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Incoming Notes and Status Update

Incoming: Chuck Palahniuk, and Justin Cronin, Interviews & Reviews, David Mitchell, TAC Live at the Capitola Book Café with David Corbett and Barry Eisler on August 7, 6:30 PM

07-30-10 : Subterranean Press and Robert R. McCammon Wake at 'The Wolf's Hour'

The Time Before Cheese

I just pulled my 21-year old Pocket Books pink-covered "Special Advance Reading Copy" of 'The Wolf's Hour' down from its spot on the top shelf in my library / studio / office. It's a book that takes me back, and speaks to my daily routine as well. I'm taken back to the heart of the 80's horror boom, when Pocket Books sent me one of the first ARCs I'd ever received.

Folklore tells us that the wolf's hour stretches from 3 to 4 AM – right when I wake up, thanks to hereditary insomnia. I need less sleep. Books like 'The Wolf's Hour' make it easy to stay awake.

Recent Commentary

Rule Britannia, In Space (two) : En Route, RJ Frith and Peter F. Hamilton
Rule Britannia, In Space : UK Space Opera Demonstrates Excess is Not Enough (Part one, the Arrived)
Brian and Wendy Froud Seek 'The Heart of Faerie Oracle' : Cards, Books and a New Perspective
Phil Cousineau is the 'Wordcatcher' : A Selectionary for Curious Mind
Aimee Bender Tastes 'The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake' : Emotional Synesthesia
Abraham Verghese Will Not Be 'Cutting for Stone' : Stories of Spirit and Words of Comfort
Jennifer Egan Gets 'A Visit from the Goon Squad' : Revisiting the Novel Genre
Commentary Archive
Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror
S. T. Joshi

Mario Guslandi reads the the latest S.T. Joshi Cthulhu Mythos anthology and finds much to like.

Review Archive
Seven Deadly Pleaures
Michael Aronovitz
Reviewed by
Mario Guslandi
Sleepless
Charlie Huston
Reviewed by
Rick Kleffel
Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron
Jasper Fforde
Reviewed by
Rick Kleffel
07-26-10: A 2010 Interview with Brian and Wendy Froud

"It's all about connection."

—Brian Froud

"It's all about connection." This is true in the interviewing world as well as the world of Faerie. And making that connection in the former can sometimes seem a lot more difficult than in the latter. The faerie world is, after all, immanent. You break into the world of faerie from any point in this world. (Though it may not be so easy to get back out!)

Getting an interview set up requires scheduling skills, and often improvisation skills as well. I've been using the same now technologically obsolete setup for a number of years. The virtue of such a setup is that you get to know how it works, so, if for example, you have to set it up in a room barely big enough to hold you and your interviewees, you don't experience techno-stress. And with that out of the way, you're ready to talk.

07-30-10: Three Books with Alan Cheuse


Allegra Goodman, 'The Cookbook Collector,' Noam Shpancer's 'The Good Psychologist' and Elie Wiesel 'The Sonderberg Case'


First things first. As much as I enjoy discussing other people's books with Alan Cheuse, I also quite enjoy discussing his books with him. And because I talk to him regularly, I can get some insights out of him about his writing that might not ordinarily come out. When I arrived to chat about the three books we were scheduled to review, he told me that he'd just turned in his latest novel.
Recent Podcasts

Brian and Wendy Froud at SF in SF on Monday, July 19, 2010: Q & A : "The people you deal with at the publishers ... if they last the end of the week, you're lucky."
Brian and Wendy Froud at SF in SF on Monday, July 19, 2010 : "Well, I thought if I do faeries then nobody's going to say that I've got it wrong."
A 2010 Interview with Brian and Wendy Froud : "It's all about connection."
A 2010 Interview with Phil Cousineau : "..then I'll look up all those words that were arcane..."
A 2010 Interview with Aimee Bender : "The daily details are extra-important..."
A 2010 Interview with Abraham Verghese : "Literature has a wonderful ability to restore your imagination for the suffering of others."
Podcast Archive
The Agony Column for July 25, 2010: Brian and Wendy Froud Email me.

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