Ry Herman's Blog, page 18
July 17, 2020
Right Where People Can See It And Everything
It’s my book! Love Bites is in a bookstore! Topping & Company of Edinburgh. It’s just … there! Right below ALI SMITH.
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July 8, 2020
It Happened!
I am now officially a published novelist.
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July 6, 2020
Always Happy to Talk About Books
For Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, I give a reading from Love Bites and talk about some of the books I adore …
July 4, 2020
Sham Pain
Irrational numbers for my real friends, and real numbers for my irrational friends.
(And yeah, “imaginary friends” would have made more sense, but I already gave all the imaginary numbers to my complex friends.)
July 2, 2020
One Week
In exactly one week my debut novel will come out and all my childhood dreams will come true and somehow this seems like an eyeblink and a million years at the exact same time AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
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Favorite Books – June
June had a definite standout:
THE RAPTURE, by Claire McGlassen
Dilys is a devoted member of a terribly English cult: The Panacea Society. When she strikes up a friendship with Grace, a new recruit, God finally seems to be smiling upon her. But Dilys is wary of their leader’s zealotry and suspicious of those who would seem to influence her for their own ends.
This was a stunning depiction of what it means to be in a cult — the madness passing itself off as normalcy, the ambition disguised as piety, the norms of a particular time and place held up as universal truths. I’m going to be thinking about this book for a while, I suspect.
Other books I particularly enjoyed in June included KING OF SCARS by Leigh Bardugo, THESE WITCHES DON’T BURN by Isabel Sterling, THE PREY OF GODS by Nicky Drayden, MADE THINGS by Adrian Tchaikovksy, THE PEARL THIEF by Elizabeth Wein, and RED UNICORN by Tanith Lee.
June 14, 2020
MY AUTHOR COPIES HAVE ARRIVED!!!
That’s me on the bookshelf, between Frank Herbert and John Hersey.
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Favorite Books — May
Better extremely late than never, I suppose. Last month I particularly enjoyed:
NETWORK EFFECT by Martha Wells
When Murderbot’s human associates are captured and someone else from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action. Drastic action it is, then.
If you like the Murderbot stories, you will like this book. I like the Murderbot stories. I like this book. I have little else to say, except that I was a fan of Martha Wells before she was super-popular, and therefore I am cool.
GOLD UNICORN by Tanith Lee
Journeying through many distant lands, young Tanaquil hears frightful tales of the Empress Veriam, who wishes to conquer from one sea to the next. Tanaquil is shocked to learn that the dreadful tyrant is really her half-sister, Lizra.
Having read twenty-ish of her books, I have only scratched the surface of Tanith Lee’s astonishing output, and I can still list several of them — such as The Silver Metal Lover, Don’t Bite The Sun, and Black Unicorn — as being among my favorites of all time. I know that she’s well-known, but it baffles me that she isn’t listed more frequently among the all-time greats. Anyway, this was a delight. The peeve was a delight. Tanaquil’s grumpy realization of her own emotions was a delight. The subtle inversion of common fantasy tropes during the trip to the other world was a delight. I want more, and there’s a third book, so I can have it.
Other books I quite liked this month included VASSA IN THE NIGHT by Sarah Porter, WHISKEY WHEN WE’RE DRY by John Larison, PRETTY MARYS ALL IN A ROW by Gwendolyn Kiste, AT AMBERLEAF FAIR by Phyllis Ann Karr, CITY OF STONE AND SILENCE by Django Wexler, GOLDILOCKS by Laura Lam, THE LIGHTS GO OUT IN LYCHFORD by Paul Cornell, CREEPING JENNY by Jeff Noon, IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD by Ashley Blake Herring, THE MERMAID, THE WITCH, AND THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, and RECOLLECTIONS OF MY NONEXISTENCE by Rebecca Solnit.
Before Anything Else
I haven’t been posting much for the past few weeks, because it’s one of those times when everything not important seems trivial.
So before anything else, I want to say:
Black lives matter. End police brutality. Equality and justice now.
May 25, 2020
Yes, this made much more sense 3 years ago …
… when this was still a Thing. I’m posting it now anyway.
DO NOT LIKE GENTLE INTO THAT GUD BREAD
do not lik gentle into that gud bred
old Cows shuld burn and rave at site of crust
rage, rage against the locking of the shed
tho wise Cows from the pasture softlie tred
they then devour a loaf with unhid lust
do not lik gentle into that gud bred
gud Cows inside the byre are well fed
but at your bakinge stille their tongues they thrust
rage, rage against the locking of the shed
wild Cows, uncaught, who from theire slavers fled
who steale baguettes and feele their deede is just
do not lik gentle into that gud bred
grave Cows, half blind, so olde they are near ded
beside a bagel will betraye your trust
rage, rage against the locking of the shed
and you, my Cow, with crumbs stucke to your hed
i know you only do that wich you must
do not lik gentle into that gud bred
rage, rage against the locking of the shed
