Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 145

Finch News: Limited, Etc.

Forgive me for tooting my own horn, but…Just a couple of updates on Finch, which is in pre-production. First off, Underland has done a lovely job of making the layout noirish without overdoing it. The type is readable but unique, and it just looks really good. Secondly, there will definitely be a Finch limited, including a soundtrack by Murder by Death. I don’t know what the limited’s print run will be, but if it’s 300 or under I will personalize each signing sheet by writing in a couple of sent

Books Acquired on Vacation Jaunt: Perec, Arreola, Nabokov, Hipflask, and More

(”Wait. Whut? That ain’t a book!” No, it’s not. And that’s not dust on the mantel, either. So, is it a gun? A music box? A perpetual motion machine? Check out the whole photo gallery to figure it out–just another impulse buy between book purchases this past weekend.)

I’m resigned to a ridiculous fact: despite the insane number of books that enter our house every single day for review or blurbage or whatever, additional book buying will always occur. In part, it’s because I need to create a bulwa

Books Received–Late May 2009, Thirty Years Before The Collapse

(Paul Riddell has abandoned genre/pop culture commentary for a kinder, gentler world, but that doesn’t mean his rants, diatribes, analyses, and assorted other forms of nonfiction kung-fu have vanished off the face of the earth. Two volumes–Greasing the Pan and The Savage Pen of Onan–have just appeared from Fantastic Books. They provide a compelling, telling snapshot of a genre and genre culture from an outsider’s point-of-view–and an outsider with nothing to lose. No stories to place in antholog

Wolf’s Head Books…and the Allure of Old-School Lurid?

Wolf’s Head Books doesn’t specialize in old-school mass market paperbacks and lurid hardcovers (like the ones above)–they have a respectable collection of great first edition hardcover lit/fiction, for example. But…their weirder stuff sure is compelling, as documented below. You can find Wolf’s Head in St. Augustine, Florida. They have an extremely knowledgeable staff, and often do appraisals for various collectors and book lovers in the state.

…and don’t be mistaken–many of these mass markets ar

Punch-Out. Play. Figures. Star Wars. Finns. Cats. Rope. Someone Green.

Latest Star Wars punch-out-and-play post at Omnivoracious, featuring Cherie Priest’s cat and Tero Ykspetäjä’s beyond-the-call-of-duty spa, convention, and sailing ship!!! (There’s even a green guy, and there’s Steph Swainston being a good sport.) Burnings and explosions to follow from Jukka “Prince Among Thieves” Halme and Tessa “I Keel U With Mah Mind Bullets” Kum.

The Chamblin Bookmine: A Bibliophile’s Fevre Dream…

What do I do to relax after a refreshing car crash? I make a little video with meta-narration about my favorite used bookstore in the world: Chamblin Bookmine. At the very least, it should show you just how ridiculous the place is, in the best sense of the word.

Ann and I have traveled the world and visited many a great bookstore, but none, not even the Strand, can compare to Chamblin’s, in Jacksonville, Florida. “Bookmine” is an apt title because it’s the only bookstore I’ve ever gotten lost in–

Day Five: The Reckoning

It started out peacefully enough…

…and we’d managed to miss the international potato art festival.

The trouble started when we decided to check out an interesting-looking bookstore…

…only to discover it was a little too specific for our tastes.

Not to mention the store right next to it–a one-two punch of misery for us as book-lovers.

The nearby Book Warehouse was a little better, although it brought up flashbacks to my days working in one, with a manager who once had us rearrange the entire fiction s

Gone Daddy Gone: Vent Yer Vents, Prompt Yer Promotes

(A photo from back in the day, when I was promoting Ann’s boxing career. We never did get that elusive title shot against Ali’s daughter. But Ann was a solid 25-1-1, with 23 knock-outs, before the inevitable slide when I hired Mayweather Sr. as her trainer. Ended up 34-12 and broke outside of St. Louis, fending off rats. Man, those were good times. But, I gotta say, we both find the writing and editing a lot easier.)

Ann and I are taking some desperately needed R&R over our (seventh!) anniversar

Amy Stewart’s Wicked Plants: Bear vs Castor Bean, Whomping Willows, and Terrifying Mushrooms

I truly love this book, and was fortunate enough to catch Amy Stewart between gigs and interview her for Omnivoracious. Check it out–it’s a good one, and funny.

Jeff the Silly: Imagine this scenario. You’re up against a Kodiak bear. You have the ability to conjure up a six-foot version of any of the plants in your book to help fend it off. Which plant, and why?

Amy Stewart: Hmmm, I’m going to need something fast-acting, so that rules out castor bean, and I guess it also rules out the coyotillo shr

Re-Imagining the Situation

(Two of Eric Orchard’s sketches for The Situation)

Work progresses on the graphic adaptation of “The Situation” for Tor.com. The artist and general mastermind is Eric Orchard, but he needs a detailed outline to work from–something that has enough flexibility for him to bring his own ideas and imagination to the project but structured enough to provide focus.

So, something that isn’t really like your normal comics script, as I understand it–a hybrid of sorts. Beneath the cut you’ll find an excerp