Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog, page 46
March 11, 2014
Free Gidney Fiction, and my life as a Hybrid author.
I have dipped my toes in the waters of self publishing and started my life as a hybrid author. The idea is to drum up interest in the forthcoming traditionally published collection (Skin Deep Magic, Summer 2014) as well as my slim “backlist.” It’s kind of addictive, seeing sales charts and having control over promotions […]
March 9, 2014
Out of Print Tanith Lee novels: shades of Steampunk and The Wicker Man
Reigning Cats and Dogs by Tanith Lee My rating: 3 of 5 stars Reigning Cats and Dogs isn’t her best book by a long shot. But it is interesting, none the less. It’s an early entry into the Steampunk genre, crossed with the as-yet-unnamed Mythpunk movement set in an alternate Victorian England. It’s a fever […]
March 6, 2014
Review of ‘Fur & Gold’
My dark fairytale retelling, Fur & Gold, gets a lovely review: Gidney presents a prequel of Beauty and the Beast, mining from the queer notes of Jean Cocteau’s work as a whole, and the fantastical breaking of boundaries. The Beast here is a more sinuous creature, both savage and beautiful, warring between animal instinct and […]
March 5, 2014
Microaggresion, explained in the style of Sophia Petrillo.
Picture it: Bethesda Maryland, 1984. A (handsome) black youth of 15 is sitting in the homeroom in tenth grade in a religious, conservative-leaning mostly white school. Homeroom has a radio, which is played before the class begins. The radio is on, playing the shock-jock known as The Greaseman. The Greaseman is doing one of his […]
March 3, 2014
My short story “Fur & Gold” is now available. A fairy tale inspired by Bat for Lashes, Jean Cocteau and Jean Genet
It began with music. Most of my fiction does. I am an unabashed, full fledged music geek. You can tell that from the music reviews I sprinkle throughout this site. Anyway, the title “Fur & Gold” is the title of a song by Bat for Lashes, the musical project of Natasha Khan. The song is […]
March 1, 2014
Announcing the ‘Variations’ series of dark fairytales by Craig Laurance Gidney
First, some unpleasantness. In many ways 2013 and the first part of 2014 has not been a good year for me. In September, I was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2, which I suspect I had earlier. But, since I was uninsured, I hadn’t seen a doctor in over 2 years. Through a change in my […]
February 27, 2014
COVER REVEAL: ‘Fur & Gold’, the first of my ‘Variations’ series
I’m publishing a series of stories, called Variations, on the KDP Direct Program. It’s a series that plays with fairytale motifs, with flourishes of horror. The first piece, to be published soon, is called Fur & Gold. It was inspired by Tanith Lee, Angela Carter, the music of Bat for Lashes, the art of Jean […]
February 24, 2014
MUSIC: Marissa Nadler & Suzanne Vega. Sirens of Folk-Rock.
Suzanne Vega: Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles The new Suzanne Vega album is built around a tarot theme. The Knight of Wands, the Fool, and, of course the titular Queen of Pentacles appear in this collection. There are also off-cycle songs, including a retelling of a Biblical story (“Jacob and the […]
February 23, 2014
BOOK REVIEW: Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson. Wonder, awe and revolution.
Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson My rating: 4 of 5 stars “Wonder and awe have gone out of your religions. You are prepared to accept the irrational, but not the transcendent.” Alif the Unseen is not just one kind of novel. It starts out as cyber-thriller Neal Stephenson kind of novel and turns […]
February 21, 2014
New Picture of Moi
Ellen Datlow took this picture on Wednesday at the KGB Bar. I kind of like it!Filed under: Book Reviews Tagged: ellen datlow, kgb bar, Photos
