Jeff VanderMeer's Blog, page 148

Found in Translation: Wyte’s Story in Finch

Long before I began to work seriously on Finch, my latest novel, I had fragments of something called, er, Fragments From a Drowned City, which was about a detective who comes to Ambergris seeking a girl apparently abducted and brought to the city. (I worked on it from 1999 to 2001.) It never really came together because I couldn’t at that time imagine the city of Ambergris with the subterranean gray caps in control. I also didn’t really know what happened to the detective. However, in reviewing

Strange Birth: Morbid Anatomy at Barrister’s

(Maud Larsson’s Strange Birth)

I love Barrister’s Gallery in New Orleans. Being there as part of the New Orleans Indie Book Festival a few years back was amazing. The art they promote is so fantastical and dark and oddly beautiful. And the place itself you really have to see–a high-high ceiling means they can display huge canvases all the way up.

Now they’re showcasing a new exhibit. Go check out the images, and if you’re in Nawlins go visit Barrister’s.

(Monique Ligons’ Anatomy of Pantroglodyte)

Atomic Pistol’s Got Yer MonkeyDoo–fer iPhone!

My good friend Charles Goran and his Atomic Pistol crew of interstellar design monkeys have just put out a new game for the iphone. I love Charles’ work, and this is really cool. Give it a try–check it out on itunes.

Jeff: Do you like it?

Evil Monkey: Hell yeah! It’s gots monkeys in it! And doo!

Ziesing Books Has Your Derek Raymond–and Tons More

I just got the latest catalog from Ziesing Books, and they went ahead and stocked some extra copies of the Derek Raymond novels from Serpent’s Tail Press. These are sharp, snazzy editions in trade paperback, and a good opportunity to check out Raymond. Cindy and Mark Ziesing are also two of my favorite people, and their online and printed catalogs are great. They love a wide variety of books, so although you’ll find lots of genre stuff in there, you’ll also find amazing non-genre books you never

All Belgian Beers = 1,500 Pages

This is like trainspotting, isn’t it, except more fun? A few select photos, including an old friend, Mr. Nocturnum. And what the hell is that first critter? (Or the second and third, for that matter.)

Books Received: Matt Bell Collecting, Hall’s Sad Stories, Tomine’s Optic Nerve Shortcomings, and More!

A small but cool haul today, including Matt Bell’s The Collectors, which I’m looking forward to reading along with the winner of the Caketrain contest. You can order these books directly from Caketrain. The Collectors looks a little bit like pseudo-Gothic sprinkled with a little Evenson and Danielewski (I could be wrong). Bell’s one to watch. Er, but not like from his lawn or looking in on him from an apartment window or nuthin. That wouldn’t be cool. (His address is 1234 Uranium Lane, New Flang

Helsinki Escalates Penguin Wars

(Sick of penguin wars? Well, I’m not.)

Trusted spy correspondent Juha Tupasela provides valuable intel on an escalation I was unaware of:

“Your influence continues to be seen here in the far north, now in the form of heavily armed penguins (you will of course recall the plague of mushroom infiltrators I told you about earlier this year). It looks like the penguin wars that you’ve been publicizing over the past months have spilt over into Helsinki in the form of posters advertising a heavy metal

Clowns: They’re Not Just for Breakfast Any More!

Matt Cheney has posted an interesting review of The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott. I know Ann thinks highly of this book. I’m afraid I have a problem with clowns in fiction that’s similar to my problem with Westerns: I tend not to be drawn to them. It’s not so much an antipathy as an indifference. Now, put a clown in a wider context, like a huge circus in which they have a small role–I’m fine. Put them front-and-center…not so much. I fully admit this is a fault in me, but, there it is…

It do

A Special Michael Bishop Story on StarShipSofa

Received from StarShipSofa:

StarShipSofa narrates Vinegar Peace, a SF story wrote by Michael Bishop for his son Jamie Bishop who died two years ago at the Virginia Tech shooting.

Michael Bishop says:

I wrote “Vinegar Peace” — in August of 2007 — because I had to. Our 35-year-old son, Jamie, died on the morning of April 16, 2007, as one of thirty-two victims of a disturbed shooter on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Jamie, an accomplished digital artist who did lovely covers for f

Moving Dragon Head…Again

(Do Erin and Ann look happy about moving the dragon head? Um, no.)

So it was dragon head movin’ time again, since Erin’s moving to Amsterdam with grandson Riley. Some of you may remember the original dragon head posts (part 1 and part 2), in which we bought it in St. Augustine and managed somehow, despite being shoved up in our car’s front seats, to drive it back three hours to our house. The dragon head was rescued from a temporary “Destination China” exhibit somewhere in Orlando–at least that’