Chris Drumm Books notes

2012-01-25T16:50:00.001-06:00

A few more revised listings (mostly added links):

BACK BRAIN RECLUSE #7, ('87), (original fiction and art; Sneyd, Moorcock; Moorcock interview; 40 pages) • ---#8, ('87), (Steve Sneyd, Wayne Rile Williams, Mark Iles, John Light, Geoff Stevens, Wayne Allen Sallee, etc.) • ---#10, ('88), (Lyle Hopwood, H.R. Feigenhauer, Tom Farbman, Benson Herbert, etc.) • --- #12, '89, (Sneyd, Webb, VanderMeer, winter-damon, etc.), 56-page stapled magazine, as new each, 10.00

---THE BEST OF BACK BRAIN RECLUSE #1, ('87), (A selection of material from Back Brain Recluse issues #1 to #4, all of which have been out of print for many years), 60-page stapled A5-size magazine, as new 10.00

Dozois, Gardner (ed) THE YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION: Twenty-First Annual Collection, St. Martin's Griffin, 7/04, 1st edn, (includes "Summation: 2003" & "Honorable Mentions"; 665 + xxxviii pages), new 19.95

Powers, Tim DINNER AT DEVIANT'S PALACE, Subterranean '01, one of 750 SIGNED copies, (reprint of 1985 PKD Award-winning novel; the perfect entertainment for those who think of pre-bomb Los Angeles as the Land of the Very Weird), as new in dj 40.00

Priest, Cherie FOUR AND TWENTY BLACKBIRDS, Marietta ('03), 1st (POD edn), (novel plus bonus short story: "Horror at Snodgrass Hill"; author's first), new 13.99

Robinson, Roger (compiler) (RE)COMMENDED SCIENCE FICTION: A "Core Library" Listing of Over 1200 Titles Based on Nominations for the Major SF and Fantasy Awards Between 1949 & 1997, Beccon, 4/97, 44-page booklet, as new 7.00

more updated listings

2011-12-14T20:39:00.002-06:00

It's been slower going than I hoped getting things cataloged, with all the distractions and my poor work habits. I think I will post these in increments of five, instead of one at a time (especially if all I have to show for whole day is one or two listings).

Here now the latest stab at revised and updated listings:

GAUNTLET: Exploring the Limits of Free Expression #2, '91, (Stephen King Special; Ray Bradbury, Piers Anthony, David Wojnarowicz, Andrew Vachss, Graham Masterton; "Top Ten Censors of 1990, MPAA Exposed, 2 Live Crew, Kiddie Porn; Recommended for mature adults; 402 pages), perfectbound, vg $8; as new 15.00

McAuley, Paul J. WHITE DEVILS, Simon & Schuster UK, 2nd, (hard-edged near-future biotech thriller; thought-provoking heart-stopping white-knuckle ride; 521 pages), vg-f in dj 12.00

Lobdell, Jared THE WORLD OF THE RINGS: Language, Religion, and Adventure in Tolkien, Open Court '04, 1st, (classics study, here revised and expanded; eccentric and compelling), f $15

Smith, Clark Ashton THE LAST OBLIVION: Best Fantastic Poems of..., Hippocampus ('02), 1st edn, (includes glossary of unusual words and names; S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz [eds]; 194 pages), new 15.00

NOVA EXPRESS #19, spr-sum/00 (Volume 5, Number 3), (Neil Gaiman interview Part 1; Russell Blackford on Greg Egan, Patrick O'Leary Fails to Analyze Gene Wolfe, Nick Gevers on Paul J. McAuley's Confluence; more) •---#21, spr-sum/01, (interview with Tim Powers; reviews; more), new 4.00 [listed at $2 on biblio because I have a hefty number of these on hand - I'll be happy to honor that price; also, I'm sure I have a similar number of #20 too, but there's only one copy right here beside me, so I won't re-list it in earnest now, but I could maybe be prevailed upon to mount an expedition for it]

updated listings

2011-12-02T09:22:00.001-06:00

Updated listings (with links added):

Lupoff, Pat & Dick Lupoff THE BEST OF XERO, Tachyon, 7/04, 1st edn, (an array of highlights from Hugo-winning fanzine published between 1960 and 1962; Roger Ebert intro), new in dj 29.95

[30% discount]

LITTLE LULUª: Lulu Goes Shopping, Dark Horse, 11/04, 1st edn, (reprints issues six through twelve in Dark Horse's complete run of John Stanley and Irving Tripp's legendary Little Lulu comics), f 12.00

further re-cataloging

2011-12-01T09:50:00.001-06:00

Catalog listing update:

Di Filippo, Paul THE STEAMPUNK TRILOGY, Four Walls Eight Windows, 4/95, 1st, (collects Victoria, Hottentots & Walt and Emily; invests history with a cockeyed verisimilitude; set in the very alternative 19th century; 352 pages), as new (but about vg-f) in dj 20.00

---now down to my last copy -- new but not perfect (unread - probably a bookstore return but not a remainder.

forward listings

2011-11-28T20:49:00.001-06:00

Revised listings with links to covershots:

Forward, Robert L. DRAGON'S EGG, Del Rey, 5/80, 1st edn, (author's first novel; one of a handful of books that stretch the mind), vg-f in dj 20.00

Forward, Robert L. STARQUAKE, Del Rey, 10/85, 1st edn, SIGNED by author, (hard SF; sequel to Dragon's Egg), vg-f in dj 20.00

---I also still have a nice pair of the above, both SIGNED, vg-f in djs 50.00

book listing

2011-11-26T21:48:00.000-06:00

New listing of used book (whoopie!):

St Martin's Minotaur 96864 Hess, Joan STRANGLED PROSE, 5th, (A Claire Malloy Mystery; Is killing a romance novelist considered a crime of passion?), vg-f 2.00

---Pretty sad this is all I could get done today.

further revised listings

2011-11-24T10:14:00.001-06:00

Revised listings:

O'Neill, Gene THE BURDEN OF INDIGO, Prime ('02), POD edn, (sf/fantasy/horror tale of the search for salvation; After an economic/ecologic collapse, the Shields along the coast of Cal Wild cast out their criminals and malcontents to wander the dangerous wastelands), as new $20

O'Neill, Gene GHOSTS, SPIRITS, COMPUTERS AND WORLD MACHINES, Prime ('01), POD edn, (horror stories by the best kept secret in horror fiction; introduction by Kim Stanley Robinson; Scott Edelman afterword), new 15.00

O'Rourke, Monica J. SUFFER THE FLESH, Prime ('02), POD edn, (horror novel; Zoey Masterton didn't know what pain was before, but she's learning fast), new 15.00

Womack, Jack LET'S PUT THE FUTURE BEHIND US, Grove Press, 4/97, 1st pb edn, (one of the most cannily on-target accounts yet about the helter-skelter fast lane of life in the New Russia), vg 7.50 ---although I think I have this listed as a "new" copy elsewhere -- it sure looks new; came from someone who was a heavy smoker whose books stank, so that was the chief demerit; by now, quite a bit later, the book has lost the aroma.

recataloging Xgau's 90's Consumer Guide

2011-11-23T15:11:00.001-06:00

I'm recataloging my Xgau's 90's Consumer Guide, which I have one new copy of left now after today. So I'm on its Amazon site, and am bemused (actually amused almost to the extent of spewing my wine all over the keyboard) by one reviewer:

I'll never forget what he once said about Waylon Jennings ("Reminds us that he has balls by singing as though someone were squeezing them")
I wish he weren't such a sucker for world music, much of which, in my opinion, would be dismissed as pablum if it weren't for the exotic veneer.
It's supposed to be a consumer guide, not a flight manual.
Deduct 2 stars for form, but credit 1 back because it's important to keep Christgau's brand of crankiness alive. Four stars.

This reviewer (same one?) seems to make the same confusion of the words obtuse with abstruse that Allmusic makes in their assessment of Xgau. "Dim, slow-witted" are not attributes I would apply to Xgau, probably not even into his twilight years -- still a ways away from current evidence.

The listing now:

Christgau, Robert CONSUMER GUIDE: Albums of the '90s, St. Martin's Griffin, 10/00, 1st edn, (ever-open-eared, mercilessly rigorous; essential; the dean of American rock critics tackles the decade when music exploded; over 3,800 reviews), as new 20.00

need titles!

2011-11-23T09:07:00.001-06:00

Looks like I need to have titles to posts to have them show up in the feed at my main bookselling blog.

Lots of things I still need to catch up on

2011-11-23T08:27:00.001-06:00

Lots of things I still need to catch up on, but what do I ever do? Things that never seem to do much to fulfill my obligations. Now today, coming up on the holiday, my mandate is to get all the stacks of books and boxes of books that I brought upstairs when the water heater sprang a leak took back down to the cellar. I was hoping to grab this chance to get things organized better, maybe get some of the boxed books cataloged, maybe re-catalog the loose books -- and get them listed on the sites where much of my bookselling now happens (amazon, biblio.com, and half.com). But a couple weeks later, I've made scant progress. Still, if I could just keep plugging away, even though things might continue to slide downhill, at least some good things might keep happening. Maybe it's the autist in me, but I find that when I get started on something, I do tend to keep doing that thing, not necessarily to completion but certainly to the exclusion of other things, including higher-priority things. The process of making book listings is not very time-friendly. All the steps in the process do gobble up the time, as any Internet user can relate to I'm sure.
But I better get started, here are some listing revisions for today:

Drew, Wayland THE ERTHRING CYCLE, SFBC, nd (code Q35 on p656), (3-in-1 omnibus edn; collects The Memoirs of Alcheringia, The Gaian Expedient & The Master of Norriya; 659 pages), vg+ in dj 6.00 [10%]

Yolen, Jane SISTER EMILY'S LIGHTSHIP and Other Stories, Tor, 8/01, (twenty-eight magical tales, including three written especially for this collection and two Nebula Award winners), new 13.95 [30% discount still, but I'm thinking about dropping it to 25% or even dropping it entirely -- most of my "new" books (i.e. uncirculated and as received from mass-market publishers) are pushing a decade or more old now. Amazon give better discounts than I can on current books, and by now the older books can be had for next to nothing from their sellers, including me, but sometimes, if you want a book preserved in actual new condition from earlier days, maybe a 30% discount from the original selling price might be going a bit too far]

Lorrah, Jean BLOOD WILL TELL, BenBella, 4/03, (winner of the Lord Ruthven Award for Best Vampire Novel and also winner of the LORIE Award for Best Paranormal Romance), new 14.95

Wilson, F. Paul ALL THE RAGE, Forge, 10/00, 1st trade edn, (first published in a limited edition by Gauntlet Press; Repairman Jack novel; sequel to The Tomb), new in dj 25.95

Olsen, Lance FREAKNEST, Wordcraft of Oregon, 9/00, 1st edn, (feral children, illicit nano-drugs, false memories, televisual consciousness, Dickensian 2023 London), new $12

two revised book listings

2011-11-22T09:05:00.001-06:00

Revised listings:

Lumley, Brian HAGGOPIAN and Other Stories, Subterranean '08, 1st edn, "Deluxe Hardcover Edition" SIGNED by author and by cover artist Bob Eggleton, (Best Mythos Tales, Volume 2; 424 pages), as new in dj 50.00

Wilson, F. Paul THE HAUNTED AIR, Forge, 10/02, 1st edn, (A Repairman Jack Novel), new in dj 24.95

link to my biblio listings

2011-11-20T10:46:00.001-06:00

I figured out how to view my biblio.com listings by "most recently added."

Updated catalog entries

2011-11-20T08:04:00.001-06:00

Updated catalog entries today (with links added):

Wisman, Ken WEIRD FAMILY TALES I & II, Dark Regions '95, 1st, (a journal of familial maledictions; Pete Crowther intros; 47+47 pages bound dos-à-dos), as new 8.00

O'Leary, Patrick THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD, Tor, 3/03, (There is a place—a world—where famine and poverty do not exist. Nor sickness nor misery nor unhappiness of any kind. Is it Heaven? As two brothers are about to discover, it’s more like Hell), {hc is still available @ $25.95}, trade pb, new 14.95 [30%]

GAUNTLET: Exploring the Limits of Free Expression #12, '96, (Natural Born Tiller: Harrelson Hawks Hemp, Wenatchee Witch Hunt: Child Abuse or Political Posturing?, Recovered Memories: Convictions Come Crumbling Down, A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, more; 112 pages), new 9.95

---#13, '97, (Political Correctness Suffers a Setback; Murder By the Book: The Controversy over Hit Man, Andrei Codrescu on Romania's Made-for-Television Revolution; Banning Beetle Bailey) • ---#14, '97, (Porn in the USA 2; Al Goldstein on the cowardice of the porn industry; Amateur Porn: The New Wave; Dworkin & Mackinnon Conquer Canada; The Future of Porn on the Internet; S/M: An alternative you can live with; etc., etc. etc.; 128 pages), new, each 6.95

Speaking of covershots, a couple weeks ago I added a set of mostly-vintage paperbacks that turned up when our water heater sprang a leak and I had to move a bunch of books out of harms way. This box got pretty wet but it looks like the books survived without too much damage. At least they were still ready for their close-ups. Don't know when I will ever get them cataloged. One, though -- Flower People, listed yesterday -- didn't fit in their new box, so it is listed. (Pandora's has it for $195 on Amazon!)

revised listings with added links

2011-11-19T07:48:00.000-06:00

A bunch of books had to be moved out of the way to put in a new water heater (in the center of the cellar), so I have a few of them here beside me. I've added links and perhaps expanded or revised descriptions/prices on a few of the books already, but I've only now decided it might be a good idea to add them to the blog as they occur. I'll just put them in this subsidiary "notes" blog, though. I really should come up with more posts for the main blog too. But meanwhile, here's the latest revised listings with added link to covershots:

Wilder, Cherry DEALERS IN LIGHT AND DARKNESS, Edgewood ('95), (1st), (complexly achieved short stories with a wry mythopoeic vein; an unusual and worthwhile collection; 166 pages), new 9.00

Lannes, Roberta THE MIRROR OF NIGHT, Silver Salamander '97, one of 500 perfectbound SIGNED copies (860 total), (horror stories; don't buy this book for Harlan Ellison's intro), as new 18.00

Wilcox, Don & David V. Reed THE WHISPERING GORILLA Plus RETURN OF THE WHISPERING GORILLA, Gryphon, 3/99, 1st edn, (first world book publication of a science fiction legend!; from Fantastic Adventures, 5/40 & 2/43; Philip Harbottle intro), as new $20

Wisman, Ken WEIRD FAMILY TALES III: Maledictio Redux, Dark Regions '99, 1st, (strange and supernatural stories of family members), as new 8.00

As I deal with more books, I will copy their listings to here. Of course, you can find them all here too.

working on links

2011-05-29T15:32:00.000-05:00

Despite the fact that there are several far more pressing things I ought to be doing (I'm talking to you, e-mailer), I'm bogged down just now trying to redo the links to other documents in my various catalog-data pages. I would have thought that a simple copy and paste would get the job done, but for some reason the links get stripped out of the text when I do this. So I'm going through them and methodically doing them by hand. Best to go ahead and get it done, before I forget how (although there had to be a better way.)

netbook musings

2011-04-14T09:02:00.000-05:00

I've been doing the update on my catalog listings that Google Documents offers. This allows me to make them look more like they did in my old paper catalogs (e.g. hanging indents -- but I haven't figured out how to do a tab leader yet). For fun I picked up a little Windows netbook a couple weeks ago, to kind of see what it is like for Windows people to do stuff. All along I've always used Macs. The netbook might be fine once I get used to it, but so far: headache after headache. Right now, when I try to go to any of my Document links (for catalog entries), only the first window pane or so gets loaded. I had kind of wondered what it must be like for slower connections or PC users to try to view these links, thinking it might be better if I broke them up into smaller units, but if I had my druthers the whole thing would be in one Document file. There are limits to how big a file you can upload, though. I figured I'd go with as big of files as I could get away with, hopefully leaving room for some future expansion, to avoid having to jump around from place to place looking for things.
Anyway, the updated versions of the documents do seem to take a while to load up, and even on my Macbook the search function doesn't seem to go to listings I might be looking for, although I can scroll down, unlike with this netbook -- which only seems to get so far before it stops. Well, I still only have the Windows Starter system installed. Maybe with an upgrade to the Home Premium everything will work the way I think it should.

batch of books from book sale

2011-03-28T23:44:00.000-05:00

If anyone is curious, here's where you can see the books I picked up at the Planned Parenthood Book Sale in Des Moines yesterday:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdrummbks/sets/72157626251697807/show/
It's anyone's guess when any of these might ever be cataloged -- I've become more of a hoarder than anything else. A lot of them I bought because I thought I'd like to read them myself (the especially worthless ones).

email from Sarob

2011-01-06T10:06:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

Hi Chris
Sarob Press is pleased to announce details of our Spring (April) 2011 title as follows.

Mark Nicholls: Dark Shadows Fall
Dr Nicholls is the President and Librarian at St John's College, Cambridge – surely a terrific place to soak in the atmosphere of centuries and quietly dream up tales of delicious and rather pleasing terror. Previously published in Ghosts & Scholars, All Hallows, Supernatural Tales, Enigmatic Tales and Black Rose, this is Mark's first collection of ghost stories. Here are 12 traditional tales, some Jamesian, some antiquarian, all ghostly and all dark and icily chilling. Afterword by Mark Nicholls. Illustrations by Paul Lowe. Limited Edition Hardcover. Printed Boards. Edition limited to 150 numbered copies. Limitation will be reviewed if pre-publication interest suggests a larger print run is appropriate.
BOOK PRICE
UK: UK £20
Europe: 25 euros
USA & Rest of World: US $35
Full details at http://sarobpress.blogspot.com

I hope to hear from you shortly.
Cheers, Robert.

---I will be getting this in. The previous Sarob title I've had here for a while, but I've been neglectful about getting it listed. In fact, only just yesterday I managed this:

Ward, C.E. SEVEN GHOSTS AND ONE OTHER, Sarob '10, Limited "Numbered" Edition, one of 200 copies, (author's long-awaited second ghost story collection; eight Jamesian tales include two new long and previously unpublished supernatural stories and the authorised completion of M.R. James' unfinished “The Game of Bear”), as new no dj as issued (pictorial boards) 40.00

---The slight bump up in price is owing to the fact that it is sold out at the publisher, and to allow for the 10% discount I give.

word from Tartarus

2010-09-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Dear Chris,

We have now received, and are shipping, our Guide to First Edition Prices. 50,000 titles are listed, including many authors from the supernatural/weird fiction genre (classic authors like Machen and Lovecraft, through Aickman, to Thomas Ligotti.)

800 page paperback, retail price £19.95

http://www.tartaruspress.com/guide.html

At the printers, and due for publication 15th October, is the promotional paperback "The Inner Room" by Robert Aickman. This will be published in association with the Halifax Ghost Story Festival in a limited eidtion of only 200 copies. As with the recent "N" by Arthur Machen, we do not expect it to stay in print for long.

Paperback, retail price £4.95

http://www.tartaruspress.com/aickmaninnerroom.htm

And last, but not least,

We now have permission to reprint all of Robert Aickman's short story collections, starting with Sub Rosa:

This will be a sewn hardback of 288+ ix pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w. Publication 31st October 2010. Limited to 350 copies.

Retail price £32.50

http://www.tartaruspress.com/aickmansubrosa.htm

Please let me know how many of each of the above you might like...

All best wishes,

Ray

---Anyone wanting any of these, let me know. (Discount: 15%)

word from Earthling

2010-09-21T15:42:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Earthling Publications Newsletter
September 20, 2010
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now available for preorder, the latest unclassifiable explosion of storytelling from award-winning author and Earthling favorite:

THE BOOK OF BUNK

An original novel by Glen Hirshberg

Paul Dent, penniless and recently orphaned, hops a train in deepest Dust Bowl Oklahoma in the Spring of 1936, and winds up attached to the Federal Writers' Project, one of the least understood, shortest-lived, and most impossibly ambitious government undertakings in the history of the country. He is assigned to capture the essence of the mountain towns of eastern North Carolina for a series of travel books no one believes will ever be published. There, among writers and cheats, arsonists and Reconstructionists, blind and deaf children and disease-ridden Senators, Paul will meet the love of his life and her lover, witness the awakening of one great novelist and the possible resurrection of another, discover more than one America that could have been, and confront the truth about his relationship with his unpredictable, brilliant, and Machiavellian older brother.

There are echoes here of Laurel and Hardy, Bonnie and Clyde, Powell and Loy, Cane and Abel. It's a book of bunk, in other words. A collection of lies. A creation myth about a vanished country that may or may not have existed, and the very real, conflicted nation that has sprung from it.

Lucius Shepherd calls The Book Of Bunk "a miracle of narrative diversity and drive." Jeff Vandermeer said "it is anything but, by turns powerful, sad, ecstatic, and, above all, a clear sign that the uniquely American novel is alive and well. I loved it." From an author who Peter Straub called "a writer to watch and to treasure," Hirshberg's latest novel is a joy to read and to savor and is further proof that he is a masterful storyteller.

Please click the below link to read more and to reserve your copy:

Link to THE BOOK OF BUNK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now available for preorder, this year's Halloween Series book:

BY WIZARD OAK

An original novel by Peter Crowther

It's just a book that the folks of the small town of Magellan Bend recall reading. A little gruesome, perhaps ... and, in more than one instance, not the reader's usual fare. But it's just a book. Nothing more.

But when the town's resident sleeper awakes from an eight-year nap, his memories are much more than mere words and phrases in a cheap and gaudy horror novel. And as he becomes more and more aware of the shocking truth, the knowledge spreads like graveyard mist sending a clarion call far and wide ... but not only to the townsfolk. No, indeed. There are other things out there, things that ride the night winds on All Hallows Eve ... and they know a lot more about the events recorded in the fabled By Wizard Oak And Fairy Stream.

Clearly, there is unfinished business in Magellan Bend this October and, as the night turns smoky and the world settles down for the onset of winter, the visitors arrive. Again.

And no, it's not just a book.

No way.

BY WIZARD OAK is the 6th book in Earthling's Halloween Series, and features an Introduction by Rick Hautala and art by Glenn Chadborne.

Sarah Pinborough says this about Pete's novel: "In Magellan Bend, Pete Crowther has created a deliciously dark and magical Halloween tale. Beautifully crafted, this rich delight takes the myths and motifs of a Halloween witching story and twists them into something all together the author's own -- something earthy and raw and haunting."

And Rick Hautala says this: "BY WIZARD OAK is the real deal....Scary? You bet'cha. Well-written? Ditto. Peter Crowther takes the 'typical' Hallowe'en story in amazingly new directions that are anything but typical. I guarantee you'll read it in one delicious gulp and wish there were lots more."

Please click the below link to read more and to reserve your copy:

Link to BY WIZARD OAK

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OTHER UPDATES

Earthling is also currently working on The Rolling Darkness Revue 2010 (due out around November) and finishing content for Clive Barker's The Painter, The Creature, And The Father Of Lies (targeting publication by Spring 2011). The Very Best of Best New Horror is also back on track after an issue with the printer, and is set for publication by the end of this year; the deluxe edition is sold out, but a small pile of signed & numbered copies remain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks and all best,

Paul Miller / EARTHLING PUBLICATIONS

Link to Earthling Publications

---I'd certainly be amenable to carrying more Earthling, if anyone is interested. Or buy from the publisher!

email from Sarob Press

2010-08-23T08:48:00.000-05:00

Back from the virtual grave:

Hello Chris
Sarob Press is back! Originally, as you know, I closed completely when we moved to northern France but I have decided (now renovations to the main farmhouse are complete) to re-launch Sarob Press.
In 1998 I published Vengeful Ghosts by C.E. Ward. The collection was very well received, sold out pretty quickly and is long out of print.
And now – scheduled for October 2010 – comes Mr Ward’s long-awaited second “limited and numbered hardcover” collection. Seven Ghosts and One Other presents eight Jamesian tales including two new long and previously unpublished supernatural stories and the authorised completion of M.R. James' unfinished “The Game of Bear”. Cover and interior art by Paul Lowe.
Attached is a PDF of the flyer that I’m sending out which gives lots more details [which I can forward to anyone interested].
I am hoping that all my old bookseller friends will be interested in stocking this new Sarob Press title.
BOOK PRICE
UK: UK £20
Europe: 25 euros
USA and Rest of World: USA $35
Visit our new web presence at: http://sarobpress.blogspot.com
The print run for this title will be very limited so please order early to avoid any disappointment.
I hope to hear from you very shortly.
Kind regards.
Cheers, Rob.
ROBERT MORGAN
SAROB PRESS

word from Ramble House

2010-07-29T13:18:00.000-05:00

Emailing from Fender Tucker:

The Ramble House Rambler #76
July 28, 2010

Newsletter of Ramble House, publisher of Harry Stephen Keeler and other loons, produced by Fender Tucker ( fender@ramblehouse.com ), mailed whenever something happens. To be removed from this list, please respond to this message and ask, or go to the RH website and unsubscribe. Fender Tucker, 10329 Sheephead Drive, Vancleave MS 39565, 318-455-6847 (cell) or 228-826-1783 (better).

The headlines:

~ Bouchercon 2010 in San Francisco

~ Hardcovers and the Death of Ramble House

~ Kindle and e-books

~ New Titles

~ Coming Up

And now, the details:

~ Bouchercon 2010

When I heard that the Bouchercon in 2010 was to be held in San Francisco in mid-October I looked into taking our annual trip to see my daughter and family at that time, instead of in the spring as we usually do. Then I talked Gavin O’Keefe into flying up from Australia for the show. So it’s arranged: Gavin, Dick and Pat Lupoff and I will be at the Bouchercon in the bookroom on October 14, 15 and 16. It’s at the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero Center.

What sort of people go to book conventions? Let me tell you a little anecdote about a book show I went to in Austin a few years back. I was sitting in the book room and noticed, in a seizure of abject egotism, that I was probably the most fit male in the room, even though I weigh 200 pounds with little of it being muscle. I was also perhaps the most attractive male in the room, even though I have only a fringe of hair, a gray beard and thick glasses. I decided to throw in the females in the room and still, in my feeble opinion, I rated near the top. My thought: what is it about books that attracts the least attractive people around? Including me?

Then on the last day of the show I spotted a winsome 20-something blonde beauty walking into the room. Before long she was joined by a couple of more babes, with long black hair and come-hither widespread eyes. Then came the redhead, with a body like Buffy’s and a dazzling smile. What the ??? Had the whole universe of bookdom changed?

Well, no. I did a little reconnoitering and found that another convention had just started in the same hotel and the babes were all from that convention. A district attorneys convention.

So when you see a good-looking woman approaching your table at a book convention, she’s probably not going to buy any of your books, and you might want keep your stash well hidden while she’s around.

Kids, if you want to meet good-luckin’ people when you grow up, stop reading and get into law enforcement – or crime. I bet those district attorney babes are suckers for a well-pecced felon.

~ Hardcovers and the Death of Ramble House

Each stage of my working life has followed a pattern: exuberant start, triumphant success, diminishing results, and then a long drawn-out period of hanging on while everything turns to crap. It happened when I was a musician, at every bar I worked at. I worked at the Las Cruces Inn for 6 years and the first 4 were terrific. Then it went bad and instead of getting out at the diminishing results stage, I held on for another 2 years of abysmal music played to five or six drunks who wished we’d turn down the damn music. I learned to dislike music and all that it stood for.

In 1987 I quit music and became a software magazine editor. I had a wonderful time for about 5 years then the Commodore world became stagnant. Instead of getting into the PC where the money and progress was I kept on with the Commodore for another 6 years, each year worse than the last.

Then in 1999 I gave up computing and started making books and it was great fun for several years. But I have to admit that for the past three years – ever since I moved to the gawdawful state of Mississippi – I haven’t had any fun with books. I can’t enjoy reading a book anymore.

But I’m happy to keep on with Ramble House as long as I don’t run into too many snags. And with trade paperbacks and my handmade editions, there are very few snags. Not so with hardcovers. Lulu does hardcovers fine but they overcharge for them. A 300-page hardcover from Lulu will cost ME $30. I hate selling books for outrageous prices and Lulu forces me to overcharge. Even so, I make maybe $3 for every hardcover I sell. After paying a royalty to the author I end up making $1 for the 15 minutes it takes for me to place a hardcover order.

Along comes Lightning Source, offering hardcovers that are better than Lulu’s and I can get them for $13 or so. You’d think that all I have to do is switch from Lulu to LS. But LS is full of snags. Their art department hates Gavin’s covers and keeps sending them back, telling us we have to redo them. The text department doesn’t like the fact that I don’t have a current copy of Acrobat ($500) and won’t allow the texts that worked quite well at Lulu to pass. I’m having to spend hours every week getting our files to a state where LS will deign to print them.

In other words, with Lightning Source and hardcovers I have reached beyond the diminishing results stage and I’m in the “hanging on while everything turns to crap” stage.

There’s no reason why the books already done can’t be available forever – or as long as Lulu, Create Space and Lightning Source remain in business. But I think the coming years are going to see me move away from the bookmaking business into general decrepitude. And Mississippi is a perfect state for decrepitude. I’m hoping that once my wife’s obligations are deceased we can move to New Mexico where I will try to feel good about myself again. And maybe revive the robustness and good cheer that Ramble House had back when I was making all my books by hand.

~ Kindle and e-books

I can’t get excited about e-books even though they will probably take over one of these days. I’d like to be able to supply everyone with cheap, paperless copies of the RH titles but the industry can’t seem to decide what format to use. My complaint is that they aren’t choosing the same standard that the paper world uses, the PDF.

Gavin and I have spent hundreds of hours getting the 350+ RH titles into a format suitable for printing on paper and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life converting those books into the 5 or 6 different e-book formats. When I finish a book I want to forget about it until I get nostalgic about it 10 years later.

I recently sent someone a PDF of a Keeler book and he thought it looked great on his e-reader. But PDF isn’t what the places like Amazon want. They want me to format my files so they look good on their reader.

I don’t think it’s going to happen. But stay tuned and maybe something will change. Feel free to tell me what you’d like from RH in the way of e-books. If it doesn’t require much of my time, I’ll look into it.

~ New Titles!

TRAIL OF THE CLOVEN HOOF by Arlton Eadie. Written in 1935, this is #7 in the DTP series of supernatural revivals from the past. This is the complete novel, as it was written, not the bowdlerized version that was previously published in the pulps.

ULTRA-BOILED by Gary Lovisi. Over 20 short stories about the underside of crime from our man in Brooklyn. $20 trade paperback; $35 hardcover with jacket.

SAVAGE HIGHWAY by Jack Moskovitz. His latest novel of the road and its denizens. Like his previous book, HELL FIRE, you are subjected to the sights, sounds and, most particularly, smells of modern noir as you follow the anti-heroes from truckstop to barroom to abbatoir, each more disgusting than the last. No one writes like Jack Moskovitz.

SAND’S GAME by Ennis Willie. Back in the 60s and 70s he was one of the most hard-boiled writers going and here’s the first of what we hope will become a complete revival of his epics. It has two novels, three short stories, an interview, and several articles about Ennis by the likes of Max Allan Collins, Ed Gorman, Bill Crider, Bill Pronzini, James Reasoner, Lynn Myers and Steve Mertz. $20 trade paperback; $32 hardcover with jacket.

THE BORDER LINE by Walter S. Masterman. #6 in the Dancing Tuatara Press collection from Ramble House, this is one of Masterman’s almost-supernatural novels. John Pelan’s excellent introduction tells the story of Masterman and his place in the world of supernatural fiction.

BTW, the hardcovers mentioned above have passed Lightning Source’s censors and are actually available to buy.

~ Coming Up

THE DAY KEENE in the DETECTIVE PULPS Series. We don’t know yet how many volumes in this series we will have, but Day Keene wrote a LOT of short stories and novellas that were published in the pulps like Detective Tales and Dime Mystery Magazine. John Pelan has collected them and will introduce each of the volumes, except for the ones introduced by Ed Gorman and other pulp experts. The first two volumes, LEAGUE OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD And Other Stories, and WE ARE THE DEAD And Other Stories, are soon to be released, followed by DEATH MARCH OF THE DANCING DOLLS And Other Stories.

REUNION IN HELL by Arlton Eadie and THE TONGUELESS HORROR by Wyatt Blassingame are next in line from John Pelan. Each is a collection 6 or 7 of long short stories, taken from the pulps.

THE WHITE OWL by Edmund Snell. There’s always time for an old lost race novel from 1930. They just don’t write ’em anymore. Where are the racist authors of yesteryear? At Ramble House.

And here the Ramble House Rambler mercifully ends.

--
To subscribe:
http://www.mailermailer.com/x?oid=16247n

back from vacation

2010-03-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Two hours on runway in Denver midst freak snowstorm on plane that boarded an hour late already. Made it home at midnight instead of scheduled 8pm (or 9 with baggage pickup and ride home). Auto parking checkout machine wouldn't work until after fifteen tries, but that was just part of the day.
My own coffee this morning, pick up mail accumulation and exonerate the kitties, then get on all that stuff that I should have got done before I left, and see what might have come along since. Meanwhile, home alone for a couple days. Can play music, at least.

email from Sidereal Press

2010-03-09T09:26:00.000-06:00

I still have a copy or two of Sidereal's first Ewers book. Here's the latest word from them:

Dear Friend,
this lengthy mail details all that is new in the world of Side Real Press and is split into various sections.
Hanns Ewers 'Alraune' now available.
Side Real Press is very pleased to announce that Alraune is now availble for pre-order with shipping due to begin March 21st. Having now seen all the proofs, we believe this will our most beautiful title to date. Full details below.

World Horror Convention.
Side Real will be selling their titles at The World Horror Convention http://www.whc2010.org/ (25-28 March) in Brighton. We look forward to meeting friends old and new.

Mrs Molesworth - Collected Ghost Stories. 16 copies found.
In digging out boxes of books we found ONE box (ie: 16 copies) of the first Side Real Press book 'Collected ghost Stories' by Mrs Molesworth. These really are the last copies of this (long thought) deleted title. We are offering them up to individual buyers prior to taking them to Brighton. (Cost £30.00 UK; £35.00 elsewhere incl airmail postage). Of course the extra photo will be tipped in.
We will be astonished if we have any copies after March 28th.

Side Real Website.
Visitors to the website will notice it looks somewhat different to the past version. Though it is primarily cosmetic, but you may find the area: 'Side Real Extras', of interest.
This is for material unique to Side Real Press and not available elsewhere online. Its initial contents will be:
John Hirschhorn-Smiths introduction to Ewers life and work previously published in 'Nachtmahr' with a few extra illustrations not in the book version. We believe it to be the fullest overview in English.
Extracts from Hanns Ewers U.S. secret service files. Ewers was investigated by the U.S. authorities for his propaganda spying activites during WW1, and was ultimately interned. Side Real Press have obtained a copy of this file, which runs to over 80 pages, and post the most interesting portions online.
Karin Wikoffs 1995 Masters thesis on Hanns Ewers novel 'Vampire'. 'Vampire' has a very interesting history and this thesis is the fullest account of that to date. We are very grateful to Karin Wikoff for allowing us to reprint it.
John Hirschhorn-Smiths introduction to Mrs. Molesworths life and work previously published in 'Collected Ghost Stories'. A useful overview of this Victorian author.
These SHOULD all be uploaded by Mar 21st but some may already be available.
Side Real Press would be very interested to hear from others who may wish to contribute to this section of the website.

Forthcoming titles.
We can announce that our next book will almost certainly be Hanns Heinz Ewers' 'The Sorcerers Apprentice'. Joe E. Bandel informs us that this Ewers volume was not badly mangled in its original translation but there are various small ommisions and errors, which he is painstakingly correcting, to make this volume the definitive edition. The Side Real Press edition, will of course contain extra material. More details to follow.

More importantly he is working towards a new edition of Hanns Ewers 'Vampir'. There are thought to be approximately 100 PAGES MISSING from the only previous translation due to censorship by person(s) unknown. As you might imagine this restoration is some time away. Side Real Press is proud and privilaged to be working in conjunction with this talented and dedicated translator to present this very strange novel in a full, and definitive, edition.

There are also some other (non Ewers) projects in progress.

A call for submissions.
Finally, we feel that Ewers is an inspirational writer and are planning an anthology of short stories based around his themes and ideas. Submissions are now being accepted. Closing date 31st October 2010. Stories should, of course, be previously unpublished. Please e-mail if you wish further infomation.

OUR LATEST TITLE

HANNS HEINZ EWERS 'ALRAUNE'
A new, fully restored, uncensored translation by Joe E. Bandel
available for Pre-order. Shipping March 21st 2010

350 numbered copies (with Free Extras).
Cost for the U.K. is £30.00 incl. postage.
Cost elsewhere is £35.00 which includes airmail postage and packing.

'Alraune' (first published in 1911) was Ewers' best selling novel, and is a (sort of) melding of the Frankenstein theme & Mandrake legend, injected with Ewers recurring interests in abherrent sexuality, perversity and violence, both physical and moral.

This entirely new translation supercedes the previous edition from the John Day Company (1929), by including passages previously excised (by U.S. censors?) from the Ewers' original German text, as well as a myriad other minor amendments and corrections, which combine to make this new version a far more graphic and intense reading experience.

It also retains the wonderful Mahlon Blaine endpapers, chapter headings, initial letters and illustrations from the John Day edition, which are generally regarded as some of his best work. PLUS illustrations by Ilna Wunderwald Ewers from the original German edition.

There are also three new essays illuminating aspects of this volume by Mark Samuels, Tyler Davis and Joe E. Bandel.

Full contents:
An extra presentation 1929 frontispiece drawing by Mahlon Blaine.
The Root of Evil; Hanns Heinz Ewers and 'Alraune' by Mark Samuels.

'Alraunes' Allure by Tyler Davis.
‘Translating 'Alraune' by Joe E. Bandel.
‘Galeotto' - a previously untranslated poem by Hanns Ewers - Translated by Joe E. Bandel.
‘Alraune - the fully restored version translated by Joe E. Bandel.
Illustrations - from the original 1911 German edition - by Ilna Wunderwald Ewers.

The book is printed in black with red titles and initial letters throughout.
The cover is printed in three colours directly onto the book cloth and is uniform in design with Side Real Press' previous volume 'Nachtmahr'.

In addition to this, individuals who order directly from the Press will receive an additional tipped in bookplate designed for Hanns Ewers for his own library embossed with the Side Real logo.

This bookplate will NOT be available anywhere except for copies via Side Real Press and Joe Bandel - see below!

Those based in the U.S. wishing 'Alraune' may wish to buy their copy via its translator Joe E. Bandel. http://hannsheinzewers.wordpress.com/ He will have a limited number of copies available, all of which will include the extra bookplate,and will additionally be signed by him. Please be aware that Side Real Press have to ship his copies to him from the U.K. and thus availability from him will somewhat later.

Best wishes,
and thank you for your support.

Side Real Press.
www.siderealpress.co.uk

FAQ: Do you buy used books?

2010-02-28T10:37:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

Dear Chris Drumm books. Do you buy used books? I know I've bought a lot of used books from you in the past, and am hoping you still need some more. Please let me know if you're interested, and any necessary information.

My reply:

I'm not that much in the market for picking up used books now that I no longer send out printed-paper catalogs. I still like to acquire good books, but I presently have way more than I can keep up with in cataloging (though not all necessarily so good). I haven't officially ended my consignment scheme. A few people still get rid of their excess by sending it to me, and I try to do the right thing with it, or at least I want to try -- and I do enjoy receiving (most of) them -- but since my sales of particular titles is so hit or miss -- mostly miss -- I can't in good conscience recommend myself as the best repository.
One idea that might be something to try, if you have a list of what you're wanting to get rid of, I could copy it onto my bookselling blog and see if that excites any interest. But I wouldn't harbor much in the way of expectations.

Haffner order sent

2010-02-08T09:01:00.000-06:00

Sent order to Haffner for two 2010 titles, hopefully enabling me to also supply the bonus chapbook add-on for pre-orderers.

email maybe of interest

2010-01-26T15:54:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

Hi Chris,

I haven’t been checking an old Yahoo mailbox for sometime, and I see I’ve been missing your updates.

my reply:
Good to hear from you. I've stopped sending mass emails, so I'm sure you haven't missed anything. Even though I only sent to people who asked to be on the list, it still felt like spamming when I hit the send button -- probably about the same rate of response too.

discount plan

2010-01-14T10:57:00.000-06:00

Email sent that might be of interest to some others:

I've simplified the discount plan: it's 20% off on new small press and 30% on mass-market publishers. New books -- as in recent -- I don't get in much of any more, especially mass-market, but all the items still listed "new" in my listings are susceptible to discount -- with a possible exception or two, like Tartarus (15%). Used or "as new" books are 10% off.

word from Haffner Press

2009-11-02T08:21:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

Hey everybody!

Below are the details for the limited edition of THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON (which includes books signed by three Grand Masters, including Williamson!)

THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON
By Jack Williamson
720 page 6.25" x 9.25" Smythe-sewn Archival-quality Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-893887-29-9
75-copy limited edition: $150.00 (U.S.)

**********
THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON
A truly special state of an incredible book (which missed a Hugo nomination by *two* votes)! The 75-copy slipcased edition of The Worlds of Jack Williamson is signed on two limitation sheets (decorated with specially commissioned artwork by Vincent Di Fate) by all living contributors:

Frederik Pohl • James Gunn • Alfred D. Stewart, PhD • Alan C. Elms, PhD • Stephen Haffner • Vincent Di Fate

Contributor Vicky L. Medley signed the heading to her contribution, "Queens of Space," prior to her passing in 2008.

Also housed in the matching teal-green Brillianta cloth-covered slipcase are:

• Opposites--React! An exclusive 150+ page chapbook collecting the never-reprinted two-part serial novel of "seetee" (aka antimatter) adventure, "Opposites--React!" (from Astounding Science-Fiction, Jan & Feb 1943) with an 18-page arc of Williamson's 1950s newspaper comic-strip BEYOND MARS; a 1988 esay by Williamson on antimatter, and an honest-to-god atom-smasher from Fermi Laboratories (and sf-enthusiast) -- William S. Higgins -- provides the introduction documenting the early use of antimatter in speculative fiction. This chapbook is also signed by Mr. Higgins.

• The Man From Somewhere. This 2006 chapbook from Richard Hauptmann's Cacahuete Press reprints Williamson's novella from 2003. 300 copies were produced for sale. Now out-of-print, this chapbook, signed by Jack Williamson, is also included.

THE WORLDS OF JACK WILLIAMSON celebrates the 100th birthday of one of the Grand Masters of science fiction. While Jack Williamson passed away in 2006 at the age of 98, his incredible body of work continues to be enjoyed by legions of fans and admirers. Assembled in this centennial tribute are:

Unpublished stories:
“The Moon Bird”
“The Forbidden Window“
"The Golden Glass"
and a film treatment from 1957, “The Planets are Calling.”

Classics in the Williamson canon:
the original novella-length version of Darker Than You Think
“Minus Sign,” an unreprinted “seetee” story of anti-matter and terraforming
a tale with the first use of “psionics,” “The Man from Outside.”

Contemporary stories include:
“The Hole in the World”
“Afterlife”
“The Luck of the Legion,” the last Legion of Space adventure
"Ghost Town," his last story to appear in Weird Tales (from 2005!)
"A Christmas Carol"

Also included are four essays from academics and scholars who have studied Williamson’s works, as well as Dr. Williamson’s 1957 Master’s Thesis:

Alan C. Elms, PhD
"Darker Than He Thought: The Psychoanalysis of Jack Williamson"

Jack Williamson

"A Study of the Sense of Prophecy in Modern Science Fiction"
"Tricentennial Century"

Alfred D. Stewart, PhD

"Jack Williamson: The Comedy of Cosmic Evolution"

Vicky Medley
"Queens of Space: Women in the work of Jack Williamson"

Richard A. Hauptmann
"Collecting Jack Williamson: Master of Wonder"

****************

Best,

Stephen Haffner
Big Poobah
HAFFNER PRESS

---Anyone wanting this through me, discount would be 10%. Regular discount on Haffner books is 20%. At present I have in hand three Hamilton books needing to be cataloged and a Williamson on order (in the Collected Stories series I somehow neglected to order when it came out last year).

word from Cliff Burns

2009-09-15T08:53:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Folks:

That's riiiiight.

I've finally got around to posting the 4 short stories that cost me my entire summer.

Click here to go to my blog.

I think the intro which precedes the tales pretty much sums up my feelings so I'll keep this note short and to the point.

Pop by. Read 'em. Enjoy 'em.

Okay, they're depressing as hell. Maybe not enjoy them. But read 'em.

And, if you think of it, drop me a line with your thoughts. Or leave them in the "Comments" box below the stories.

Take care, one and all. Yer on my mailing list and that means you matter.

Best to you,

Cliff

---Oh, and (ouch) today's my birthday -- the sixtieth.
Here's
me
on
an
earlier --
much
earlier --
birthday.

book cataloging

2009-07-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

Having a few relatives over for dinner tomorrow night so Amy's put her foot down on all the stacks of books next to the easy chairs (and behind them and lining every wall). For this reason I spent much of yesterday "processing" a fair number of ones that were closest at hand (not coincidentally the most recent to come in). I enjoy the cataloging process. It is nice to look at the books more closely, find an apt (or howlably inapt) blurb to quote parenthetically. Linking to the photo, listing on biblio or half, and copying the listing for the new arrivals section, plus the time I spend checking out the book, is not the speediest of processes -- but it beats a few other ways to kill time on the Internet, and sometimes it pays off, even if only a little. I've been veering away a bit from the steady diet of SF/F/H books, listing everything I happen to pick up. There's lots of reasons I pick up the books I pick up -- collectibility being possibly the least of them. It could be a book I personally would like to (or wish I could) read, or maybe it's a nice copy of a book I think maybe someone else would like to (or wish they could) read, or maybe the price is right. Too much stuff seems like it might be of interest.
Still, for the couple stacks of books I was able to get through, another several had to go down to the cellar, where I'd like to think I will get to them -- but past history is not very encouraging on that score. Chances are the books coming in will continue to outpace my ability to get them cataloged -- and once cataloged there's the always daunting task of shelving them in such a manner that they can be retrieved when needbe -- only my second least favorite task behind the actually pulling of books. But now I sit here, without a stack of books beside me, for the moment -- so I write this little diatribe.

word from George Zebrowski

2009-06-28T07:54:00.000-05:00

Thought you might like to see some reactions and reviews to my new novel Empties, just out from Golden Gryphon Press.

Cheers,

George

Reactions to Empties by George Zebrowski

Review from Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

Issue: August, 2009

George Zebrowski: Empties, Golden Gryphon, $24.95. Manhattan detective Benek, investigating the death of an old derelict whose skull is missing a brain, encounters a literal femme fatale. This engrossing genre bender combines police procedural, male romantic suspense, science fiction, and/or fantasy, nourish pursuit thriller, and gross-out horror story. An afterword pays tribute to the author’s mentor, Fritz Leiber, whose Conjure Wife was a partial inspiration.

― Jon L. Breen, “The Jury Box”

Review from Booklist
Issue: May 15, 2009
Zebrowski, George (Author)  May 2009. 163 p. Golden Gryphon, hardcover, $24.95. (9781930846593).
An outstanding feature of Zebrowki’s large body of speculative fiction is his knack for creating vividly rendered, three-dimensional characters. That talent is fully displayed while recounting the dilemma confronting a bewildered New York detective who encounters a murder suspect possessing the supernatural ability to dislodge her victims’ brains. At first, the sixth precinct’s William Benek doesn’t quite believe what he’s seeing. A bum and a priest both have their brains rapidly and inexplicably removed from their skulls, leaving only blood and corpses behind. Then a possible witness, an aloof but strangely attractive landlady, Dierdre, imprisons Benek for breeding purposes and before his very eyes demonstrates her gruesome gift on small animals. Though Benek manages to escape while Dierdre is away on a killing spree, convincing his superiors that Dierdre’s powers are real proves a pretty daunting task. Sifting in a little intriguing criminal psychology, Zebrowski takes a bizarre premise and whips it into a gripping blend of horror and detective fiction.
— Carl Hays, Booklist

Review from EDGEBoston
Wednesday Mar 25, 2009
 Empties by George Zebrowski
Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press. Publication Date: May 1, 2009. Pages: 163. Price: $24.95.
George Zebrowski is a smart writer capable of peering into our possible futures while remaining grounded in the timeless (if in some ways regrettable) essentials of human nature.
The same strengths that serve Zebrowski so well when he’s writing science fiction come into play with his horror stories. In his new novel, Empties, Zebrowski takes aim at the writhing confusion of romance, and mines a deep, pitch-back vein of comedy.
The story starts as a mystery. Who, or what, killed a homeless drunk by removing the man’s brain from his intact skull? The question worries Bill Benek to the point of distraction, even though the coroner shrugs it off as some sort of undeniably clever, if macabre, joke.
Then Benek’s path crosses with that of Dierdre Matera, an aloof, beautiful woman with enough of a connection to the case that Benek can’t help treating her as a suspect... and enough chilly, rough-edged charm that he can’t stop himself from being attracted to her. When the two cross the cop-suspect line, it’s an ethical and professional issue--or would be, if Dierdre hadn’t drugged, kidnapped, and turned Benek into her personal sex toy.
What follows is a mystery even greater than the question of how people’s brains continue to vanish from their skulls all around the city. How can a man continue to subject himself to the agonies and uncertainties of an affair so obviously bound from the start to go wrong? And how can a woman both love and wish to destroy a man, both with equal passion?
The satirical theme--love robs us of all sense, leaving us essentially brainless in the quest to answer a primitive urge--plays into Zebrowski’s long-time philosophical preoccupations. The author has long examined the gulf, and the tension, between animal instinct and intellect; here, he pits the two against one another as never before, with intellect (as in real life) fighting a hopeless war of attrition.
The point is underscored by scenes both grisly and wry; one standout moment takes place in a restaurant, as the brains of the patrons suddenly start tumbling from their heads. Waiters crumple to the floor; gorgeously attired women slump as their brains plummet into bread baskets. It’s a bewildering scene of sheer pandemonium that should clue someone in on the true nature of crimes no one wishes to acknowledge are taking place, but instead the incident is swiftly and efficiently forgotten in a rush to reestablish normalcy.
Between the polar extremes of the head and the gut is the heart, and that’s where Zebrowski sets up his base camp for this excursion into strange territory. Even as the natural order of things seems threatened by the inexplicable goings-on, nature--in its cruelty and implacability--still works to bring Benek and Dierdre together, time and again, each one apprehensive of, and yet fascinated with, the other. This novel is short and frightening, but it’s also funny--and as bold and economical a description of the intricacies of love as you’ll ever read.
― Kilian Melloy
Kilian Melloy reviews media, conducts interviews, and writes commentary for EDGEBoston, where he also serves as Assistant Arts Editor.

Review from Baryon
EMPTIES,
George Zebrowski, Golden Gryphon, $24.95, 163 pages, ISBN: 9781930846593
Has the world gone crazy or is it that you are losing your mind? How can truly weird things be happening and you are the only one who sees them as they are? That’s the problem that is facing police detective, third class William Benek after he is called out early one morning to investigate the death of an old wino. Benek is a loner. He has no friends at work and scarcely speaks to the other residents in his apartment building. He has no girlfriend but does show a passing interest in a new girl in the apartment building. That is until he meets Dierdre Matera at the scene of another strange death. A priest is found dead with his brain on the floor beside the body, as was the earlier wino. Their meeting sets of a chain of events that leads to a strange love affair and Benek wondering about his sanity even more. More deaths occur and Benek is unable to get anyone to believe what he has found out. They think he is losing it. Zebrowski has written a darkly surrealistic comedy noir that is pleasing to read and adds to the list of interesting, thought provoking works of his career. It’s the kind of story David Cronenberg would have made right after SCANNERS. Thanks George, this one’s a gem.
― Barry Hunter

“This has scenes that will stay with you the rest of your natural-born life. Unexplainable things that are somehow true. Takes mystery/horror to a new height.”

― Howard Waldrop, author of The Search for Tom Purdue and The Moone World

“Beauty, it is said, is in the eye of the beholder, but in this eerie contemporary horror tale, that aphorism leads to what may be insanity. In Empties George Zebrowski has taken an unnerving look at the frailties of perception, and the consequences of those frailties. This is an engaging, disturbing read.”

― Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, author of The Saint-Germain Cycle

“George Zebrowski’s Empties takes horror fiction to a place it has never been before―terror incognita, if you will―a landscape pulsing with ablated brains, vacant crania, Gotham gorgons, deranged gumshoes, and solipsistic eroticism. To enhance your disorientation, Golden Gryphon Press has supplied each copy with a small compass whose needle always points to metaphysical north. Enjoy the grim and illuminating journey.”

― James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder and The Philosopher’s Apprentice

Another reminder I ought to get hold of a bunch of Golden Gryphon books. Quote I would cop for my catalog description: ...(a landscape pulsing with ablated brains, vacant crania, Gotham gorgons, deranged gumshoes, and solipsistic eroticism)...

word from Stark House

2009-06-23T07:15:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Hello Booksellers:

Stark House Press would like to announce that the new Harry Whittington book is finally out. With a new introduction by David Laurence Wilson, who tracked down these rarities, this trade paperback includes three very obscure books from Whittington:

To Find Cora: originally published in paperback by Novel Books in 1963 as Cora is a Nympho! and never before reprinted.

Like Mink Like Murder: originally published in France in 1957 as T'as des Visions! and rewritten for Corinth Publications in 1965 as Passion Hangover as by J. X. Williams.

Body and Passion: originally published in digest format by Original Novels in 1952 as by Whit Harrison and also never before reprinted.

Three short novels by the 1950's King of the Paperbacks in one volume! Also included is a new, improved Whittington bibliography that includes all the erotica that Harry wrote under various names in the mid-60's.

This is a treasure for fans of Harry Whittington and noir readers in general.

Isbn: 978-1933586-25-0. Price: $19.95. Pages: 322.

Order your copies now!

Cheers,

Greg Shepard, publisher

Stark House Press

---Ought to be getting these in soon with my standing order.

word from Eibonville

2009-06-21T16:21:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

I'm writing on behalf of Eibonvale Press, a specialty press located in the U.K., which produces exceptionally attractive and lovingly designed editions of intelligent modern horror, magic realism, and the surreal.
Eibonvale Press is the proud publisher of The Smell of Telescopes, by cult author Rhys Hughes, as well as horror writer Gerard Houarner's The Oz Suite. Our most recent publication is a collection of forty haunting and surreal short stories by talented Canadian newcomer Alexander Zelenyj, entitled Experiments at 3 Billion A.M. We have also published A Thread of Truth by Nina Allen, and What the Giants Were Saying by David Rix. More information on these titles can be found at http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk/books.html

Eibonvale's forthcoming titles include a massive two-volume collection of the romances of William Morris, and works of surreal fiction by Allen Ashley and Douglas Thompson.

We would like to know if Chris Drumm Books would be interested in stocking our titles - we feel like this would be an ideal match.

Please contact me if you would like further information.

Thanks for your consideration,
Rachel

Rachel Blok

Eibonvale, Canada

http://www.eibonvalepress.co.uk

---And contact me if you agree with Rachel!

word from Atomic Fez

2009-05-23T06:14:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd (from Canada):

Dear Dealers:

Allow me to introduce you to both a new publisher and a new novel from an established writer.

The new publisher is Atomic Fez Publishing, and you can get further information about that at http://www.AtomicFez.com should you wish it.
The new novel is Twisthorn Bellow, written by Rhys Hughes. This falls easily into the SF category as well as 'horror' given its use of monsters and science. It is also quite funny, which isn't surprising given it's written by Mr. Hughes. I've attached a one-page about the book, but here are the main details:
RRP: $24.99 (USA+Canada) or £14.99 (UK+rest of world)
Publishing Date: September 18th, 2009
Shipping Date: August (mid-month expected)
Production Run: open-ended, not limited to specific number of copies
ISBN: 978-0-9811597-1-3

Binding: paperback
Pages: 256 (to be confirmed)

word from Temporary Culture

2009-04-11T08:14:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Dear friends of Temporary Culture

This is the first announcement of the next book from Temporary Culture, Hope-in-the-Mist by Michael Swanwick, and an invitation to subscribe. The web page includes a fine photograph of the author and will soon feature an advance look at the covers and at the binding design for the hand bound copies:

http://www.avramdavidson.org/hope-in-the-mist.html

I look forward to hearing from you.

Henry Wessells

Publication date: 10 July 2009

HOPE-IN-THE-MIST
The Extraordinary Career and Mysterious Life of Hope Mirrlees
by
MICHAEL SWANWICK
with a preface by NEIL GAIMAN & original frontispiece by CHARLES VESS

Critical monograph examining the life and writings of Hope Mirrlees
(1887–1978), author of Lud-in-the-Mist (1926).

6 x 9 inches, 96 pp. Illustrated.
Subscribers issue, 25 copies, hand bound in green Asahi silk with Ann
Muir marbled endsheets, signed by Michael Swanwick, and with an
original print signed by Charles Vess.
Please inquire for terms of subscription (includes shipping and a copy of the trade issue).

Trade issue, 200 copies in paper covers.
ISBN: 0-9764660-5-8 / ISBN-13: 978-0-9764660-5-5
Price: $20

Hope-in-the-Mist is the first book-length study of British author HOPE
MIRRLEES, whom Virginia Woolf described as “her own heroine —
capricious, exacting, exquisite, very learned, and beautifully
dressed.” Raised in Scotland and Zululand, Mirrlees studied with the
great classical scholar Jane Harrison and later lived with her in Paris
and London. Mirrlees wrote one major poem, Paris (1920), the missing
link between French avant-garde poetry and her friend T. S. Eliot's The
Waste Land (1922); her novel Lud-in-the-Mist is an acknowledged classic
of fantastical literature.

MICHAEL SWANWICK is author of What Can Be Saved from the Wreckage?
(2007), a monograph on American author James Branch Cabell. His novels
include Bones of the Earth and In The Drift, and his short story
collections include Gravity's Angels and The Dog Said Bow-Wow. He is at
work on a novel featuring his characters Darger and Surplus.

NEIL GAIMAN is the Younger Sage of Minnesota. His novels include
Stardust (illustrated by Charles Vess), Coraline, and American Gods.

CHARLES VESS is an acclaimed artist with lifelong ties to fantastical
literature. One of his latest projects is a nine-foot tall bronze
statue of Titania.

________________end_________________

---Another thing maybe I will try to get, if there is any interest...

word from Golden Gryphon

2009-03-28T07:28:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Greetings from the Gryphon:
EMPTIES by George Zebrowski, is now available!

What do you tell yourself when impossible things begin to happen? What can you say? You're a police detective, third class, and maybe you're just not good enough and that's what you have to admit whether you like it or not. You see evidence of things that can't be real, but you just don't observe well enough to explain it in any natural way. Is it magic, horror, or science fiction? You've lost your mind and can't tell. Can you ask rational questions and still be crazy? You never went to a shrink, or to your dentist often enough, for that matter—so now you're nuts and your teeth are falling out. Does it help any that you know your mind is gone? You're trapped in a black comedy with a beautiful but fatal woman right out of an old poem by Keats, hoping to wake up from the nightmare, even if on a cold hillside—as long as you wake up sane.
Detective Benek is facing with an impossible crime. His only lead—an attractive landlady—becomes more than a lead, and drives him into a world of terror, where his sanity is questioned and he must stop the murders. Does he have a choice, and will he make it, or just be driven by terror, as he himself becomes the target?

One look at even the cover will make your librarian’s hair stand on end; ask the library to order two, one to read, one for the coiffures.

EMPTIES by George Zebrowski Cover design by Thomas Canty
ISBN 978-1-930846-59-3 / $24.95 (Trade hardcover)
163 pages

Maybe someday I will get an order out for all the Golden Gryphons I've been missing out on!

book sale pick-ups

2009-03-27T15:26:00.000-05:00

The Planned Parenthood Book Sale started yesterday, and I picked up a few things there, as usual -- perhaps less than usual. Although cold, today was a nice enough day to get their covershots. When they will be cataloged, it's hard to say...

new book from Stark House

2009-03-27T15:25:00.000-05:00

Cataloged today:

Appel, Benjamin SWEET MONEY GIRL / LIFE AND DEATH OF A TOUGH GUY, Stark House Modern Classics, 3/09, (Two hard-hitting New York novels; reprints two pb originals from 1954 and 1955; introduction by Carla Appel), new 19.95

discount: 20%

word from Hippocampus

2009-03-23T17:49:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

http://www.hippocampuspress.com

Dear Hippocampus Press customer:

Adam Niswander's latest novel THE HOUND HUNTERS has been released, and advanced orders have largely been filled. Thanks to all who ordered in advance.

There's still time to take advantage of our free book offer! Adam's first two Shaman Cycle novels are still available in limited quantities, and the author has generously agreed to allow us to extend the offer. Free copies of the first two books, THE CHARM and THE SERPENT SLAYERS, in hardcover, with the purchase of our paperback original THE HOUND HUNTERS, until supplies run out!

---------------

The next four releases from Hippocampus Press will be coming soon:
Lady Who Came to Stay AND The Elixir of Life, a Hippocampus Double book.
Classics and Contemporaries: Some Notes on Horror Fiction, by S. T. Joshi
The Unknown Lovecraft, by Kenneth W. Faig, Jr.
The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (2 volumes)

Cover art and finalized blurbs for these will be appearing at our website momentarily; order now to be among the first to receive these great new publications.

---------------

We are still offering a deep discount on hardcover volumes in the COLLECTED ESSAYS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT series, edited by S. T. Joshi. This is a superb chance to fill gaps in your collection, or order a set for a friend. Supplies are very limited, so don't miss out!

---------------

Announcing a long awaited project:
WEIRD WORDS: A LOVECRAFTIAN LEXICON
by Daniel Clore
Paperback: August 2009: approx. 600 pages
$25.00

"Surely one of the primary rules for writing an effective tale of horror is never to use any of these words..."
--Edmund Wilson, "Tales of the Marvellous and the Ridiculous" (1945)

This cyclopean tome of recondite erudition contains dictionary-style entries giving eldritch etymologies and demoniac definitions of the outré words that pullulate in the teratologically fabulous diction of such fantaisistes as H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, and A. Merritt.

WEIRD WORDS is a remarkable work compiled by Daniel Clore, well known to Lovecraftians and weird fiction enthusiasts the world over. We are pleased to present this gathering of his philological endeavours. WEIRD WORDS is both a scholarly text with original discoveries, *and*, with its copious quotations, immensely entertaining for the general reader.

Visit our website to peruse some sample entries, and to order!

http://www.hippocampuspress.com

Thank you for your interest in Hippocampus Press!

word from Gray Friar

2009-03-20T10:42:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Hi there,

I run Gray Friar Press in the UK and wondered whether you'd be interested in stocking any of my publications, including work from Conrad Williams, Nicholas Royle, Stephen Volk and other luminaries: http://www.grayfriarpress.com/catalogue/index.html

I have US distribution facilities to ensure that shipping charges are minimal.

Many thanks for your time,

Gary Fry

Proprietor

Gray Friar Press

word from Sidereal Press

2009-03-08T08:42:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Firstly, apologies for this bulk generic e-mail!

I am very pleased to say that the long awaited book: Hanns Heinz Ewers 'Nachtmahr- Strange Tales' is now available.
Below is the text from the Side Real website:

ISBN: 798-0-9542953-4-9
350 numbered copies (with free extras only available via this website)
Cost worldwide is £30.00

Hanns Ewers (1871-1943) wrote some of the strangest tales of the period, including three (vaguely) autobiographical novels and several volumes of short stories many of which refer to his major themes of obsession, transformation, depavity and blood. This was in addition to his extensive travels worldwide, his activities as a propagandist/spy during WWI, screenwriter, poet, playwright, prodigious drug (ab)user and associations with members of Nazi elite. Hiler himself supposedly asked him to write the official biography of Horst Wessel which he did, but was subsequently declared an unperson by the Nazis (he was nationalistic rather than anti-semitic) his books banned and burnt. He died in Berlin of tuberculosis largely forgotten.

His novels and a few of his stories were translated and published in the 1920s but barring a volume by the Runa Raven press (published 2000) he is largely still unknown to English speaking world not least because these volumes now command high prices on the second-hand market.

We are very pleased to announce that, in conjunction with the H.H.E. estate, a new volume of stories, including some newly translated works is now available, together with Ewers essay/paean to Edgar Allan Poe (first published in English in 1917)

Contents:
Introduction by J. N. Hirschhorn-Smith
‘Carnival In Cadiz’*
‘The Dead Jew’*
‘John Hamilton Llewellyn's End’
‘Gentlemen of the Bar’*
‘The Tophar Bride’*
‘The Typhoid Mary’*
‘The Spider’
‘Fairyland’
’From The Diary Of An Orange Tree’
‘The Death of Baron Jesus Maria von Friedel’*
‘Mamoloi'
Edgar Allan Poe
*=newly translated.

In addition to this, individuals who order directly from the Press will receive an additional tipped in photo of Ewers embossed with the Side Real logo.

Please let me know if you require copies.
With Best Wishes!
John N. Smith

box of sf magazines

2009-01-30T09:33:00.000-06:00

A box of old SF magazines, Galaxy and Imagination mostly from the 50s, labeled in poor condition on the box, kept getting in the way. Finally brought it upstairs, cleaned up half of them a little bit, and took their covershots.

word from Darkside!

2008-12-16T16:01:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

The Feaster from Afar

Volume 1 in the Selected Weird Tales

Joseph Payne Brennan

SHIPPING NOW!!!

Joseph Payne Brennan was the last of the great Weird Tales authors as well as an accomplished poet, editor, and publisher. When Weird Tales folded just as Brennan was coming into his own as a master of the supernatural tale Brennan’s main market for his fiction disappeared. Throughout the next few years Brennan launched a one-man crusade to keep the Weird Tales tradition alive in the pages of his small-press magazine Macabre. Published infrequently and run on a shoestring budget, Macabre still did a fine job of carrying the flag for stories of the weird and uncanny. In addition to work by other authors familiar to Arkham House and Weird Tales devotees, much of Brennan’s own poetry and prose appeared in its pages.

In the 1970s and 1980s there was a renewed interest in Brennan’s fiction with a new collection from Arkham House, volumes collecting his Lucius Leffing tales of detection, and even a mass-market paperback with an introduction by no less than Stephen King. However, for over twenty years, most of Brennan’s fiction has been out of print. This is a situation we are pleased to be able to rectify. This is the first of four volumes that will collect all of his supernatural and macabre fiction in a matching set.

word from an author

2008-11-21T06:48:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:
TIME FOR A LAUGH

THE FUNNIEST STORY OF THE YEAR!!

MOBILE TREK (Because In Space No One Can Hear You Dial), A funny, zany, off-the-wall lampoon of Sci-Fi and call centres for anyone who ever worked in a call centre or had to phone one and thought they were connected to some spacecraft in the distant future. USS Cellforce 1 is an intergalactic mobile phone call centre, in which Captain Pilchard battles other networks for communications supremacy. Assisted by Rasta, a comically insane android, an incomprehensible Scottish engineer, and Goanna the ship’s councillor and Groucho Marx impersonator, he dreams of retiring to his ferret farm in Edinburgh.

The first in an intended series.

Available in paperback from bookorder@eloquentbooks.com

ISBN 978-1-60693-356-5

RRP US$9.95

Regards, Douglas Rea, author.

word from Necro

2008-11-13T14:17:00.000-06:00

Another big, gaudy email from Necro:

PRE-ORDER NOW!!!
COMING IN LATE JANUARY 2009!

FREE LIMITED EDITION EDWARD LEE CHAPBOOK
WHEN YOU PRE-ORDER INFERNALLY YOURS
FROM NECRO OR EDWARDLEEONLINE.COM
CITY OF SIXES
IS LIMITED TO ONLY 250 COPIES, SIGNED & NUMBERED
AND ONLY AVAILABLE FROM NECRO PUBLICATIONS.
"CITY OF SIXES" IS A SECTION OF THE NEW EDWARD LEE
SHORT NOVEL, THE SENARY, APPEARING IN INFERNALLY YOURS

An All New Anthology Based on Edward Lee's Vision of Hell

Edited and Illustrated by Gak

With an all new short novel, THE SENARY, by Edward Lee

And featuring all original short fiction from:

• John Shirley
• John Everson
• Brian Keene
• Charlee Jacob
• Maynard and Sims
• Gerard Houarner
• Bryan Smith

[ Hardcover ]
Signed & Numbered
Limited to 400 Copies
$50
PRE-ORDER

[ Deluxe ]
Signed & Lettered
Limited to 13 Copies
Bonus Beastiary Book, Traycase, Color Artwork & More
$200
PRE-ORDER

COMING IN LATE JANUARY 2009

Okay, here is the announcement I've been planning on making for a while. Here's what I have coming up for Necro & Bedlam for next couple of months:

INFERNALLY YOURS edited and illustrated by Gak
An all new anthology based on the vision of Hell created by Edward Lee for his Infernal series. Includes an all new short novel by Edward Lee, THE SENARY. And all original fiction from the best names in modern horror.
[click here to pre-order]
••Pre-order now and get a free, extremely limited Edward Lee chapbook ••

THE MINOTAURESS Trade Paperback by Edward Lee [click here to pr-order]

THE FALLEN by David G. Barnett [click here for more info]

GOLEM Hardcover by Edward Lee [info to come]

THE 13th Hardcover by John Everson [info to come]

GHOULS Hardcover by Edward Lee [info to come]

BLOOD OF KILLERS Hardcover & Trade Paperback by Gerard Houarner
[info to come]

That's the list for now, but there's plenty of other projects I should be announcing in the coming weeks. 2009 is going to be a huge year for Necro/Bedlam as well as Fat Cat Design since I'm planning on doing all this full-time for now.

word from Pyr

2008-11-11T16:00:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

We released this news today. I have attached the link below and also in text format for your reference:

http://pyrsf.blogspot.com/2008/11/prometheus-books-enters-mass-market.html

Please contact me if you have questions or if you need to order!

Best wishes,
Marcia Rogers

Director of Special Sales

Prometheus Books / Pyr

www.prometheusbooks.com

www.pyrsf.com

word from Gauntlet

2008-11-09T06:40:00.000-06:00

Email rec'd:

Gauntlet Press has assembled He Is Legend: An Anthology Celebrating Richard Matheson, a spectacular anthology of original, never-before published stories by today's best writers -- stories set in Richard Matheson's own fictional universes, and published with Mr. Matheson's complete cooperation for publication in February 2009.
And, among the many contributions to the book, is the first collaboration ever between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, the novella "Throttle" -- their take on Matheson's classic "Duel." This is, obviously, a once-in-a-lifetime publishing event, as it's father and son's first collaboration. Both Stephen King and Joe Hill will be signing both the numbered and lettered editions.
Other contributors to this anthology, edited by Christopher Conlon, include F. Paul Wilson, Joe Lansdale, Whitley Strieber, Richard Christian Matheson, William F. Nolan, Gary Braunbeck, Thomas Monteleone, John Shirley and an introduction by Ramsey Campbell

And, as an added bonus, He Is Legend features the original full-length screenplay "Conjure Wife" -- over 20,000 never-before published words by Richard Matheson himself, in collaboration with the late Charles Beaumont that was filmed as "Burn, Witch Burn."
Cover art and six interior illustrations by Matheson's favorite artist Harry O. Morris.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Matheson the Master by Ramsey Campbell
Tale Inspired by “Duel”: Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King
Sequel to “The Distributor”: Recalled by F. Paul Wilson
Prequel to I Am Legend: I Am Legend, Too by Mick Garris
Sequel to Somewhere in Time: Two Shots from Fly’s Photo Gallery by John Shirley
Variation on The Shrinking Man: The Diary of Louise Carey by Thomas F. Monteleone
Sequel to “Born of Man and Woman”: She Screech Like Me by Michael A. Arnzen
Sequel to “Button, Button”: Everything of Beauty Taken from You in This Life Remains Forever by Gary

Braunbeck
Sequel to Someone is Bleeding: The Case of Peggy Ann Lister by John Maclay

Sequel to “The Children of Noah”: Zachry Revisited by William F. Nolan
Tale Inspired by “The Finishing Touches”: Comeback by Ed Gorman
Variation on “Disappearing Act”: An Island Unto Himself by Barry Hoffman
Tale Inspired by “Legion of Plotters”: Venturi by Richard Christian Matheson
Sequel to “Prey”: Quarry by Joe R. Lansdale
Prequel to Hell House: Return to Hell House by Nancy A. Collins
Tale Inspired by Collected Stories: Cloud Rider by Whitley Strieber

…And an Original Screenplay: Conjure Wife by Richard Matheson and Charles Beaumont

We have a 400-copy unsigned hardcover limited edition of the book available.

aol downsizing

2008-11-05T13:39:00.000-06:00

---I don't know what's going on, but I know that AOL is shucking its blog and homepage functions. Someone sent me a link to my old AOL page, which I'd forgotten how to modify or update, three days before the thing went kaput. I tried the link today, four days after it went away. I wouldn't have thought it would still be extant but still I kind of lament its passing without my taking the opportunity to transfer the contents somewhere, if only to my auxiliary hard-drive. Probably all the info is here somewhere but possibly in a form no longer supported by whatever update of software I am now using. How long before AOL gets rid of its email service too? What would be left then of AOL? Maybe nothing. Well at least I've jumped to gmail and google. I wonder how these can be viable business models as well, but I guess time will tell...

books from Tartarus here today

2008-11-03T12:38:00.000-06:00

An m-bag from the UK with a new WORMWOOD and their latest (Nathaniel Hawthorne) arrived today. Cataloging in regular blog soon to come.

new Cemetery Dance

2008-10-31T12:39:00.000-05:00

Cemetery Dance magazine #59 arrived today -- cataloging in regular blog to come soon...

word from PS Publishing

2008-10-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

---Email rec'd:
PS Publishing E-Bulletin
October 2008

Announcing Secret Histories, an exclusive Tim Powers bibliography by John Berlyne.. and more!

Well, here we are... All Hallows Eve. I'm actually writing this on a cold and blustery 18th and I know that a lot of you - just like me, in fact - will be away from your computers, scanning the night skies for broomsticks, trick-or-treating or dancing naked in the woods around a crackling fire (hell, these are tough times and we all of us need to have a little fun). Anyway, I thought it was time to sit down and pass along some news items.

Secret Histories - a Tim Powers bibliography by John Berlyne

First off the bat, we're delighted that at long last we're able to announce Powers: Secret Histories, John Berlyne's extensively researched and lavishly produced collection of Tim Powers material. Click through on the image above to see the cover art at a much larger size!

A book that essentially redefines the term 'bibliography,' Secret Histories has been nearly ten years in the making and brings together an astonishing range of Powers ephemera - a huge treat and a remarkable resource for both fans and collectors alike. As well as a complete, illustrated reference of every Tim Powers book published to date, Secret Histories offers an extraordinary insight into the stories behind the stories, collecting together in a single volume Powers material previously seen only in private collections. Here - in print for the very first time - you'll find poetry, drawings, research and plotting notes, novel outlines, early drafts, out-takes and an excerpt from the author's unpublished 1974 novel, To Serve in Hell.

Supporting these riches are story notes and commentary by Powers himself and you'll also find articles and essays from collaborators, friends and renowned Powers aficionados including Dean Koontz, Jim Blaylock, China Miéville, Karen Joy Fowler, John Bierer, John Berlyne and William Ashless. Powers: Secret Histories is an unprecedented bibliographic tribute celebrating the work of a truly extraordinary writer.

We'll be issuing three editions of this oversized hardcover, all printed in glorious full colour and all dust-jacketed:

a limited numbered state, signed by Powers - 1,000 numbered copies @ £40.00;
a slipcased state, signed by all contributors, and issued with an additional book -- an incomplete and previously unpublished novel written by Powers in the early seventies entitled The Waters Deep, Deep, Deep. Only available as part of this package, The Waters, Deep, Deep, Deep will be signed by Powers and will feature unique cover art and internal illustrations by him, as well as both an introduction and afterword - 200 copies @ £195.00;
and, to reflect Powers's considerable caché as a collectable author, we're also offering a deluxe, lettered edition which will be as the above slipcased state but with an exceptionally significant additional item. Tim has given us exclusive permission to reproduce a full colour facsimile edition of his original handwritten manuscript of The Anubis Gates, complete with doodles, crossings out, dog-eared corners and even coffee stains! Only twenty-six copies of this facsimile, signed by Powers and individually lettered, will be available as part of this deluxe three book, specially slipcased edition.. an incredible item that offers a unique insight into the history of this much-loved, modern-day, time-travel classic. - 26 copies @ £495.00.

The books are all finished design-wise. We're currently getting the various tip sheets signed and the slipcase company is working on the elaborate creations we've devised to house the books. I now feel confident to announce that, as per our plans, we'll have copies available for EasterCon next March - where Tim is Guest of Honour. We should, however, point out that, judging from interest we've had from people over the last few years with regard to this long-awaited project, the top two editions are likely to be sold out on pre-order.

Postscripts - new sub rates and a Steven King incentive!

Following on from my recent announcement, we can now confirm that Postscripts magazine will cease after issue #17 (this winter)... but put away those hankies, true believers! Postscripts the quarterly anthology will commence in the spring of 2009 with issue #18, pretty much a special all-crime issue.

Just to refresh your memories:

there'll be more words - instead of our hitherto usual 55-60,000 words, we'll be going for around 70-80,000 (our novella titles generally run 20-40,000);
the two-column format will change to a full-width format;
both editions will be hardcover (an unsigned state at £12/$25 and a signed state at £25/$50) - so no more paperbacks;
and finally, there'll be no more postage charges for subscribers.

New Postscripts subscription rates

Subscription rates for the unsigned hardcover edition will be:

four issues [one year]: £40 post-free (instead of £48 plus postage if you buy the issues individually - the paperback edition is currently £26 in the UK and £30 outside the UK)
eight issues [two years]: £72 post-free (instead of £96 plus postage - not previously available)
twelve issues [three years]: £96 post-free (instead of £144 plus postage - not previously available)

Subscription rates for the signed hardcover edition will be:

four issues [one year]: £100 post-free (instead of £120 plus postage - no change)
eight issues [two years]: £190 post-free (instead of £240 plus postage - not previously available)
twelve issues [three years]: £270 post-free (instead of £360 plus postage - not previously available)

Subscribers will still receive a special chapbook each December, completely free of charge. These chapbooks will not be available to buy, even direct from PS.

Special five-year subscription incentive - ultra-limited edition of Stephen King's "One For The Road"

And for those folks who would like to take out a five-year subscription, we have an extra-special deal:

twenty issues of the unsigned edition [five years]: £200 post-free (instead of £240 plus postage - not previously available)
twenty issues of the signed edition [five years]: £450 post-free (instead of £500 plus postage - not previously available)

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that the discounts for the five-year subs just don't seem as good as those for the two- and three-years subs. Well, we've got a little extra incentive for the five-year deal. But be warned: we've got only 200 of the unsigned edition and 100 of the signed edition. Here's what it is.

We've negotiated the one-off rights to publish Stephen King's wonderful story "One For The Road" (a favourite of mine) as a strictly-limited, extensively illustrated, full colour hardcover edition.

Steve won't be signing any copies - he's still nursing his wrist from The Colorado Kid (heck, he had to type the last couple of novels one-handed! - what a week that turned out to be!) - but the top state will be signed by the artist and it'll be slipcased and, like the edition going out to subscribers to the unsigned Postscripts, strictly numbered. First come, first served... and when they're gone, they're gone. But hold on there, hoss... the order box is not yet up on the website - but it will be in the next week or so. This is just by way of a heads-up. And no, we don't have details of the artist at this stage - we're still discussing the possibilities with Steve. As soon as we know, you'll know.

Once again, please note that all current subscriptions will be honoured - so if your existing sub is for the current paperback edition and is good through to (and including) issue #19, then there'll be no extra money required until you decide to renew with issue #20. And all current subscribers are very welcome to take out the new five-year sub right now with the sub set to commence when their existing sub runs out.

And for those for whom either £240 or £450 is a bit too much for one hit, there'll be a separate renewal box for one quarter of that amount (ie. £60 or £112.50) - all you'll need to do is hit that box four times within one year and, after the fourth one, you'll receive your copy of One For The Road. (Of course, your actual subscription to Postscripts will begin as soon as you send us just one payment... and your copy of Steve's story will be set on one side for you.)

That all make sense? I sure hope so. But you'll let me know, I'm sure.

**PS Publishing 10th Anniversary projects - Decade boxed set**

Next year will be PS Publishing's tenth year in business - in short, a milestone. (Well, it is as far as we're concerned!) So we're aiming to celebrate it with a few special projects.

The first one we can announce is that we'll be doing a special four-book boxed set called Decade (hey, Neil Young did it so why can't we?!). The set will comprise new editions - revised by the authors and featuring new cover artwork plus, we hope, additional material relevant to the original pieces - of Graham Joyce's Leningrad Nights, James Lovegrove's How The Other Half Lives, Kim Newman's Andy Warhol's Dracula and Michael Marshall Smith's The Vaccinator. All of the books will be signed by the author concerned and there will be 250 numbered copies of the set priced at £100.

Okay, that’s enough for this time. We’ll bring you up to speed with new purchases next time out. Look after each other... and happy reading!

Pete

word from Fairwood Press (publisher of Talebones):

2008-10-29T11:53:00.000-05:00

---Email rec'd:

You're receiving this email because of your relationship with Fairwood Press. Please confirm your continued interest in receiving email from us.

You may unsubscribe if you no longer wish to receive our emails.

Fairwood Press Newsletter

October 2008

In This Issue

- Long Walks, Long Flights and Other Strange Journeys

- Across the Sky

- The Gods Perspire

- The Exquisite Corpuscle

- Sightings

Also available from
Fairwood Press:

Where Angels Fear
The Collected Short Fiction Volume 1
by Ken Rand
$15.00 USD plus S&H

CLICK TO ORDER

Ten Sigmas & Other Unlikelihoods
by Paul Melko
$14.00 USD plus S&H

CLICK TO ORDER

The Viper
of Portello
by James C. Glass
$14.00 USD plus S&H

CLICK TO ORDER

TALEBONES
The Magazine of Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy
Issue #37

Talebones is a semi-pro magazine featuring science fiction and dark fantasy from established and up-and-coming writers. It debuted in 1995 and is owned and edited by Patrick Swenson, who also owns Fairwood Press, Inc.
Click here to purchase or subscribe!

THE RAINFOREST WRITERS VILLAGE
is an annual retreat situated on Lake Quinalt on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.
Retreat 2009:
March 4 - 8

Click for more information

PATRICK SWENSON
Editor/Publisher
contact

ADRIENNE LOSKA
Public Relations & Marketing
contact

Dear Friends,

I hope this newsletter finds you well! There has been a lot of activity at Fairwood Press recently. To start, I've welcomed Adriene Loska to our staff. Adrienne will be heading up public relations and marketing, which includes promoting new titles as well as producing this newsletter as we have book releases and other news to share with you.

It's not often I can offer Fairwood Press fans so many books in such a short time. Two years ago, at World Fantasy in Austin, Texas, I managed to debut three books. At the time I said, "If I ever consider doing three books at the same time again, just shoot me!" So here it is two years later, and at this year's WFC in Calgary, Alberta, I'll be premiering four new books! (There will also be a new Talebones issue.) But just take a look at these new titles. I think you'll agree I just had to get them all ready in time for this big venue. So without further ado, I'll let you read on.

Patrick Swenson
Editor/Publisher, Fairwood Press

New Short Story Collection from Ken Scholes

Long Walks, Last Flights and other Strange Journeys
by Ken Scholes
Trade Paper
268 pgs.
$15.00 USD plus S&H
Available for preorder. Limited number of signed copies available.
Ships November 2008

Long Walks, Last Flights and other Strange Journeys is the first short story collection by Ken Scholes. Stories include Scholes' popular story, Edward Bear and the Very Long Walk (first published in Talebones in 2001), the short story that turned into Lamentation (his first novel forthcoming from Tor Books), The Last Flight of the Goddess (published by Fairwood Press in 2004) and more!

Click here for the Fairwood Press Catalog and ordering information.

Across the Sky by Mark Rich

Across the Sky
by Mark Rich
Trade Paper
272 pgs.
$15.00 USD plus S&H
Available for preorder. Limited number of signed copies available.
Ships November 2008

In nineteen ventures into the future, Mark Rich moves from a moving moment during human-alien contact, in "Across the Sky" ... to madcap conflict between Human and Vegetable, in the antic "Foggery" ... to a vision of life in Venusian orbit, in "The Apples of Venus" - the story SF giant Robert Silverberg called "science fiction in the classic mode, a contemporary version of the sort of work that makes old-timers speak with warm nostalgia of John W. Campbell's famous magazine Astounding Science Fiction of fifty years ago."

Click here for the Fairwood Press Catalog and ordering information.

The Gods Perspire

The Gods Perspire
by Ken Rand
The Collected Short Fiction, Volume 2
Trade Paper
304 pgs.
$15.00 USD plus S&H
Available for preorder.
Ships November 2008.

The Gods Perspire is Volume Two of a two-volume exhaustive collection of the short fiction of Ken Rand. Volume One, Where Angels Fear, debuted earlier this year. Rand's stories are packed with punch, and his creative imagination is on display whether writing "darker" serious fiction or light-hearted romps. In this "light" collection, Rand shows his particular talent for light comedy. He is a long-time writer, teacher, and master of the fantastic. This, along with the first volume, makes for a nice fat collection to give you your money's worth.

Click here for the Fairwood Press Catalog and ordering information.

Shall we play a game?

The Exquisite Corpuscle
edited by Frank Wu & Jay Lake
Trade Paper
216 pgs.
$20.00 USD plus S&H
Available for preorder
Ships November 2008

"The Exquisite Corpuscle" is a variant of a parlor game played by Salvador Dali and the other Surrealists. In the game we're playing here, we start with the phrase "The Exquisite Corpuscle." The first entry is a painting by co-editor Frank Wu. Frank hands off the painting to the next person, who writes a story, then it gets passed on (without the painting) to the next person, who then writes a poem. Each person works in a different medium than the person before. Three separate chains work their way to a point until co-editor Jay Lake writes a single unifying story. A last art piece brings the game to a close.

Features: Kenneth Brady, Alan DeNiro, Richard Doyle, Michaela Eaves, M.C.A. Hogarth, Michael J. Jasper, Jay Lake, Aurora Lemieux, Kristin Livdahl, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Tim Pratt, Bruce Holland Rogers, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Nigel Sade, Maia Sanders, Heather Shaw, Diana Sherman, Gary W. Shockley, Christina Sng, Matt Taggart, Greg van Eekhout, & Frank Wu.

Click her for the Fairwood Press Catalog and ordering information.

SIGHTINGS

Fairwood Press will be attending the following events. Stop by and say hello!

World Fantasy Convention (Calgary, AB Canada) October 30 - Nov. 2, 2008
Orycon (Portland, OR) - November 21-23, 2008

MONTHLY DRAWING!

You are automatically entered in this drawing because you subscribe to the Fairwood Press Monthly Newsletter!

OCTOBER DRAWING:
Signed copy of Long Walks, Last Flights and Other Strange Journeys by Ken Scholes!

Watch this space next month to see if you've won!

up on flickr

2008-10-27T16:51:00.000-05:00

---A little carried away today uploading photos to flickr -- three more sets of covershots, not so recent necessarily -- just what I happen to be encountering as I plod along. Speaking of plodding along, there are also a bunch of my vacation pix from a couple weeks ago as well.

word from Hippocampus

2008-10-20T16:14:00.000-05:00

---Email rec'd:

Dear Hippocampus Press customer,

We've determined our releases for the remainder of this year and 2009. Brief descriptions follow; please visit the Hippocampus Press website to learn more, and to order. When you buy our books in advance of publication, you enable the operating of the press, and provide valuable insight into your preferences. Whether you'd like to see more original fiction, Mythos anthologies, Lovecraft or related literary criticism, or Lovecraft's Library reprints, cast your vote by ordering today.

Along these forthcoming releases, and the Lovecraft-Howard letters set already announced, we have issued a second printing of THE PLACE CALLED DAGON with remarkable new cover art by Allen Koszowski, complementing his interior illustrations. Other titles in preparation include DEAD RECKONINGS #4; a volume of original poetry by Charles Lovecraft and Phillip A. Ellis, and WEIRD WORDS: A Lovecraftian Lexicon compiled by Daniel Clore. More on these titles later.

http://www.hippocampuspress.com

------------------------------

Classics and Contemporaries: Some Notes on Horror Fiction
By S. T. Joshi
November 2008: ISBN 978-0-9814888-3-7: $20.00
S. T. Joshi has established himself as a leading critic and scholar of the weird tale. Having begun by studying the work of H. P. Lovecraft, Joshi has expanded his interests to include the entire range of horror fiction from such classics as Lord Dunsany and Algernon Blackwood to such contemporaries as Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. In this generous sampling of the reviews that Joshi has written in nearly thirty years as a critic, we find trenchant analyses of writers ranging from Arthur Machen, E. F. Benson, and Shirley Jackson to Peter Straub, Thomas Ligotti, Norman Partridge, and David J. Schow. Joshi also addresses such significant themes in horror fiction as the subgenre of dark suspense, the haunted house, Arkham House and its legacy, and the work of the small press. Of particular note is a lengthy section devoted to H. P. Lovecraft, including studies of an array of Cthulhu Mythos writings and detailed examinations of recent Lovecraft scholarship. Joshi’s essays and reviews are enlivened with a pungent wit and literary flair that bring to mind the work of John Clute and Brian Aldiss.

------------------------------

The Unknown Lovecraft
By Kenneth W. Faig, Jr.
December 2008: ISBN 978-0-9814888-7-5: $20.00
Kenneth W. Faig, Jr. is well known to Lovecraftians as one of the pioneers, along with Dirk Mosig, Richard L. Tierney and others, of modern Lovecraftian scholarship. The author of Some Lovecraft Places in Providence (1971), H. P. Lovecraft: His Life, His Work (1979), Lovecraft's Ancestors (1988), The Parents of Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1990) and other works, Faig has also disseminated his research as a perennial contributor to journals and amateur press associations, and through his own Moshassuck Press. This long overdue collection gathers all of Faig's best pieces on HPL.

------------------------------

The Lady Who Came to Stay by R. E Spencer
&
The Elixir of Life by Arthur Ransome
February 2009: ISBN 978-0-9814888-9-9: $15.00
Once again, our Lovecraft's Library series reprints two obscure horror novels favored by H. P. Lovecraft for their "darkly excellent effects." Reprinted for the first time, in an attractive format reminiscent of the Ace doubles of an earlier era, both novels feature authoritative texts derived from original sources, along with informative introductions by S. T. Joshi. Visit our website for a special offer on Hippocampus Doubles: six novels for $40.00.

------------------------------

Blood Will Have Its Season
By Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., author of Nightmare's Disciple
Introduction by S. T. Joshi
Illustrated by S. Thomas Brown and Stanley C. Sargent
March 2009: ISBN 978-0-9814888-8-2: $15.00

"In an earlier day I feel sure Joe Pulver would have been arrested for writing some of the stuff in this collection. Maybe he will be yet! In any case, I cannot shake the feeling that his stories are all well described by analogy to "The Colour out of Space" in that the descent of some elder, outer entity acts as seed producing, from the dark mulch of Joe's subconscious, a luxurious growth of beautiful and at the same time poisonous blooms. One knows one ought to flee but cannot resist hanging around to savor the corruption! And how can he write, with such intricate delicacy, thunderous prose that fairly rips up the pages it is printed on? I wish I knew!” --Robert M. Price

------------------------------

The Tindalos Cycle
Edited by Robert M. Price
Illustrated by Robert H, Knox
April 2009: ISBN 978-0-9814888-5-1: $20.00
When Frank Belknap Long first alerted the world to the those infamous other-dimensional entities, The Hounds of Tindalos, he mined a rich vein of macabre antecedents, whose devisers included Robert W. Chambers, Ambrose Bierce and others. Since Belknap's time, others have distilled and fortified his prophetic vision, affording the Hounds ongoing ingress to our dimension as a mainstay of the Mythos. Now, the steady hand of editor Robert M. Price gathers all the relevant Tindalos writings in one mind-blasting tome, tracing the Hounds' lineage from the dawn of the weird tale through their first explicit revelation, to the modern day with its full flowering. In 2009, prepare for... The Tindalos Cycle.

------------------------------

The Hound Hunters
By Adam Niswander
April 2009: ISBN 978-0-9814888-4-4: $20.00
Now, a modern master of the Mythos reveals the Hounds of Tindalos in their own novel, set in the modern day! The Hound Hunters tells the tale of a designer drug whose potent admixture is capable of opening the door to another dimension, admitting those horrific Hounds. The novel, published here for the first time, is the latest in Adam Niswander's Shaman Cycle. Each novel stands alone; however, in the best Lovecraftian tradition all are loosely connected.

------------------------------

Thank you for your interest in Hippocampus Press!

http://www.hippocampuspress.com

---I have an order just about ready to go out to Hippocampus. I promise! Any additions welcome.

word from PS

2008-10-19T16:32:00.000-05:00

---Email rec'd:

Hi there

You're receiving this because, at some time in the past, you've ordered a book from us. This is just to let you know that our latest Ray Bradbury titles will soon be on their way.

Here are the dust-jackets for THE HALLOWEEN TREE, THE OCTOBER COUNTRY and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES, with beautiful artwork from PS regular Jim Hannah. These are not yet up on the website but we thought you'd like to see them.

We'll be producing just 300 copies of the three-book set and the signs are that it's going to go fast. We've set aside 100 copies for our dealer friends so we suggest you let us have your orders as soon as possible.

Here's the relevant page on our website:

http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/ray_bradbury_gift_set_sc.html

Also coming up is THE DAY IT RAINED FOREVER. The deluxe edition (a two-book set including A MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY) can be found here.

http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/the_day_it_rained_forever_del.html.html

Meanwhile, the signed edition is here:

http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/the_day_it_rained_forever_sc.html

. . . and the unsigned here:

http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/the_day_it_rained_forever_hc.html

Truly a feast of Bradbury!

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Pete Crowther
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit the PS Publishing website: www.pspublishing.co.uk
Join the PS Publishing e-bulletin list: www.pspublishing.co.uk/list

---Anyone wanting me to forward the downloads to them, let me know. Or would you like me to snag any of these books?

word from Earthling

2008-10-19T16:29:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earthling Publications Newsletter

October 19, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MOONTOWN published and shipping!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This finely written and sharply told tale is a strong example of modern horror ... the kaleidoscope of peril keeps readers guessing and gasping."
-Publishers Weekly

This year's Halloween book now published and shipping!!

Link to MOONTOWN page

HELLBOUND HEART -- a few additional copies for sale!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I located a few additional copies of the leatherbound, slipcased edition of THE HELLBOUND HEART signed by Clive Barker, only 250 copies. This book was sold out before publication. Please email me directly at earthlingpub@yahoo.com if you'd like a copy... special Halloween price of $85 rather than the cover price of $100. One per customer, please, and don't delay in requesting a copy if you're interested!

Thanks and all best,
Paul Miller
Earthling Publications

Link to Earthling Publications

trial new post

2008-10-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Well, I transferred my piddly posts from the AOL Journal blog of this name, where I had pasted emails from publishers and made other comments I thought might be of interest but not so much so that I thought they ought to be a lead item in my regular bookselling blog. Now that AOL is discontinuing the Journal they provided a link to transfer the blog to Blogger, so that is what I hope I have done now. And I hope the feed from this to my bookselling blog is operational as well.
It remains to be seen how I might try to utilize this blog going forward. Lately it had been kind of languishing in the doldrums, but it might still be a good place to toss in things that might be of interest. We'll see...

still hearing from Golden Gryphon

2008-09-24T17:43:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Greetings from the Gryphon: 

The trade paperback editions of Jeffrey Ford’s Well-Built City trilogy: The 
Physiognomy, Memoranda, and The Beyond, with triptych covers by John Picacio, are now 
available!
Jeffrey Ford's World Fantasy Award-winner The Physiognomy introduces Cley, 
master of Physiognomy, the pseudo-science of judging a person by his physical features, in 
a nightmare city, a city the finally repentant Cley will seek to destroy. In 
Memoranda, the reformed physiognomist embarks on a surreal quest through the mind of the 
monster who imagined the dark metropolis, seeking a cure to a plague. In The Beyond, now 
shunned by the village he saved, and seeing no future in the ruins of the Well-Built City, 
Cley ventures into The Beyond, a wilderness peopled with demons that feed on 
humans, where the strange and weird rule, where Paradise is hidden, and where the girl 
that Cley disfigured may be, whose forgiveness Cley craves. He encounters wonders and 
horrors, friendship and hate, mysteries almost beyond comprehension. But will he finally 
find what he seeks?

With a triptych Picacio cover like, this, your local library should order two 
copies, one to frame and display and one for reading.

The Physiognomy / ISBN 978-1-930846-53-1 / $14.95

Memoranda / ISBN 978-1-93084654-8 / $14.95
The Beyond / ISBN 978-1-93084655-5 / $14.95
Trade paperbacks
Cover art by John Picacio

word from Hippocampus

2008-09-20T18:05:00.000-05:00

One of these days I will take steps to get on top of some orders I know I need to be sending out. To whit:

Hereare our four most recent releases! Two collections of new fiction fromRamsey Campbell and Jonathan Thomas, a second printing of The Place Called Dagon with new cover art sure to attract attention, plus the latest issue of Lovecraft Annual. Please advise quantities desired.

INCONSEQUENTIAL TALES

By Ramsey Campbell

Paperback: ISBN 978-0-9793806-6-2: $15.00: 248 pp

RamseyCampbell is the most distinguished and highly acclaimed writer ofhorror and supernatural fiction of our time. In more than a score ofnovels and hundreds of stories, Campbell has demonstrated mastery inevery facet of the weird tale. This volume gathers tales, written overa period of more than thirty years, that have not yet been included in any of Campbell’sdozen or more short story collections. Among them are such dark jewelsof the supernatural as “The Reshaping of Rossiter,” an early version ofthe celebrated tale “The Scar”; “Broadcast,” which invests terror in amicrophone; “Writer’s Curse,” in which horror writing itself is made asubject of terror; “Murders,” a bizarre mix of horror and sciencefiction; “Snakes and Ladders,” a powerfully cosmic vignette that servedas an early version of “Playing the Game.” Also included are two previously unpublishedtales, “The Precognitive Trip” and “Pet.” Campbell’s distinctivevision, fecund imagination, and meticulous prose shine through everysentence, making the slightest of these tales a literary treasure.

MIDNIGHT CALL AND OTHER STORIES

By Jonathan Thomas

Foreword by S. T. Joshi

Paperback: ISBN 0979380693: $15.00: 260 pp
An artist is summoned to paint the portrait of sinister Mr. Finster ina decaying mansion . . . A suburban couple is vexed by the inveteratelawn-mowing of a ghost . . . In ice-bound Vermont, one farmer’s crop issuspiciously bountiful . . . A miniature nymph is found swimming in anoffice water cooler . . . These are the bizarre conceptions of JonathanThomas, a powerful new writer of weird, horrific, and supernaturalfiction who introduces himself to the reading public with this rich andvaried short story collection. Thomas is, however, a practiced hand atterror-weaving, and his work spans the spectrum from comic fantasy topsychological suspense to science fiction. Unifying all his tales is aprose style of singular fluency and grace, enlivened by keenobservation and mordant satire.

THE PLACE CALLED DAGON

by Herbert Gorman

Lovecraft’s Library series – second printing

Paperback: ISBN 9780972164436: $15.00: 188 pp

Featuring fantastic new cover art and interior illustratons by Allen Koszowski! H. P. Lovecraft spoke highly of The Place Called Dagon (1927) in Supernatural Horror in Literature,and for good reason. It uncannily reflects many of the themes inLovecraft’s own fiction, and probably influenced his "The Shadow overInnsmouth" and "The Dreams in the Witch House." This novel, whose verytitle is Lovecraftian, has waited too long to find a new generation ofreaders, but is now reprinted here uncut and unabridged, with anintroduction by leading Lovecraft scholar S. T. Joshi and Gorman expertLarry Creasy.

LOVECRAFT ANNUAL No. 2 (2008)

Edited by S. T. Joshi

ISSN 1935-6102

Paperback: ISBN 978-0-9814888-6-8: $15.00: 215 pp

Thislatest issue of new scholarship on H. P. Lovecraft features a lengthyarticle on astronomical motifs in Lovecraft’s horror fiction, as wellas an examination of “The Rats in the walls” by Robert Waugh, author ofthe critical anthology The Monster in the Mirror: Looking for H. P. Lovecraft.Other fascinating research on Lovecraft and his works is included alongwith reviews of relevant new publications from all sources, and noticesof upcoming events in the Lovecraft community. **Please note that inaddition to its overall ISSN, each issue of Lovecraft Annual will nowhave an ISBN, which will change from year to year.

word from Centipede

2008-09-08T08:18:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Saturday, 6 September, 2008

Dear Dealers:

Videodrome
now available in mass quantities

Just a reminder that our major shipment of Videodrome just
arrived Friday afternoon. If you have already placed your
order, your copies will be shipping out on Monday. With 750
of our 1200 copies already on back-order, we don¹t expect
this fine paperback to last much longer. The hardcover
edition, signed by Tim Lucas, will also be available in
about six weeks. 

The paperback is $25

*       *          *
                                  
The Other
Thomas Tryon 
paperback edition

Our low cost paperback edition ($17), which has a number of
color plates and a sewn binding, is also available. It is $17
less your discount of 50%, or $8.50 each. This is a very
handsome item and should do well as a low-cost item that
may entice some of your regular customers. 

With a print run of about 1,200 copies, nearly a thousand
are gone, with most of them shipped out last month. 


*        *         *

Forthcoming.
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe. The artist
has just completed the final works for the book and we
will be going to press in a few weeks. 

A large number of The Shadow of the Torturer are now
in the bindery and should be shipping out in about
2-3 weeks. Thank you for your patience, those of you
who have been waiting while this item is on backorder.

Madball by Fredric Brown 
introduction by Dick Adler
Now in proofreading.

Sharp Practice by John Farris 
introduction by Ed Gorman
afterword by John Farris
plus a bonus short story
Now in bindery. 

Jerad Walters
Centipede Press

---Got to get my order in to Centipede -- way overdue on doing this!!! (Amongst other things.)

word from Tartarus

2008-09-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Hi Chris,

Just to let you know that we are getting low on the paperback edition of Emma Tennant's Heathcliffe's Tale and I expect it to go out of print in the next couple of weeks. (The hardback issue is still okay for a while.) If you'd like any copies please do let me know.

All the best

Ray
---Don't believe I ever even got the pb edn of this title -- I still have the hc listed, though.

word from Stark House

2008-09-05T09:43:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Hello Mystery Readers & Booksellers:

I'm pleased to announce that our WADE MILLER book is coming out this week--THE KILLER / DEVIL ON TWO STICKS (1933586230, $17.95).

"Wade Miller" is the writing team of Bob Wade and Bill Miller, and in their 15 year writing career from the late 1940's to the early 60's, they created some of the finest hardboiled fiction. Not only did they give us the dark and moody Max Thursday detective series, but they also wrote the book, BADGE OF EVIL, that Orson Welles turned into the film noir classic, TOUCH OF EVIL.

Bill Miller passed away in 1961, but Bob Wade continued on, eventually winning the Private Eye Writers of America's 1988 Life Achievement Award. Together, they created a wild kind of mystery magic.

THE KILLER is the story of a big game hunter who is hired to track down and kill a reckless bankrobber, while he himself is pursued by the bankrobber's wife. DEVIL ON TWO STICKS is a mystery told from the inside out, as a crime syndicate boss's enforcer must ferret out the traitor in their midst while falling in love with his prime suspect's daughter.

Two very original stories from this very creative team.

Bob Wade provides a new introduction, as does David Laurence Wilson, who writes about the Wade Miller career in "The Deadly Collaboration," a thorough history of the writing team.

And while I'm on the subject of reprints, our last book, A SHOT IN THE DARK / SHELL GAME by Richard Powell is still available (1933586184, $14.95). A recent review by Bruce Grossman at Bookgasm points out that "Powell does an extraordinary job of keeping all the secrets hidden until the big reveal." Powell is ripe for rediscovery!

And as always, thanks for your continued support!

Cheers,

Greg Shepard, publisher

Stark House Press

---The Powell is in stock here now -- the Wade Miller doubtless will be shortly.

2008-07-29T16:02:00.000-05:00

sitting around cataloging a few odd books that happen to be beside me -- trying to break habit of labeling PBOs as "origs" -- PBO would be better. Tried a global change of "(orig;" to "(PBO;" -- will take some getting used to...

new arrivals lately

2008-07-29T07:24:00.000-05:00

Not many new books coming in -- I really need to send a few orders out to publishers, but a few have come in. Cataloging later, but for now the latest from Ash-Tree arrived yesterday (yet to unpack). Also, a new edition of the Lexicon Urthus from Sirius (last Friday) and a new issue of Space & Time (Thurs). Mainly though, it's been second-hand books and a few remainders still piled up around here.

back from vacation

2008-07-15T08:54:00.000-05:00

Made it back from Colorado yesterday, in time to mow the weeklong lawn. The thin air at 11,000 feet (near Breckenridge) in a cramped cabin with ten in-laws was a nice change-of-pace from my usual routine, but I'm glad to return to it now.

email sent

2008-06-16T08:14:00.000-05:00

Dear Mike:
Thanks for concern! So far so good here. The sump pump is goinggangbusters to keep the water table a foot or so beneath the cellarfloor, and the two dehumidifiers down there have been filling up prettyfast. But as long as the electricity keeps current and thetwenty-year-old pump doesn't fail, it looks like we're okay. Wish Icould say the same about everyone hereabouts! Looks like a few days ina row of dry weather this week coming up, so that will be nice.Probably be in a drought by the the end of the summer.

Yours,
Chris

word from Midnight House

2008-05-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:
Chris,

The books are still at the printers.
We hope to have them soon.

Kathy [Pelan]
---what I figured, but I wonder for how long (and how long they've been "at the printers" so far). Not that I'm complaining. Not at all.

word from Tartarus

2008-05-21T07:38:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Dear Chris,

We are very low on stock of both The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel and Morbid Tales by Quentin S. Crisp. If you would like last copies of either please let me know. I'm telling a few other dealers at the same time, so it will be on a first come, first served basis.

All best wishes,

Ray
---Maybe I ought to check my stock too.

pivoting away from amazon?

2008-05-19T09:38:00.000-05:00

Haven't been paying attention to the details of my Amazon sales, so I didn't quite realize that a book I list for $1.50, for example, nets me $2.92 for the sale, out of which I pay probably $2.23 for Media Mail postage -- leaving me with a paltry 69¢. Methinks I need to go back to listing books more on biblio.com again, maybe individually as they are cataloged, rather than readying a bulk download from my current catalog inventory, as I had been doing before. That worked fine, but I had to go through a lot of rigamarole -- adding inventory numbers, inserting tabs to separate fields, etc. It ended up with me neglecting performing this chore, to the extent that I got only part of my inventory listed. The original plan was to get through and list everything, but now it’s been so long maybe I should deviate course. I see that I can list books on biblio one at a time, just as I have been doing on Amazon (and Half.com). Since my complete listings can at least be seen as Google Documents, the compulsion to have everything somewhere is obviated. So, I guess I’ll try the next batch of books I am cataloguing (many Adult Fantasy paperbacks) using Biblio rather than Amazon.

word from Spectre Library

2008-05-14T11:42:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

HELLO !

Announcement: Summer 2008 Book Release

The Spectre Library now is accepting advance orders for Rousseau's lost works of pseudo-science fiction stories "The Devil Chair." These stories have never been viewed by a single pulp fiction collector, and are now available for the first time, recovered from bygone newspapers. This is Rousseau's first-ever venture into the science fiction genre. The introduction is furnished by Michael Ashley.

The Spectre Library collects rare literature in limited edition jacketed hardcovers. I offer the standard

Further, there are limited copies of the second book still available: Victor Rousseau "The Tracer of Egos."

The first collection, "The Surgeon of Souls," is SOLD OUT.

Below are the list details. Cordially~~Morgan A. Wallace, The Spectre Library

Author: Victor Rousseau

Title: The Devil Chair

Publisher: The Spectre Library

Retail: $40

Jacketed, smythe-sewn hardcover

Limited edition: 200 copies

Introduction by: Michael Ashley

Available: Summer 2008

Inheriting multi-million dollar properties in America, Englishman John Haynes relocates his wife

and daughter from England to claim the inheritance. Upon arrival, Haynes, unaccustomed to

American corruption, is railroaded into the penitentiary. While serving his sentence, he creates a

scientific device in the machinist shops, a powerful gyroscope attached to a gasoline device, that

when strapped to any means of transportation, enables him to speeds of 200 miles per hour!

Escaping prison, Haynes searches for his lost family while hunting the league of villains, attacking

them both on the physical and psychological level.

"The Devil Chair" is a brilliant series, and among the best of his earliest and more thoughtful

works of literature, pre-dating "The Sea Demons" and "Messiah of the Cylinder."

word from Golden Gryphon

2008-05-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Greetings from the Gryphon: 

NANO COMES TO CLIFFORD FALLS AND OTHER STORIES, by Nancy Kress, is now 
available!

Multiple award-winning author Nancy Kress is well known for her novels, 
but all of her awards were for her short fiction, and she is at her best 
in the short form. Most of the stories in this collection have been picked 
for various “Year’s Best” and Reader’s Choice lists. The title story is 
typical of Kress; nanotechnology brings every wish to everyone, and yet 
on the human level problems of a dire nature are created. This is always 
the case with Kress: typically, you get two stories in one: a focus on 
cutting-edge technology and the emotional effects of such technology. In 
many of her stories the pathos of the human condition is explored, where 
humans plant seedlings and have to decide to weed or not weed—that is, to 
play God or let natural selection progress (“My Mother, Dancing”). 
Interfering with a culture, even to save lives, is not so straightforward 
in “”Ej-Es.”  Not all of Kress’s stories end seriously; in “First Flight” 
a Space Cadet shines, in homage to a 50s TV program. Artificial intelligences 
also show in several of the stories, as a persecuted slave of man (“Computer 
Virus”), or as the controlling force of the universe (“Mirror Image”), or 
even as one indifferent to humans at all (“Savior”). There is also hidden 
horror in Kress’s stories, in the method used to handle a sassy sixteen-year-
old (“To Cuddle Amy”). From the center of the galaxy, to explore the nature 
of matter itself (“Shiva in Shadow”) to the swamps of Earth (“Wetlands 
Preserve”) you always get the trademark mix of hard science fiction 
interacting with humanity, with all the resulting emotions. These thirteen 
stories will satisfy old fans of Kress and breed new ones.

NANO COMES TO CLIFFORD FALLS AND OTHER STORIES, by Nancy Kress 
Cover art by Thomas Canty
ISBN 978-1-930846-50-0 / $24.95 (Trade hardcover)
324 pages

---Good to see Golden Gryphon is keeping going even without my recent support. I really need to rectify that!

word from Hippocampus

2008-04-24T07:46:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Dear Bookseller:

We have finally released our first two books of the year, with many more to come! But for now, please advise us of the quantities desired of these first two paperbacks. Now is also a good time to restock on our backlist titles.

Also, if you had a standing order with us in the past, please reconfirm it. We want to make sure you get the books you need.

Thanks,

Derrick Hussey

Hippocampus Press

-----------------------------

COLD HARBOUR by Francis Brett Young and SINISTER HOUSE by Leland Hall

ISBN 978-0-9793806-5-5: 270 pages

Retail Price: $15.00

H. P. Lovecraft praised these two novels in his treatise, Supernatural Horror in Literature.Reprinted together as the latest entry in our Lovecraft’s Library series, they are sure to be as interesting to your customers as they were toLovecraft himself! In the 1924 novel Cold Harbour by Francis Brett Young, an ancient house of strange malignancy is powerfully delineated. Leland Hall’s Sinister House (1919) is a supernatural tale of a strangely appealing quality, where against the background of a typical American suburb is projected a genuine atmosphere of horror. Introductions to each novel by horror expert S. T. Joshi trace the Lovecraft connection. Both novels feature their first edition cover art; Sinister House has four original illustrations, as well. Two novels in one volume, for one low price!

DEAD HOUSES AND OTHER WORKS by Edith Miniter

Edited by Sean Donnelly and Kenneth W. Faig, Jr.

ISBN 978-0-9793806-7-9: 370 pages

Retail price $15.00

For Edith Miniter (1867-1934), daughter of a poet and a mathematician, the undercurrent of isolation and ancient whispers always persists. Her friend H.P. Lovecraft compared Mrs. Miniter’s fiction with that of Jane Austen. Despite her genius, Edith Miniter’s literary heritage has – until now – lain neglected. Collected here is her finest work in short fiction, including “Dead Houses,” from which this collection draws its name. One of Mrs. Miniter's ancestresses in the early nineteenth century was a suspected witch; and her “Wonted Fires” is as dark a piece of gothic fiction as the aficionado might desire. Also included are her amateur writings, which mine a rich vein of information about Lovecraft. Rounding out the monumental volume are essays about her life and work by Lovecraft and other of her contemporaries, as well as modern scholarship on Mrs. Miniter – revealing her as a fascinating emblem of a vanished period in literature.

---Reminds me I need to get my orders to Hippocampus straightened out -- on top of everything else I need to do -- all right now, too!

word from Centipede

2008-04-15T15:24:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

Centipede Press
news and forthcoming books
April 2008
                                           
Please see the PDF newsletter for additional information
regarding The Autopsy and Other Tales by Michael Shea,
Catacombs, The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck, Dracula, Artists 
Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Masters of the Weird Tale: 
H.P. Lovecraft, Don Brautigam, Michael Shea, John
Farris, Gene Wolfe, Tim Lucas, and others, including a 
complete list of titles.

The PDF also has a lengthy article on book publishing by
Jenny Lee, Senior Lecturer, Publishing and Communications, 
University of Melbourne, and is well worth a look. 
                                           
*                 *                *

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:
 
Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft 
slipcase edition
$395

H.P. Lovecraft 
Masters of the Weird Tale 
2 volumes in slipcase
$395

*                 *                *

NOW AVAILABLE:
 
Catacombs
John Farris
introduction by David J. Schow
$75
 
The Autopsy and Other Tales
Michael Shea
introduction by Laird Barron
$95

The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck
Alexander Laing
Introduction by William Hjortsberg 
$75

The Other
Thomas Tryon
Introduction by Ramsey Campbell 
$95
                                           
*                 *                *
                                
Thank you all for your continued support. 

Jerad Walters
Centipede Press

---If you'd like me to forward the above-mentioned PDF, let me know.

half link changed

2008-04-08T10:43:00.000-05:00

When I changed my email contact for half.com to gmail I couldn't keep the same user name (cdrummbks), because it was the same as my email address and that is now verboten. So, now I have my half name as cdrummbooks -- which means the links I had set up in various places no longer work. I've gone through and changed them now, so they should work. Here's the link.

word from weird tales

2008-04-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:

2008 marks the 85th anniversary of Weird Tales, and the magazine has debuted an exciting new look and a host of new editorial features, including a recent spotlight on The 85 Weirdest Storytellers of the Past 85 Years! It's the perfect time to subscribe for six issues for $20! But if you want to check out the magazine first, here's your chance: a trial pack of four recent back issues for just $13!

Originally founded in the 1920s with the mission of finding and publishing "the next Edgar Allan Poe," Weird Tales has featured such authors of unearthly fiction as H. P. Lovecraft, Ray Bradbury, Robert E. Howard, and Stephen King. Today, Weird Tales'gothic eeriness continues to evolve with a regular mix of young,up-and-coming talent — discover Sarah Monette, Barth Anderson, CarrieVaughn! — as well as fan-favorite authors such as Michael Moorcock,Tanith Lee, and Caitlín R. Kiernan.

"There’sa little horror, a little comedy, some romance, a dash of drama, and asmidge of science fiction. . . . It will appeal most to someone whoflops into a recliner, opens the magazine at random, and expects simplythat it provide entertainment without preconditions.” —Tangent Online

Fine Print: This offer is only for addresses within the United States. Other countries, please use our discounted international subscription options: Click here for international rates Canadians,please note: you must use the international subscription option. Wecannot send bulk mail to Canada, much as we would like to.

Weird Tales ® is a registered trademark of Weird Tales Ltd; used here with permission.

---I should probably have another go at getting copies of Weird Tales to carry in my catalog...

word from small beer

2008-04-02T15:49:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:
Hi there,

On 4/15/08 we are publishing John Kessel's first collection in 10 years: The Baum Plan for Financial Independence

9781931520515 · Trade cloth · $24

9781931520508 · Trade paper · $16

It'san April Book Sense pick (am curious if that will have any impact) andis available from Consortium, Ingram, etc., and of course from us. Johnis going to be out doing some readings and there should be reviewsappearing soon (PW, Booklist, and Locus already ran).

There are fewer hardcovers than paperbacks and the hardcovers have a gimmick easter egg reversible cover.

That's it for now. New zine in June, new books after that one a month from Aug - November!

Gavin

--
Small Beer Press
http://www.lcrw.net

word from Cliff Burns

2008-03-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:
Gang:

Justa quick note to let you know that after years of labour and therequisite gray hairs, I've finally finished my occult thriller So Dark the Night and posted it on my blog.

Beautiful Desolation

Ican finally say that after 20+ years of toiling in the trenches, Ithink I've come up with a novel that's fun, sexy, scary, hilarious and,gulp, commercial? Is that possible?

Have a look when you have a free moment. Let me know what you think--

Cliff

aol okay now

2008-03-11T14:18:00.000-05:00

Now that I've changed my email in most of the places I regularly do business, I find that if I remember to click on "Standard Version" before trying to access my email, I can now open messages and even search older ones. So, the old email address persists.

word from humdrumming

2008-03-10T06:52:00.000-05:00

Email rec'd:
The Washington Post calls him 'gloriously demented'. Michael Moorcockconsiders him 'almost the sum of our planet's literature.' WhereasBrian Aldiss happily reports: 'Justbeginning to read: saliva already forming on chin.'

Rhys Hughes is something of a genre unto himself and Humdrumming areproud to be publishing his latest book, The Less Lonely Planet:

A collection of inexplicably joined short stories and tales from RhysHughes, the author who is to convention what apricots are toarmadillos. 32 tales about life, non-melodic sounds, cats, adventures,love, bread, circuses, pyramids, ducks, and more!

Since time immemorial, the planet Earth has revolved around the sun onits own, carrying one species of technically advanced hominids, ahandful of basic urges, a dozen or so original plots. But a very slowcollision with the rogue world Happenstance is about to change all that.

The two celestial bodies will fuse together into a single object,doubling the surface area, trebling the population, quadrupling thenumber of resonant archetypes, multiplying by a millionfold the virtuesof hyperbole!

A less lonely Earth means more high adventure, more low morals, moremedium rares. Oh yes!

The Less Lonely Planet is a 216mm x 138 PPC Hardcover (ie no DustJacket but fully illustrated boards, cover can be seen athttp://www.humdrumming.co.uk/books/978-1-905532-52-0.html) and retailsat just £14.99 ($30.00 or so). The book doesn't normally come signedBUT as an extra incentive to assist you sell the book I can guaranteesigned copies of all initial preorders. I will chain the mad Welshmanto a pub table and force him to scribble in sufficient copies to meetdemand (note: we are launching this title at a London pub on the 26thApril and Rhys will sign them then with orders shipped immediatelyafter).

Let me know how many you'd like me to put you down for.

Guy Adams
(On Behalf of Humdrumming)

email woes abate a bit

2008-03-07T20:18:00.000-06:00

In my ongoing AOL saga I've figured out that if I click on Basic Version instead of stay in the Standard Version, I am now able to actually open email messages. However, I can't access older mail that supposedly I could store an unlimited number of pieces. Fortunately I keep copies of important mail elsewhere, so that shouldn't be a big problem. So, maybe I don't have to go through all the rigamarole of officially changing email. Certainly I will keep checking my AOL mail, but I have more and more gone to gmail, so that would actually be my preferred email account now.

my strong suspicion

2008-03-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

Although I have no hard evidence to support it my strong suspicion is that the mailings I have been getting from Horror Newsletter (or whatever it is) have been the culprits in causing my AOL mail not to load properly. Hithertofor, I had been marking their mailings as "read" even without opening them, thinking that maybe they might have publishing information in their sendings that I might be able to use at some point in the future, but their emails do have a lot of graphics and links and whatnots that maybe run roughshod over ease of utility -- fancy dancing that trips all over itself. Indeed, just now I actually had access to my AOL inbox again. I took the opportunity to begin deleting ones I know I didn't want to keep. And, lo and behold, when I got to the Horror Newsletter, and checked its box for deletion and clicked OK, everything went blank again. Maybe a coincidence -- maybe not. I could blame AOL, but every other email I have been getting for quite a while now has been coming through just fine. I'm sure no expert, but I like things less razzle-dazzle and more simple. If you have something to sell, flash might oversell it, but you won't get any of the smart money -- just the stupid money. Maybe that's just what you want, but please don't involve me.

email change in progress

2008-03-06T12:30:00.000-06:00

Changing my email contacts in all the places I can think of -- I was able to see the contents of my inbox recently, but not to open or delete any emails. AOL had been working out well of late, but not being able to open emails doesn't work for me.