Paper Fruit

I’ve received quite a few contributor’s copies between uh… November, when I last updated this blog, and now, so I figured I’d do a big roundup:

Gods, Memes, and Monsters: A 21st Century Bestiary

Featuring more than 60 authors, this stunning volume brings a fresh take on the bestiary, the dictionary of mythological creatures, by imagining how beasts such as gorgons, minotaurs, and mantichores would cope in the modern age. Offering informational entries and short stories, the collection ranges from the horrific to the humorous, reacquaints readers to classic beasts, and introduces the newly discovered, thriving creatures of the cyber age like the meme mosquitoes, trashsquatches, and urbantelopes. From the casino where the griffin has taken up residence, to the gorgon’s new occupation and love interest, to the now happy sphinx who has moved to Manhattan, this bestiary is a unique and contemporary twist on the creatures that have captivated the human imagination since ancient times.

Contains my story “La Fée Verte”

The Burning Maiden 2

In this second volume of The Burning Maiden anthology we continue our mission to present the finest storytellers of supernatural fiction and verse: legendary literary voices like Ramsey Campbell, Laird Barron, David Liss, James Morrow and Richard Chizmar—but also breakout talents like Paul Tremblay, Molly Tanzer, Cullen Bunn and Joanna Parypinski. They offer us literary and unforgettable glimpses into the darkness of human nature.

Contains my story “Do Not Loiter in the Glen”

Cassilda’s Song

Cassilda’s Song is a collection of weird fiction and horror stories based on the King in Yellow Mythos created by Robert W. Chambers—entirely authored by women. There are no pretenders here. The Daughters of the Yellow Sign, each a titan of unmasked fire in their own right, have parted the curtains. From Hali’s deeps and Carcosa’s gloomy balconies and Styx-black towers, come their lamentations and rage and the consequences of intrigues and follies born in Oblivion. Run into their embrace. Their carriages wait to take you from shadowed rooms and cobblestones to The Place Where the Black Stars Hang. 

Contains my story “Grave-Worms.” I’m ultra-proud of this story, and this review:

There have already been some matchless stories in this book, and this story has the sound of a lighter at a crucial moment. The work is perfect, indeed matchless, as an example of a work that could easily have appeared in the original ‘King in Yellow’ book; it is elegant, literary, with the feel of the fin de siecle, as well as Truman Capote and Elizabeth Bowen. Those New York grave-worms, those shoals of the dead as bright young things. An apotheosis of cigarettes, and one particular brand, and the Yellow Sign thus seems here for the first ever time so exactly appropriate to smoking. And there are the business relationships (in parallel with the equally exquisitely done Colonial and Governance relationships of the Bulkin), the gender politics, the cynical sex, the glass ceiling (where starlight and skyscrapers change places), and the knotty debate between abstraction and representation in art. This is wildly good, sedate, too. I imagined when the heroine stood on the balcony with her cigarette that the climax was soon to be the balcony vanishing into avant garde nothingness and she falling to the lighted city below. I was wrong. The real ending was even better. Robert W. Chambers couldn’t have done it better.

Legacy of the Reanimator

The Legacy of the Reanimator collects the original serialized H.P. Lovecraft story, “Herbert West—Reanimator” along with it’s two sequels and a bevy of short stories from some of the most renowned Lovecraftian writers. Details of Herbert West’s life from childhood to death—and beyond can be found within The Legacy of the Reanimator.

Contains my story “Herbert West in Love”

Aleriel

First published in 1883, “Aleriel” is a visionary tale of space travel, evolution, and Utopian idealism. The titular character, a Venusian explorer, wanders through the Solar System in search of compatible life, including lengthy stays on Mars and, of course, Earth. 

W.S. Lach-Szyrma’s long-forgotten book addresses all the contemporary thinking of the period – political, religious and scientific – and brings them to life on an interplanetary stage. 

This edition carefully preserves the original text, including both of the author’s original prefaces and the endnotes. It also includes a lengthy new introduction by Richard Dunn (Head of Science and Technology, Royal Museums Greenwich) and Marek Kukula (Public Astronomer, Royal Observatory Greenwich), discussing Mars in fiction and the role our Solar System has played in inspiring contemporary literature. 

“Aleriel” also comes complete with “Civilisation and Its Discontented”, a new short story by Molly Tanzer, revealing the unforeseen results of Aleriel’s passage through Mars. 

Not pictured:

Tomorrow’s Cthulhu: Stories at the Dawn of Posthumanity

Super science. Madness. Transhumanism. 

This is the dawn of posthumanity. Some things can’t be unlearned. 

Gleaming labs whir with the hum of servers as scientists unravel the secrets of the universe. But as we peel away mysteries, the universe glances back at us. Even now, terrors rise from the Mariana Trench and drift down from the stars. Scientists are disappearing—or worse. Experiments take on minds of their own. Some fight back against the unknown, some give in, some are destroyed, and still others are becoming… more.

Contains my story “The Stricken”

I apologize for not being able to get my cat into the picture with the books, as is traditional, so here’s a picture of him just being adorable.

If you have some Christmas fun money to spend on whatever, consider some of the above! All curated by delightful individuals, and chock full of quality reads, these are all perfect reads for the snowy months to come. Enjoy!

Refrigerator pickling! I’m super-into it these days. I’ve been eating a lot more veggies this way, as they’re already prepped and ready in my fridge. I’ve been a little busier than normal, which means I get tempted to give up nutrition for convenience. But my mom’s been on a healthy eating kick and I’ve been inspired to make sure I don’t fall into unhealthy habits just because I’m strapped for time.

Here’s what I made yesterday. From left to right, there’s do chua (pickled carrots and daikons, like you’d get on a banh mi), dubujangajji (pickled tofu and onions), and mediterranean pickled beets and turnips. It all took about two hours, including cleanup. And now I have plenty of fresh veggies for the week, plus a weeknight meal (the dubujangajji can be thrown over noodles with some of the kimchi I have fermenting in my fridge. But kimchi is its own post!).

Not that this is news to those who are always super-domestic/into heritage kinds of activities, but I have discovered that it is kind of awesome spending just a few bucks on whatever’s cheap at the grocery store and ensuring it doesn’t rot in my fridge if I get lazy some night during the week. Vinegar, salt, and sugar are all cheap, and Ball jars are a one-time purchase (the two shown cost me not four bucks). So anyways, I figured I’d share because these pickles have all turned out awesome. Frankly, I’m not all that into cucumber/dill pickles, but a pickled daikon, or green bean, or cauliflower, that’s good stuff right there. Plus yeah, if cauliflower is cheap, but I don’t feel like cauliflower that week, I can preserve it so that it’s around even after the price has gone up. Pretty tight! Who knew? Except everyone who already does this, I guess.

I need to do a kimchi post because I found THE RECIPE, but that’s fermenting, so maybe next week.

This weekend, I should mention, I’ll be at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, in Portland. Here’s the schedule! The only thing I’m doing, I think, is a reading on Sunday (“Reading 4”) and otherwise I’ll be trotting around to the various films (stoked about Night Breed and Beyond Re-Animator), hanging out, and going around eating myself sick. Should be a good time, and plenty of cool people are attending/participating! If you’re in the area, you should come.