Barbara Hambly's Blog, page 15

Sherlock Holmes!

SHERLOCK HOLMES!

Three of my four Sherlock Holmes stories are now up on the website: www.barbarahambly.com - "The Further Adventures." As I said earlier, these were all written for anthologies, so the editor told me, "Can you write a Holmes story about x, y, or z?" (See my earlier post about what these tales are, so those of you who like Holmes but don't care much for fantasy won't be pissed off and disappointed.)

The fourth story, "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk," should be up by the end of the week. (And I mean the VERY end of the week). (I'm still re-keying it in from the hard copy, and both the new semester, and the deadline on Ben January #13 are coming up fast).

I hope you enjoy them!

Sherlock Holmes stories!

Although I have JUST put up 2 fantasy tales on the www.barbarahambly.com website ("Personal Paradise" about Antryg & Joanna, and "Whisper" about Gil, Ingold, and the gang at the Keep of Dare), I've decided to post the Sherlock Holmes stories I've written for various anthologies NOW, rather than delay for "a decent interval" and have something possibly go wrong to prevent my posting them.

I hope this is okay with everyone? THREE of them should be up early next week, the fourth as soon as I get the file re-keyed from the hard copy.

These stories were written for anthologies – that is, the editor picked a category of tale that he wanted Holmes to be dealing with, and I wrote to order. Two of them – “Lost Boy” and “Antiquarian’s Niece” – are straight fantasy. “Dollmaker” (which I will post shortly) is a “straight-up” Holmes story: no fantasy, no outside elements. “Sinister Chinaman” falls somewhere in between.

“The Adventure of the Lost Boy” – Fantasy tale written originally for Gaslight Grimoire, edited by J.R. Campbell and Charles Prepolec, Edge Books – Narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson, it relates Holmes’ relationship with Peter Pan. I stuck to the original Barrie version of Peter Pan and stayed away from the Disney version.

“The Adventure of the Antiquarian’s Niece” – Fantasy tale written originally for Shadows Over Baker Street, edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan – Narrated by Dr. John H. Watson. However, since the anthology was about Holmes’ involvement with various aspects of Lovecraft’s Chthulhu mythos cycle, at one point in the story I switch over into the typical Lovecraftian narrative voice (though it’s still poor Watson speaking): you can’t have a Lovecraft story without hysterical cries about formless shuggoths dancing in the nameless abysses of non-geometrical time and space, now, can you?

“The Adventure of the Sinister Chinaman” – Originally written for Sherlock Holmes: Crossovers Casebook edited by Howard Hopkins, from Moonstone Press. Narrated by Dr. John H. Watson. Crossovers Casebook wanted stories of Holmes teaming up with other characters to solve a problem – the anthology included teamings of Holmes with Arsene Lupin, Calamity Jane, Sexton Blake, etc. I put a little whisper of a fantasy spin on it by teaming him up with that great prestidigitator and aeronaut, Oscar Zoroaster Diggs, better known to literature as Oz the Great and Powerful, after the wizard’s departure from Oz (and before he found his way back there, as was related in L. Frank Baum’s fourth Oz book, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz). But it’s a perfectly straightforward real-world adventure. Again, I’ve stuck with the original literary source on the Wizard, rather than anything from the MGM (or Disney) versions of the character.

“The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk” – To come. Originally written for My Sherlock Holmes, edited by Michael Kurland. Narrated by Mrs. Mary Watson. The first Holmes story I wrote (other than the scads of them I wrote in grade school for my own edification), a non-fantasy, Doyle-esque, real-world Holmes adventure, narrated by Mrs. Watson. [I’ll get this story on the website as soon as I get it re-keyed from the only hard-copy I have].

I hope everyone enjoys them.

Open Road Media tells me that "Bride of the Rat-God,...

Open Road Media tells me that "Bride of the Rat-God," one of my personal favorites of all my books, is on sale today (Jan 10) on Amazon (and, they say, other formats as well) for $1.99.

http://www.amazon.com/Bride-Rat-God-Barbara-Hambly-ebook/dp/B004TC146E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389359951&sr=8-1&keywords=bride+of+the+rat+god

Otherwise, a day of good work, though I might play hooky for an extra afternoon at Anime LA. My classes at the college start up the 2nd week of February - U.S. History (pre-Civil War) and World History - so I'm getting as much done as I can.

And we're live!According to Sitemistress Deb, the two...

And we're live!
According to Sitemistress Deb, the two newest tales - "Personal Paradise" and "WHisper" - are now available on barbarahambly.com, "The Further Adventures Of..."
"Personal Paradise" - Antryg & Joanna get hired as consultants for a corporation that is selling condominiums in the Void.
"Whisper" - Gil, Ingold, and the gang at the Keep of Dare discover what happens when you have a 3,000 year old transporter and no owner's manual.
Hope people enjoy them!

Well! A nice review from Tor.com for "Kindred of Dar...

Well! A nice review from Tor.com for "Kindred of Darkness."

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/01/book-review-the-kindred-of-darkness-barbara-hambly

And a great relief. For some reason it was an extremely difficult book to write, and by the time I turned it in, I hadn't the faintest idea whether it was any good or not. So I'm glad that yes, all the things I was trying to do actually did get done.

The Adventure of the Reappearing Detective!

A nice start to the New Year! An Illinois judge has finally ruled on the issue of Sherlock Holmes in public domain, and it looks like I'll be able to put the 4 Holmes stories that I've written up on my website in "The Further Adventures Of..."

Since none of them deals with character developments particular to the stories in the last 1923 Holmes collection (i.e. Holmes' retirement and The Second Mrs. Watson)(in fact, three of them deal pretty specifically with The First Mrs. Watson), they seem to be clearly under the public domain area of the Holmes canon.

So, in addition to putting up two tales from my own serieses later this month (Antryg & Joanna: "Personal Paradise," and Gil, Ingold, and the gang at the Keep: "Whisper",) I'll be offering 4 Holmes stories (as soon as I get the files sorted out): "The Dollmaker of Marigold Walk," "The Adventure of the Sinister Chinaman," "The Adventure of the Lost Boy," and the Chthlu-mythos story, "The Adventure of the Antiquarian's Niece." (Which turns into a fairly serious Lovecraft-wallow, for those who enjoy such things).

All 4 Holmes stories appeared in earlier, small anthologies (credits for these are one of the things I need to sort out).

But, I'm tickled pink.

I'll keep everyone posted.

I should have the Antryg/Joanna, and Gil/Ingold stories up within a week or so. Watch This Space!

Went yesterday to see "12 Years a Slave." Excel...

Went yesterday to see "12 Years a Slave." Excellent, excellent film, though as my friend Robin observed, it does make "Schindler's List" look like "Mary Poppins." I suspect the brutality in the film bothered me less than it did some people because I've been reading about antebellum slavery for many years (including Northrup's account, which I read years ago when putting together the outlines for "Sold Down the River" and "Good Man Friday.") (It's largely because of Northrup's book that in "Good Man Friday," EVERYBODY is looking over their shoulders CONSTANTLY because yes, Washington DC was one of the main hubs for kidnapping rings that sold freemen south as slaves).

ZERO historical inaccuracies. There were a couple of interesting omissions - slaves frequently had ways of getting back at the white folks, very subtle forms of covert rebellion like damaging equipment, crippling livestock, and occasionally poisoning the master (though this was dangerous because a) you didn't know who his heirs would sell you to and b) you'd be burned alive in some states if you were caught). (In some states, in fact, if the master was proven to be poisoned, ALL the slaves on the plantation could be executed, but that law was repealled because basically then the dead man's heirs would lose all their salable property). At the very least the maid or houseboy who brought your breakfast to the table had probably spit in the oatmeal. No wonder the whites were twitchy.

Amazing acting. Gorgeous cinematography. It's about damn time Hollywood made a film accurately depicting slavery, and making that depiction the center of the film.

But like "Grave of the Fireflies," it's a beautiful, stunning film that I never want to see again.

Yay! Finally, after cramped weeks of rushing to keep up w...

Yay! Finally, after cramped weeks of rushing to keep up with myself, a quiet day to write, paint pictures, and hang out in grubby sweats (what my friend Robin refers to as a "questionable hygine day").

The "condensed" classes I've been given to teach this semester are hugely useful to my finances, yet it's like being in a batting-practice cage with the pitching machine turned up too high. And to further complicate matters, I've been given the opportunity to begin taking art classes - something I put aside 25 years ago because I had neither the time nor the energy to continue them. I STILL don't have either time or energy, but I'm doing it anyway. And, interestingly, though that form of creativity comes out of the same well as writing (something I could feel, mentally, long before research established that yes, both art and creative writing engage the same centers of the brain), I find my writing has a different, stronger quality now that I'm painting again. (I'll see if I can post the first head-study when it's finished, though I'm not sure what's involved it putting up photos on LJ).

A Facebook question:I understand that without "unfri...

A Facebook question:

I understand that without "unfriending" a person on FB, I can "ignore" their posts - and also "ignore except for life events" posts.

How do I do this? Where do I go and what button do I press?

Open Road informs me that Those Who Hunt the Night is the...

Open Road informs me that Those Who Hunt the Night is the Kindle Daily Deal today (Oct 6, Sunday), for $1.99. Check it out!

http://www.amazon.com/Those-Night-James-Novels-ebook/dp/B004TC149Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1381075303&sr=1-1&keywords=those+who+hunt+the+night