10/30/06 MON:
---Here today from Spectre Library:

Rousseau, Victor THE SURGEON OF SOULS, Spectre Library '06, one of 200 numbered copies, (complete series of stories featuring Ivan Brodsky, the Surgeon of Souls, eleven of which ran in Weird Tales in 1926 and 1927; one of the pioneering works of the psychic detective; scholarly Mike Ashley intro; 170 pages), new in dj 40.00

---Can’t find a website for Spectre Library yet, but for listings from a couple other bookseller sites you can check out Shocklines or Clarkesworld--a couple places with a lot slicker operations and more comprehensive selections than me, but whose prices I probably beat.

10/29/06 SUN:
---Email rec’d (that I got a kick out of):

Dear Chris Drumm:
Prepare To Be Mortified!
The following titles are doing quite nicely along all retailor websites, including Ingram and Baker & Taylor!!
DEAD RECKONING!
REICH'S WOLF!
BLACK GENESIS!

All of my novles have religious overtones, and I like to convey my unorthodox beliefs through my characters.
This writer is convinced that each of the aforementioned will terrify even the most stout-of-heart!
The target-market is well established thanks to authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Ann Rice. There exists a voracious fanbase in the realm of paranormal phenomenon and I wish to cater exclusively to them.
Concerning competition, the many successful works, both past and present, from Hitchcock to King, assures that my book will dovetail nicely with market demands.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I am a forty-two-year-old American novelist from Indianapolis, Indiana. My previously published works (DEAD RECKONING, BLACK GENESIS, REICH'S WOLF and VOYAGE INTO RECOVERY) are available at on-line venues around the world; my publishers (iUniverse and Publish America) are not of a "traditional" standing, but I think you'll note the quality and marketability of my work.
I am well versed in Ancient History, Egyptology, the Sun Signs, and I am a technology maven.
Although fame and fortune would be lovely, I write for the pure joy of the experience.
These works are saved on Adobe and available upon your request.
I retain the rights to all of my books.
Please visit my website for this list of published works.
Thank you for your time and consideration, Chris Drumm Books.

Very sincerely,
D.A. (David Alan) Dickens
www.DADickens.com

10/27/06 FRI:
---Here today from Hippocampus:

Connors, Scott (ed) THE FREEDOM OF FANTASTIC THINGS: Selected Criticism on Clark Ashton Smith, Hippocampus ('06), (represents the most substantial volume of criticism of Smith’s work ever published, and includes both original and previously unpublished work by leading scholars on Smith), {hc avail. @ $49.95}, new 20.00

Kirk, Mara & S.T. Joshi (eds) LOVECRAFT'S NEW YORK CIRCLE: The Kalem Club, 1924-1927, Hippocampus ('06), 1st edn, (largely unpublished letters from bookseller George Kirk to his fiancée and letters by other members of circle, including Rheinhart Kleiner, Samuel Loveman, James F. Morton, Everett McNeil, Frank Belknap Long, and, of course, H.P. Lovecraft brings the Kalem Club alive as never before; Cannon preface), new 15.00

Pugmire, W.H. THE FUNGAL STAIN and Other Dreams, Hippocampus ('06), 1st edn, (many and multiform pleasures for Lovecraftians, including a hotly anticipated novelette set in author’s trademark locality, Sesqua Valley),new 15.00

---Here today from Stark House:

Brewer, Gil WILD TO POSSESS / A TASTE FOR SIN, Stark House Noir Classics, 10/06, 1st thus, ('59 & '61 pb originals; Gregory Shepard & Verlaine Brewer intros; Pronzini postscript reprinted from 1989 Mystery Scene), new 19.95

10/23/06 MON:
---It has been a while since I have posted any blog entries--falling too much out of the habit, I guess. The dearth of new things coming in and my not getting done any cataloguing of used books might have a bit to do with it. Orders from my listings on half.com and biblio keep trickling in, making me still feel like I might be in business. But sometimes I wonder. Even so, I might soon be getting orders ready to send to PenguinPutnam and maybe Random House (and all their imprints). Maybe that will liven things just a bit. Discount I give on both these publishing conglomerates is 30%, so if you know of anything you want from them this might be a time to slip me your order.
---Meanwhile, I do have an order for recent publications from Hippocampus. Most recently:

Dear Bookseller,
We have just released the following two paperback books. The first is new fiction in the Cthulhu Mythos vein, the other a collection of new essays on "Conan" creator Robert E. Howard. Full blurbs and pricing information is below. Please advise quantities desired, and thanks!

Best,
Derrick Hussey
Hippocampus Press
-------------------------------
THE FUNGAL STAIN AND OTHER DREAMS
by W. H Pugmire
2006: ISBN 0977173437: Paperback: $15.00

The theme of the book, as the author explains it, are “Lovecraftian dreams as thresholds to alien emotion, dimension, salvation, damnation.” Cross the threshold with one of the very few practitioners of Mythos fiction to win accolades from S. T. Joshi. Many and multiform are the pleasures this volume offers to Lovecraftians, including a hotly anticipated novelette set in Pugmire’s trademark locality, Sesqua Valley; a lengthy prose poem sequence; decadent, dreamlike vignettes in the style of Oscar Wilde, and much other new material. His first book since Sesqua Valley and Other Haunts, a limited edition now difficult to obtain, The Fungal Stain and Other Dreams is sure to be the Mythos title of the year. Robert H. Knox provides cover art and interior illustrations.

TWO-GUN BOB: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard
Edited by Benjamin Szumskyj

Foreword by Michael Moorcock
2006: ISBN 0977173453: Paperback: $15

Robert E. Howard is enjoying a Renaissance of interest in his centennial year, and rightly so. Of the triumvirate of Weird Tales authors, only Howard has been so long misunderstood, and his works so thoroughly adulterated, as to permit of little serious study. Towards this end we have commissioned a critical study of his entire body of work.

“Benjamin Szumskyj is at the cutting edge of Robert E. Howard scholars and aficionados. Through his diligence and enthusiasm, the work of Robert E. Howard will continue to be remembered and discussed, and the sword-and-sorcery genre will be revived and renewed.”
--Charles R. Saunders, Author of Imaro

“A lot of people who've shaped the landscape of American culture have died young, but Howard is unique in having left behind such a great body of work in his short stint. It's a rare genius that can produce so much, so quickly, which so deeply connects with the readership. Each story comes out of a greater context than the novice Howard reader can imagine. Let Two-Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard bring you into his world."
--Scott Allie, Editor of Dark Horses’ Conan

---Two-Gun Bob won’t really be out for “a few weeks”, but I think I will soon have The Fungal Stain as well as others I have missed getting recently:

FREEDOM OF FANTASTIC THINGS: Selected Criticism on Clark Ashton Smith, Edited by Scott Connors, pb & hc
Lovecraft's New York Circle: The Kalem Club, 1924-1927, $15.00
Exchange Of Souls by Barry Pain AND Lazarus by Henri Béraud

10/16/06 MON:
---Received this from Aio regarding a promotion for an upcoming fantasy novel they are publishing:

Hi, Chris,

I don’t know if this is the sort of thing you share with your customers, but just in case you do… we’re running a fun little contest for readers of one of our two autumn books, The Steam Magnate by Dana Copithorne.

In the story an unnamed nightclub plays a key and recurring role, and in the contest readers will have a chance to name the nightclub. Prizes include an autographed congratulatory copy of The Steam Magnate, two hand-painted wine glasses from the Nina Liu Art Gallery in Charleston’s French Quarter (along the lines of the nightclub theme and the artistic nature of the book, which the author also illustrated), and immortality… at least for the name! The winning name will be featured in sequels where the nightclub appears.

Readers can submit their names at www.aiopublishing.com/nightclub.htm up until November 18th. The winner will be announced November 22nd. (And they can rest assured that their name and email address will be used exclusively for this contest, nothing else, and that we do not give out names or email addresses to any third party.)

I’ve attached a flyer in PDF format if you’d like to use that, too.

If this isn’t something you usually do, feel free to ignore this, but if you do want to use it and there is anything else we can provide, just let me know!

Hope all is well!

Tiffany Jonas
Publisher
Aio Publishing Co, LLC
A new breed of science fiction…
www.aiopublishing.com

---I can forward the PDF to anyone interested.

10/05/06 THU:
---Here today from TTA:

INTERZONE #206, 10/06, (Britain’s longest running science fiction magazine; original SF & fantasy stories by Chris Beckett, Will McINtosh, Jamie Barras, Jae Brim, Tim Akers and others; Sf news & gossip by David Langford; book reviews by John Clute; reviews of the latest books, radio, manga & anime, plus film criticism; James Patterson interviewed; books: Philip K. Dick rotoscoped!, etc.), new 7.00

10/02/06 MON:
---Here today from Necro (“The Publisher of Hardcore Horror”):

Houarner, Gerard & GAK (eds) DEAD CATS TRAVELING CIRCUS OF WONDERS AND MIRACLE MEDICINE SHOW, Bedlam '06, one of 350 copies SIGNED by 16 participants, (AN ANTHOLOGY
OF BRAND NEW TALES ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE DEAD CAT!; very strange collection; featuring Tim Lebbon, Gary A. Braunbeck, Brian Hodge, Jeffrey Thomas, Linda D. Addison, Gerard Houarner, Trey R. Barker, Jack Haringa, Michael T. Huyck, Jr., Wrath James White, Garrett Peck, P.D. Cacek, Michelle Scalise, Robert Rhine, Mark McLaughlin, Aaron Worley; art from GAK, Alan M. Clark, Erik Wilson & Chad Savage), new in dj 45.00

Jacob, Charlee GEEK POEMS, Necro, 7/06, 1st edn, one of 400 SIGNED copies, (An all new collection from the reigning queen of disturbing, beautifully brutal, literary horror. Multiple Bram Stoker Award finalist, Charlee Jacob, delivers a book packed with some of her finiest short story and novella work; 2003 title novella and seven new stories), new 19.95

Lee, Edward CREEKERS, Necro, 1/06, 1st hc edn, one of 400 SIGNED copies, (first published in 1994), new in dj 45.00
---SLITHER, Necro, 2/06, 1st hc edn, one of 400 SIGNED copies, (BRAND NEW NOVEL FOR THE MASTER OF HARDCORE HORROR!), new in dj 45.00

Lestewka, Patrick THE PRESERVE, Necro, 2nd edn(7/06), (orig: 2004), new 19.95

Savory, Brett Alexander THE DISTANCE TRAVELED, Necro, 3/06, 1st hc edn, one of 100 SIGNED copies, (horror novel; ergot-spawned argot of a novel that nabs its readers for a ride Charlie Starkweather’d be too chicken to take; un-Divine Comedy...slapstick, surreal, and definitely scorching; A completely unique take on life in hell. Snappy dialog and a bizarre backdrop set this adventure tale apart from the pack), {300-copy SIGNED trade pb available @ 19.95}, new in dj 45.00

Thomas, Jeffrey & Scott Thomas PUNKTOWN: Shades of Grey, Bedlam '05, one of 300 SIGNED copies, (stories, separately written; set in Jeffrey’s futuristic uban hell which is equal parts H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham and Blade Runner’s dark metropolis), new in dj 45.00

---And also the new issue of CD Publications:

CEMETERY DANCE #56, '06, (Glen Hirshberg Special; Peter Atkins, Jeremy Robert Johnson, Scott Nicholson, Stephen Mark Rainey, etc.), new 5.00

10/01/06 SUN:
---Now that I’ve been ordering so seldomly from the larger publishing consortiums, and on-line places like Amazon have been doing so much better a job of satisfying most book needs, I have lately found myself recommending Amazon over myself for quite a few books. Indeed, I have been buying books for myself from Amazon. Their free-shipping deals and discounts--and specially priced books sometimes--have been great. Plus their speedy service! So, since if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, I have become an “Amazon Associate”. Now if I send someone to Amazon for their book, I get a bit back, if you follow my link. I’m not sure how it will all end up working out, but we’ll see what I can do.
---One book that someone wanted me to get, a new Meisha Merlin book, To Ride A Rathorn by P.C. Hodgell, I can’t get at discount without buying $250-worth of mainly comic books/graphic novels from their current distributor. So I sent him to Amazon as the better way to get the book than from me. If I’d sent a link instead, all the trouble I took looking up the book on Amazon to see if they had it--yeah, lots!--might have paid off. They did have it, and at discount too.