Saturday, March 24, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Laughing at Dead Men eBook: Keith Rawson: Kindle Store: Laughing at Dead Men is a brand new story collection from the dark mind of Keith Rawson.“Keith Rawson wields his spare prose like a wrecking ball, laying bare a world of whores, petty criminals, crooked cops and meth heads. These short, sharp portraits of users &losers are deranged snapshots from deep in the underbelly of contemporary America. No tired noir tropes here, this is tough, unsentimental & savagely funny dark fiction that charts its own course” --Roger Smith, author of Wake Up Dead and Dust Devils
"Keith Rawson's last name gives you a hint. It's going to be raw, and it's going to get to you. Like stepping on a shard of glass, but in a good way. Rawson's stories always bowl me over with aggressive style and deep psychological fright" --Anthony Neil Smith, author of Yellow Medicine and Choke On Your Lies
"Reading Keith Rawson’s short stories is like strolling through a minefield: you know you’re in for trouble, and there’s no going back. Powerful, twisted, fierce and profane, this is take-no-prisoners fiction." -Hilary Davidson, author of the Damage Done
Free for Kindle this Weekend!
Amazon.com: InterGalactic Medicine Show Awards Anthology, Vol. I eBook: James Maxey, Peter S. Beagle, Scott Roberts, Eric James Stone, Aliette deBodard, Eugie Foster, Marie Brennan, Alethea Kontis, Edmund R. Schubert, Orson Scott Card: Kindle Store: InterGalactic Awards Anthology Vol. I is a collection of stories from Orson Scott Card's award-winning magazine InterGalactic Medicine Show, spotlighting the winners of the magazine's readers' poll for best artwork and best short fiction. Edited by Orson Scott Card and Edmund R. Schubert, this anthology also includes other popular stories from the magazine's six year run, as well as a new introduction by Peter S. Beagle. Includes stories by such award-winning authors as Peter S. Beagle, Eugie Foster, Aliette deBodard, Marie Brennan, Alethea Kontis, recent Nebula-winner Eric James Stone, and more.
Heads You Lose -- Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Okay, here's the deal. Lisa Lutz, a big-time bestselling writer, suggests to her ex-boyfriend, poet David Hayward, that they collaborate on a crime novel. She'll write the odd-numbered chapters and he'll write the even-numbered ones. They won't discuss any plot developments, and each will agree not to change any twists thrown in by the other.This is all very meta from the outset, and it just gets moreso. The authors snipe at each other in footnotes, and between every chapter there are catty notes from one to the other about characters, plot, and even vocabulary. Is all this real, or is it just a put-on? I have no idea. I report, you decide. Either way, it's sometimes very funny, and it certainly gives you a bit of insight into the process of writing a mystery novel.
The plot? Oh, yeah. Paul and Lacey Hansen are brother and sister, both in their 20s, living out their lives as pot farmers in a small northern California town. Lacey does have a day job as a cover, but she doesn't really work at it. Their lives change when a headless body shows up in their front yard. They get rid of it, and it shows up again. Lacey figures she'd better do some sleuthing to find out what's going on. Things get complicated after that, and not just because of the mystery. The interaction between the authors plays into it, too.
If you're looking for a different kind of crime novel, one that's both funny in itself and in its inter-chapters while at the same time offering a glimpse at the writing process, you should check this one out soon.
Disclaimer: I was on a panel at Bouchercon with Lisa Lutz. I doubt that she remembers me, but she was quite amusing and a big hit with the audience.
Seepy Benton Knows all about the Fibonacci Sequence
Thousands of sunflowers to be planted in honour of Alan Turing for MOSI-led experiment | Culture24: He was one of a number of scientists who tried to explain Fibonacci phyllotaxis, looking at how the spirals on sunflower heads often conform to a Fibonacci sequence.
This is where each number is the sum of the two before it (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55, and so on).
Mathematicians at The University of Manchester hope to analyse thousands of sunflower heads to test the extent to which they follow the Fibonacci rule, announcing their results during the city’s Science Festival in October.
This is where each number is the sum of the two before it (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55, and so on).
Mathematicians at The University of Manchester hope to analyse thousands of sunflower heads to test the extent to which they follow the Fibonacci rule, announcing their results during the city’s Science Festival in October.
10 Science Fiction Books
10 Science Fiction Books That I Love (And You Will At Least Like A Lot)
Not me, but some other guy. Check it out.
Not me, but some other guy. Check it out.
Link via SF Signal.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Keller Citizen: Keller City Manager Dan O'Leary decided that someone from the top management ranks at City Hall had to go. So the person he laid off was himself.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Friday, March 23, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Basic Training (Kindle Single) eBook: Kurt Vonnegut: Kindle Store: Kurt Vonnegut's posthumous books have proved as surprising and wonderful as almost anything he published while alive, and Basic Training is no exception. Read a certain way, this previously unpublished novella provides something of a primer to many of the themes that would emerge in the half-century of work that followed it. Here especially is the deeply lived morality, coupled with a bone-deep mistrust of his fellow man. In this arresting, violent, and largely domestic tale, teenage pianist Haley Brandon heads up a cast of seemingly wistful characters, their lives bandied about by vague circumstance and a hard-headed, power-addicted tyrant. In true Vonnegut style, the milquetoast often turns out to be the determinant agent in a world dominated by the willful (to put it nicely), and in this, longtime Vonnegut fans will find much that's familiarly satisfying. Passing fans of absurdist fiction, lovers of the novella in all its welcome restraint, and avid readers of Kindle Singles should all hail the arrival of the late, great Kurt Vonnegut to these ranks. --Jason Kirk
Archaeology Update
BBC News: An Anglo-Saxon grave discovered near Cambridge could be one of the earliest examples of Christianity taking over from Paganism, archaeologists said.
The skeleton of a teenage girl was found buried on a wooden bed, with a gold and garnet cross on her chest.
The grave is thought to date from the mid-7th Century AD, when Christianity was beginning to be introduced to the Pagan Anglo-Saxon kings.
The skeleton of a teenage girl was found buried on a wooden bed, with a gold and garnet cross on her chest.
The grave is thought to date from the mid-7th Century AD, when Christianity was beginning to be introduced to the Pagan Anglo-Saxon kings.
Murray Lender, R. I. P.
NY Daily News: Murray Lender, who helped turn his father's small Connecticut bakery into a national company credited for introducing bagels to many Americans, has died in Florida. He was 81.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
And don't forget that you can win a Kindle fire in the Destroyer contest. Details here.
Amazon.com: Savage Song -A Special Edition Destroyer Novella (The Destroyer) eBook: Warren Murphy: Kindle Store: She is the world's greatest entertainer; in a few brief years, she has changed show business forever and tens of millions of people follow her every move. Now it looks like someone is trying to end her career for good. She's not the kind to roll over and play dead for anybody.
The red phone in the Whitehouse is lifted for the first time in years and a request is made to, "Keep her safe" —in the interest of national security, of course.
Enter Remo Williams, the Destroyer, and Chiun, the Master of Sinanju and the world's greatest assassin. Assigned to keep the music world's brightest star safe by CURE at the behest of the President.
Move over Barbra. Watch out, Cheeta Ching. Sorry, Judge Jenny. Chiun has gone gaga over a new lady. Killers, stand back. You're messing with the wrong girl and you ain't seen nothing yet.
The New Is Out, All Over Town
The National Enquirer: GREAT Balls of Fire! Legendary rocker JERRY LEE LEWIS is getting married for the SEVENTH time – and once again he’s keeping it in the family.
Once Again, Texas Leads the Way
Boyfriend Dead After Scuffle with Girlfriend: A 20-year-old Jacinto City man is dead after getting into a fight with his girlfriend and accidentally shooting himself in the neck, according to police.
Forgotten Books King of the Golden River -- John Ruskin
This post originally appeared a few years ago (in slightly different form) on a Friday when most people weren't doing a Forgotten Books post. Recently I was thinking about the teacher mentioned below and what an influence she had on my life, so I was reminded of this post and decided to repeat it. Teachers seldom know the extent of their influence, and it's far too late for me to tell Miss Hughes about it. It's not too late for me to tell you, though.
"In a secluded and mountainous part of Stiria there was, in old time, a valley of the most surprising and luxuriant fertility. It was surrounded, on all sides, by steep and rocky mountains, rising into peaks, which were always covered with snow and from which a number of torrents descended in constant cataracts. One of these fell westward, over the face of a crag so high, that, when the sun had set to everything else, and all below was darkness, his beams still shone full upon this waterfall, so that it looked like a shower of gold. It was, therefore, called by the people of the neighborhood the Golden River."
I can remember almost the exact circumstances under which I first read those words. I was ten years old and in Miss Ellie Hughes' fifth grade classroom at Ross Avenue Elementary School in Mexia, Texas. When we who finished some assignment early Miss Hughes allowed us to read whatever we wanted to, and in one of our books, all the way at the back, was The King of the Golden River. I turned to it one day, and my life changed. The story of Gluck and his two cruel brothers was a wonderful experience for me, not just because of the appearance of The King of the Golden River but because of the language, which wasn't like that of anything I'd read up until that time. It fired my imagination, and if I learned anything from the moral of the story, well, that was all to the good. I've been a fan of imaginative fantasy ever since.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Have You Bought Yours?
Amazon.com: Carnival of Death (Dead Man #9) eBook: Bill Crider, Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin: Kindle Store: Matt Cahill is working security at a traveling carnival, seeking a respite in the lonely battle against the supernatural entity known as Mr. Dark. But that’s not going to happen. He can sense something isn’t right, almost as clearly as he can see the evil in people as rotting flesh. Soon a series of violent, horrifying events rock the carnival…and, most disturbing of all, a fake fortune teller’s dark prophecies start coming true.So when she foresees imminent doom, Matt knows it can only mean one thing: Mr. Dark is here, and it’s not for the cotton candy. If Matt can’t stop him, Mr. Dark will destroy every last soul in this godforsaken carnival—and salt the earth with blood.
Robert Fuest
Dread Central: The film world has lost another one of their own today with the passing of classic horror film director Robert Fuest. You may not know the name, but we guarantee you know his work.
Fuest was best known for bringing the world The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again, along with lesser known classics such as The Devil's Rain, And Soon the Darkness, and Revenge of the Stepford Wives.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Fuest was best known for bringing the world The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again, along with lesser known classics such as The Devil's Rain, And Soon the Darkness, and Revenge of the Stepford Wives.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Happens all the Time
Metro.co.uk: A vicar claims a potato got stuck up his bottom after he fell on to the vegetable while hanging curtains in the nude.
No Comment Department
The Smoking Gun: Two shipments of marijuana destined for the New York City offices of a major book publisher were intercepted this month by federal agents after postal workers detected a “suspicious odor” emanating from the Express Mail parcels, according to court records.
The packages, containing a total of more than 11 pounds of pot, were bound for St. Martin’s Press, which is headquatered in the landmark Flatiron Building on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The packages, containing a total of more than 11 pounds of pot, were bound for St. Martin’s Press, which is headquatered in the landmark Flatiron Building on lower Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
Gene DeWeese, R. I. P.
Central Crime Zone: Author Gene DeWeese passes away.: Author Gene DeWeese has passed away. Born in 1934 Gene wrote in all genres, but in particular Science Fiction.
DeWeese was an active member of science fiction fandom, and his first stories were published in science fiction fanzines.
DeWeese was an active member of science fiction fandom, and his first stories were published in science fiction fanzines.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
'Sick of cooking,' A 46-year-old woman was arrested on Monday for allegedly stabbing a man during an argument over how "sick" she was of cooking for him
Free for Kindle -- 2 Days Only
Amazon.com: Blood Crimes: Book One eBook: Dave Zeltserman: Kindle Store: Blood Crimes is a genre-bending collision of dark urban fantasy and crime that rides shot-gun with Jim and Carol as they carve a homicidal path cross-country. Jim is infected with the vampire virus. Carol isn't. Yet. But they're united in their hunt for society's most dangerous predators for Jim's dinner -- so he can feed without harming the innocent. What they don't know is that they're not alone. There are others on their trail, and the climax of Blood Crimes is a shocking jolt of pure mayhem and rock 'n roll violence.
Lady, Go Die -- Max Allan Collins & Mickey Spillane
A couple of my favorite collaborators are back and in fine form in Lady, Go Die. This novel was begun by Mickey Spillane more than 60 years ago and was apparently intended to be the second Mike Hammer novel. Spillane, however, put the manuscript aside, unfinished. Max Allan Collins has picked it up and completed it with the usual skill and care that he's shown in doing the same for other unfinished Spillane works.Mike Hammer and Velda are taking a break from the rigors of big city live with a vacation in a small beach town during the off season. But trouble always finds Mike, and as soon as the story opens he happens on some cops "kicking the hell out of [a] little guy." Hammer doesn't like brutal cops, and he's always going to stick up for the helpless, so he wades right in and rescues Poochie (the little guy), a simple-minded but artistic little fellow who lives hand-to-mouth in a shack on the beach.
The cops, one of whom Hammer knows and doesn't like or trust, have been "questioning" Poochie, the little guy, because they think he knows something about the disappearance of a local woman who has a big-time gambling operation. Her body soon turns up, naked, atop a statue, and Hammer finds himself involved with not only crooked cops but a serial killer, beautiful women (natch), high-rollers, and mobsters.
It's all presented with the usual Collins/Spillane zip and verve, and it proves once again how wise Spillane was to insure that Collins was the one to take care of his uncompleted works. Collins knows how Mike Hammer thinks, and he always gets it right, just as he gets the post-WWII setting right. It's hard to say just where Spillane leaves off and Collins begins, and that's the way we Mike Hammer fans want it, fast and tough, just like Spillane would've done it alone. It's good to know that there are still a few more of posthumous collaborations to come. They're the real thing.
Ulu Grosbard, R. I. P.
NYTimes.com: Ulu Grosbard, a director whose affinity for naturalistic drama shaped critical successes like the original Broadway production of David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” and the film version of John Gregory Dunne’s novel “True Confessions,” has died in Manhattan. He was 83.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Meadows Ford Blues eBook: Richard Prosch: Kindle Store: Meadows Ford, Nebraska: where justice can be brutal and swift, where long dead secrets won’t stay in the grave, and where just about everyone has something very real to fear. From the author of the acclaimed western collection Devils Nest, comes eight stories of innocent criminals, guilty bystanders, mob hit men, dead girls and small town cops trying to make a difference. With an introduction by Bill Crider.
Free Today for Kindle
Amazon.com: Felony Fists (Fight Card) eBook: Jack Tunney, Mel Odom, Paul Bishop: Kindle Store: Los Angeles 1954Patrick “Felony” Flynn has been fighting all his life. Learning the “sweet science” from Father Tim the fighting priest at St. Vincent’s, the Chicago orphanage where Pat and his older brother Mickey were raised, Pat has battled his way around the world – first with the Navy and now with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Legendary LAPD chief William Parker is on a rampage to clean up both the department and the city. His elite crew of detectives known as The Hat Squad is his blunt instrument – dedicated, honest, and fearless. Promotion from patrol to detective is Pat’s goal, but he also yearns to be one of the elite.
And his fists are going to give him the chance.
Van Gogh Update
Museum confirms still life it holds is by Van Gogh - Yahoo! News: A still life once thought to be by Vincent van Gogh but later downgraded to the work of an anonymous artist because of doubts about its authenticity is indeed by the tormented Dutch impressionist, researchers said Tuesday.
The process leading to the confirmation reads like a cold case detective story, with a new X-ray technique helping experts re-examine what they already knew about the painting and draw on a growing pool of scholarly Van Gogh research.
The process leading to the confirmation reads like a cold case detective story, with a new X-ray technique helping experts re-examine what they already knew about the painting and draw on a growing pool of scholarly Van Gogh research.
Croc Update (Rudyard Kipling Edition)
The Press Association: Crocodile fossil named new species: A well-preserved historic crocodile skull has been declared a new species.
The 130 million-year-old specimen has been named Goniopholis Kiplini after Rudyard Kipling - author of The Jungle Book - in recognition of his enthusiasm for natural sciences.
The 130 million-year-old specimen has been named Goniopholis Kiplini after Rudyard Kipling - author of The Jungle Book - in recognition of his enthusiasm for natural sciences.
I Have My Doubts
Telegraph: Inspired by working with Kevin Spacey, Sir Trevor Nunn has claimed that American accents are "closer" than contemporary English to the accents of those used in the Bard's day.
You can listen at the link.
You can listen at the link.
The Destroyer Update
Destroyer Books.com: Here's your chance to win an autographed cover of the upcoming Destroyer novella, "Savage Song" (scheduled for release on 3/23/12 ) and a FREE Kindle Fire!
Grift No. 1 by John Kenyon
Grift No. 1 by John Kenyon (Paperback) - Lulu: List Price: $9.00Price: $7.65
You Save: $1.35 ( 15% )
Ships in 3-5 business days
A new crime fiction journal that mixes interesting, hard-hitting non-fiction with some of the best short fiction in the genre.
The lineup is:
Scott Phillips on the Factory novels of Derek Raymond
Ray Banks on film adaptations of Charles Willeford’s books
Lawrence Block on his various experiments with storytelling styles
Chris Rhatigan’s long interview with author Julie Morrigan
John Kenyon's interview with author Chris Offutt
John Kenyon's review of the three novels of John Rector
It also features brand new crime fiction stories from Jack Bates, Ken Bruen, Alec Cizak, Matthew C. Funk, Chris F. Holm, Craig McDonald, Court Merrigan, Thomas Pluck, Keith Rawson and Todd Robinson.
The Alligator Peope
Yes, I own a copy of this movie. You're not surprised, are you? This is a totally spoilery commentary, so consider yourself warned.The deal is that Beverly Garland, under the influence of sodium pentathol is recalling her story for a couple of head doctors. Her story is this: Her husband disappears on their honeymoon, and she spends years searching for him. She finally winds up at one of those typical (in the moves) mysterious old southern swamp homes where a mad scientist (George Macready) is trying to save accident victims with injections of alligator hormones (or something like that). This sounds like a perfectly reasonable idea to me, and it actually works. Unfortunately, there are certain . . . side effects. They aren't so bad, however, of you don't mind being scaly and green. Garland's husband doesn't like it, but Garland still loves him, anyway.
Macready thinks he can clear up the side effects with a simple blast of radiation, no more than one would use in the average cobalt bomb. You wouldn't expect this to work out well, and it doesn't. Or maybe it does, depending on your perspective. Hubby turns into a real ManGator, with a gator head and a human body. He's even wearing slacks, which is a nice touch. Seeing what he's become, he flees into the swamp on a dark and stormy night, pursued by Garland. She doesn't save him, though, thanks to what every movie like this needs: quicksand!
I forgot to mention that throughout the movie, Lon Chaney, Jr., is chewing the scenery at a fantastic rate. I'm surprised there was any of it left. He plays a crazy Cajun who hates alligator people.
They made a lot of movies like this during the '50s, and by "like this" I mean black and white monster movies. There's not really anything else like this one. Check it out.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Josie DeCarlo, R. I. P.
'Josie and the Pussycats' inspiration Josie DeCarlo dies - MSN TV News: Josie DeCarlo, the inspiration for singer-guitarist Josie McCoy of the 1970 Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon series "Josie and the Pussycats" and its successors, has died in her sleep. Her age was not immediately available.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
Hat tip to Jeff Segal.
New from Stark House!
ELLIOTT CHAZE: One is a Lonely Number by Bruce Elliott / Black Wings Has My Angel by Elliott Chaze
Two pitch-black noirs from the early 1950's, the first one a story of an escaped con who gets tragically caught up in the lives of a small town, and the second one the story of destructive lovers who pull it off an armored car heist with disastrous results. Includes new introductions by Ed Gorman and Bill Crider. AVAILABLE NOW
PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention
Amazon.com: Redemption (A Noah Milano novelette) (Noah Miilano) eBook: Jochem Vandersteen: Kindle Store: REDEMPTION - a Noah Milano noveletteTwenty years ago he tortured and killed a young boy. Now he is out of prison, ready to find redemption confronting the victim's parents.
He hires Noah Milano, security specialist and son of LA's biggest mobster to protect him.
When the unexpected happens it's up to Noah Milano to do what he thinks is right and make sure justice is done.
Sounds Reasonable to Me
WLKY Louisville: A Madison County councilman who is running for commissioner says his exchange of sexually explicit emails with a female assessor in another county was a ruse designed to expose corruption and was not part of an affair.
Business Cards: Kiss 'em Goodbye
latimes.com: Ubiquitous as pinstripes, the 2-by-3.5-inch pieces of card stock have long been a staple in executive briefcases. Exchanging cards helps to break the ice and provides a quick reference for forgotten names.
But to many young and Web-savvy people who are accustomed to connecting digitally, the cards are irrelevant, wasteful — and just plain lame.
But to many young and Web-savvy people who are accustomed to connecting digitally, the cards are irrelevant, wasteful — and just plain lame.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee . . .
Bad Hair Day: Rival Stylist Allegedly Pulled Gun | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo! News: Two Atlanta celebrity stylists are feuding and this clash over coifs came not to blows - but bullets.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
The Neuroscience of Your Brain On Fiction
The Neuroscience of Your Brain On Fiction - NYTimes.com: AMID the squawks and pings of our digital devices, the old-fashioned virtues of reading novels can seem faded, even futile. But new support for the value of fiction is arriving from an unexpected quarter: neuroscience.
Nero Wolfe on TV
INNER TOOB: AS SEEN ON TV: NERO WOLFE: Today we're kicking off a week of ASOTV showcases featuring some of the Great Detectives of Literature - as seen on TV. Whenever possible, we'll also have mention of their place in the Wold Newton Universe, an ally of the Toobworld Dynamic
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