Steven Silver sends word of the winners of this years Sidewise Award. I'm thrilled to be one of them.
The winners of this year's Sidewise Award for Alternate History, presented at MidAmeriCon II on August 20.
Short Form:
Bill Crider. "It Doesn't Matter Anymore"
In Tales from the Otherverse: Stories of Alternate History
(ed. James Reasoner). Rough Edges Press, 2015
Long Form:
Julie Mayhew. The Big Lie
Hot Key Books, 2015.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Jack Riley, R. I. P.
Fox News: NEW YORK – Jack Riley, who played a counseling client on "The Bob Newhart Show" and also voiced a character on Nickelodeon's animated "Rugrats," died Friday. The 80-year-old actor died in Los Angeles, according to his representative Paul Doherty.
Hat tips to Jeff Meyerson and Deb.
Hat tips to Jeff Meyerson and Deb.
First It Was the Thin Mints Melee. . . .
NY Daily News: Brooklyn man throws eggs at traffic agents after his illegally parked Lexus was ticketed
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
10 Forgotten Stories From Ancient America's Great War
10 Forgotten Stories From Ancient America's Great War: These days, much of the history of the Americas before Europeans arrived has been lost or forgotten. This is a shame because the great civilizations of Central America hold stories as epic and intriguing as those of Ancient Greece and Rome. Take the cities of Tikal and Calakmul, which spent four centuries locked in a titanic struggle with twists and turns straight out of Game of Thrones.
PaperBack
Ellery Queen (Daniel Nathan [Frederic Dannay] &Emanuel Benjamin Lepofsky, [Manfred Bennington Lee], The Tragedy of Z, Avon
Friday, August 19, 2016
Site of the First Train Robbery in the West
Site of the First Train Robbery in the West: Lured here by the promise of tens of thousands in gold, Jesse James started a quintessentially American trend of robbing trains in-motion.
16 Clever Quips from Ogden Nash
16 Clever Quips from Ogden Nash: Happy birthday to poet Ogden Nash, known for his ability to turn a witty verse on everything from politics to celery. “I think in terms of rhyme, and have since I was six years old,” he once said. Lucky for us.
FFB: The Goblin Reservation -- Clifford Simak
In the far future, Earth has become a university planet with Time University and Supernatural University among the schools. Time travel is a simple matter, as is instantaneous transportation between the stars. There's a slight problem for a professor at Supernatural, however. When he returns from a trip to a distant galaxy, he discovers that he's already returned a couple of weeks earlier and been killed. And if that's not complication enough, the planet to which he traveled isn't the one he'd been sent to. It's a strange crystal world that is offering to sell knowledge far in advance of that which Earth has already, for a price. But what's the price?All this is happening on an Earth where fairies, goblins, trolls, neanderthals, ghosts, banshees, and humans all live and interact together. It's all told in Simak's trademark bucolic style.
The novel was nominated for a Hugo long ago, and I enjoyed it, but it's not one of my favorites of Simak's work. I can't recommend that you run out and buy a copy, but if you like Simak and haven't read it, it's certainly worth a look.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Tales of the Star Republic -- Terence Faherty
This is a book I read and intended to review for my short-story column in Mystery Scene before I got my little health surprise. I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to review it here and get the word out as much as I could.In spite of the title, it's not a science fiction book. The Star Republic is a newspaper, and the narrator of the stories is a reporter who writes the "nut stories" for the paper. The weird news, that is. He covers the UFO reports, the levitating rocks, the disappearing graves, that kind of thing. About half the stories in the book have been previously published in EQMM, and half are original to the book. I'd read some of them before, but I read them all again. They're short, smooth, well written and plotted, humane, and just fun to read. I like all Faherty's work, and all his short story series are worth looking for. If you haven't tried them before, this would be a great place to start.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Arthur Hiller, R. I. P.
Daily Mail Online: Arthur Hiller, who received an Oscar nomination for directing the hugely popular romantic tragedy 'Love Story' during a career that spanned dozens of popular movies and TV shows, died on Wednesday of natural causes. He was 92.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
They're Back!
Adam West revives his '60s Batman for a new animated movie: Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders reunites West and Ward as Batman and Robin in a feature-length animated film set in the universe of the '60s TV series. The dynamic duo is also joined by the voice of Julie Newmar, who played TV's Catwoman.
A List I'm On (Barely)
Pub Alley Fiction Mystery Bestsellers
#1: Damaged
#2: Killer Look
#3: A Time of Torment
#4: Deadly Fate
#5: Crowned and Dangerous
#6: Die Like an Eagle
#7: Rise the Dark
#8: When the Music's over
#9: The Sixth Idea
#10: Night and Day
#11: White Bone
#12: Live and Let Growl
#13: Knit Your Own Murder
#14: Breaking Cover
#15: Survivors Will Be Shot Again
#1: Damaged
#2: Killer Look
#3: A Time of Torment
#4: Deadly Fate
#5: Crowned and Dangerous
#6: Die Like an Eagle
#7: Rise the Dark
#8: When the Music's over
#9: The Sixth Idea
#10: Night and Day
#11: White Bone
#12: Live and Let Growl
#13: Knit Your Own Murder
#14: Breaking Cover
#15: Survivors Will Be Shot Again
30 Years and Counting
On the 19th I'll be signing copies of Survivors Will Be Shot Again at Murder by the Book in Houston at 6:30. For a while I didn't think I'd be able to be there, but things look good for now. I'm planning on it. It occurred to me only today that this is a significant anniversary for me. It was 30 years ago that I did my first book signing, also at Murder by the Book, for Too Late to Die, the first book in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. At the time I had no idea that it would be a series, much less that it would last for 30 years (and there'll be another book next year, too). If anyone had told me that, I'd have had a good laugh. I wouldn't have thought it was possible.
Yet here I am, and the sheriff is still in office. My life has gone through a lot of changes, many of them happy ones, some of them not nearly so much. Sheriff Rhodes hasn't had the same experiences, so he's a lot the same. That's by design, though. I never thought of having him be one of those protagonists who changes much. My models have always been Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, marching pretty much unchanged through the years. Others take a different approach, which is great. I gotta be me.
The next book in the series, Dead, to Begin With, completes my current contract, so it remains to be seen whether there will be more. My health could be a problem, and St. Martin's might decide that there's no more room for a sheriff like Rhodes on the list. I'm going to try to get a proposal done before I begin chemo, however, so at least there's a chance of more to come.
And how about that cover for the hardback of Too Late to Die? One of the worst ever, right? But the book did get a nice review in the "Criminals at Large" column in the NYT Book Review. It had two printings and even a paperback. I miss the old days.
Chupcabra Update
Mysterious ‘man-like creature’ is filmed roaming through Portuguese desert
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Hat tip to Jeff Meyerson.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Spectacular hand-colored postcards of 19th-century Venice
Spectacular hand-colored postcards of 19th-century Venice: These postcards of Belle Époque Venice were printed by the Detroit Publishing Company using the Photochrom process, a time-consuming and exacting technique by which convincing layers of artificial color are applied to black and white photos and reproduced.
It's Getting Crowded in Hipsterville
am New York: Each day, some 10,000 pedestrians and 3,500 cyclists cross under the bridge’s famous limestone and granite towers — a steep increase compared to recent years. Weekend walkers along the span grew by 275%, when comparing volumes from May 2015 to May 2008. During the same time period, 93% more bikers used the bridge in the evening rush hour, according to the city DOT.
Overlooked Movies -- Hold that Ghost
When I saw this movie in the theater on one of its re-releases in the late '40s, I thought it was scary and hilarious. Of course I was 7 or 8, so you have take that into account.Bud and Lou are two hapless service station (Google it, whippersnappers) attendants, who through an odd set of circumstances inherit the estate of a notorious gangster. It includes an old rural hotel where they eventually find themselves stranded with a scientist, a radio actress, a lovely waitress, and a gangster on a dark and stormy night. After that, nothing much that happens makes any sense at all. I'm sure I didn't care when I was 7 or 8 and don't much care now. Some of it still strikes me as funny, though some of Bud and Lou's routines have worn a little thin. None of it is scary, of course, but I still prefer it to the blood and gore of many current fright films.
The framing device uses nightclub settings to feature Ted Lewis and the Andrews Sisters. Is everybody happy? Happy enough to smile if not to laugh. I like Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein better for laughs and scares. Is this movie even cornier than Buck Privates? Possibly. Watch it and decide for yourself.
Monday, August 15, 2016
Barbara Gibb, R. I. P.
Barbara Gibb, Mother of the Bee Gees & Andy Gibb, Dies at 95: Barbara Gibb passed away at the age of 95 in Miami on Friday night (Aug. 12). She was the mother of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb (who performed together as the Bee Gees), as well as Andy Gibb.
Traveler of Worlds: Conversations with Robert Silverberg -- Alvaro Zinos-Amaro
When I say wide-ranging, I mean it. Zinos-Amaro is a fine interviewer, and he knows Silverberg's life and work intimately. He covers everything: art, writing, travel, food, work habits, politics, reading -- you name it. Silverberg proves to be just what I always thought he was, a man of wide knowledge and a memory that never seems to fail. For anyone who's read and admired Silverberg's work, this is an essential book. For everyone else it's fascinating and absorbing. Highly recommended.
Mark Twain Hated the Postal Service
Mark Twain Had a Lifelong Feud with the United States Postal Service: What made the celebrated author hate the mail service so much?
Short Story Note
When life intervened with a health crisis, I was working on my short-story column for Mystery Scene. I wrote Kate Stine to tell her that I couldn't get the column done, and she's turned it over to a very capable guy, Ben Boulden, as you'll see when you get the next issue.
I'd written the first paragraph of the column, however, and I don't want it to go to waste because it calls attention to something I think is of historical importance to short-story readers. So I'm going to put it right here:
In the July issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, editor Janet Hutchings continues the magazine’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration with something special, an issue featuring works by people whose first published crime stories appeared in the magazine’s “Department of First Stories.” You’ll recognize the names, which include David Morell, Nancy Pickard, Bredan DuBois, Stephen Saylor, and Martin Edwards. But there’s more. There’s Marvin Lachman’s “Department of First Stories: A History,” which is must reading for anyone who’s interested in short stories and the history of crime fiction. It concludes with a list of fifty-four of the best-known writers to appear in the department and gives some of their later accomplishments. If you didn’t pick up this issue of the magazine when it appeared, look around for a copy. It’s well worth your time.
I'd written the first paragraph of the column, however, and I don't want it to go to waste because it calls attention to something I think is of historical importance to short-story readers. So I'm going to put it right here:
In the July issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, editor Janet Hutchings continues the magazine’s seventy-fifth anniversary celebration with something special, an issue featuring works by people whose first published crime stories appeared in the magazine’s “Department of First Stories.” You’ll recognize the names, which include David Morell, Nancy Pickard, Bredan DuBois, Stephen Saylor, and Martin Edwards. But there’s more. There’s Marvin Lachman’s “Department of First Stories: A History,” which is must reading for anyone who’s interested in short stories and the history of crime fiction. It concludes with a list of fifty-four of the best-known writers to appear in the department and gives some of their later accomplishments. If you didn’t pick up this issue of the magazine when it appeared, look around for a copy. It’s well worth your time.
Sunday, August 14, 2016
The First American Woman to Win an Olympic Championship Didn't Even Know It
The First American Woman to Win an Olympic Championship Didn't Even Know It: Margaret Abbott spent her entire life unaware that she had won the top golf prize at the 1900 games.
Slightly Creepy Post of the Day
Because I've been reading a good many books and watching a good many old movies and TV shows lately, I've posted FFB and Overlooked Movies stuff, along with a few regular book reviews, for months in advance. It's occurred to me that if things don't work out for me, those posts might show up for a while after I've shuffled off this mortal coil (not that I have any expectation that's going to happen). Kind of a creepy thought, I guess, but it's just one of the things I think about when I'm in a morbid mood.
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