where everything changes. A great photographer — someone like Diane Arbus, or me during that fraction of a second when I was great — she sees that moment coming, and presses the shutter release an instant before the change hits.

Storyteller
Kate Wilhelm

  1. Can Writing Be Taught?
  2. Trivia Vs. Writing Real Stories now available at the Online Writing Workshop.
  3. My Silent Partner at SF Site.

Family Reunion: an 8-page mini-comic by Sean Stewart and Steve Lieberbased on Perfect Circle.

Travel Light
Naomi Mitchison

It is said that when the new Queen saw the old Queen’s baby daughter, she told the King that the brat must be got rid of at once. And the King, who by now had almost forgotten the old Queen and had scarcely looked at the baby, agreed and thought no more about it. And that would have been the end of that baby girl, but that her nurse, Matulli, came to hear of it. Now this nurse was from Finmark, and, like many another from thereabouts, was apt to take on the shape of an animal from time to time. So she turned herself into a black bear then and there and picked up the baby in her mouth, blanket and all, and growled her way out of the Bower at the back of the King’s hall, and padded out through the light spring snow that had melted already near the hall, and through the birch woods and the pine woods into the deep dark woods where the rest of the bears were waking up from their winter sleep.

The Faery Handbag
Kelly Link
“I used to go to thrift stores with my friends. We’d take the train into Boston, and go to The Garment District, which is this huge vintage clothing warehouse. Everything is arranged by color, and somehow that makes all of the clothes beautiful.”

Carmen Dog
 Carol Emshwiller
“The beast changes to a woman or the woman changes to a beast,” the doctor says. “In her case it is certainly the latter since she has been, on the whole, quite passable as a human being up to the present moment. There may be hundreds of these creatures already among us. No way to tell for sure how many.”

Sally Harpe
Christopher Rowe
They tell this one in those tobacco towns along the Green River.

The End of a Dynasty
Angelica Gorodischer
Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin
The storyteller said: He was a sorrowful prince, young Livna’lams, seven years old and full of sorrow.

From Trampoline:

Foreigners
Mark Rich
Release came not as I expected — burdened with fines, restrictions, armed guard, and list of warnings longer than my conscience.

Other Agents
Richard Butner
“1985 sure is dark,” Nick said, and another 100 watt bulb popped gently in his hands. “It’s a good thing we have these protective gauntlets.” Nick waggled his hands and scattered shards of glass on the bedspread.

Whisper
Ray Vukcevich:And then she fired her parting shot. “And not only that,” she said, as if “that” hadn’t been quite enough, “you snore horribly!”Perpetual Motion
Dora Knez
Malfi arrived in the middle toilet stall of the men’s room. The Saurians had chosen it as the best way of concealing him initially, though it was not ideal.

Because we want to. Because giving stuff away doesn’t take anything away from us. Because often we have been too poor to buy books so we read from the library, or used copies. We still do. Because we can. Why the hell not? (Rants not accepted as reasons.)


Mon 23 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day?

Arr, we lives this way, we does.

Generation Loss
Elizabeth Hand

There’s always a moment where everything changes. A great photographer — someone like Diane Arbus, or me during that fraction of a second when I was great — she sees that moment coming, and presses the shutter release an instant before the change hits.

Storyteller
Kate Wilhelm

  1. Can Writing Be Taught?
  2. Trivia Vs. Writing Real Stories now available at the Online Writing Workshop.
  3. My Silent Partner at SF Site.

Family Reunion: an 8-page mini-comic by Sean Stewart and Steve Lieberbased on Perfect Circle.

Travel Light
Naomi Mitchison

It is said that when the new Queen saw the old Queen’s baby daughter, she told the King that the brat must be got rid of at once. And the King, who by now had almost forgotten the old Queen and had scarcely looked at the baby, agreed and thought no more about it. And that would have been the end of that baby girl, but that her nurse, Matulli, came to hear of it. Now this nurse was from Finmark, and, like many another from thereabouts, was apt to take on the shape of an animal from time to time. So she turned herself into a black bear then and there and picked up the baby in her mouth, blanket and all, and growled her way out of the Bower at the back of the King’s hall, and padded out through the light spring snow that had melted already near the hall, and through the birch woods and the pine woods into the deep dark woods where the rest of the bears were waking up from their winter sleep.

The Faery Handbag
Kelly Link
“I used to go to thrift stores with my friends. We’d take the train into Boston, and go to The Garment District, which is this huge vintage clothing warehouse. Everything is arranged by color, and somehow that makes all of the clothes beautiful.”

Carmen Dog
 Carol Emshwiller
“The beast changes to a woman or the woman changes to a beast,” the doctor says. “In her case it is certainly the latter since she has been, on the whole, quite passable as a human being up to the present moment. There may be hundreds of these creatures already among us. No way to tell for sure how many.”

Sally Harpe
Christopher Rowe
They tell this one in those tobacco towns along the Green River.

The End of a Dynasty
Angelica Gorodischer
Translated by Ursula K. Le Guin
The storyteller said: He was a sorrowful prince, young Livna’lams, seven years old and full of sorrow.

From Trampoline:

Foreigners
Mark Rich
Release came not as I expected — burdened with fines, restrictions, armed guard, and list of warnings longer than my conscience.

Other Agents
Richard Butner
“1985 sure is dark,” Nick said, and another 100 watt bulb popped gently in his hands. “It’s a good thing we have these protective gauntlets.” Nick waggled his hands and scattered shards of glass on the bedspread.

Whisper
Ray Vukcevich:And then she fired her parting shot. “And not only that,” she said, as if “that” hadn’t been quite enough, “you snore horribly!”Perpetual Motion
Dora Knez
Malfi arrived in the middle toilet stall of the men’s room. The Saurians had chosen it as the best way of concealing him initially, though it was not ideal.

Because we want to. Because giving stuff away doesn’t take anything away from us. Because often we have been too poor to buy books so we read from the library, or used copies. We still do. Because we can. Why the hell not? (Rants not accepted as reasons.)


Read This!

Mon 16 Apr 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the DeadLitblogistan is about to get a whole lot weirder:

The LitBlog Co-op is proud to announce our Spring 2007 Read This! selection: Skinny Dipping in the Lake of the Dead  – by Alan DeNiro, published by Small Beer Press.

PodwikicasteryRSS 2.0 and all that coming soon.


Thu 15 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Liquor: A Novel CoverWe are buried! Who timetabled this life? Where is Aunt Gwenda and her Super Scheduling Ability? Where? Whine whine, etc., etc. Yawn.
Anyway, two recommendations from beside—rather than in—the heap. First: Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite. Kelly has been passing this to people for a while but it took me a while to read it. What fun! Two guys grow up in New Orleans together, work in kitchens together (some kitchens being better than others), and one of them gets the idea to start a restaurant where all the food will have liquor in the ingredients somewhere. The guys, Rickey and G-man, are, like all the rest of the characters, rounded people with ambitions, faults, all that stuff. The descriptions of the food are mouth-watering and will make you want to either go to your fave restaurant, dust down a cookbook, or get on a plane to New Orleans.

New Orleans is as much a character here as the various chefs and dishwashers and I can’t wait to read the books Brite has written since Hurrican Katrina hit and the government completely failed the city. Brite’s early books were horror novels which I doubt I’ll ever read, but this series (which is not horror at all) has me hooked. There’s a sort-of-mystery in the novel but the real body of it are the kitchens (which range from crappy to mind-blowing kitchen porn) and the work. It’s great to read about people doing interesting work, and working hard. Most of the time I don’t miss working in a kitchen but Liquor reminds the reader how satisfying working hard at something you love can be.
So far I’ve only read Liquor and a prequel, The Value of X (published by Subterranean) but I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of the books—and catching the inevitable TV series when it comes.

Second: the Winterpills have a new CD out, The Light Divides (stream it here) filled with gloriously springlike music even if the weather (up here in the mid-north) isn’t cooperating—and it was recorded in autumn, how did they manage that? If you liked The Maggies, Philip Price used to sing with them and in the Winterpills he’s joined by Flora Reed’s gorgeous voice.

If you’re in Austin at the SWSX madness you can catch them there or on tour:

Thursday, March 15, 2007
Live on WMVY
5 pm
Momo’s
UTNE Reader showcase.
11 PM
SXSW
Austin, TXFriday, March 16, 2007

Mother Egan’s Irish Pub
Signature Sounds showcase
4:45
SXSW

Sunday, March, 18, 2007
The Last Concert Cafe
1403 Nance St., Houston, TX

March 20, 2007
Schuba’s
Chicago, IL, 9 pm

March 22, 2007
Strictly Discs
In-store performance
5:30 pm
Madison, WI

March 22, 2007
High Noon Saloon – w/ The Long Winters
Madison, WI – 8 pm

March 23, 2007
WFPK – Live At Lunch Perfomance
12 pm.

March 23, 2007
Uncle Pleasants
w/ Dennis Crommett opening
Louiseville, KY 8 pm

March 24 2007
Live on WRNR, Annapolis, MD.
Interview/Performance. 12 noon.

March 24 2007
IOTA Club and Cafe
w/
Washington, DC 8 pm

April 2, 2007
The Middle East
w/ Robert Gomez
Cambridge, MA

April 3, 2007
College of the Atlantic
8 pm
Bangor, ME

April 21, 2007
Pearl St. Nightclub
w/Fountains of Wayne
Northampton, MA


Thu 15 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Liquor: A Novel CoverWe are buried! Who timetabled this life? Where is Aunt Gwenda and her Super Scheduling Ability? Where? Whine whine, etc., etc. Yawn.
Anyway, two recommendations from beside—rather than in—the heap. First: Liquor by Poppy Z. Brite. Kelly has been passing this to people for a while but it took me a while to read it. What fun! Two guys grow up in New Orleans together, work in kitchens together (some kitchens being better than others), and one of them gets the idea to start a restaurant where all the food will have liquor in the ingredients somewhere. The guys, Rickey and G-man, are, like all the rest of the characters, rounded people with ambitions, faults, all that stuff. The descriptions of the food are mouth-watering and will make you want to either go to your fave restaurant, dust down a cookbook, or get on a plane to New Orleans.

New Orleans is as much a character here as the various chefs and dishwashers and I can’t wait to read the books Brite has written since Hurrican Katrina hit and the government completely failed the city. Brite’s early books were horror novels which I doubt I’ll ever read, but this series (which is not horror at all) has me hooked. There’s a sort-of-mystery in the novel but the real body of it are the kitchens (which range from crappy to mind-blowing kitchen porn) and the work. It’s great to read about people doing interesting work, and working hard. Most of the time I don’t miss working in a kitchen but Liquor reminds the reader how satisfying working hard at something you love can be.
So far I’ve only read Liquor and a prequel, The Value of X (published by Subterranean) but I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of the books—and catching the inevitable TV series when it comes.

Second: the Winterpills have a new CD out, The Light Divides (stream it here) filled with gloriously springlike music even if the weather (up here in the mid-north) isn’t cooperating—and it was recorded in autumn, how did they manage that? If you liked The Maggies, Philip Price used to sing with them and in the Winterpills he’s joined by Flora Reed’s gorgeous voice.

If you’re in Austin at the SWSX madness you can catch them there or on tour:

Thursday, March 15, 2007
Live on WMVY
5 pm
Momo’s
UTNE Reader showcase.
11 PM
SXSW
Austin, TXFriday, March 16, 2007

Mother Egan’s Irish Pub
Signature Sounds showcase
4:45
SXSW

Sunday, March, 18, 2007
The Last Concert Cafe
1403 Nance St., Houston, TX

March 20, 2007
Schuba’s
Chicago, IL, 9 pm

March 22, 2007
Strictly Discs
In-store performance
5:30 pm
Madison, WI

March 22, 2007
High Noon Saloon – w/ The Long Winters
Madison, WI – 8 pm

March 23, 2007
WFPK – Live At Lunch Perfomance
12 pm.

March 23, 2007
Uncle Pleasants
w/ Dennis Crommett opening
Louiseville, KY 8 pm

March 24 2007
Live on WRNR, Annapolis, MD.
Interview/Performance. 12 noon.

March 24 2007
IOTA Club and Cafe
w/
Washington, DC 8 pm

April 2, 2007
The Middle East
w/ Robert Gomez
Cambridge, MA

April 3, 2007
College of the Atlantic
8 pm
Bangor, ME

April 21, 2007
Pearl St. Nightclub
w/Fountains of Wayne
Northampton, MA


NBCC says

Thu 8 Mar 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

read James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon by Julie Phillips (St. Martin’s Press). That award should send it back to the presses again and more people get to be addicted, weirded out, and awed by Alice Sheldon’s life and Julie Phillips’s biography.


Flip a coin

Wed 21 Feb 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Why don’t we enter books in competitions such as the Foreword Book of the Year? The books that win are usually pretty worthy, but here’s a line from the press release. It’s the word “narrowed” that kills me:

Nearly 1,400 books were entered in 59 categories. These were narrowed to 698 finalists, from 419 publishers. The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers…


Shelving excitement

Fri 16 Feb 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Nope, not the excitement of shelving books, the excitement of the shelves coming down at us. We’re all looking at the starred Publishers Weekly review of Generation Loss (which seemed like enough excitement for the day!) when Creak! Boom! The shelf beside Gavin’s computer decides to take a nosedive. Photos from Flickr:

Ok, it’s a bit of a mess. It was tidier before a favorite glass was broken and spilled water all over a couple of books and the ’06 tax box. Luckily nothing was very damaged or wet. Besides the small shelf which is now kindling.

So we call the local place where it came from and they send out a couple of guys who take it in their stride, go bring a new piece to fix it, fix it, and then call us in to show that it should be able to take the weight from now on. Now it’s all as good as new and ready to be refilled. If we are brave enough! Meh. Leave it for the weekend.



Thu 15 Feb 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Google says this isn’t a new word, oh well, it was a fun moment anyway. What is the name of your action when you nibble the munchies left out for the gods? Snackreligious. Go back to your serious surfing.


Thu 15 Feb 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Google says this isn’t a new word, oh well, it was a fun moment anyway. What is the name of your action when you nibble the munchies left out for the gods? Snackreligious. Go back to your serious surfing.


Sun 21 Jan 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Magic for BeginnersWe are far away. Cat Sparks posted some pics to prove it. Gavin may look peely wally but rumors of his death proved to be a little premature. How much we’re not telling.

Kelly is now teaching at the Clarion South workshop just outside of Brisbane. She’ll be reading at a local bookshop on Thursday night. But if you live in Brisbane (and you care about these things) you probably already know that. Otherwise, besides (the awesome) Galaxy in Sydney, you can get signed copies of Magic for Beginners at Pulp Fiction in Brizzy (as we are told to say).

And, look, the first appearance of the UK edition of Magic for Beginners. It is such a beautiful edition with shiny bits and bumpy bits and art on the inside of the covers. Wow. Comes out prop’ly Feb. 5th. Maybe we can go to the UK and see it there, too.


Sun 21 Jan 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., , | Posted by: Gavin

Magic for BeginnersWe are far away. Cat Sparks posted some pics to prove it. Gavin may look peely wally but rumors of his death proved to be a little premature. How much we’re not telling.

Kelly is now teaching at the Clarion South workshop just outside of Brisbane. She’ll be reading at a local bookshop on Thursday night. But if you live in Brisbane (and you care about these things) you probably already know that. Otherwise, besides (the awesome) Galaxy in Sydney, you can get signed copies of Magic for Beginners at Pulp Fiction in Brizzy (as we are told to say).

And, look, the first appearance of the UK edition of Magic for Beginners. It is such a beautiful edition with shiny bits and bumpy bits and art on the inside of the covers. Wow. Comes out prop’ly Feb. 5th. Maybe we can go to the UK and see it there, too.


Crap days in publishing

Mon 8 Jan 2007 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Ours are just overloaded, in other places it’s truly crap.

After seven years, Clamor Magazine is folding. Clamor were good people providing viewpoints and voices that aren’t often heard. Darn.

The Independent Press Association has (not unexpectedly) gone toes up. Punk Planet and their ilk are the sufferers here. Magazine distribution is, well, pick your favorite metaphor for pain and suffering, add a pinch of humilation, and that feeling you get when there’s a long, long queue at the post office and the only person working is medically dead, and it’s something like that. The IPA hoped to help but failed. Magazine distribution choices are disappearing faster than hope for clean elections.

Then the elephant in the room: AMS and their Chapter 11 bankruptcy. AMS have been under SEC investigation since at least 2002. They have been delisted from the stock market for not complying with quarterly reporting rules and a few ex-top execs who messed with ad revenue figures are trying out alternative modes of living. ie prison. AMS are huge: they supply CostCo with those pallets of books that lie around the front of the warehouses (whoopee, that’s some fun shoppin’). AMS are also, as of a couple of years ago, the parent company of Publishers Group West, exclusive distributors for Soft Skull, McSweeney’s Books, Tin House, and ~150 others. Fingers crossed that if PGW are sold off quick the publishers see their money and not just pennies on the dollar.


No-Ka

Sat 30 Dec 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin

Lovely loverly blogosphere look at the the fun thing you have popped up for us: an expose of a chocolatier! Ha. Everybody is pointing to this story and it is worth reading. Poor No-Ka, soon No-business.


We were just mobbed in Venice, sweetie.

Sat 23 Dec 2006 - Filed under: Not a Journal., | Posted by: Gavin


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