Steve Berman's Blog, page 3
August 22, 2012
My failure in incomplete
I may have failed as a writer. I may be a nothing editor. I may be the owner of a teensy press that rarely/almost-never gets reviews in the spec fic world.
But I did tell a new novelist that her book would land her a girlfriend. And I was right. So, for someone, I was a cupid. And some days I have to take joy in that.
But I did tell a new novelist that her book would land her a girlfriend. And I was right. So, for someone, I was a cupid. And some days I have to take joy in that.
August 19, 2012
LA your home?
So if you are a huge fantasy reader or author living in or around Los Angeles, I would be more than happy to send you a print edition ARC of Lethe's forthcoming October novel, FAUN by Trebor Healey:
One morning Gilberto Rubio wakes up with a five o'clock shadow. Puberty. But why are his legs getting so furry? And what are these little horn nubs pushing out of his scalp? What's that nub of a tail that's making it so hard to sit on anything but couches? His peers begin to treat him like a freak, while his anxious mother Lupita crosses herself and worries about his eternal soul and what might be happening to it. When his mere presence begins to stir the hormones of anyone nearby and the pregnancy rate suddenly skyrockets at Buenaventura High, Gilberto panics, and hopping aboard his skateboard vanishes into Hollywood before hitchhiking out of Los Angeles to find a mysterious stranger he met online who just might have some answers. Trebor Healey has written a new fairy tale for Los Angeles.
Paperback, 286 pages
ISBN 1590213858
$18
"Both strikingly beautiful and coarsely humorous, this engaging novel by urban fantasist Healey (Sweet Son of Pan), anchored in the sensibilities of the West Coast Mexican-American community, gives the modern bildrungsroman a magical twist." --Publishers Weekly
and feel free to spread the word. I have 25 ARCs to spare. and if someone happens to be Latino, that would definitely interest us as a reviewer.
One morning Gilberto Rubio wakes up with a five o'clock shadow. Puberty. But why are his legs getting so furry? And what are these little horn nubs pushing out of his scalp? What's that nub of a tail that's making it so hard to sit on anything but couches? His peers begin to treat him like a freak, while his anxious mother Lupita crosses herself and worries about his eternal soul and what might be happening to it. When his mere presence begins to stir the hormones of anyone nearby and the pregnancy rate suddenly skyrockets at Buenaventura High, Gilberto panics, and hopping aboard his skateboard vanishes into Hollywood before hitchhiking out of Los Angeles to find a mysterious stranger he met online who just might have some answers. Trebor Healey has written a new fairy tale for Los Angeles.
Paperback, 286 pages
ISBN 1590213858
$18
"Both strikingly beautiful and coarsely humorous, this engaging novel by urban fantasist Healey (Sweet Son of Pan), anchored in the sensibilities of the West Coast Mexican-American community, gives the modern bildrungsroman a magical twist." --Publishers Weekly
and feel free to spread the word. I have 25 ARCs to spare. and if someone happens to be Latino, that would definitely interest us as a reviewer.
August 14, 2012
Probably is toooooo long.
Conroy III, Henry AKA Luke Tonto (Tarantula) – b. 1938, d 1981
When he was fifteen, Henry Conroy III discovered his father, a former vaudevillian (see the entry for Henry "Hank" Conroy Jr. in see his entry in Vol. 1: Films of Heart and Humor) turned Arizona rancher in mid-tryst with a former flame from back East. The younger Conroy, who had felt troubled by his own sexual attraction to a number of the J Bar C ranch hands, ran away, hopping an old freight train that crossed parts of the state, and then setting out on foot.
Exhausted, he finally ended up at the small and quiet town of Desert Rock, where he found work at the horse ranch of Alan Alanson. Conroy refused to give his real name to his employer but did drop hints that troubles with his father were the reason he left home. Alanson, a devout religious man, nicknamed Conroy "Luke" after the Biblical story of the prodigal son. The moniker took and, when Conroy accidentally mentioned that he hailed from Tonto City, everyone at Desert Rock began referring to him as Luke Tonto. Conroy grappled with his desires, worried that he had inherited a sinful nature, but still masturbated to thoughts of Burt Lancaster from the film Apache.
The halcyon life at the ranch and town was interrupted when a test animal, an imported tarantula injected with a growth serum, escaped from a desert lab disaster. The mutated Brachypelma vagans attacked local wildlife, molted and grew at an astounding rate, until it menaced larger fauna like cattle and even humans. Conroy found the remains of the Alanson herd after the tarantula's first attack on the ranch. Alanson himself was devoured the next evening when he attempted to save his horses.
The United States Air Force dispatched the behemoth tarantula using napalm. Government scientists investigated both the ruins of the desert laboratory and where the creature had struck. As Alanson’s widow could not bring herself to remain at the ranch, Conroy found himself both without bed or board and volunteered to escort Jonah Albano, one of the forensic entomologists assigned to Desert Rock. Albano admired more than just the young ranch hand’s assistance and offered to share his small room at the town's only hotel as long as discretion was part of the deal. When Prof. Albano finished his investigation, he paid for a ticket back to Washington, DC. for Conroy.
Albano helped Conroy legally change his name to Luke Tonto and enroll at Virginia Polytechnic Institute to study agriculture. Despite more than two decades separated their ages, the pair developed a strong and lasting relationship. But in 1977 the federal government sent Albano back to Arizona to investigate more trouble with tarantulas, this time in the town of Verde Valley. Albano did not return, though and the Department of the Interior refused to reveal what happened. Hoping to find his lover, Tonto overcame his distaste for the Copper State and flew to Flagstaff. He discovered that Verde Valley, covered by a shroud of cobwebs visible from a distance, was quarantined by the government for an infestation of highly virulent tarantulas. Albano had been a casualty of the investigation, as the government did not want to simply destroy the spiders, which might have a military use.
Furious at this blatant disrespect for the loss of his lover, who had been a devoted civil servant (who had even voted for McGovern), Tonto purchased a large quantity of fertilizer and fashioned several explosive devices that, with the prevailing winds, burnt Verde to the ground. Realizing this act of retaliation would lead to reprisal, Tonto left Arizona one last time and settled in Guaymas Valley, where he helped the locals farming but remained single despite the attention of many maricón. He passed away from lung cancer.
When he was fifteen, Henry Conroy III discovered his father, a former vaudevillian (see the entry for Henry "Hank" Conroy Jr. in see his entry in Vol. 1: Films of Heart and Humor) turned Arizona rancher in mid-tryst with a former flame from back East. The younger Conroy, who had felt troubled by his own sexual attraction to a number of the J Bar C ranch hands, ran away, hopping an old freight train that crossed parts of the state, and then setting out on foot.
Exhausted, he finally ended up at the small and quiet town of Desert Rock, where he found work at the horse ranch of Alan Alanson. Conroy refused to give his real name to his employer but did drop hints that troubles with his father were the reason he left home. Alanson, a devout religious man, nicknamed Conroy "Luke" after the Biblical story of the prodigal son. The moniker took and, when Conroy accidentally mentioned that he hailed from Tonto City, everyone at Desert Rock began referring to him as Luke Tonto. Conroy grappled with his desires, worried that he had inherited a sinful nature, but still masturbated to thoughts of Burt Lancaster from the film Apache.
The halcyon life at the ranch and town was interrupted when a test animal, an imported tarantula injected with a growth serum, escaped from a desert lab disaster. The mutated Brachypelma vagans attacked local wildlife, molted and grew at an astounding rate, until it menaced larger fauna like cattle and even humans. Conroy found the remains of the Alanson herd after the tarantula's first attack on the ranch. Alanson himself was devoured the next evening when he attempted to save his horses.
The United States Air Force dispatched the behemoth tarantula using napalm. Government scientists investigated both the ruins of the desert laboratory and where the creature had struck. As Alanson’s widow could not bring herself to remain at the ranch, Conroy found himself both without bed or board and volunteered to escort Jonah Albano, one of the forensic entomologists assigned to Desert Rock. Albano admired more than just the young ranch hand’s assistance and offered to share his small room at the town's only hotel as long as discretion was part of the deal. When Prof. Albano finished his investigation, he paid for a ticket back to Washington, DC. for Conroy.
Albano helped Conroy legally change his name to Luke Tonto and enroll at Virginia Polytechnic Institute to study agriculture. Despite more than two decades separated their ages, the pair developed a strong and lasting relationship. But in 1977 the federal government sent Albano back to Arizona to investigate more trouble with tarantulas, this time in the town of Verde Valley. Albano did not return, though and the Department of the Interior refused to reveal what happened. Hoping to find his lover, Tonto overcame his distaste for the Copper State and flew to Flagstaff. He discovered that Verde Valley, covered by a shroud of cobwebs visible from a distance, was quarantined by the government for an infestation of highly virulent tarantulas. Albano had been a casualty of the investigation, as the government did not want to simply destroy the spiders, which might have a military use.
Furious at this blatant disrespect for the loss of his lover, who had been a devoted civil servant (who had even voted for McGovern), Tonto purchased a large quantity of fertilizer and fashioned several explosive devices that, with the prevailing winds, burnt Verde to the ground. Realizing this act of retaliation would lead to reprisal, Tonto left Arizona one last time and settled in Guaymas Valley, where he helped the locals farming but remained single despite the attention of many maricón. He passed away from lung cancer.
August 13, 2012
From The Guide to Lost Gay Cinematic Characters...
Watched two haunted house flicks on Saturday night. The Woman in Black was most enjoyable until the truly awful ending which sullied the entire film for me and left me irate (though, at the two-thirds part I did wonder why anyone would bother to live and raise children in the small town so close to the accursed manorhouse).
Fortunately, the host for the night put into the DVD player 1979's The Changeling. Much better (with special effects that would be called paltry compared to the evening's first film). I didn't quite buy George C. Scott as a famous composer, but I adored the seance scene and the ghost made sense... for a while. Then, as with so many ghost flicks, the writer and/or director gave the spirit license to have whatever powers it needed (upturning a police car miles from the house it haunts was a dealbreaker). But the ending at least made sense.
Anyway, I did an entry for The Guide based on the night's viewing:
Ditty, Sanderson Clarke (The Changeling) – b. 1945, d. 1989
Sanderson Ditty wanted to be a journalist ever since he worked his high school newspaper in Aberdeen. He yearned to attend Columbia University but the meager family finances (he was the fourth of five children) meant he settled for Grays Harbor College. Once he graduated with an associate’s degree, he moved to Seattle and found work in the microfilm department of The Seattle-Times. He also became a regular patron of the gay bars located in Pioneer Square.
In 1987, Ditty health began to deteriorate and he was let go from the newspaper. He was diagnosed with HIV later that fall. A former lover’s aunt, who had retired from the Seattle Historical Society several years earlier, offered a destitute Ditty some work co-authoring a book on local purported hauntings. Ditty died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home two months before Spirits of Queen City: Haunted Manors of Seattle saw print from Kokytos Press.
The actor who portrayed Ditty had a fabulous 70s era mustache.
Fortunately, the host for the night put into the DVD player 1979's The Changeling. Much better (with special effects that would be called paltry compared to the evening's first film). I didn't quite buy George C. Scott as a famous composer, but I adored the seance scene and the ghost made sense... for a while. Then, as with so many ghost flicks, the writer and/or director gave the spirit license to have whatever powers it needed (upturning a police car miles from the house it haunts was a dealbreaker). But the ending at least made sense.
Anyway, I did an entry for The Guide based on the night's viewing:
Ditty, Sanderson Clarke (The Changeling) – b. 1945, d. 1989
Sanderson Ditty wanted to be a journalist ever since he worked his high school newspaper in Aberdeen. He yearned to attend Columbia University but the meager family finances (he was the fourth of five children) meant he settled for Grays Harbor College. Once he graduated with an associate’s degree, he moved to Seattle and found work in the microfilm department of The Seattle-Times. He also became a regular patron of the gay bars located in Pioneer Square.
In 1987, Ditty health began to deteriorate and he was let go from the newspaper. He was diagnosed with HIV later that fall. A former lover’s aunt, who had retired from the Seattle Historical Society several years earlier, offered a destitute Ditty some work co-authoring a book on local purported hauntings. Ditty died of AIDS-related tuberculosis at his home two months before Spirits of Queen City: Haunted Manors of Seattle saw print from Kokytos Press.
The actor who portrayed Ditty had a fabulous 70s era mustache.
August 5, 2012
Med and read and bed
Daulton and I have both had our nightly medicine--a handful of various pills for me with a glass of whole milk and, for him, a saucer of the same. Keeps him youthful at twenty-one years old. So does rotisserie chicken three times a day.
Desktop PC is faster--thank you advice from friends. Now to buy a chair.
I have to read some more books on Islam for research.
We (as in myself and a bunch of talented freelancers) have been working on forthcoming and far-forthcoming books for Lethe. I'm excited by Will Ludiwgsen's next collection and will risk the money for a Kirkus Indie review on it. He deserves more attention. And our second Brazenhead title, GREEN THUMB by Tom Cardamone, has been earning rave reviews.
And Toby has already started working on the next issue of Icarus a bit early. We still need reviewers and we still pay for reviewers.
Now, as Ambien enters my milk-coated bloodstream, sleep beckons.
Desktop PC is faster--thank you advice from friends. Now to buy a chair.
I have to read some more books on Islam for research.
We (as in myself and a bunch of talented freelancers) have been working on forthcoming and far-forthcoming books for Lethe. I'm excited by Will Ludiwgsen's next collection and will risk the money for a Kirkus Indie review on it. He deserves more attention. And our second Brazenhead title, GREEN THUMB by Tom Cardamone, has been earning rave reviews.
And Toby has already started working on the next issue of Icarus a bit early. We still need reviewers and we still pay for reviewers.
Now, as Ambien enters my milk-coated bloodstream, sleep beckons.
August 2, 2012
Weary and hot and stinky
So even though there are many assurances that crappy netbook is salvageable I still went out and bought a desktop. I have not owned one in 5-6 years and damn trackpads have frayed my last nerve. Even as I type this in bed (an admitted benefit of laptops and netbooks, the cursor is leaping about like a cricket on a skillet). I forgot I owned a desk in the meantime! Alas, I do not own a chair for said desk. That will have to be remedied soon as publisher sends me promised check for anthology work.
It's another heat wave and I am tired of the oppressive heat index and having to peel off clothes every day. I feel drenched in sweat (though my dayjob is sometimes so cold I have to wear a jacket.
And I'm just tired in general. Lethe did a lot of books this year, which was supposed to be the year I cut back and slowed down. So it's marketing and promoting and overseeing print editions and e-books and royalties and authors and stories and all that. Yes, I have help on some things, but it is frustrating when you see good books that you spent so much time on (and designers spent time on and the authors spent years on) just disappear because Lethe is too small or too gay to get much attention despite good intentions.
I've been running the press for 11 yrs. At Readercon I was wondering, do I have another 11 in me?
It's another heat wave and I am tired of the oppressive heat index and having to peel off clothes every day. I feel drenched in sweat (though my dayjob is sometimes so cold I have to wear a jacket.
And I'm just tired in general. Lethe did a lot of books this year, which was supposed to be the year I cut back and slowed down. So it's marketing and promoting and overseeing print editions and e-books and royalties and authors and stories and all that. Yes, I have help on some things, but it is frustrating when you see good books that you spent so much time on (and designers spent time on and the authors spent years on) just disappear because Lethe is too small or too gay to get much attention despite good intentions.
I've been running the press for 11 yrs. At Readercon I was wondering, do I have another 11 in me?
August 1, 2012
darn it
My apologies to anyone receiving SPAM from me; malware has ruined the netbook. Daulton promised he could cure it but his plan involved walking back and forth over the keyboard while rubbing his cheeks against the screen.
Alas, I shall have to buy a new computer. Sigh.
Alas, I shall have to buy a new computer. Sigh.
July 22, 2012
Not sure what is Gay enuff this summer?
http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/405024
Yes, it's too hot and I'm lazy to html the above link, which will lead you to Lethe Press's newest LGBT spec fic releases. And it's free to peruse and download!
Yes, it's too hot and I'm lazy to html the above link, which will lead you to Lethe Press's newest LGBT spec fic releases. And it's free to peruse and download!
July 19, 2012
Call for Submissions: Queering Poe
So I am now reading for Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe.
Details:
One of the foremost writers of dark and atmospheric fiction and poetry, the canon of Edgar Allan Poe offers readers haunted shores teeming with various erudite men brooding in the waning light over their feelings for unobtainable women. Yet, whether the tales or verses are grotesque or sinister, Poe's narrators are Outsiders, dealing with emotions that so many queer individuals feel: isolation and abandonment as well as loneliness and lost love. Editor Steve Berman wants to breach the chasm and offer an anthology that replaces the heteronormative aspects of Poe's work and life with a different range of identities.
Regardless whether you make Roderick seduce the unnamed narrator visiting Usher, or have a woman fall under Ligeia's sway, the story should be dark as well as fantastical. Stories that involve Poe the author are also acceptable.
Think both Gothic and gay. Obviously, dependent on the time period, the term homosexual might not be apt. Sexual identity is partly labeling, partly sexual experience, and partly attraction. But do not think of this as a romance or erotica anthology; first and foremost, these are stories that should be at home in Weird Tales as much as Strange Horizons.
Fiction or prose, the rate of pay is 5 cents a word for original material. Reprints must query and the pay will be significantly less. Any length for poetry but fiction should be at least 1,500 words and no more than 12,000. Payment is upon release in the spring of 2013 from Lethe Press, a publisher around for over a decade--and who has released the last two winners of the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction.
Deadline: October 31st.
Please send all submissions to sberman8 at yahoo dot com as RTF files.
Details:
One of the foremost writers of dark and atmospheric fiction and poetry, the canon of Edgar Allan Poe offers readers haunted shores teeming with various erudite men brooding in the waning light over their feelings for unobtainable women. Yet, whether the tales or verses are grotesque or sinister, Poe's narrators are Outsiders, dealing with emotions that so many queer individuals feel: isolation and abandonment as well as loneliness and lost love. Editor Steve Berman wants to breach the chasm and offer an anthology that replaces the heteronormative aspects of Poe's work and life with a different range of identities.
Regardless whether you make Roderick seduce the unnamed narrator visiting Usher, or have a woman fall under Ligeia's sway, the story should be dark as well as fantastical. Stories that involve Poe the author are also acceptable.
Think both Gothic and gay. Obviously, dependent on the time period, the term homosexual might not be apt. Sexual identity is partly labeling, partly sexual experience, and partly attraction. But do not think of this as a romance or erotica anthology; first and foremost, these are stories that should be at home in Weird Tales as much as Strange Horizons.
Fiction or prose, the rate of pay is 5 cents a word for original material. Reprints must query and the pay will be significantly less. Any length for poetry but fiction should be at least 1,500 words and no more than 12,000. Payment is upon release in the spring of 2013 from Lethe Press, a publisher around for over a decade--and who has released the last two winners of the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Fantasy/Horror/Science Fiction.
Deadline: October 31st.
Please send all submissions to sberman8 at yahoo dot com as RTF files.
July 16, 2012
Readercon
So lots of people who attended Readercon (readercon.org) are doing their various "write-ups." Here is mine.
I have gone to several Readercons in the past as an attendee/program participant (I think it is my favorite conference) but this was the first year I went as a vendor. Yes, Lethe Press had a table. Sadly, I was tethered to the table and could only attend the two panels I was on. And many of the people I wanted to spend time with did not venture my way in the dealer's room.
Actually, before this past weekend, Readercon = socializing more than anything else. And thankfully I did get the chance to dine and chew the fat with several of my favorite folk in the field, but I also felt abandoned by a good many. The more people you know, the harder it is to see and have "quality" time with everyone, but a few seemed to do only the wave and were never seen again unless I made the effort. Also, most are so wrapped up in their con experience they don't bother to find out what is really new with you (I cannot believe they rely only on social networking and then, when in person, decided conversation is one-sided). I took note who did not even know my father had passed away. But if you have a car, well, then they want your time so they can escape the hotel. Or get transportation home.
I lost some friendships this year. I just am realizing that what I think of as a friend is not a mutual relationship. Plus, many people just like to take.
From a sales perspective, this was a lucrative con for Lethe and far better than the Rainbow Book Fair or any Gaylaxicon. The reason: inexpensive expenses; a crowd of folk who actually spend money on books rather than toys or autographs; and progressive tastes in fiction (well, I could have bet that any man older than 50 who approached the table was NEVER going to read our books and regrets the Days of Gor are long gone, but there were young people - and not all white young people! - who actually read more than fan-fic!).
Weirdly, the lesbian spec-fic was all but ignored (ironic since one of the GoH identifies as a lesbian). I found that a quirk I tried to reason through.
I need to thank Sven Davisson and Peter Dube for helping me out at the table and with set-up (Sven sold some titles from his press as well). Alas, no other Lethe author in attendance even asked if Sven or I needed a break or a cup of water. Thanks for that! Not. And Daulton tells me to foster grudges.
I did some acquiring: a novel from Richard Bowes.
We'll see what happens next year.
I have gone to several Readercons in the past as an attendee/program participant (I think it is my favorite conference) but this was the first year I went as a vendor. Yes, Lethe Press had a table. Sadly, I was tethered to the table and could only attend the two panels I was on. And many of the people I wanted to spend time with did not venture my way in the dealer's room.
Actually, before this past weekend, Readercon = socializing more than anything else. And thankfully I did get the chance to dine and chew the fat with several of my favorite folk in the field, but I also felt abandoned by a good many. The more people you know, the harder it is to see and have "quality" time with everyone, but a few seemed to do only the wave and were never seen again unless I made the effort. Also, most are so wrapped up in their con experience they don't bother to find out what is really new with you (I cannot believe they rely only on social networking and then, when in person, decided conversation is one-sided). I took note who did not even know my father had passed away. But if you have a car, well, then they want your time so they can escape the hotel. Or get transportation home.
I lost some friendships this year. I just am realizing that what I think of as a friend is not a mutual relationship. Plus, many people just like to take.
From a sales perspective, this was a lucrative con for Lethe and far better than the Rainbow Book Fair or any Gaylaxicon. The reason: inexpensive expenses; a crowd of folk who actually spend money on books rather than toys or autographs; and progressive tastes in fiction (well, I could have bet that any man older than 50 who approached the table was NEVER going to read our books and regrets the Days of Gor are long gone, but there were young people - and not all white young people! - who actually read more than fan-fic!).
Weirdly, the lesbian spec-fic was all but ignored (ironic since one of the GoH identifies as a lesbian). I found that a quirk I tried to reason through.
I need to thank Sven Davisson and Peter Dube for helping me out at the table and with set-up (Sven sold some titles from his press as well). Alas, no other Lethe author in attendance even asked if Sven or I needed a break or a cup of water. Thanks for that! Not. And Daulton tells me to foster grudges.
I did some acquiring: a novel from Richard Bowes.
We'll see what happens next year.
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