joe lansdale

I went through the usual slew of books in September, but I thought I’d mention some of the more notable ones. Links go to the Kindle edition when available, because I do most of my reading on that.

Erin Morgenstern’s THE NIGHT CIRCUS was a terrific read and one that will delight fans of THE PRESTIGE and CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL. Lots of gorgeous and beautiful description of a highly evocative setting and the love story that plays out against it.

While on a visit to Baltimore recently, I was introduced to Joe Hill’s graphic horror novel, LOCKE AND KEY. I read the first one, and am looking forward to the rest.

THE PALACE JOB by Patrick Weekes was a terrific romp of a fantasy read, and is an Ocean’s Eleven type adventure played out against a fantasy setting.

Jonathan Wood’s NO HERO and YESTERDAY’S HERO reminded me of a less frenetic Charlie Stross. Another fun and frothy urban fantasy was Jennifer Willis’ VALHALLA.

Love Joe Lansdale, but I’m reading him slowly in order to spread out the cost of getting all the Hap and Leonard novels. September held THE TWO-BEAR MAMBO as well as a collection of short fiction, BUMPER CROP.

I go back every few years to read E.F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia novels. Why doesn’t someone do a fantasy version of these? That would be so awesome.

THE WEIRD: A COMPENDIUM and THE APEX BOOK OF WORLD SCIENCE FICTION are both books that I am dipping into periodically, spacing them out so I can think about the stories, rather than absorb them all in one long read.

THE BANDIT KING by Lilith Saintcrow is a fantasy romance, the sequel to THE HEDGEWITCH QUEEN. I’ve yet to find a Saintcrow book that I haven’t enjoyed.

In nonfiction, I’ve been reading these:

• RATIO by Michael Rudman, which talks about the ratios needed for certain things like biscuits vs. pie dough and explores a lot of the science. It’s fascinating, and I’m thinking about taking a year just to work through each of the 33 ratios (he goes through doughs, stock, sausage, sauces and custards) he explores.
• Gretchen Rubin’s THE HAPPINESS PROJECT and STUMBLING ON HAPPINESS by Daniel Gilbert.
• FROM AN ANONYMOUS SOURCE purports to be written by a senior White House official. It’s entertaining if you’re interested in politics.

I’m turning in something today that I’ve never tried before: a novella.

Back when I was first approached about the Fathomless Abyss, it involved an initial story and a later novella. Sure, I said, and whacked out a story for the first Fathomless Abyss book, TALES FROM THE FATHOMLESS ABYSS. It was “A Querulous Flute of Bone”, which I based on an O.Henry story, and which I think is one of my best stories to date. If you don’t believe me, spring for the 99 cent download and tell me if I’m wrong.

Then I started on the novella. The first thing I did was look up the length requirements. Wikipedia told me the official SFWA definition was 17500 to 40000 words. So just a long short story, right?